Chapter 5

Hunter

I’m muttering prayers, curses, left right and center as I drive for the first time in two years. I know I shouldn’t be, I sure as shit don’t have a license to, but it’s my fault she missed the call.

I keep my eyes on the road, gripping the wheel so tightly my fingers are blanched at the tips. My heart is beating way too fast, and sweat is dripping down my spine.

She’s not looking at me—whether it’s out of annoyance I don’t care. I just know if she looks at me I might ask her for her number or her address or something equally pointless.

I should be more pleased about how things worked out, but the fact that I like this redhead enough to abuse her ex over the phone and get behind a wheel again is a little unnerving.

What’s even more alarming is knowing if I actually saw him, I might do a little more than just verbally abuse him. Given that I’m supposed to be keeping my head down and staying under the radar, it’s not a good sign.

My life is tidy right now. Simple, uncomplicated, and neat. Even if she could stay up here, it would get messy real fast. I never should have asked her to consider it.

The windscreen wipers are going full tilt already, but the rain is falling mercilessly, making me even more uneasy. Trees run along the side of the road, and with the track muddy, one spin out, and we crash into them.

My entire body is clenched as I drive. By the time we reach the road, sweat is making my shirt cling to me. I release a breath and keep driving towards the town of Haven Springs. “Where’s your hotel?”

“Main Street.”

Since there are only two hotels in town and only one on Main I swing left and pull into the hotel lot. I leave the truck running, windscreen wipers beating a steady thump thump as the rain keeps falling.

Natalie’s lips purse as she looks over at me. “Well, I guess this is goodbye?”

“Yeah, I guess it is.”

I unhook my belt and open the door before she can say anything else. I yank open the back door and grab my pack. I need to get out of here before someone sees me. I’ve already pushed my luck about as far as I can.

When I close the door, Natalie has scrambled out. After a second’s pause, she kisses me with way too much tongue, given this is a goodbye kiss. Her voice is throaty. “Come with me.”

With her pressed against me, it takes everything I have to fight the impulse not to get back in her truck.

But I can’t do that to her, so I infuse ice into my reply. “I can’t.”

She squirms out of my arms and sets her shoulders. “Well, thank you for all your help.”

My stomach twists as she turns around and limps back to her hotel. She doesn’t look back, just opens the door and steps inside her room and out of my life forever.

***

Natalie

Tears are stinging my eyes as I pack up the rest of my things. I’m shivering, and my stomach is aching with hunger, but I don’t have time to eat or shower.

I look the room over one more time then pull the door closed so I can check out. I spend too long looking out at the parking lot, hoping I’ll see Hunter, but I see no trace of him as I open the door to reception.

The receptionist guesses I’m in a rush, so we don’t exchange pleasantries as I swipe my credit card.

I’m almost out the door when my phone starts to ring. Dread rushes around my body as I see it’s Jemma calling.

I get back in my truck and close the door before I dare to answer. I pick it up to hear a rasping croak. “Jemma? Is that you?”

“It’s Dad.”

I start to sob. “Don’t cry… Jemma, what did you tell your sister?”

I hear muffled noises in the background. “You worried her for no reason. Damn it, Jemma.”

I lean against the headrest and close my eyes. “Dad. You had a relapse?”

He huffs a breath then coughs. “Yeah. Well, I’m fine now. How’s the cabin coming along?”

My eyes pop open. “Is that really important right now?”

His voice sounds a little weaker. “Sorry I couldn’t reach Bob. Jemma promises to come out and finish the job.”

A faint smile twitches at my lips before confusion muddles my thoughts. “Wait. Dad, you didn’t get hold of Bob?”

He coughs. “No. I didn’t get a chance.”

I stare at the dash, thoughts tumbling around my mind as I try to make connections I should have done earlier.

Hunter never once said he knew Bob, or that Bob had sent him. All the little hints he gave. How willing he was to stay that first night. The amount of gear he was lugging around. Everything makes sense now.

He was just in the right place at the right time. If I’d not been so intoxicated firstly by whiskey and then by Hunter, maybe I’d have cottoned on earlier?

Jemma is on the line telling me our father needs to stop talking, but that he’s being moved to recovery.

I should be more relieved, but all I can think about is that I just spent an incredible weekend with a gorgeous man who probably just wanted a bed for a weekend.

Is that what he is? A drifter?

But if sex was all he wanted, why did he seem so irritated with Jed and why was he so bothered to learn I wasn’t planning on coming back here?

I groan aloud. It’s impossible and pointless to even think about him now.

He cleaned, he fixed the roof, he cooked for me, took care of me and gave me the best sex of my life.

But he also said he didn’t want to come with me, and since I can’t stay here, I need to stop dwelling on what can’t be.

I put the truck in drive and force myself not to look in my rearview mirror as I drive away.

***

I arrive at the hospital bone-weary, yawning, and every muscle aching. I walk around the corner and find Jemma waiting outside smoking a cigarette.

She looks impeccable as always. Dressed in a suit and heels, in stark contrast to my jeans and muddied boots. Her hair is tied back, make up immaculate.

When she sees the scowl on my face, she rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I’m a horrible person. And I’m trying to quit.”

I shake my head and walk past her. How can she smoke still? She knows what cancer is doing to our father.

She catches up to me reeking of smoke and popping a mint in her mouth as we enter. She even pulls a bottle of perfume out of her handbag and sprays it on herself, just like she used to back in high school.

I’m so exhausted I know I’ll snap at her and I don’t have the energy to waste right now. Between driving here, my aching ankle and thoughts about what and who I left in the valley, I don’t think I can take any more.

She starts talking rapid-fire as we walk across the foyer and find the elevator. Most of which I tune out, most of which she doesn’t need to remind me of.

I know she’s successful. I know she’s the top saleswoman in the marketing division. I know she’s going to make partner in the next couple of years. I know because she tells me at every opportunity.

When we reach the intensive care ward, I’ve had enough. “I’m here to see Dad, as soon as I do that I’m going home to sleep. I spent all weekend cleaning because you didn’t help.”

Her lips press into each other as she pushes her handbag over her shoulder. “All weekend? Really because that’s not what Jed told Brett.”

Shit. Of course, Jed would have told Brett what Hunter said. I eye Jemma as we walk along the corridor to the nurse’s station. She signs us in all without looking me in the eye.

She smiles at the nurse, the essence of professional calm then mutters under her breath as we walk. “What I want to know is, if you’re so broke, how can you afford an assistant?”

I sigh. “I don’t have an assistant. That was Hunter; he was helping me clean the cabin.”

She stops outside Dad’s room and looks me up and down. Her eyes linger on my cheek where the bruise is visible. “And where did Hunter come from? I thought you were single.”

I lean against the wall and exhale slowly. “Can we just drop this? I’m exhausted. I just want to see Dad.”

She blocks my entrance and crosses her arms. “I think I have a right to know if you are shacking up with some loser up at the cabin.”

My eyes widen as anger overrides my fatigue. “Hunter isn’t a loser. He’s the only reason I got the cabin cleaned and ready.”

Her eyebrows rise. “Where’d you find him? Brett seems to think he was extremely familiar with you.”

I bite back a retort as a nurse walks past and lower my voice. “None of that matters right now. Let me see him.”

Her bottom lip protrudes just the way it always does when she’s trying to get her own way. When that doesn’t work, she switches her tone to sickly sweet. “I mean if you paid him to help, I can spring for half.”

I shake my head. “I didn’t pay him. Now move.”

I’m about ready to physically move her from the door when her hand goes to her mouth. Her voice is so high; I’m pretty sure half the ward hears when she speaks. “You had sex with him up there, didn’t you?”

She starts to laugh, and misplaced anger starts to build. “Yes, I did. And he gave me more orgasms in two days than I had in four years with Jed. Make sure you tell Brett to pass that little nugget on to his pal,” I hiss.

She looks so shocked that she steps aside as I push the door open. Dad is propped up in bed with tubes attached and oxygen sticking in his nose.

He looks pale, but he smiles wryly as I walk into the room. “Sounds like you had quite the weekend.”

I sit alongside him and lean in close so we can have an awkward side hug. “Um, what?”

He chuckles and coughs. “My body might be packing in, but there’s nothing wrong with my ears.”

Jemma walks in looking decidedly reserved as she hovers at the door. “Nat can’t stay. She drove straight here from the cabin.”

I growl at her and shake my head. “I can stay for a while.”

She looks ready to argue, but my father intercedes the way he always does. “Girls. Quit it. This might be our last opportunity to talk. So, shut up and listen.”

Both of us know better than to argue with him, so I take a seat on the opposite side of the room. He eyes us, then breathes out a rattle. “We need to talk about my will and the medical bills.”

Jemma nods. But I can’t move. I don’t want to hear what he’s saying. I don’t want to know who gets what. I don’t want to even think about it right now. I want to go back to the cabin. Back to Hunter and pretend my life isn’t a complete mess.

“We’ll need the proceeds from the sale of the cabin to pay for this,” Jemma says.

I jerk my head up. “What?”

She frowns at me. “Are you even listening? Dad was saying the insurance is only covering half.”

My father looks at me with something eerily close to pity. “Jemma, could you get your sister a coffee.”

It’s not a question. It’s a statement, and Jemma knows better than to argue. If anything, she looks relieved to be excused. Her heels clip-clop across the floor as wafts of perfume float past me. She breezes out the door, leaving me with my father’s eagle-eyed gaze on me. “Start talking, girl.”

He sounds so much like how he used to; I can’t help but find a teary-eyed smile for him. “I’m just tired.”

He barks a laugh. “Bull shit. I know that look on you. It’s the same look you had when that stray dog followed you home from school, and you wanted to keep it.”

I frown at him. “Hunter isn’t exactly a stray dog.”

He starts to laugh until coughs wrack his body and his eyes water. “Hunter? That’s his name. You found a man called Hunter who lives in the mountains?”

His cheeks have so much color in them, and he’s actually smiling at me, so I shrug. “He helped me clean, fixed the roof, and—”

He waves a hand in the air. “I don’t need the rest of the details. I can guess.”

A flush creeps over my cheeks. “I was just going to say he was a big help.”

My father nods. “Hmm. How you’d find him?”

I exhale slowly, pretty sure if I tell the truth, I’ll start him coughing again, so I change the subject and stare down at my fingernails. “It’s not important. He’s gone, and I’m pretty sure he’s not interested.”

A box of tissues flies across the room, making me jerk up and meet my father’s gaze. “You can’t live your life with a safety net, Nat. Pretty sure isn’t sure. Sometimes you have to take a chance. Hunter might be worth the risk. Don’t do what I did and regret letting someone walk away because you were afraid—”

I have no time to ask him if he’s talking about Mom when the door opens behind me, and a stern-faced older nurse with red lipstick and a smile walks in.

Dad’s face lights up as she puts her hands on her ample hips and mock frowns at him. “Mr. Jensen, do I need to whoop your fanny? That’s twice in the last hour your blood pressure has risen.”

My eyes pop as my father’s grin grows even wider as he gestures to me. “This is my daughter, Natalie; she’s a journalist.”

I scoff. “Hardly. I write fluff pieces for the local paper.”

The nurse smiles at me, skin creasing around her green eyes. “You keep your Daddy quiet now; he needs rest.”

She flitters around, checking his vitals, scrawling notes while my father seems to find an enormous amount of energy suddenly.

When she leaves with a smile and promises to bring him some water, he looks better than I’ve seen him in months.

He sighs and looks so dreamy, I laugh and throw the tissue box back at him. “Never underestimate the healing effect of red lipstick, a southern accent, and a round ass.”

I snort a laugh. “That’s kind of disgusting.”

He chuckles, but his lips tug downward as he looks at me. “Listen to me. You’re a beautiful girl who deserves a man who’ll take care of her. Jed never could; he was too busy taking care of half the city. Useless do-gooder prick that he is.”

I press my lips together so I don’t tell him what Hunter said. I knew my father didn’t like Jed, but useless do-gooder prick seems to be pushing it a little. However lousy a husband Jed was, he was and still is a fantastic police officer.

Dad starts to cough again at precisely the moment Jemma walks in with coffee.

She scowls at me and shoves the cup in my direction. “Maybe you should leave? He’s barely coughed until you arrived.”

Dad locks eyes with me and winks. “That’s because I had nothing worth talking about.”

Jemma’s cheeks heat and her gaze drops as she sets the coffee down. My father’s voice is getting weaker when he gestures to us. “You two make up before she leaves.”

When neither of us moves, he pulls himself to sitting. “Girls, make things right,” he growls.

I extend my hand, and Jemma edges forward with her lips twisted in a pout. She gives me a limp handshake. “Jed was that bad, huh?”

I drop her hand and shrug my shoulders. “He was always in a rush. He was on call a lot.”

A tiny smile flickers at her lips. “Will you go back to the cabin?”

My shoulders slump. “I just want to go home and get some sleep.”

As much as I’d love to drive for another two hours on the off chance Hunter’s hanging out having moonlit dips in the springs, I’m beyond shattered already, and I’m still not entirely sure chasing after him is the best idea.

I kiss my father goodbye and even manage to hug my sister before I walk out the door.

I don’t know what my father thinks is going to happen if I do see Hunter again, but as I leave the hospital, I’m acutely aware that I’m hoping I will.