After driving the rental car back through Hope Falls—Greer watching the sleepy shops along Main Street float by and Hunter gripping the steering wheel, Jamie Sand weighing heavily on his mind—they arrived at the Meadow View B&B.
Hunter squeezed the brakes, coming to a stop in front of the inn, but his attention was on JT’s Roadhouse.
He could hear faint music, muffled conversations, and the occasional outburst of laughter billowing out from the bar, all of which called to him if for no other reason than having a drink might provide the kind of distraction he craved.
The boy had reminded him too much of himself at that age, and because of it Hunter felt anxious.
From the passenger’s seat, Greer softly said, “Hey,” and placed her hand on his leg, pulling his attention back to her. When he looked at her—those big hazel eyes, the curves of her cheekbones, the slight part of her lips that revealed her straight teeth, all bathed in glowing light coming from the bar—he made a concerted effort not to seem as down as he felt. “You okay?”
“Do you want to check out the bar?” he asked, dodging her concern. Greer didn’t know about his rough upbringing or the emotional scars it had left, and he wanted to keep it that way.
Though her expression eased into a smile, the breath she let out contradicted it, but she said, “Sure.” As he killed the engine, flipped off the headlights, and unfastened his seatbelt, she added, “You seem off.”
“I’m fine,” he said impatiently, throwing the car door open and stepping out into the cool air.
In the few seconds it took Greer to climb out of the vehicle, he warned himself not to snap at her. They’d been dating long enough for Greer to have a firm handle on his moods and if history were apt to repeat itself, then she wouldn’t let up if she sensed something was wrong.
Taking her hand, he pulled her in and their bodies gently aligned. The energy rolling off of her—her warmth, the soft feel of her chest pressing against his, the way she was looking up at him expectantly—had a calming effect. He'd noticed it awhile ago, the fact that as long as they were touching he could forget the darker parts of himself, the memories that otherwise nagged him, the impulses he had because of them. Greer had the innate ability to wash all that away, but deep down her knack for easing his troubled mind scared him.
Before meeting her, before getting used to having her in his life and getting attached, he had never felt like he needed anyone. He needed her. He didn’t want to lose her and the irony was that if she ever really knew him, all of him, even the parts of Hunter that he himself couldn’t stand—those aspects of his personality, which directly stemmed from how he was raised and resembled his father so distinctly that he could hardly stomach it—he feared she would slip away.
“God, Hunter,” she said, searching his eyes. “You’re a million miles away.”
“I’m right here,” he said quickly then kissed her, forcing her to drop her suspicions. He knew he was holding her too tightly, kissing her too deeply, trying too desperately to lose himself in the feel of her as a means to escape his past. But he couldn’t help it. Nothing anchored him to the present like holding her in his arms.
When he loosened his grip and eased off, she smiled as though she was skeptical of where that kiss might have come from, but he laced their fingers together, his eyes locking on JT’s Roadhouse, and they started up the dirt driveway.
He opened the bar door for her and as he stepped inside after her and took in the scene, his mood lifted.
Though it was far from packed by New York standards, JT's was busy enough. A number of patrons were seated on stools along the bar, others stood nearby nursing pints of beer. The booths that spanned the windows were occupied as well—friends laughing and couples nuzzling. There was a pool table in the back and Hunter not only recognized the song playing on the jukebox, he also happened to like it.
As they made their way to the edge of the bar, Greer smiled at him over her shoulder and asked, “IPA?”
Leaning into her ear, he said, “You read my mind.”
“Ha,” she blurted out. “It’s been your beer of choice for months, but I’ll take credit for my psychic abilities.”
Levi was behind the bar and shouted something humorous to one of the patrons as he set a pint of beer on the counter. The patron—a rugged looking man who in Hunter’s estimation was in his mid-forties—tossed a bill on the bar and started off towards one of the booths.
After tucking the bill into the cash register, Levi trailed over to Hunter and Greer, quirking his mouth into a smile, and commented, “Didn’t think I’d see you two tonight. What can I get you?”
“Two IPA’s,” said Hunter, setting cash on the counter before glancing over his shoulder to scan the room for where they might sit.
It took Levi a moment to pour their beers and when he set them on the bar, Greer thanked him. She handed one of the pints to Hunter, took her own, and they edged across the floor so that the next customer could order.
Hunter gulped his IPA, feeling eyes on him, then noticed a blonde seated in one of the booths. She smiled at him in a friendly manner, as the man beside her whispered in her ear then locked eyes with Hunter and nodded.
“Incoming,” said Hunter and Greer cocked her brow at him.
The woman slipped out of the booth and tucked her long, wavy hair behind her ears as she made her way over. “Let me guess,” she said in a melodic tone, making a point to touch eyes with each of them invitingly. “Greer Langley and Hunter Black.”
Impressed, Greer smiled and said, “Nailed it.”
“I’m Amanda Jacobs,” she said, shaking Greer’s hand then his. She glanced over her shoulder at the man seated in the booth, adding, “That’s Justin Barnes. You can join us if you like.”
“Definitely,” said Greer.
“We run Mountain Ridge Outdoor Adventures,” she explained, leading them to the booth where Justin had stood to greet them. “You’ll have to come by while you’re in town. We’ll get you all set up to go hiking or kayaking. Whatever you feel like.”
After shaking hands with Justin, who commended them for making the trip in order to teach sculpture at the summer camp—it was as if the whole town knew about them—they settled into the booth.
“Hope Falls might seem like a small town,” she went on.
Justin quickly added, “And it is, technically,” as he draped his arm over Amanda’s shoulder.
“But you’d be surprised who lives here, a pro snowboarder, a pop singer, select agents from the FBI.”
Hunter shot Greer a crooked grin, his brows rising to his hairline, then returned his gaze to the couple across the table.
“If ever you want the lowdown,” she continued, angling her thumb at Justin. “We’re your man.”
Smiling at the implication that Amanda and Justin were a single entity and not two separate people, Hunter squeezed Greer’s leg under the table and began asking the couple about how long they’ve lived in Hope Falls and what Greer and he ought to do in their spare time.
As Amanda rattled off answers, at times smiling at Justin for his input, Hunter sipped his beer, listening, and tried to resist the nagging urge to ask them about Jamie Sand.
He kept trying to reason with himself—just because the boy reminded him of himself back in the day didn’t mean he was suffering the same fate behind closed doors. Hunter knew he was projecting, old feelings stirring up in his gut in a way he couldn’t stand and yanking him into a time warp he couldn’t control. Some kids were shy, others cagey, some took off running to avoid coming clean about a rule they’d broken. It didn’t mean they were harboring a secret. He mentally wrestled with the task of letting the whole thing go, but kept failing over and over again.
He realized that he’d completely lost the thread of the conversation when he heard Amanda ask, “Do you guys ever collaborate?”
Answering for him, Greer said, “Sometimes,” and studied Hunter in a way that told him he seriously needed to snap out of it.
Justin smiled at Amanda and mentioned, “We’ve been working together for years now. There’s nothing better.”
“Awe,” she said, nudging him affectionately.
As random as he knew it would seem, Hunter asked, “Do you know the Sands?”
Amanda repeated, “The Sands...” and knit her brows thoughtfully, glancing at Justin as though he could help jog her memory.
“Yeah,” he said, speaking for her, though the glint in his eye indicated that he wasn’t so familiar with Jamie’s family. “They’re over on the north side of town.”
“Near the Youth Rec Center?” asked Greer before rubbing Hunter’s thigh under the table. “That would explain it.”
As she went on, telling Amanda and Justin about their brief encounter with the boy and how quirky it had been, Hunter closely watched the couple’s shifting expressions. The smile on Amanda’s face seemed to go slack and the light behind Justin’s brown eyes dimmed.
“They haven’t been here long,” Justin explained. “They keep to themselves.”
Amanda added, “Not the friendliest bunch,” though she kept her tone light and upbeat. “And those older boys...”
Justin whistled, his eyes widening. “Troublemakers.”
“Troublemakers? How so?” he asked, but when Greer patted his leg under the table, soliciting a silent check-in in order to figure out where he was coming from with all this, Hunter decided that asking more questions wouldn’t be worth it and said, “Jamie’s one of our students, or he will be starting tomorrow. Seems eager. Funny little kid.”
He gulped his beer so he wouldn’t be tempted to comment further.
“I’m fading,” said Greer, resting her head on his shoulder for a brief moment.
“We should turn in,” said Hunter with a smile.
Amanda wished them goodnight, as they slid out of the booth, their empty pint glasses in hand.
As they made their way to the bar, Hunter took Greer’s glass and set both on the counter before touching eyes with Levi and waving.
Outside, as they walked along the dirt driveway towards the inn, Greer hooked her arm around his lower back and asked, “What was that about?”
“I can’t wait to get into bed with you,” he said, avoiding her concern.
He could feel her eyes on him, but he didn’t return her gaze. Instead, he opened the entrance door of the inn for her and kept at her heels as if trailing behind her would save him from scrutiny.
When they entered their room, having padded up the stairs, he didn’t have it in him to make good on his promise of taking her in-between the sheets so he ducked into the bathroom, closed the door, and immediately turned on the shower, hoping that a moment to himself would be all he needed to get a grip.
By the time he had showered, brushed his teeth, slipped into his boxer-briefs, and returned to the bedroom, feeling the cool air sting his damp skin, the lights were off and Greer was curled on her side under the covers.
He laid on top of the comforter, trying not to wake her, and prayed that sleep would steal him before his dark thoughts could.