CHAPTER NINE
The last person Hunter wanted to see after the phone call about Mike was Gramps. Or so he thought until Blythe crawled out of the passenger side of the truck and followed his grandfather into the kennel.
He eyed Gramps and gritted his teeth. “What the hell is she doing here?”
“She asked me to give her a ride.” Gramps made for the coffee pot, leaving Hunter to deal with his trail of trouble as always.
"Hunter." Blythe reached for his arm, but he shifted out of her reach. If she got her hands on him, he might not be able to pull away.
“I’ve got a lot to do today, Blythe. I don’t have time to talk.”
“Then make time.” She stomped her foot on the ground. He hadn’t even noticed she was barefoot or that she was standing on her tiptoes until the soft thunk of her feet on the wood caught his attention. “We have a lot to go over.”
Gramps glared from the coffee pot before he disappeared into the office with Sydney and shut the door. Thanks for the back-up.
“I understand what you’re trying to do, Hunter.” Blythe was at his side again. “But for once, how about you fight for what you want instead of walking away.”
Something deep inside him snapped. Hunter could admit she’d hit home with the comment, but owning it would send his temper into hyper-mode, and at the moment, he was already teetering on losing complete control.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I don’t?” She dropped a hand to her hip. “Because I’m sure I’m not the only one who can figure out the truth. That if you stepped out of the way for your brother, you would step out of the way for someone you love.”
That was it. What little control he held on his temper dissipated. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back to the stairs leading to the apartment, away from prying eyes. This had been the same spot he'd first thought of fucking her. Damn her for making him want her. "I don't have time to play games, Blythe. Your boy is back in the picture. Just go and enjoy the make-up sex."
She pulled her arm away and narrowed her gaze at him. “You think I’m going back to Mike? After he cheated on me?”
"No." He fought the urge to snarl. The last thing he wanted was her running back to that loser, but it didn’t change the fact that Mike could offer her what she’d wanted all along. A family. A home. A future that didn’t depend on weather and hay prices. "I believe that you feel like you should be. We said nothing personal. We both got what we wanted."
She pushed up on her toes again. "I'm sorry I didn't see Mike for the loser he was a year ago. It took you to show me he wasn't my issue. I was."
“Great,” he barked despite his attempt to control his temper. "Now that you know who you are without him, you can work things out with him."
She rolled her eyes and he caught the glint of a building tear in the corner. It cut into his heart. Damn her for making him even care.
"I should have known." She fell back to her flat feet. "Of course, you can't understand. That's why you still blame Molly for choosing Beau over you."
“That’s hitting below the belt.” It stung. What the hell did she know about Molly?
“That’s telling the truth.” She poked him in the chest with her finger. “Molly left you, and you've never gotten over it."
Not that his love life was any of her damn business, but if she wanted to step over the personal line for the second time, he was going to meet her toe to fucking toe. "You don't know a damn thing about what you're talking about."
"I do. You loved Molly enough to become the man you thought she wanted. Only she didn’t love you enough to accept the man you became.”
Damn. He’d never put the feeling into words before, but she came about as close as words could.
“But here’s the thing, Hunter.” Blythe said. “You changing had nothing to do with her not loving you. If she couldn’t accept you as Hunter the Marine, who wanted more in his life than working on his family’s ranch, then she never was going to accept you as Hunter, the rancher with a grudge. You never were the right guy for her. Leaving just helped her see the truth."
“You and Molly spent a lot of time talking in the kitchen, didn’t you?” The ripple of annoyance moved through him like a shockwave of heat. “And I thought it was Gramps that hung the family’s dirty laundry out to dry in public.”
She relaxed her shoulders. “We did.”
“And I’m sure she told you about their wedding?”
Blythe tucked a loose hair behind her ear. “A little.”
He so wanted to wean off her, but she forced his hand. “I’m just curious… Did she tell you the part where she married my brother a month before she broke it off with me? Did she tell you that? Or did she leave the time table out?”
He watched Blythe swallow hard. Her neck pulsated. “She left that part out.”
He folded his arms to keep from reaching for her. “And did she leave out how the whole family kept the secret? How they called and wrote letters during my leave, but no one had the balls to tell me my girlfriend and my brother were married?”
"No." Tears dampened her eyes. Hunter fought the urge to wipe them away. No one needed to cry for him.
“I only found out because my grandmother couldn’t handle keeping the secret. If she hadn’t called, I would have spent a year thinking I had a girl waiting at home and a brother holding down the fort, waiting for my return.”
The tears she’d carefully kept at bay spilled out. One more touch. He could handle touching her one more time without giving in to her. He reached for a tear and wiped it away with his thumb.
"I know I'm not what she wanted. I had known it before I left. But I never expected she would steal my family." He dropped his hand, anger taking over at the memory.
They stood in silence for a moment, the words he wanted to say too hard to speak.
“But what if you are what I want?” Blythe’s body shuttered in a sob he felt through his thumb. His heart sank so low in his chest, he thought it would never feel right again.
“Hunter,” Gramps called from the office door.
“It’s not about what you want. It’s about what you need. And I’m not that guy.” Blythe’s gaze flashed away from Hunter long enough for him to speak. “Go, Blythe. You don’t owe me anything. Nothing personal, right?”
“It’s not about owing anyone anything. It’s about caring enough to not keep score.” She wiped her own tears away and sucked in a breath, quieting her sobs. “I never thought you were the kind to keep score, Hunter. I guess I was wrong.”
He’d almost reached the point of breaking when Gramps dropped a heavy hand to his shoulder.
"Sorry to interrupt you two bickering birds, but the hospital just called. Molly's in labor, and no one can reach Beau."
Blythe's eyes flashed to Hunters. "She still has four weeks. Going into labor now isn't good."
Damn. Had the stars aligned against him?
"She needs someone with her,” Blythe continued.
“Fine. Gramps, you go. I’ll keep things going here.”
Gramps grunted. “I need to find Beau. He’s out on the Double C fields cutting hay. You need to go.”
How could he face holding the hand of the woman who had stolen his family? How could he face bringing a kid into a family that had ruined him? Knowing he couldn’t have the same with Blythe because of it only added to the pain.
“Good idea.” Blythe was at his side. “I’ll go with you. We can stop at your house on the way and change.”
“You’re not−”
She held her hand in his face. "This doesn't mean anything for us, but she's your sister-in-law, and she needs you. Family comes first. Now move."
Fine. If she wanted to put herself in the middle of a Cole family smack down, it would be on her. At least having her there would remind him what they had all stolen from him, incase seeing the kid made him sentimental.
****
Blythe held her breath the whole way from the truck to Hunter’s front porch, praying Mike had taken her suggestion and left in the taxi. She’d stepped inside the house seconds before Hunter and searched for Mike. He wasn’t there.
She ran up the stairs for her shoes and found Hunter’s phone on the stand with the message light blinking. One call rang up Fort Mavis Medical and the second she recognized as Mike’s cell. Without listening to the message, she deleted it.
"You don’t have to do this.” Hunter met her at the base of the steps and blocked her with his chest.
“I know I don’t need to. I want to.”
He frowned. “Why?”
She slid one shoe on and held the other between them. “Because, as screwed up as you are, you deserve someone on your side.”
He glowered at her. “I can handle my family.”
“Yes.” She slid on her other shoe, using his shoulder to balance. The ride from the kennel to the ranch had given them both time to calm down, but her hands still shook. “I know you can, but why should you have too alone? Whether you want me to or not, I'm not leaving you.”
He folded his arms over his chest and stared before giving up with a shrug. “Fine. Have it your way.”
The ride to the hospital was long and silent. By the time they reached the front desk of the small medical center, Blythe had to clear her throat to speak. Her fingers shook with adrenaline as she gave the name and listened to the nurse direct Hunter to the room. She didn’t follow.
Alone in the waiting room, she sat, watching families come and go. She lost track of how long she'd been there until her head fell back and she woke herself from dozing.
"Blythe?" Gramps put a hand on her shoulder. He was out of breath and sweating. Blythe shot to attention. "I just came in from searching for Beau. The boys found him a couple of miles out. He'll be here soon. Any news?"
“Nothing.” She rubbed her sore neck. “Hunter went back when we got here, but nothing else has happened.”
Gramps dropped to the chair next to her. “Cole labors are always fast. I’m sure we’ll hear something soon.”
Blythe laughed dryly. “There’s no guarantee of that. It could be hours still.”
“Not in this family. We follow tradition.”
Blythe bit her tongue until she tasted the blood. She couldn’t hold her feelings back any longer. “Maybe it’s time you stop following tradition and start talking to each other.”
Gramps’s mouth twitched, and he opened it to speak when Hunter rounded the corner to the waiting room, his facemask still around his neck. He grinned when he looked at her, but the smile faded when Gramps stood. "What happened?"
Hunter pulled the mask off and held his hand out to Gramps. “You have a healthy great-grandson. Congrats.”
Both men hugged. For the second time in a day, Blythe had to wipe the tears from her cheeks. She noticed she wasn’t the only one when Gramps turned to hide his puffy eyes from his grandson. It melted her heart to see the emotion the men shared. It gave her a glimpse at what the Coles could be if they would just work out the past.
“They’re taking care of baby Cole, but Molly wanted me to bring everyone to the room.”
Without a glance in her direction, Hunter laid a hand on Gramps's shoulder and led him back into the hall. Hunter wasn’t going to need Blythe on his side anymore. He now had a nephew to pull him into the family. He needed time and space to mend his broken relationship with them.
On the way in, they had run by a taxi stop. If she hurried, she could still catch the flight back to Virginia and be out of the Coles’ hair before baby Cole stole all of their attention. Hunter could send the rest of her clothes by mail when he had a chance and sell the car once Dale fixed it. She would only be in the way if she stayed.
She stopped at the nurses’ desk to leave Hunter a note.
“Blythe.” Beau came up behind her, as out of breath as Gramps had been. “Do you know where she is?”
“She’s fine,” Blythe said. “Hunter and your grandfather are with her and the baby now.”
His eyes lit. “The baby?”
“Mr. Cole?” The nurse spoke up. “We’ve been looking for you. Come with me, and I’ll take you to your wife.”
Beau turned to her. “Are you coming?”
Blythe stalled and shook her head. As much as she wanted a chance to say goodbye, Hunter didn't need that right now. "It's a family thing and a full room." She smiled. "Congratulations."
Beau opened his mouth, as if he wanted to argue, but shut it as soon as the nurse took off down the hall.
That baby boy had a hard job ahead of healing the Cole family, but if anything could remind people of how much they cared for each other, it was the crying sounds of a baby. At least, that was her hope for the Coles.
They would all be fine, and she still had a chance to making it home in time to settle in for a couple of days before school started again. At least she would have enough time to come up with a good story about the vacation.
Leaving them behind made her shake with sadness. Knowing Hunter had a chance at happiness had to be enough.
She took one last look down the hall, where the Coles had disappeared, and then stepped out the waiting room door.