I double-checked the drop box, hoping I’d missed a note or something the first time I’d checked. It was empty. The only thing in there had been the key now resting in my hand.
Hunter had moved out of my motel.
I hadn’t heard from him since I’d watched him drive away from the motel yesterday after our fight by the flower bed.
I shouldn’t be surprised that he’d dropped off his key. His house was done and I’d known he’d always planned on leaving this week, but that didn’t make this easier.
“Mommy, are you sad?”
I sniffled and swiped the tears away. “A little bit, buddy. But I’ll be okay.”
Forcing a smile, I bent down and kissed his forehead and then I put away the key on my pegboard.
“Come on, buddy. Let’s go make dinner and play with Pickle.” I guided Coby toward the stairs.
“Is Hunter coming?”
I shook my head. “No, he isn’t.”
“Why?”
“Just because. Do you think Pickle might want to go for an extra-long walk tonight? Maybe down to the ice cream shop?”
“Yeah!”
I followed Coby upstairs, glad I’d been able to dodge his questions about Hunter for one more evening. Answering them would just bring back the tears I’d been fighting all day.
“Come on, Coby. Help me put these away, please.” I was on my hands and knees, picking up Hot Wheels strewn around the living room.
He picked up a car and drove it across the carpet to the storage tub. “Can Hunter have a sleepover tonight?”
Another day had passed and I had spent all evening answering Hunter questions from Coby.
“No, buddy. Remember what I told you?”
“He’s at his own house now,” he moped.
“But we can still do fun stuff. After we get these put away, should we do a special bath? Maybe use a color bomb?”
“Yeah! A blue one!” He dropped the car and stripped off his clothes as he raced to the bathroom.
I closed my eyes and sighed. Two days since our fight and I hadn’t spoken to Hunter. He’d called and left me a voicemail. He’d pleaded with me to call him back so we could talk.
But I’d stayed silent.
I’d thrown myself into work these past two days, hoping my normal pre-Hunter routine would help me make sense of everything. I’d hoped that after a couple of days, I would know what I wanted to say.
But for the first time in years, work hadn’t helped.
No matter how hard I’d tried, all I could think about was Hunter.
He was on my mind while I scrubbed bathrooms and while I made beds. He was on my mind while I lay awake at night, unable to sleep.
All I’d thought about for two days was if I had the guts to take him back.
Day three after my fight with Hunter and I was a mess.
My entire body ached, my eyes were rimmed with dark circles, and my stomach was so knotted I hadn’t been able to eat.
But I was putting on a good front for Coby’s sake. At least I was trying.
“Mommy, is Hunter still going to come to my T-ball game tomorrow?”
Tucking his blanket around Coby’s shoulders, I sighed. “Maybe, buddy. But Hunter has a really important job and he might not be able to make it. Do you want to know what he does?”
He nodded and snuggled further into his pillow.
“Hunter is a doctor. He works at the hospital helping sick people. Sometimes that means he might not be able to hang out with us or go to T-ball games because he’s working. But isn’t that awesome? That he can help other people feel better? He’s a superhero, helping other people kind of like police officers do.”
“And Captain America.”
I nodded. “And Captain America.”
Coby’s forehead furrowed. “But if all the people are better, Hunter can come to my game, right?”
I caressed his hair. “Maybe.” It broke my heart that I’d put a wedge between Hunter and Coby, but before I could tear up, I changed the subject. “Now, tell me what you want to dream about tonight. Monster trucks? Dinosaurs?”
“Snakes!”
“Snakes! Blech.” I cringed. “No snakes.” I made a hissing sound and slithered my fingers along his neck until he giggled. “Good night, buddy. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
Kissing his forehead, I tucked him in tighter and then walked out of his room. As soon as the latch caught, my shoulders slumped. Every cell in my body was tired. The only thing three days of wearing myself to the bone had done was make me realize just how much I had overreacted.
Hunter wasn’t Everett.
I’d been holding things against Hunter that weren’t his fault. I’d been afraid of being hurt so I’d driven him away. But in these last three days, I’d learned I had something bigger to fear.
Losing Hunter.
Which meant the voicemail I was about to return was days overdue.
I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, then I put on some pajama pants and an old T-shirt to climb into bed. Cuddled deep underneath my covers, I opened my phone and touched Hunter’s number. When the ringing started, my feet started tapping beneath my sheets.
Please answer.
By the third ring, the bouncing in my feet had spread up to my legs and the entire bed was shaking.
“Hey.”
My legs stopped moving and tears flooded my eyes at the sound of his voice. “Hi,” I choked out.
We both stayed quiet for a moment until Hunter spoke first. “I’m sorry, Blondie.”
I inhaled a shaky breath and whispered, “I’m sorry too.”
He sighed. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too.” Three days of stress and anxiety erased with just one simple call.
“I shouldn’t have gotten so pissed on Sunday, and I really am sorry I didn’t tell you I was a doctor. Please believe me when I say I honestly thought you knew. I mean, you’re Gigi’s best friend. You talk to her all the time. I’ve always got my phone in case I’m on call. I just assumed you knew and understood why I couldn’t talk much about work.”
I’d just assumed he was as attached to his phone as me and most other people in the world. “It’s okay. I’m sorry too. It wasn’t fair of me to compare you to Everett. I just . . . I hate secrets, Hunter. Everett was so secretive. I’m not trying to compare you. I’m just telling you why it scares me.”
“I understand, and I know it’s hard. There’s a lot you don’t know about me, but I’m begging here, stick with me. Please? Give us some time. Give me some time and I promise you’ll know me better than anyone else.”
I nodded into my pillow. “Okay.”
Giving Hunter time wouldn’t be a problem. These last few days had been so miserable I’d do just about anything not to go through a separation again.
“Thank you,” he breathed.
“Can you do something for me though?”
“Name it.”
“Just tell me more about your day. I don’t need patient specifics but just a little more about what your day is like.”
“Done.”
I grinned. “And no more one-word answers. They make me cringe.”
He chuckled. “I’ll do my best to use wordy sentences from now on.”
It wasn’t everything. But it was something. “Thank you.”
“Are you in bed already?”
“Yeah. I’ve had a hard time sleeping.”
“Me too, baby. This fight? I’m wrecked. I haven’t slept since before the rodeo. Apparently, I need you in my arms in order to sleep now.”
I smiled. He needs me to sleep.
“Can I come and see you tomorrow over lunch?”
I yawned. “Yes, please.”
“How’s Coby?”
“Good, but he misses you. He’s been asking about you nonstop.”
“I miss him too. I was planning on sneaking over to watch his T-ball game tomorrow.”
“No sneaking allowed. Let’s just go together.” I yawned again but didn’t want to hang up yet. “How’s your house?”
He chuckled. “Empty. Really empty. I was giving you one more day to cool off and then I was going to come to the motel on Friday. My plan was to beg for your forgiveness and then bribe you with interior decorating to win you back.”
“I like the sounds of this bribe. Maybe I’m still mad at you then,” I teased.
“Well, I guess I’ll have to give you my credit card and free rein to do anything you want in my house.”
My smile got bigger. “Keep talking.”
“I need furniture. All I have is a bed.”
“What else?”
“All the walls are white. You can paint them any color you want.”
I giggled. This man had me pegged. “Sold.”
We talked for a while about nothing. I told him about my guests the past few days and Coby. Hunter told me how much he liked working at the hospital with Gigi.
When I yawned for the third time, Hunter deemed it time for bed. “You’d better get some sleep.”
“Yeah. See you tomorrow?”
“Yes. Sleep well, baby.”
“Hunter?” I asked before he could hang up.
“Yeah?”
“I’m falling in love with you too.”
He sighed. “There. Now I’ll be able to sleep.”
I disconnected and set the phone aside, then I snuggled into my pillow with a smile.
It was still on my face when I woke up after a long night’s rest.
Hunter
“Hunter,” Maisy gasped as her back bowed off the bed.
The second her orgasm hit, I grabbed her hips and pinned her to the mattress as my tongue stroked her clit even faster. She bucked and twisted as her moans filled the room. The louder she got, the more I sucked as my fingers curled inside and stroked her pulsing walls. When she collapsed onto the bed, I abandoned her clit and started lapping up her juices while her body twitched with aftershocks.
“I missed your taste on my tongue.” I kissed the inside of her thighs, then I lifted up to use the sheet to dry off my beard.
“Wow.” Her eyes were still closed and her chest heaving.
I chuckled and got off the bed. “That was the best lunch I’ve had in days.”
“Hunter!” She laughed and sat up, reaching for a pillow to toss at my head. “I can’t believe you said that!”
“What?” I caught the pillow and tossed it back. “I’m just saying. Your pussy is a lot better than frozen meals in the hospital break room.”
“Oh my god.” She blushed and rolled out of bed, reaching for the panties and jeans that I’d stripped off the second we’d hit her bedroom.
“I have to get back,” I said, “but I’ve got a light afternoon so I’ll meet you here before Coby’s game.”
“Wait. What about you?” She stepped closer and dug her hands into the front pocket of my jeans. When her fingertips found my hard cock through the cotton, she rubbed the tip.
I hissed, my hips jerking back as my hands came to hers and stopped them before she could go any further. “Any more of that and I’ll never go back to the hospital.” I leaned down and brushed my lips to hers, knowing she’d get her own taste. “Don’t worry. I’ll let you make it up to me tonight.”
She grinned against my lips. “I’ll spend the afternoon thinking of something creative.”
My dick got harder. After days without her, I’d be getting creative too. I just hoped she’d gotten enough sleep last night because she wouldn’t be getting much tonight.
With her fingers laced in mine, she walked me down to the lobby. After one long kiss, she stood by the sign and waved as I pulled out of the parking lot.
Fuck she was beautiful.
She was the big fish.
That’s what Dad had always said about my mom. He’d used fishing analogies to teach me about women.
Catch the big fish, Son. And when you do, don’t let her go, no matter how hard she fights.
Maisy was going to put up a hell of a fight when she learned about my past. I just hoped she’d find forgiveness for me too. I wasn’t just falling in love with Maisy Holt. I was head over heels.
If I fucked this up, if I lost her? My heart would never recover. So my timing had to be just right. I couldn’t tell her everything too soon. Not until I knew she loved me and might be willing to move forward. I couldn’t tell her everything too late. If I waited longer than absolutely necessary, she’d never get over the secrets.
Really, I should have fessed up years ago. But it was too late now so here I was, hoping that Maisy wouldn’t ask me to leave once she learned the truth. When she learned about Nell.
Fucking Nell.
I dug my phone out of my pocket and hit her number. She’d called me all morning but I’d ignored her. She didn’t have anything original to say, just more threatening texts and voicemail messages.
What happens next is your fault.
These conversations were always some variation of the same. Idle threats.
But this time around, I was calling her bluff. If she hadn’t retaliated by now, I doubted that she would. I just hoped one day soon she’d get bored and move on to torturing someone else.
“It’s about time you returned my call,” she snapped after the first ring.
“What do you want, Nell? Your message said something about my stuff?”
“Yes. I found some of your old things today. I need to know where I should ship them.”
“Donate them to charity. Throw them in the trash. I don’t give a fuck. I told you already, I don’t want any of it.”
“Nothing? You want nothing?”
“That’s right. Nothing.” I had everything I already needed. I had clothes. I had my camera. I had my parents’ wedding picture. I had the one picture of my dad and me fishing two summers before he died. I wish I had found Mom’s wedding ring, but since it was lost, whatever else Nell had found in my old stuff, she could have.
“I can’t believe this. I can’t believe you!” she shouted.
“Believe it.” I ended the call and kept driving.
She was pissing me off, but I wouldn’t let it wreck my day. By the time I pulled into the hospital, I’d brushed off Nell’s call and was ready to get my day over with so I could go to Coby’s game.
“Someone had a nice lunch.” Gigi greeted me as I walked by the counter in the emergency room.
I smiled. “Not too bad.” Pretty fucking delicious, actually.
“Considering she just texted me and said you two have worked things out, I’m guessing that smug grin has to do with my best friend.”
“It does.”
She smiled. “Good. She needs a good guy like you.”
Gigi and I had seen one another in passing this week but hadn’t had a chance to discuss my relationship with Maisy. I’d been waiting for Gigi to comment, so I watched her for a moment, waiting, but she just stood there smiling.
“That’s it?” I asked. “No interrogation? No threats about making her happy?”
She shook her head. “Not from me, but don’t you worry. You’ll get plenty of that from her brothers. If you hurt her, Beau and Michael will skin you alive. And I know for a fact that Beau could hide your dead body in a place no one would ever find it.”
“Right.” Message received. “I can’t promise I won’t screw up, but what I feel for Maisy is real. I’m doing everything with her feelings in mind and whatever I can to make her happy.”
“See that you do.” She slid an iPad over the counter. “I’ve input a few new patient notes for your afternoon rounds.”
“Thank you.” I took the iPad and walked toward the stairs, but before my feet hit the first step, I paused and turned back to Gigi. “She hasn’t healed.”
Gigi shook her head. “No, she’s buried it all. She lets that motel run her life, and she focuses all of her energy on the Bitterroot and Coby. She puts on a smile. She tells everyone she’s happy. But no, she hasn’t healed. She doesn’t even know what she’s missing.”
“I’ll help her heal,” I promised.
She studied my face. “See that door right there?”
I looked over my shoulder to the metal door that led to the basement—the basement where Everett had tried to kill the woman I loved.
“If you can get her past that door,” Gigi said, “you might just have a chance. She’s got to face what happened. She thinks she’s a killer. She doesn’t see that she’s a savior. Make her see that, Hunter.”
I nodded.
If it was the last thing I did, I’d make her see.
“Hunter!” Coby sprinted toward my legs. “Are you coming to my game?”
I bent and caught him before he could crash into my knees. Then I picked him up and tossed him high. “You bet I am! I’ve got to be there to cheer when you hit a home run.”
Coby’s smile was infectious. As much as I loved Maisy, I was in just as deep with this boy.
I settled him on my hip and let him wrap his arms around my neck. “I missed you these past few days, buddy.”
“I missed you too.” He hugged me tighter. “Mommy said you were taking care of other people because you’re a doctor. She said you’re like Captain America.”
Maisy was bragging me up? Now that felt amazing.
I looked over to her at the door and winked. “Thanks, Blondie.”
She smiled and made my world a little brighter.
I squeezed Coby again, then set him down, smoothing out his Prescott Café T-Ball shirt. “Where’s your glove?”
“My room.”
“Go get it.”
As Coby ran off, I bent down to pick up Pickle, who was attacking my feet. This was a good day. Even the dog had missed me. I set Pickle back down and I stepped over to Maisy, pulling her into my side.
“No more nights apart. Even if we fight, we’ve got to work it out. I can’t be gone from you guys for this long.”
Her head fell into my chest and her hand slipped into my back jeans pocket. “No more nights apart.”
I kissed her temple and let her go just as Coby came barreling back down the hall. “Ready!”
After depositing Pickle in his crate, I took the keys to Maisy’s car and loaded up my girl and my boy to drive them to the T-ball game.
“Uncle Beau!” Coby shouted the minute I lifted him out of his car seat.
“Coby, remember you have to call him Coach Holt tonight,” Maisy said, stepping out of the 4Runner.
“Oops.” He giggled. “Coach Holt!”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Maisy grabbed Coby’s hand before he could go running off. “You’re in a parking lot.”
He smacked his palm to his forehead. “Whoops. I forgot.”
“Goofball,” Maisy teased. “Come on. Look both ways, then we can go.”
She slipped her hand in mine and we crossed the gravel parking lot.
I scanned the people standing in huddles on the green grass and recognized a few faces. I spotted Beau and Jess, the team’s co-coaches, talking to a group of guys leaning against the chain-link fence that bordered the field. Gigi and her girls were sitting on a wooden bench while Ben was lapping the bases with a couple of other kids.
“This is a nice complex,” I told Maisy as we walked.
“I think so too. Prescott might not have a lot of kids, but the community is great about supporting the teams we have.”
It was one of the things I loved about this town. It was one of the many things I loved about Maisy. The pride she had in her town. The pride she had in The Bitterroot Inn. She’d worked hard to create a place that the citizens of Prescott cherished.
And they didn’t just love her motel. They loved her.
Over the last few days, word that Maisy and I were together had spread like wildfire. Oblivious to our fight, all of the patients I’d seen in the last four days had done nothing but sing her praises.
“You know, you’re a part of that,” I told her. “People take a lot of pride in what you’ve done at the motel.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she told her flip-flops. “I think people are still waiting for me to fail.”
I shook my head, wishing she knew just how special she was. “They’re proud of what you’ve built.”
She shrugged and waved to her parents, who were setting up camp chairs in the grassy rise behind home plate.
I dropped the motel conversation but silently vowed to make her see just how remarkable she was. Just like I’d been telling her over the last month how lucky Coby was to have her as his mom.
In time, I’d make her see it all.
“Hi, guys!” Marissa said as we reached their spot. She finished laying out a huge denim blanket on the grass, then came over to Coby for a kiss on his cheek. She hugged Maisy, then turned to me. “I’m so glad you’re here, Hunter.”
“Me too.”
Marissa gave me a hug, then looked over her shoulder to summon Maisy’s dad. “Brock! Get over here and meet Hunter.”
A large man, Beau’s size but with an unhealthy belly, came walking over with Michael at his side.
I held out my hand as he did the same. “Mr. Holt. Nice to meet you. I’m Hunter Faraday.”
He grabbed my hand and shook it back with two hard pumps. “Brock Holt. Glad you could make it.”
He let me go and I held out my hand to Michael. “Good to see you again.”
“You too. Glad you could make it.”
Both of the Holt men gave Maisy a hug, then doted on Coby.
“Remember,” Michael told his nephew, “you’ve got to hustle to first as soon as you hit the ball. Don’t stop. Run through the bag.”
Coby nodded. “I practiced with Un—Coach Holt.”
“And don’t forget, Grandson,” Brock said. “They might not be keeping score, but I am.”
“Dad,” Maisy scolded at the same time my eyes snapped to Brock.
“What?” I asked. “They’re not keeping score? Then who wins?”
“Exactly!” Brock boomed, throwing up his hands. “Who the hell knows? Why wouldn’t you keep score? Teach these kids about winning and losing. Nope, everyone here is a winner.”
“Now, Brock. Don’t get all worked up,” Marissa said.
“Too late,” Michael muttered as Brock completely ignored his wife and started telling me all about the problems with children’s sports in today’s society.
“Shoot,” Maisy muttered, standing as the teams on the field got ready to start the game. “I forgot the waters in the car. Keys?”
I dug them out of my pocket and dropped them in her outstretched hand.
“Be right back.”
When she was out of earshot, Michael looked over his shoulder from his seat below me. “Beau will give you the full lecture, but I’ll just say this: if you hurt my sister, I’ll help him hide your body.”
Gigi hadn’t been far off on her warning today.
“I won’t hurt your sister.” I didn’t care that her brother was threatening me. I was glad Maisy had such a loyal family. I looked to my right at Brock, expecting the same type of warning, but he just shook his head.
“You won’t get a warning from me. My boys will take care of their sister, but I will say this.” He leaned closer to speak softly. “My girl, she needs to know it’s safe to fall in love. She needs to see that she can trust a man. Be that man for her, Hunter. Protect her from the shit in this world. God knows, she’s seen enough. It’s time for her to get some peace.”
I nodded and turned back to the T-ball game, where Coby and his team were practicing on the field while the opposing team was huddled by their dugout.
When he looked over, Coby waved the ball and shouted, “Watch this, Hunter!” He wound up and threw from second plate to first with all his might. It made it about three-quarters of the way there before hitting the dirt and rolling to a stop.
I clapped and cheered, “Good job, buddy! Nice toss!”
He beamed and I waved again.
That kid. He was amazing.
When my eyes met Brock’s, his thoughts were transparent.
He didn’t just want a man for his daughter. He wanted a father for his grandson.
I nodded.
That man would be me.