Maisy
“Are you sure this is how you want to be spending your Friday off?” I asked Gigi.
She was on the other side of the bed I was making, tucking the white sheet under the mattress’s corner.
“I’m sure.” She smoothed out the cotton. “We haven’t had much time with just the two of us lately.”
Between the kids, friends and work, I couldn’t remember the last time Gigi and I had done something alone. “True story. But we could plan something special instead, like a lunch date or afternoon pedicures. Do you really want to spend the day helping me clean and do laundry?”
“Yep. I miss working with you, so today, we’ll work together.”
I smiled and whipped the comforter onto the bed. “I miss working with you too.”
Years ago, I’d been a nurse at Jamison Valley Hospital with Gigi. We’d met on her first day of work and instantly hit it off. But after everything that had happened that year, after that horrific night, I’d quit my job and given up my nursing career.
“Can I tell you something?” she asked.
“Yeah. Always.”
Gigi stopped straightening the comforter and shook her head. “I had a nightmare about it the other night. About . . . you know.”
Yeah, I knew.
“I haven’t had a dream like that in years,” she continued. “It kind of messed with me. Does that ever happen to you?”
I nodded. “Sometimes.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” There was a hesitation in her voice.
Gigi and I hadn’t spoken about that time much. Instead of hashing it out together, she’d confided in Jess and I’d seen a therapist for a while. It had been traumatic, for both of us, and instead of dwelling on the bad memories, we’d chosen to make the best of it and move on. We even held a party each year to mark the anniversary of our kidnapping. But after all this time, the pain from that night was still fresh. The bad memories I tried to trap in a bottle kept leaking out.
Maybe it was time to open the lid and empty the bottle dry.
I walked around to the foot of the bed and sank down on the mattress. “I don’t have nightmares but I have these weird flashes sometimes. Like déjà vu, but worse. They’re more real. I don’t know how to describe them without sounding like a crazy person.”
Gigi sat by my side. “You’re not a crazy person.”
I shrugged. “I try not to think about it at all. It’s too easy to go back to the dark place, but lately it seems to be popping into my head more. I don’t like to talk about it, but maybe we should.”
Gigi reached out to hold my hand. “We don’t have to.”
“No, maybe it will help. But will you go first? Tell me what your dream was about.”
She squeezed my hand and took a deep breath. “It was just like reliving it all over again. I was at the farmhouse and Everett showed up and took me. Then I woke up in the hospital basement and he brought you in. From there, everything went in slow motion. The fight. The scalpel. The blood.” She shuddered. “I can still hear the rattle of that pill bottle.”
“Me too,” I whispered as chills traveled down my spine. I hated that sound.
“What are your flashes about?”
“Mostly the same except they don’t always stay true to what really happened. Sometimes he gets me to take the pills. Sometimes he stabs me. No matter what, they are as real as if we were still in that basement. I can still smell it. Hear the sounds. Feel the chill in the air. They’re so real.”
Gigi’s hand squeezed mine tighter. “Oh, Maisy, I’m so sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry.” I shook my head. “He was my boyfriend. I should have noticed the signs and seen how evil he was, then none of that would have happened to us.”
“It is not your fault. None of us saw who he really was. He was a master at keeping his true self hidden.”
I’d told myself that same thing for years, but I’d always wonder if I could have done more had I not been so blinded by his handsome façade.
The day Everett Carlson had set foot in Prescott was the day my life had changed. He’d been a new doctor at the hospital, gorgeous and charming, and I’d been completely infatuated with him from the beginning. I had looked at him with stars in my eyes and not seen the deceit hidden beneath his perfect smile.
Lies. Everything he’d done, everything he’d pretended to be during our relationship, had all been lies.
In truth, he’d been a drug dealer, smuggling pills from the hospital and then selling them around town. He’d kidnapped Gigi because he’d thought she was onto his operation. He’d kidnapped me because I’d gotten pregnant and refused to have the abortion he had wanted. That night in the hospital basement, he’d planned on killing her and shoving enough pills down my throat to kill my baby.
To kill Coby.
Everett hadn’t gotten the chance. Gigi had fought back and created an opening for me to attack. To kill my child’s father.
I hadn’t stepped foot inside the hospital since that horrible night. There were too many memories there. Too many reminders of how naïve I’d been. Too many reminders that I had taken a life.
Too many reminders that I could have lost my son.
“I’m dreading the day Coby asks about his dad,” I whispered. It was my biggest fear. “What do I tell him?”
Gigi shook her head. “I don’t know, but whenever that time comes, I know you’ll tell him the right thing.”
“I hope you’re right.”
We sat together, holding hands, until a guest talking on his phone passed the room and broke the silence.
“Well, that got all kinds of serious.” Gigi laughed. “Change of subject?”
I took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes, please.”
“Are you excited for your date tomorrow?”
“Ugh,” I groaned, standing to resume making the bed. “I guess.”
“Felicity swears this guy is a catch. You never know, it could be fun.”
“You’re right. I shouldn’t be so cynical.” Once upon a time, I’d gotten excited for dates. I’d plan a special outfit. I’d put in effort to exfoliate, do my nails, spend extra time on my hair and makeup. But now, I just couldn’t find the motivation.
“You’re not cynical.” She fitted a pillow in its case. “You’ve just been burned by one really bad relationship and some crappy first dates. You’ve got good reason to be guarded, but Maisy, not every guy is a drug-dealing killer. You just have to keep an open mind and remember some guys need a second chance. I recall you telling me that once when I wrote Jess off as a jackass.”
I smiled. When Jess and Gigi had met, Jess had been a grade-A asshole, but I’d promised Gigi that he wasn’t a jerk and encouraged—begged—her to give him a shot. And in time, he’d won her over. “Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Do you want to borrow anything to wear? We could finish up here, go grab some lunch, then head out to the farmhouse and you could raid my closet.”
“I was actually thinking about just wearing a black blouse and some jeans.”
She tossed me a pillow. “Black? It’s spring.”
“What? Black is a classic no matter the season.”
“Fine. Are you at least going to wear heels?”
I scrunched up my nose at the thought of my toes pinched all evening in my black pumps. “How about flats?” I was a tennis-shoe-and-sneaker kind of girl these days, but I had one pair of patent flats that weren’t too bad.
Gigi gave me her mom look and I knew there would be no winning an argument about my footwear.
“Okay, I’ll wear heels.”
“Good,” she said smugly.
I smiled and went back to cleaning, glad Gigi was here and we could spend some overdue time together. I’d grown up in Prescott, and I had friends in town that I’d known since childhood. But my relationship with Gigi was special. Not only had we survived something traumatic together, but we connected on a deeper level than I ever had with another girlfriend. If I was struggling, she was always there with a comforting hug. When I’d found out I was pregnant, I’d gone right to her for advice. Besides my mom, she was my best friend and confidant.
And yet for some reason, as the day went on, I didn’t once mention Hunter.
Normally, she’d be the first I’d tell about hot motel guests, but something about Hunter was different. I wanted to keep him all to myself right now. So I stayed tight-lipped about him all through the morning, even as we cleaned his room.
But by the time we made it back to the utility room to start the laundry before lunch, I’d decided to at least tell her about getting my photograph project started. “So, I think I’ve got a photographer to start taking pictures for new art in all the rooms.”
“Really?” She handed me a pile of sheets for a washing machine. “That’s awesome! Who is it?”
“He’s a guest.” I started one washer and then moved to the next. “He came into the lobby the other day with his camera and we got to talking. He’s pretty inexperienced so we’re just going to see how it goes, but I’m taking him around Sunday to show him some places I thought would be good for room photos.”
“I hope he turns out better than the last photographer you approached.”
I scoffed and dumped some detergent into the machine. “It can’t be much worse.”
When I’d originally had the idea to do local photos with matching postcards, I’d approached the one and only photographer in town. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been interested in my project, preferring her weddings and senior portraits, and on top of that, I had a small budget. So I’d gone out of town and hired a cheap photographer to come to Prescott.
The guy had been my age and good looking with a hippy vibe. Basically, he’d been the anti-Everett. He had also been the first and only man I’d slept with since Everett.
The morning after I’d hooked up with the photographer, he’d left a note backing out of the photography job. Gigi and I had speculated that he hadn’t wanted to get involved with a single mom. Maybe he’d thought I’d be clingy or ask for a discount on his photos. Whatever. To this day, I hadn’t a clue.
Regardless, he’d left and I had decided to postpone the art replacement. Now I was getting excited about the project again and hoped things with Hunter would turn out better.
“I’ve been meaning to apologize,” Gigi said, pulling me from those memories. “I shouldn’t have brought up that new doctor the other night. Not in front of everyone else.”
I shrugged and started folding a basket of towels. “It’s okay. Sorry I got snappy about it. I’m sure your doctor is nice but I just can’t go there.”
“I understand.” She took a towel too. “I should have known better than to bring it up but Sara was so excited, I couldn’t tell her no.”
“It’s okay. I know everyone is coming from a good place.”
“We just want you to be happy.”
I set down the folded towel. “I am happy. Even if it’s only ever me and Coby, I’m happy.”
She gave me a sad smile, like she didn’t believe me. “Okay.”
We folded quietly for a few moments until Gigi asked, “Where are you thinking about taking the photographer on Sunday?”
Anywhere. I’d take Hunter Faraday anywhere, just for the chance to get to know him.
The butterflies in my stomach fluttered like crazy as I told Gigi about the places I’d brainstormed for Sunday. By the time we took a break for lunch, I could barely contain my excitement.
And it wasn’t just for the pictures. I was beaming at the prospect of spending an afternoon with Hunter.
Warren Adams was going to have to bring his A game to our date tomorrow if he wanted to stand any chance at getting a second, because right now, I was all about Hunter Faraday.
I glanced at my phone for the twentieth time in the last forty-five minutes and still didn’t see a message.
Warren Adams was nearly an hour late for our date. No text. No call. No email.
No nothing.
I had been stood up.
And if that didn’t bruise a girl’s ego, I didn’t know what did.
Oh, well. It was for the best. Last night, I’d actually considered canceling with Warren because I hadn’t thought it fair to date him when I was completely infatuated with another man. But I’d kept the date, feeling that a last-minute cancelation would be rude. Then I’d promised myself I’d give Warren a real chance.
I totally should have canceled.
I’d wasted precious hair and makeup product for nothing.
Grabbing my phone, I was in the middle of sending Felicity a text, telling her that she was never allowed to set me up again, when my waitress stopped by.
“No-show?” she asked.
I looked up and shook my head. “No. I guess I’ll take my check for the wine.”
“You bet.”
Her sympathetic smile made me feel ridiculous. I didn’t need a date to eat at a nice restaurant. I didn’t need a man sitting across from me to order an expensive steak. Screw that and screw Warren Adams.
“Actually,” I called her back before she could go too far, “will you bring me a menu and another glass of the house red?”
“Absolutely.” She smiled and gave me an “atta girl” nod. “Be right back.”
I grinned and sat a little taller in my high-backed booth. Dinner tonight would be a gift to myself for all the hard work I’d been doing to get ready for this year’s tourist season.
Taking a sip of my wine, I relaxed in the thickly padded maroon bench seat and inspected my table. Each table at The Black Bull was unique, made of the same wood but charred with different cattle brands. Together with the dark paneled walls made from reclaimed barnwood and the chandeliers made of animal antlers, the restaurant struck the perfect balance of rustic and refined.
Table inspection complete, I went back to my phone and finished the text message to Felicity. I’d just hit send when a figure appeared by the end of my booth. I looked up, expecting to see my waitress, but instead it was Hunter.
“Oh.” I blinked twice. “Hi!” My greeting came out overly excited and a touch too loud.
“Hey.”
Dressed in jeans and a soft gray sweater, his eyes were sparkling in the dim light. His hair was pulled back in his signature man bun, but the strands that were usually loose at his ears had been trapped tight.
It was official. Every time I saw Hunter, he got sexier.
“Are you eating alone?” he asked.
Realizing I’d been staring, I dropped my eyes to the table. When I looked back up, I forced an easy smile so he’d think I ate dinner by myself all the time. I really didn’t want Hunter to know that I’d been stood up for a date. “Yep. Just me tonight.”
“He showed!” The waitress’s timing was lousy.
My smile fell as my cheeks burst into flames.
She set my second glass of wine on the table. “Better late than never.”
“Were you meeting someone?” Hunter asked as she hustled away.
I shrugged. “I was, but he didn’t show.”
He pointed to the booth’s open space. “May I?”
“Um, sure.” I scrambled to pull my napkin to my side of the table and scoot my wine out of his space. As he slid into the booth, I wiped my sweaty hands on my pants underneath the table, then took a sip from my water.
His feet were inches away from mine. I could smell his cologne from across the table. Was Hunter going to eat with me? Or just keep me company for a bit? Oh, god. What if he was just biding his time with me until his own date arrived?
He was probably just sitting here out of pity, waiting for his supermodel date to come and claim him. “Is your date running late?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m here alone.”
Yes! I fist pumped under the table.
“I was craving a steak,” Hunter said. “Would you mind if I joined you tonight since we’re both alone?”
Woo-hoo! “Not at all.” I gave myself a mental pat on the back for not blurting out my immediate response.
Our waitress returned and handed Hunter a menu. “Here you go,” she said, glancing at him but then doing a double take. I smiled as she blushed, completely understanding her need to gawk.
Hunter was the type of man women looked at more than once.
After ordering himself a beer, we spent a few moments studying our menus. No matter how many times my eyes focused on the letters, I’d lost the ability to read. I’d never felt this kind of dumbing attraction to a man before, not even with Everett.
“You look beautiful,” Hunter said.
My eyes ran up the menu and landed on his. The intensity of his stare was so breathtaking all I could manage in response was a breathy thank-you.
He grinned just as our waitress returned to take our orders and deliver Hunter’s beer. I used the brief reprieve to cross my legs and shift in the bench, hoping to quench some of the throbbing between my thighs.
“Where’s Coby tonight?” Hunter asked after taking a swig from his beer.
“He’s with my brother Beau and his fiancée, Sabrina. They’re having a campout.”
“Isn’t it a little cold? There was frost on the ground this morning.”
I smiled. “Their campouts are in Beau’s basement. He’s got a special tent for Coby and everything.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“Yeah, they’ll have a good time. Beau and Sabrina are getting married next month and Beau is really close with Coby. Sabrina loves the campouts because they give her a chance to bond with Coby as an aunt.”
“And then you get a date night.”
I huffed and took another sip of my wine. “I am done with date nights.”
“Why is that?”
“I just haven’t had a lot of good dates lately.”
He nodded. “I know how that goes.”
“You do?” Hunter was gorgeous and could have any single woman he desired as a dinner companion. There should be no such thing as a bad date in his world. “Have you had a lot of bad dates lately?”
“Kind of.”
Kind of. I grimaced at the words. The one response I hated above all others was “kind of.”
It hadn’t used to be that way, but Everett had said “kind of” more times than I could count and he’d ruined me on the phrase. It wasn’t a yes. It wasn’t a no. It was the perfect answer to dodge any question.
Kind of. Blech.
I swallowed the bitter taste in my mouth with more wine. Hunter didn’t know my aversion to that phrase and I certainly wasn’t going to explain tonight, just like I didn’t expect him to explain his dating history. If he didn’t want to talk about past relationships, I wouldn’t pry. For all I knew, he could have just had a breakup or gotten a divorce.
Since that topic was a nonstarter, I decided to pick another. This dinner was the perfect opportunity to get to know Hunter before we set off to take pictures on Sunday. “So you said the other day you’re from Chicago?”
He nodded. “Born and raised.”
“Why’d you choose Prescott? It’s about as different from Chicago as you could get. Did you not like the city?”
“No. I like Chicago. Moving to Prescott was . . . necessary.”
Necessary? What did that mean? I waited a few moments for him to elaborate but he didn’t. The silence at the table turned awkward so I went for a different topic.
“Have you been here before or did you move here blind?”
“I was here once.”
Again, I waited. And waited. And waited some more.
What was happening? Was Hunter shy? He sure hadn’t seemed like that during our other encounters. Why was he clamming up now?
When I didn’t get any further explanation, I decided to try another subject, one that was safe and sure to spark a natural conversation. “When did you take up photography?”
“A while back.”
A while back. Another vague answer that I hated just about as much as “kind of.” Ignoring the tension creeping up my spine, I kept talking, hoping he’d open up. “I’ve always wanted to have a cool hobby like photography. I love taking pictures but there isn’t really anywhere to learn around here. Did you learn from someone or are you self-taught?”
“I had a mentor.” Hunter smiled but it was distant, not full of the warmth it usually held. When his eyes broke away from mine, I sagged.
I give up.
Hunter was shutting me out. I knew that body language. That tone in his voice. It was entirely too familiar. Familiar and unwelcome.
Hunter Faraday was sending me Everett Carlson vibes and I really didn’t like the reminder.
When I’d first started dating Everett, we’d gotten along perfectly. Our conversations had always been light and impersonal, mostly centered around the hospital and our coworkers, but as time went on, I’d started asking the normal questions a girlfriend would ask. When is your birthday? Where are you from? Do you have family?
He’d never answered me. Never. Not even to tell me his middle name.
Everett had only wanted me to be the pretty face that warmed his bed. Nothing else. He’d shut me out whenever I’d tried to get close.
As much as I liked Hunter, I didn’t need to go through all that again.
So I gave up my questions and sat quietly, alternating sips of water and wine while Hunter studied the brands on the table. He opened his mouth once only to shut it again before speaking.
Dates suck. Of all the awkward dinners I’d had lately, this was by far the worst. I so badly wanted to know Hunter, to see if there was more between us than just a physical attraction. But it didn’t look like I was going to get the chance.
He just kept staring at the table, unspeaking.
I wasn’t shy. He could at least ask questions about me.
Thankfully, our meals arrived a few minutes later and I dove into my steak, chewing each juicy bite longer than I normally would just to keep my mouth occupied. Though the food was delicious, the knot in my stomach kept me from enjoying the meal.
By the time I’d finished my dinner, I’d decided to go for it again, to give Hunter one last chance to share just a little about himself. “Is your family going to come out and visit once you get moved into your new house?”
He looked up from his steak and met my eyes. “No.”
A one-word answer.
I waited with my fingers crossed, hoping he’d keep talking, but he took his last bite and stayed quiet.
Well, I guess that was that.
As much as I wanted to spend time with Hunter, I wouldn’t be ignored. I wouldn’t be kept at arm’s length. Not ever again.
My eyes searched the restaurant for our waitress. When she glanced my way, I held up a hand and signaled for the check. “Well, I’d better be going. I’ve got some work to do tonight. Thanks for joining me so I didn’t have to sit alone.” I didn’t wait for the check before diving into my purse for my wallet, yanking out five twenty-dollar bills.
“You don’t have to rush off. Did you want to stay for another drink or dessert?”
“No.” See that, Hunter? I can give one-word answers too.
He nodded. “All right, but I’ve got dinner.”
“This wasn’t a date so I’ll pay for my own. Thanks though.” I tossed my money on the table and slid out of the booth, but before I could make my escape, his hand gently wrapped around my elbow.
I gasped at the electricity zapping up my arm and my feet stopped. I turned and stared down at Hunter as my eyes followed his every move.
He grabbed my money, slid out of the booth and stood right in my space. My chin tipped back so I could keep his eyes. How had I never noticed just how tall he was? When his hand fell away from my elbow, I immediately wanted it back. How was it possible to be annoyed with a man but still want to wrap my arms around him at the same time?
“Maisy.” His voice was back to the warm, rich timbre I’d been hearing in my good dreams this past week. “I’m buying dinner.”
I swallowed hard. “Okay.”
“Thank you for letting me eat with you. I’m sorry for not being very talkative tonight. I guess it was just a long day.”
How would I know if he’d had a long day? He hadn’t told me anything. In the hour that we’d been sitting together, I knew no more about him than I had two days ago.
“Sure, I understand. It’s fine.” It wasn’t, but I didn’t tell him the truth. I wanted some space, some time to mourn another bad date. Some time to come to grips with the fact that this chemistry between us was all we’d ever share. “I’m just going to head out. Good night, Hunter.”
“Wait.” He touched my elbow, and again, my body’s response overruled my brain’s decision. “I’ll meet you in the lobby tomorrow at one o’clock.”
Shit. The pictures. “Don’t worry about it. You’re off the hook. I appreciate you appeasing my mom the other day but you don’t need to—”
“Tomorrow. One o’clock. I’d really like the opportunity to do this project.”
I was tempted to argue, to tell him I wanted a photographer with more experience, but the hopefulness in his eyes melted my resolve. “Okay. Tomorrow.”
Our waitress came over with the bill and I used her arrival as my chance to leave, not wasting any time rushing out the doors and getting in my 4Runner. What a bummer. By the time I got home, I was ready for my dessert. I sat on my couch with a pint of Häagen-Dazs and told myself I was glad.
I was glad I hadn’t told Gigi about Hunter. I was glad I didn’t have to call her and explain that he and I hadn’t hit it off after all. I was glad I’d learned all this before my heart could get attached.
I was glad things between us would be simple.
I’d let Hunter take pictures for the motel. I’d let him rent out room eight for a couple more weeks. Then I’d say good-bye to Hunter Faraday and hope my feelings for him disappeared as soon as he checked out of my inn.