Chapter Four
Hunter
I felt like the cat that got the cream as I strode over to the table where Luke and Coop were sitting with Violet, Faith, Andrea, and Ethan. I even puffed out my chest and paraded like a damn peacock as I put my hand on the small of Abby’s back and led her to the empty seat next to Faith. Maybe I was the one who was cray cray.
I waited until Abby was seated before sitting down next to her.
The glass of wine in her hand was almost empty so I nodded to it. “Want another?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Let me get that,” Coop said before signaling for the waitress to come over. As soon as she arrived, he ordered another round of drinks for everyone.
I introduced Abby to all the gang, but it seemed that some people didn’t need an introduction because they knew her already.
Violet smiled brightly at her and said, “Hey, Abby, how are things going at the library?”
Abby smiled politely. “Really good, thank you. But, it’s been way too quiet lately—more so than usual.”
“Tell me about it,” I groused.
I knew that she worked at the library because I’d quizzed Steph about her the day after Abby had come into my tattoo shop. Steph said that Abby was twenty-five, single and an only child. She was pretty much all alone in Creede after her parents had moved to South Carolina a few years back.
I could help her with that—if she’d let me. She was definitely someone I wanted to get to know better.
Other than the basics, Steph hadn’t known a whole lot about her which was fine. I could find out anything else I wanted to know about her myself.
And I would.
When the country song that had been playing in the background ended and a Christmas song came on, Abby’s face lit up.
“I love this!” she said animatedly.
I did too, but I narrowed my eyes and asked, “Are you one of those people who goes gaga over anything Christmas?”
It was too difficult to keep the stern look on my face for longer than a moment or two and my lips broke out into a smile which gave away the fact that I’d been teasing her.
I loved Christmas as much as the next person.
She smiled sheepishly. “Guilty. I’m crazy about Christmas. It’s my favorite holiday although I haven’t had much to celebrate over Christmas in the past couple of years.”
I frowned.
I didn’t like the sound of that.
“Why not?”
Her eyes widened and I was pretty damn sure that she’d just said something she hadn’t meant to say. It was good that she felt comfortable enough around me to say the first thing that came into her mind, but as soon as she realized what she’d done, I could practically see her barriers go back up.
“Oh, it’s nothing, really,” she replied offhandedly.
But it was something, I could tell.
I didn’t call her on it though. If she’d been having a rough few years for whatever reason then perhaps she didn’t want to talk about it in front of a group of strangers. That was perfectly understandable.
Andrea’s audible gasp had everyone’s head swiveling in her direction. “Oh my God!” she practically shouted into her cell phone. Are you kidding me?”
Her eyes darted to Luke and her mouth popped open. “Wow. Uh, congratulations. I guess. Are you happy about it? Okay, sure. I’ll talk to you soon. Love you.”
“What is it?” Luke asked after she’d hung up the call.
I think we all wanted to know the answer to that question. She took a sip of her cocktail, swallowed then took another. Ethan put a hand on her arm.
“Babe, what’s going on?”
“That was dad,” she said in little more than a whisper. “He said he and his girlfriend are going to have a baby.”
Luke practically choked on his beer. “The fuck?”
I’d seen Dean at the clubhouse with a woman who was arguably young enough to be his daughter, but I hadn’t realized they were in a relationship. The dirty old dog. Luke looked ready to spit nails and Andrea wasn’t fairing any better.
Libby got to her feet. “Well, I hope they’ll be very happy together.” She patted her vase like belly. “Having a baby was the best thing that ever happened to us, isn’t that right, Mason?”
She put a hand on his shoulder and he squeezed it gently. “Yeah, babe. It was.”
“Speaking of babies,” I said. “When is number two due?”
She sighed heavily. “Not for another two and a half weeks. He’s due on New Year’s Day, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes late, just like Cody did. I want him here already. I look like a beached whale.”
I burst out laughing but when Mason glared at me, I pressed my lips together.
“You look beautiful,” I told her.
Mason gave me a nod of appreciation.
“Isn’t it about time you settled down and had some babies?” Libby asked with a sideways glance at Abby.
I rolled my eyes. “One day,” I said around a grin.
I couldn’t help but follow Libby’s gaze but was dismayed to see the horrified expression on Abby’s face. As Libby shuffled off to the bathroom, I leaned in close to Abby’s side.
“Everything okay?”
She nodded. “Yes, but I uh, I forgot that I have to be somewhere tonight.”
She quickly got to her feet.
“Uh, thanks for the invite, everyone,” she said. “But I really need to get going.”
She maneuvered her lips into a smile that didn’t make it all the way to her eyes then turned and hurriedly headed for the door.
“Bye!” she said over her shoulder.
“Bye!” everyone called after her.
I stared at the door she’d just exited through for a long moment wondering what in the hell had just happened.
Had I said something to scare her off?
In the past, I’d had this really bad habit of picking women who either weren’t available or who weren’t interested in me, but this time, I thought I’d picked right. Either I was a terrible judge of a woman’s character or I was doing something to scare them away, but for the life of me, I couldn’t think what it could be.