Chapter Seven
Abby
I’m not sure what had possessed me to tell Hunter about my cancer the night before.
I hadn’t planned on telling him anything at all, but a small part of me had wanted him to know me, to really know me and telling him had seemed like the best way. The cancer didn’t define me, but it had been such a monumental thing in my life that it had seemed like the only thing I could have told him that would have made him understand my goals and desires—my motivations.
I was excited to see what design he came up with for the tattoo now that he had a better understanding of what place in my life I was coming from.
I’d agreed to meet him in the coffee shop in town.
I don’t know why he’d wanted us to meet there instead of his tattoo shop, but I hadn’t questioned it, even though it kinda felt like a date.
Which it absolutely wasn’t.
Our meeting was strictly business.
Perhaps he’d just wanted a change of scenery. I shouldn’t read too much into it. I’d told him where I stood and he’d seemed to accept it.
At least, I thought he had.
I pushed open the door to the coffee shop and stepped inside, scanning the faces for Hunter. He was standing over at the counter, talking with Serena, the owner of the business. When he caught sight of me at the door, he smiled brightly and waved me over.
Butterflies danced in my belly as I walked his way. Some small part of me wished that I was on my way to a date with Hunter. There was no question that I was attracted to him, but I was simply saving myself from heartache in the long run.
At least, that was what I tried to convince myself as I approached him.
“Hey,” he greeted with a beautiful smile.
The warmth in his eyes was nearly my undoing, but I forced myself to be strong and remember the reason why nothing could ever happen between us.
“Have you met Serena?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Hi Abby,” she greeted. “How are you?”
“Great, thanks, I replied. How’s business?”
“Busy as ever. I’ll be glad when I close for the holidays.”
“Yeah, are you doing anything fun?” I asked.
She nodded. “Jackson and I are going to be eating dinner with our parents and then we’re going on vacation to Hawaii for a week. We fly back January second.”
“Oh, wow. That sounds amazing.”
“I know,” she said. “I can’t wait! Can I get you your usual?”
“Yes, thanks, that would be great.”
“Your usual?” Hunter questioned as he watched Serena set to work.
“Latte with a shot of Hazelnut syrup and dusted with chocolate,” I informed him. “It’s the stuff dreams are made of.”
He threw his head back and let out a roar of laughter. “No kidding. Serena? I’ll take one of those, too.”
He leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, “I just get a regular white coffee. Am I missing out?”
I looked at him as if he’d grown another head. “White coffee? In a coffee shop that serves about twenty different varieties. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
He grinned. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
When Serena set the coffees down in front of us, Hunter paid then we excused ourselves and found a table near the window. Hunter placed our coffees on the table then pulled out a chair for me. When we were seated, I slid one of the Lattes across the table.
“Go on, try it.”
He lifted the glass to his mouth, blew on it, then took a sip.
His gaze met mine. “Dear God. Is that what I’ve been missing out on all these years?”
“Uh huh.”
“It’s like a cup of heaven.”
I nodded.
“I’m never drinking anything else,” he declared.
“Ah, but see, that’s the mistake you’re making because everything’s good here. You shouldn’t always stick with what you know. You should try something different once in a while, to see if you like it.”
“That’s a damn good philosophy to live by,” he noted. “And not only with regards to coffee.”
I nodded to the counter. “You and Serena seem to get along well. Are you a good friend of hers?”
He shrugged. “I guess so. At least, I am now.”
“You weren’t before?” My eyes widened when I realized the implications. “Or were you more than friends.”
“Oh no, nothing like that,” he said. “Although, I did ask her out once. She turned me down.” He touched his finger to the tip of my nose. “Just like you did.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
I could feel the heat of blush stain my cheeks. In some respects, it felt good that I was in the same category as Serena. She was beautiful, successful and a really good person to boot. But on the other hand, I felt somewhat intimidated and for all of the same reasons. I was nothing like her. If she was the type of woman he was usually interested in then what was he doing asking me out?
I took a sip of my coffee and try to push the thoughts out of my mind. It didn’t matter why he’d asked me. I’d said no and it was going to stay that way.
I looked up from my drink in time to see Libby, Mason and their young son heading our way.
“Hey, guys!” Libby said when they neared. “Great to see you again, Abby.”
“And you,” I said.
Hunter leaned down. “Hey, Cody,” he greeted. “How’s it shaking?”
The little boy tried to hide behind his mother’s leg, but Mason pushed him forward.
“Say hello, Cody.”
His little lips stayed sealed tight.
“Are you looking forward to Christmas?” I asked him.
His eyes lit up and he nodded.
“What did you ask Santa Claus to bring you?”
He looked up at his father who nodded then his every desire came spilling out of his mouth.
“I want an action figure and some lego and a robot and a train and some games and…”
As he continued on with his list, Hunter lifted his gaze to mine, his eyebrows raised.
“And an Ipad,” Cody finished.
Hunter whistled. “Wow, that’s a lot of stuff, buddy. Have you been a good boy? Because you know only the little boys who have been the best behaved get all the things that they want from Santa.”
He looked up at his mother who smiled fondly. “He’s been good, but we explained that Santa might think that he’s too young for an iPad so we’ll just have to wait and see about that.”
Mason fought to hide his grin and I suspected that Cody would indeed be getting an iPad and probably everything else that he’d asked for too.”
“Hey, you know, Mason and I decided earlier that we’d have some friends over for drinks tomorrow night, if everyone’s free.
“I don’t have much time left before this one comes,” she said looking down at her belly.
“So I’d like to get everyone together while I still can. Will you both come?”
“Thanks,” Hunter said, his smile wide and genuine. “That would be great.”
He looked over at me expectantly. Libby and Mason were waiting on my answer too, and I didn’t want to appear rude.
“Thanks for the invite,” I said. “I’d love to come.”
Libby clapped her hands together. “Great! Let’s say, seven tomorrow night, okay?”
“We’ll be there,” Hunter replied. “I’ll look forward to it.”
As we said our goodbyes to them all, it occurred to me that I’d be going somewhere else with Hunter that would feel very much like a date. It also occurred to me that Hunter’s friends were treating me as if I was one of them, which was nice, unquestionably, but also completely unexpected.
Did they all think that Hunter and I were dating? If that was the case then Hunter was going to have to set them straight. Of course, I never would have admitted to the fact that secretly, I like the fact that they all thought Hunter and I were a couple—even if we could never be one.
After Libby, Mason, and Cody had left, Hunter and I went over some ideas for the tattoo, but it was too difficult to concentrate on design concepts when I was so busy thinking about how many non-date dates Hunter and I had been on together.
If I didn’t know any better, I would have said we were a couple, too.