Chapter Eight
Hunter stared at the questionable-looking dark flecks of…something…in the mashed potatoes. “Maggie, did you make the mashed potatoes?”
Maggie glanced up as she spooned a good helping of green beans onto her plate. “Yeah, why?”
Mia shot him a wide-eyed glance across the table and subtly shook her head, the universal sign to not say another word.
“Nothing. They look great.”
Bless her heart, Maggie couldn’t cook for shit.
“How’re your momma and daddy doing, Maggie?” his old man asked. “I haven’t talked to them in a few days.”
His dad’s sister was Maggie’s mom. Her parents had moved back to California a few years ago to be closer to Maggie’s paternal grandparents. With her dive and surf shop and most of her family and friends all being in Shell Grove, she had declared she wouldn’t move to California for all the medical marijuana in the world.
Hunter also suspected that Finn had played a big role in her decision to stay. Despite the fact they’d both deny it.
“They’re doing fine,” Maggie replied. “Momma’s taking surfing lessons. I think she stood up on the board for the first time yesterday. So, naturally, she thinks she’s ready to enter contests.”
His dad shook his head, no doubt picturing his fifty-something-year-old sister stumbling around on a surfboard. “That sounds about right,” he mumbled.
“So, Sparky,” Maggie said to Hunter, his longtime nickname going unnoticed by everyone. “Word on the street is the new store owner you abandoned in her time of need is pretty hot.”
He dropped his fork on his plate, the clanging noise echoing through the room. “Okay, did I miss the memo about it being Let’s Fix Up Hunter with the New Chick Day? Why is everyone suddenly so concerned with my dating life? It’s not going to happen, so just drop it right now.”
They would all attack like bloodthirsty piranha if they knew about his night with Jade at the hotel.
But he could be a steel vault of secrets when necessary.
Maggie’s mouth spread into a shit-eating grin. “Who said anything about fixing you up? I was just going to suggest that Mia and I roll out the welcome wagon.”
God forbid. “Oh, you mean like the time you took the new librarian diving and she had a minor heart attack?” he asked pointedly.
Maggie rolled her eyes. “She saw a harmless little mako shark. How was I supposed to know she was deathly afraid of sharks? Plus, she was completely fine.”
Mia giggled under her breath.
He just stared at their cousin. “Maggie, everyone is deathly afraid of sharks.”
“Yeah, well everyone needs to have a better sense of adventure.”
He didn’t respond to that—sometimes that was all you could do with Maggie—but caught the way his mom winked at him over her water glass.
“So, I ran into Rebecca the other day,” Mia said quietly, looking at him.
“With your car, I hope?” Maggie drawled. “I thought we agreed never to speak that name in this house again. It’s likely to cast a curse on our children’s children.”
Mia ignored Maggie and kept her sympathetic gaze on him. “She came into the spa the other day for a massage. Acted all surprised when she ran into me. I told another girl to take her. Didn’t trust myself not to strangle her.”
His blood ran cold at the mention of his ex-girlfriend getting anywhere near his family. He didn’t want her to further taint them with her evil ways.
“That’s such bullshit,” Maggie spat out. “The bitch knows you work there.”
“Maggie Ann Breedlove,” Hunter’s mom scolded. “No language at the dinner table.”
His mother was the only person on the planet who could actually make Maggie cower. “Sorry, Aunt Bev.” She turned to Mia and Hunter. “But seriously. What’s her game?”
Mia shrugged. “I have no idea. I just ignored her. But we all know she always has a reason for everything she does.”
Yeah, vindictive nightmare that she was.
“I just wanted to tell you to watch yourself, Hunter. Who knows what she’s up to,” Mia said.
Unfortunately, he had a pretty good idea what she was up to. Keeping tabs on him, making sure he wasn’t getting anywhere near Jade’s store. He hadn’t told his family about Rebecca’s little threat to nix his newest Seaside Properties bid, because hell would be unleashed if Maggie and Mia ever got wind of it.
That was all he needed. Another disastrous run-in with the one-woman apocalypse.
“I picked up some fresh tuna yesterday,” Maggie said cheerily. “It wouldn’t be hard to break into Rebecca’s car and—”
“No!” everyone shouted in unison.
“What?” Maggie asked innocently, a devious grin on her face. “I was just going to say switch out her air fresheners.”
Terrific. Now, he was going to have to watch out for Rebecca and Maggie.
And Jade.
How had his life suddenly gotten so complicated?