Chapter Two
Six months earlier…
Phil Hunter stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. He was home. His wife was asleep in the next room. If he was dreaming, he didn’t want to wake up.
“Phil?” Lina called out.
“Yeah, baby?”
“It’s almost five.” Lina was getting out of bed when he stepped out of the bathroom.
His gaze slowly traveled the length of her naked body, which, thanks to almost daily trips to the local yoga studio and her running routine, was still lean and fit at forty-one. “I could look at you forever.”
“Stop.” She didn’t like being complimented for her physical appearance, even by him. It was one of the hundreds of things he’d missed about her. It was as if she was embarrassed by her beauty. And she was beautiful. Her thick brown hair, almost the exact shade as his, fell to her shoulders. Her chestnut-colored eyes were large and had an almost imperceptible slant, giving her an exotic look. There was elegance to her, a refinement that enveloped her whether she was in the garden in cutoff jean shorts and a tank top or at a black-tie event in a floor-length gown with diamond earrings dangling from her ears.
“Stop staring at me,” she laughed as she donned a robe.
“I can’t help it.” He slipped one of his hands inside her robe before she could close it, hauling her body into his. “I missed you. It was never right, us being apart.”
“I know.” She wrapped her arms around his neck as she tilted her head back, meeting his eyes.
He felt a stab of guilt for what he’d put her through. “Lina—”
“Don’t,” she interrupted. “You don’t have to say anything. It’s a fresh start. I forgive you.”
“I want you to know, I would never—”
“I know,” she again interrupted. “Last week when you took me to dinner, you asked me to consider something, remember?”
His eyes narrowed as he tried to recall what she was referring to. He’d said a lot of different things that night as he’d tried to convince her to take him back. “Are you talking about when I asked who you wanted to swim naked with when you were old and gray?”
“No, although it’s the same thing. I’m referring to when you asked me to consider whether a flawed version of you is better for me than a perfect version of anyone else.”
He felt humbled by the love he could see shining in her eyes as she stared up at him. “I remember.”
“It is. I don’t want to be with anyone else. Only you.”
He covered her mouth with his, kissing her deeply as he led her back toward the bed.
“I need to go pick up some of my clothes,” Phil said about thirty minutes later. He pressed his lips into Lina’s shoulder. “I won’t be long. I’ll take Logan over later in the week to get whatever I can’t carry tonight.”
“We need to tell them,” Lina said. She pushed herself up on her elbows, watching him as he began to dress.
“Don’t you think they know? My car’s in the driveway and my shoes and jacket are in the family room.” He pulled up the zipper of his jeans.
“We still need to talk to them,” Lina said.
“I think I left my shirt downstairs.” They’d been in the family room when she’d told him she wanted him to come home, and they were already half undressed by the time they’d reached the bedroom.”
“My clothes are down there.” Lina scrambled from the bed. “You took all my clothes off down there. Oh my God. I’m sure they’ve seen them. What could they be thinking?”
“That I’m back.” Phil headed toward the door. “I’m going to borrow one of Logan’s shirts.”
“No!” Lina cried. “You can’t just go out there like that. It will confuse them. We need to talk to them first.”
She was being ridiculous, but he wasn’t going to argue with her, especially when she was wearing her worry frown. God he’d missed her expressions.
“I need a shirt,” he said.
“Let me get dressed and then I’ll get it.”
He sat down on the edge of the bed, savoring the simple act of watching her put on a pair of jeans and a top. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”
“Stop it.”
***
Lina took a deep breath as she left the master suite and headed down the hallway toward Logan’s room. She was worried about his reaction to his father moving back in. Of their three children, he’d been the most unforgiving of Phil’s infidelity. She found him in the den outside his room, sitting in front of the television playing a video game, his brow furrowed in concentration.
She felt like she was the child and he was the parent. “I need to borrow a T-shirt for your dad. Do you have something you think might fit him?” At six foot three, Phil was only an inch taller but considerably broader than his lanky son.
“You can look in my drawer,” he answered absently, continuing to play his game.
She went into his room and crossed to his dresser, shuffling through the contents of his middle drawer, where she put his nicer T-shirts. She settled on one her oldest child, Megan, had brought him back from UVA when she came for her winter break from college.
“Is he back?” Logan asked when she began to walk past him. “I mean, is he moving back?” He pushed his wavy dark hair back from his eyes. He seemed to be changing more every day. At fifteen, her once cute boy with the ready smile and dimples was looking more like a man every day.
“He is. Are you okay with that?” It was an unfair question, considering his opinion had no bearing on her decision, but she wanted to know.
“I guess.” He shrugged before returning his attention to the television screen.
Lina was headed back toward her bedroom when she was confronted by sixteen-year-old Katie who had just ascended the stairs. “You and Dad have been in your bedroom all day,” Katie said in an accusatory tone. At barely five feet tall, Katie definitely took after Lina’s side of the family and in particular Lina’s sister, Adele. Not only were they both petite, barely weighing one hundred pounds, but they had the same dark, straight hair and ivory complexion. If it weren’t for Katie’s light-blue eyes, the exact same color as Phil’s, Lina would say she hadn’t inherited any of the Hunters’ physical traits.
Lina again felt like a child instead of the mother as her daughter looked suspiciously at her. “We were tired.”
“Your clothes are all over the family room. I shouldn’t have to come home to that.”
“I have to get this to your father.” Lina held up Logan’s T-shirt.
“Dad knows things have changed, right? He can’t expect to come back and start telling us what to do again.”
“He is your father.”
“But we’ve been fine without him living here, so he can’t come back unless he agrees not to be so bossy.”
Lina raised an eyebrow, listening to Katie recite her demands before she’d agree to her father returning home. They included not questioning her when she was leaving or arriving home, unlimited visits from her boyfriend, Matt, and no demands of any type. “Also, he can’t control the remote. If we’re downstairs watching something, he can’t just come in and tell us to change the channel.”
“That seems a little unreasonable, considering you have the den up here with a television.”
“He has a television in his bedroom,” Katie countered.
If she didn’t look so serious, Lina would have laughed. “I’ll take it under advisement,” she said instead as she began to walk down the hall to her bedroom.
“The Matt part is nonnegotiable,” Katie called after her.
“They know,” Lina told Phil as she entered the bedroom.
“Good.” Phil began to tug the UVA T-shirt over his head. It was snug, accentuating the width of his shoulders and the muscles in his upper arms. A former college lacrosse player, his hobby was now competing in triathlons, and his training was evident in his fit, athletic body.
Lina crossed to her dresser and took out a shirt she hadn’t planned to admit she had. “His is too small for you.”
He looked down at the faded T-shirt she’d handed him. It was the only original remaining from his time at Georgetown Law School. “I thought I lost it.” He lifted his eyes to hers.
“No. You left it here.” And I kept it, she thought but didn’t say. On particularly lonely nights she would wear it so she could feel closer to him. Lina watched him peel off the tighter shirt, her eyes lingering on his muscled chest. She’d missed him so much.
“Should I keep it off?” he teased, catching her watching him.
“Don’t be cocky.”
“Come here.”
“No.” She shook her head. “It’s late. I have to make dinner and you have to go to the Farside house to get clothes.”
“Just one touch.”
She couldn’t resist him. She crossed to him, sliding her hands up his warm chest. “I need to get dinner ready.”
“I know.” He dropped his mouth to her neck and clasped her hips in his hands, dragging his lips over her sensitive skin. “But I need to be inside you one more time first.”
***
An hour later, after picking up enough clothes from his rental house to last him a few days, Phil walked across the empty parking lot toward his church. The doors were unlocked, as he’d known they would be. He made his way to his familiar pew, knelt down, and brought his hands together. Instead of asking God to bring Lina back to him, as he had done daily for the past six months, he thanked Him for answering his prayers.
It was almost seven when Phil left the church and returned home. He came out of the mudroom, pausing just inside the kitchen. Lina’s back was to him as she stood at the stove. He’d dreamed of the exact scene so many times over the past months, being home with his family for dinner. He crossed to her, cupping her hips as he pulled her back in to his body. “I love you,” he whispered against her ear.
She leaned back in to him, sliding her hands over the top of one of his. “I didn’t hear the garage door. Do you want a beer? Adele left some in the refrigerator the other day.”
“I want you,” he said.
“That will have to wait.”
“I forgot how fucking good you smelled. I may spend the rest of the night just smelling you.”
“Is dinner ready?”
The sound of Logan’s voice had Lina slipping out of Phil’s arms. “Yes. Grab yourself a drink and tell Katie it’s time to eat.”
Moments later Phil was twisting the cap off his beer as he watched Logan begin to take a seat at the head of the table. Logan caught himself before he sat down and shifted to the seat he used to occupy before Phil moved out.
“You don’t have to pretend to be Dad anymore,” Katie said.
“I didn’t,” Logan mumbled.
“Katie, don’t tease him,” Lina said.
“I’m not. He totally acted like he was Dad. He sat in his spot at the table. He sets the house alarm.”
“Someone had to,” Logan said.
“The only reason Matt isn’t here is because he had band practice,” Katie told Phil as he joined them at the table. “He comes for dinner a lot.”
An image of Katie’s tattooed boyfriend flashed in Phil’s mind. He’d met him a few times. He was two years older than Katie and had no plans to go to college, instead focusing on making it as a musician. Phil wasn’t impressed.
“Dig in, everyone,” Lina said as she joined them.
Logan was uncharacteristically quiet at dinner, only speaking if he was asked a direct question. As soon as he finished eating, he excused himself and went upstairs.
Phil followed him. “Everything okay?” he asked, pausing in Logan’s bedroom doorway.
“Yeah.” Logan was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring down at his clasped hands.
“You don’t seem okay. Is this about me moving home?”
Logan lifted his gaze to his father’s. “I thought you were getting a divorce. It’s kind of weird. I didn’t know you were thinking about getting back together.”
“I never wanted to move out. You knew that.”
“Mom used to cry,” Logan said. “At night, when she thought we were sleeping, I could hear her through her door. She’d pretend to be okay, but she wasn’t.”
Phil walked farther into the room, lowering himself down onto the bed beside Logan. “I hurt her. I know that. But she’s forgiven me. I’m going to do everything in my power to make it up to her. Okay?”
“You’d never do it again, right?” He lifted his chin slightly. “Cheat on her.”
“No,” Phil answered, his heart aching at the pain in his son’s eyes. “No, Logan.”
“Good.”
“I appreciate you looking after your mom and Katie when I wasn’t here. I know you were trying to be the man of the house. I’m back now. You can relax, okay?”
“Yeah.”
Knight, the boxer mix Lina had adopted shortly after Phil moved out, trotted into the room. “Where does he sleep?” Phil asked, scratching the dog’s head. He had a vague memory of Lina saying the dog made her feel safe.
“With Mom.”
“He can start sleeping with you,” Phil said as he came to his feet.
“Really?” Logan’s eyes widened. He looked happy for the first time that day.
“Yep. He’s all yours.”