After spending the night with Megan, Hunter got up when she did to go home to shower, shave and get ready for work. He made a point of getting to the office early because he knew he’d been setting a shitty example lately. Working with his siblings took a certain amount of diplomacy to keep the peace, but Hunter had always insisted the family set the tone for the rest of the employees by showing up on time.
He’d been slacking in that regard lately—with good reason, but still slacking. He had a busy day ahead with a meeting at nine to discuss a new product line his dad wanted to introduce at the store, payroll due by the end of the day and August financial statements to be generated. He gave himself two weeks after the end of every month to close out the financials, and today was exactly fourteen days into the new month.
He’d made some headway on the financials by the time his brother Colton arrived in the office right before nine.
“What brings you down off the mountain?” Hunter asked.
“Dad asked me to come to the meeting this morning about the new product line. Remember the convention in New York last month? He asked me to report to you all about my findings, and let me say how much I’m looking forward to that.”
Hunter laughed at the distressed look on Colton’s face. “He’s not serious about selling that stuff in the store, is he?”
“Um, I think he is.”
“He’s got to retire eventually, right?”
“He’s not even sixty. Don’t write him off yet.”
“Is Lucy with you?”
“Nah, as much as she wanted to witness my mortification, she’s got a new website going live today, so she stayed up at the cabin. She gets the best connectivity up there.”
Hunter sat back in his chair. “Things are going well for you guys?”
“Things are great. We’re making it work one day at a time.”
“I’m glad for you.”
“What’s this I hear about you and Megan hot and heavy?”
“We’ve been seeing each other lately.”
“That’s great.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Why do you not seem happier about it? I thought you’d been lusting after her for ages.”
“I was, and I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”
“So, then …”
“I know she likes me, and we’re having a lot of fun together. I just don’t know if she’s thinking short-term fling or long-term relationship.”
“Have you thought about asking her?”
“Yeah, I’ve thought about it. Just haven’t been able to actually do it. I’m sort of afraid of what she might say.”
“You love her?”
“Yeah.”
“Does she know that?”
“She does.”
“Then give her some time to get used to the idea. Keep doing what you’re doing. Keep showing up. That’s what Gramps told me to do with Lucy, and it worked out pretty well for us.”
“I can’t believe I’m taking romance advice from you.”
“Suck it up, big brother. You can’t be the best at everything.”
“I’m happy to defer to you on the topic of sex toys.”
Colton winked at him. “Don’t knock ’em till you’ve tried ’em.”
“Eww, I don’t want that visual in my head. Get out. Right now. Serious work is being done here.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
Much to Colton’s dismay, the entire family turned out for his presentation. “This is right up there with my middle school nightmares about sporting a boner in front of the class during the science fair,” he said at the outset, making everyone howl with laughter. “Did you really have to invite Mom and Gramps?” he asked his father.
“They’re on the board,” Lincoln said with a smile and a shrug.
“It’s okay, honey,” Molly said. “Dad and I can take it. You’d be surprised—”
“Under penalty of death, do not finish that thought,” said Max, the youngest of the Abbott siblings.
Molly giggled behind her hand.
“I’m with him,” her father, Elmer, said with a glare for his daughter. “Put a sock in it. Please proceed, Colton. You’ve got me all a-quiver with curiosity.”
“Jesus,” Colton muttered to more laughter from his siblings. “Here’s the deal—there’s a lot of money in them there sex toys, and they’re being manufactured for people of all ages. Dad sent me to the convention because he was trying to push me together with Lucy by giving me a week with her in New York.”
“That is not true,” Lincoln said. “I was genuinely curious about the product line.”
“Sure,” Colton said. “Whatever you say. Anyhow, I found out some very interesting stats about the industry.” He clicked a few buttons on a laptop on the conference table, and a professionally produced PowerPoint presentation came on the screen.
“Someone has been taking full advantage of his fiancée,” Cameron said.
“Yes, we’ve had fun testing all the products,” Colton said, to groans from everyone.
Landon, Lucas and Max threw wadded-up paper at him.
“Flag on the play,” Lucas said, covering his ears.
“We can’t unhear that,” Charley said dryly.
“Nolan and I would be happy to be a focus group on this project,” Hannah said, earning balled-up paper bombs from her younger brothers.
“Make it stop, Mom,” Max said, hands over ears.
“Grow up, honey. You’re going to be a father soon. Surely you’re wise to how things work.”
“I don’t want to hear it from them,” Max said.
“We should get hazardous-duty pay for this meeting,” Ella said.
“Seriously,” Will concurred.
“Does that mean we can’t offer to be a focus group?” Cameron asked him, earning a playful scowl from her boyfriend.
“Anyway,” Colton said, trying to get things back on track, “I met with Joyce, the owner of the company that produces this particular product line. She talked to me about the therapeutic uses of the products as well as the more straightforward uses.”
“Straightforward,” Lucas said with a snicker. “That’s what I’m all about.”
“Shut up, will you?” Charley gestured to her three youngest brothers. “They’re far too young to be allowed in this meeting.”
“Everyone shut up and let Colton finish,” Lincoln said.
“Joyce and her daughter Amanda travel all over to retail outlets like ours to offer in-store workshops on the product lines for the floor teams as well as customers who want to learn more about them.”
“You really think our customers will show up for how-to workshops about sex toys?” Hunter asked.
“We won’t know until we try,” Colton said. “It’s a long, cold winter up here in the mountains. We might be surprised by how many of the locals would be interested.”
“I don’t see them coming to us for that,” Hunter said.
“I do,” said Wade, who oversaw the health and wellness portion of the business. “They buy all sorts of remedies from us, for everything from toe fungus to hemorrhoids. What’s to stop them from trying these products, too?”
“How about the ladies on the floor?” Ella asked, referring to their in-store sales team, most of them grandmothers. “Won’t it be embarrassing for them to have to answer questions about these products?”
“Not if we educate them properly,” Lincoln said.
“So you’re totally sold on this, Dad?” Will asked.
“I think we ought to give it a try. Give them some stats, Colton.”
Colton flipped his presentation forward, skipping over photos of items that had Hunter thinking of Megan and focus groups, to a slide with bulleted statistics. “The sex toy and novelty business is a fifteen-billion-dollar—that’s billion with a B—industry in the United States, and it’s growing every year.”
“No pun intended,” Lucas muttered, earning him a glare from his father.
“People of all ages are using these products to spice up their love lives,” Colton said, “to aid in their recovery from surgery and for other therapeutic purposes.”
“What does your research show about where the sales are most often made?” Cameron asked. “Brick-and-mortar stores or online?”
“Mostly online, which is why Dad and I are proposing a small display in the store and a larger presence on the website, at least initially,” Colton said. “Obviously, we’d revisit that plan when we have about six months’ worth of sales data to analyze.”
“I like it,” Wade said. “I think we ought to at least try it and see what transpires.”
“I’ll tell you what’ll transpire,” Elmer said. “A whole bunch of harpies in this town are going to jump all over us for venturing into the porn business.”
“That’s hardly what we’re doing, Gramps,” Colton said.
“Still, that’s how people will see it. I’m not voting against it. I’m just playing devil’s advocate for a minute here.”
“Dad makes a good point,” Molly said. “We have the facts and figures in front of us, but it’ll take a bit of a PR effort to make sure our customers have the relevant information.”
“I agree,” Wade said. “We can’t just plunk this stuff down in the store in a town like this without proper preparation.”
“Plenty of lube,” Landon said gravely.
While everyone else groaned, Colton picked up one of the paper balls and threw it at Landon, hitting him in the forehead with laser precision.
“Does this require a vote?” Hunter asked.
“I don’t think so,” Lincoln replied. “It doesn’t require a huge outlay of capital to take on the additional inventory. Is anyone violently opposed?” Hearing no opposition, Lincoln said, “Thanks for your work on this, Colton. We appreciate you taking one for the team.”
“It was a tough job, but someone had to do it,” Colton said gravely, to more groans.
“Holy shit,” Max said, his eyes glued to his smartphone. “Did you guys hear Gavin Guthrie got arrested last night?”
A gasp went through the room.
“For what?” Hannah asked.
“He got into a fight at a bar out on 114.”
Ella got up and headed for the conference room door.
“Ella?” Charley called after her. “Where’re you going?”
Ella didn’t reply.
“What the hell?” Charley asked the others. “What’s up with her?”
“Leave her alone,” Hannah said quietly.
“What do you know, Hannah?”
Hannah put up her hands to ward off Charley. “Nothing.”
“Whatever it is, I’m sure she’ll tell us when she’s ready to,” Molly said, sending the signal that the subject was closed—for now.
“While we’re all here, Hunter, bring us up to speed on what’s going on with the diner,” Lincoln said.
All eyes shifted to him. He liked it better when they were making fun of Colton. “As you’ve all heard by now, Nina and Brett are moving to France, and the diner was up for sale. Gramps came to me and suggested we look into snapping it up while we could. His thinking and mine is that with the website coming online in the next couple of months, we’ll see an influx of visitors to the store and the town. They’ll need a place to grab a meal.”
“What does our sudden purchase of the diner have to do with you and Megan dating?” Charley asked.
“He’s dating Megan?” Lucas asked.
“Catch up, man,” Max said. “Even I’ve heard about that.”
“It’s got nothing to do with me dating Megan,” Hunter said with a pointed look for Charley. “We’re talking to her about managing the diner for us, but nothing is set in stone.”
“If she doesn’t take the job, who will?” Charley asked.
“We haven’t gotten that far yet,” Hunter said. “We just came to terms with Nina yesterday, and there’s some work we need to have done before we reopen.”
“Assume you’re talking to Noah about that,” Will said of their cousin, the general contractor.
Hunter nodded. “He did the inspection for me the other day and will be handling the upgrades, too. We hope to get them done in the next week or two, so we’re only closed for a short time.”
“Dude, are you sure about Megan?” Landon asked. “She can be kinda—”
“I firmly recommend against finishing that thought, Landon.” Infuriated, Hunter stood and gathered his belongings. “Whatever thoughts any of you have about her you can keep to yourselves. If I have my way, she’s in my life to stay, so live with it.”
He left the conference room, went into his office and shut the door behind him. No way would he stand for anyone disparaging Megan, let alone members of his own family.
A quick knock preceded his mother’s entry into the office. She closed the door and leaned back against it.
“Um, come in?”
She smiled. “I didn’t want to give you time to tell me to go away.”
“Go away.”
“Not so fast. That was quite a speech just now.”
“So what about it? I’m not going to let anyone speak poorly of her, especially people who don’t even know her.”
“Fair enough. You care about her, so you shouldn’t have to put up with that. But you should know, they care about you. They’re concerned about you.”
“No one needs to be concerned about me. I’m fine. I’m happy.”
“It’s happened fast with Megan.”
“Not from my point of view. It’s taken forever.”
“Still … Telling your entire family she’s in your life to stay a couple of days after your first official date … That’s fast. You’re being careful?”
“You’re not seriously asking me about safe sex, are you, Mom?”
Molly snorted with laughter. “That’s the least of what I’m asking you. I’m far more concerned about your precious heart than I am about your …” She waved her hand as her face flushed with color.
“Precious penis?”
“Hunter! Stop it.”
He laughed. “What? You went there. Not me. My heart is fine. It’s in very good hands with Megan.” Even as he assured his mother, a nagging sense of doubt plagued him as he remembered what Megan had said about not getting serious. He pushed that aside, not willing to entertain any scenario that didn’t include her as a permanent part of his life. “No need to worry.”
“I am worried. I’m worried what’ll become of you if she disappoints you.”
“I’m hardly a child. I’ve been disappointed before.”
“This would be different.”
Since Hunter could hardly tell her she was wrong about that, he didn’t try. “Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do and why you’re trying to do it. I don’t need to be warned off her. Things are great with us. They’re going to stay great.”
“Be careful, Hunter. You’re a good man, one of the best I’ve ever known.”
“And you’re not at all biased about that.”
“Not one bit. I speak the truth. You put others ahead of yourself all the time. It’s what you do. I don’t want to see that come back to bite you. I think it’s wonderful that you’ve found someone you care so deeply about. Just make sure you get back from her everything you deserve and then some.”
“I hear you, and I appreciate what you’re saying.”
“Good. Bring her to Sunday dinner this week.”
“I’ll ask her. Now tell me … What’s up with Ella walking out of the meeting like that after she heard about Gavin being arrested?”
“I have no idea.”
“But I’m sure you plan to find out.”
“Duh. What do you think?”
Hunter was still laughing at his mother’s predictable reply when another knock sounded at the door. He was resigned to this day being a total loss. “Come in.”
Hannah stepped into his office and closed the door behind her. “Everything okay in here?” She glanced from her mother to her brother.
“Everything is fine,” Molly said. “How about you tell me what’s going on with your sister and Gavin.”
“Nothing that I know of,” Hannah said.
“So why did she bolt out of here like that when she heard he’d been arrested?” Hunter asked.
Hannah seemed to be weighing whether she should tell them something.
“Hannah?” Molly said. “What do you know?”
“She has a soft spot for him. That’s all I’m going to say.”
“Ella has a soft spot for Gavin Guthrie?” Hunter asked, astounded. “For how long?”
“Quite some time now,” Hannah said.
“How did this get by us?” Hunter asked.
“I know everyone in this family is always in everyone’s business,” Hannah said, “but I think we should leave her alone with this. It’s a delicate situation. He’s … He’s still broken, over Caleb, and she’s …”
“Fragile,” Molly said. “Easily wounded. Kind, compassionate, caring.”
“All those things,” Hannah said, nodding. “Sometimes I think he might be the worst possible guy for her, as much as I adore him.”
“You’ll keep an eye on her?” Molly asked her oldest daughter.
“Always,” Hannah said. “She talked to me about him once before. Hopefully, she will again if need be. I’ll make sure she knows she can.”
Molly hugged Hannah. “I love the way you all look out for each other. It’s my proudest accomplishment as a mother.”
“I wish we looked out for each other a little less sometimes,” Hunter said.
“I’m sure you do,” Hannah said, “but you’re not getting off the hook that easily. Not after the way you tortured poor Nolan when we started dating.”
“Tortured is such a strong word.”
Molly laughed at their banter. “I’ll let you two work this out the way you always do.” She came around his desk to give Hunter a hug. “Love you.”
“You, too, Mom. I heard what you said. Every word of it.”
“Good. Don’t forget it.”
“How could I?”
Molly gave Hannah another hug on her way out of the office.
“What was that all about?” Hannah asked him when they were alone.
“She’s worried about me with Megan. Too much, too soon. Over the edge.”
“Does she have a point?”
“No, she doesn’t. It’s fine. Is it happening fast? Maybe, but it’s hardly like we just met each other last week. I’ve known her for years. Wanted her for almost as long as I’ve known her. Now I finally get a chance with her and everyone is worried. I’m a grown man. I can take care of myself.”
“We know that, Hunter. You’re the most competent person any of us have ever known. You’re almost good to a fault.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You take care of others at your own expense. You always have.”
He didn’t bother to tell her their mother had just said basically the same thing. “I don’t do that.”
“Yes, you do. Remember when Caleb died? You barely left my side for the first year, and in all that time I never saw you shed a tear despite what was a devastating loss for you, too.”
“It wasn’t about me then.”
She challenged him with the same eyes that stared back at him in the mirror. No one had ever seen him as completely as Hannah did, and at times like this, her fundamental understanding of him made him pretty damned uncomfortable.
“I shed my share of tears over Caleb. I still do.”
“I have no doubt you’ve grieved for him, but you never let me see that.”
“It wasn’t about me,” he said again, more intently this time.
“Yes, it was. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. He was my husband, but he was your best friend, and you had every right to be almost as devastated as I was. Even when it’s about you, you put others before yourself. None of us want to see you get hurt when or if Megan decides she wants to be somewhere else or that she’s not as serious about you as you are about her. Only a short time ago, she was still pining over Will. Has she really moved on from him? Those are the things that worry me.”
Those things worried him, too, not that he’d ever admit that to Hannah or anyone else. Her words had struck at some of his deepest fears where Megan was concerned. “All I can tell you is that things are good with us. Really good.”
“I’m happy for you. You know that, right?”
“Even if you wouldn’t have chosen her for me?”
“I never said that, and it’s not about who I want for you. It’s about what you want and making sure you get it.”
“I’m doing my best to get what I want and to make sure she gets what she wants, too.”
“Does she know what she wants?”
“She … She’s working on that.”
“Make sure she doesn’t get what she wants at your expense.” She checked her watch. “I’ve got to run. Doctor’s appointment in half an hour.”
He stood and went around his desk to get the door for her. “Is everything all right with the baby?”
“Everything is fine. Routine checkup.”
She gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Think about what I said.”
Watching her go, Hunter wondered how he would think about anything else.