Chapter 35
Hunter
One week later
Holy shit.
I’d always suspected it was her.
I came to visit Jayce a few times a year—but every year on his birthday, his grave always had flowers on it before I arrived. They were such an odd combination—a violet, a lily, a carnation, maybe two roses, and some Hawaiian birds of paradise. It wasn’t an arrangement a florist would ever put together. And they weren’t wrapped in the traditional way; only a string of jute bound the disorganized bundle together. It made me think someone had walked into a florist and just started picking out flowers they liked—or ones they thought the recipient would like—without regard to matching or making a bouquet of any sort.
Which was why I’d always suspected it was her. It was classic Summer—bold and beautiful, as seen through her eyes.
Her back was to me, but I knew it was her from two rows away. Out of habit, I stopped and watched from a distance. I’d done that for a few months after things ended—not wanting to see her, but not being able to keep the hell away.
She paced back and forth in front of Jayce’s headstone, and I thought maybe she was talking to him. That seemed about right. I smiled when I saw her wag her finger at the stone. After watching longer than I should have, I turned to walk away. I’d come back later for my visit. But I’d only made it a half a dozen steps when her familiar voice called to me.
“Hunter?”
I froze. Shit.
What the hell did I do now? Keep walking and pretend I didn’t hear her? I’d been a dick for long enough. Maybe it was time I manned up. Taking a deep breath, I slowly turned back around.
How long had it been? Jayce had been gone more than seven years now. All that time and she looked exactly the same, yet nothing like she used to. She was still as beautiful as ever, but she looked more mature now—almost tamed.
“Hey,” I said. Quite an unimpressive opener after so long.
She smiled and tilted her head. “Were you leaving because you saw me?”
Our eyes locked. “Truth?”
“Always.”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“I was just finishing up. I come every year on his birthday to yell at him. Just let me say goodbye, and I’ll go.” She turned to the headstone for a minute and then back to me. I still hadn’t budged from where I stood. “All done. He’s all yours to yell at.” Summer took a step toward the car parked on the nearby paved lane and looked my way again. “You look good, Hunter. I hope you’re happy.”
She was almost at the car before I finally grew some balls—although I had no idea what I wanted to say.
“Summer…wait.”
I made my way to the end of Jayce’s row where she stood, only to stare down at my feet like an awkward schoolboy. “You look good,” I said.
“How can you tell when you aren’t looking at me?” I heard the humor in her voice. She hadn’t changed, even after all these years.
I looked up, and she smiled. It was genuine and real. Summer didn’t hold anger or grudges.
“Are you happy?” I asked.
Her hand went to her stomach, and she rubbed a small bump I hadn’t noticed. “I am. I’m four months pregnant and have morning sickness all day and night. But I’m happy.” She pointed over to the car. “That’s my husband, Alan.”
Wow. I looked over at the parked car. I hadn’t noticed anyone sitting in it. Really on your game today. “Congratulations.”
Her eyes searched my face. “Give me a minute, okay?”
I nodded, mostly because I had no idea what she was talking about. But she walked over to the car and spoke to her husband behind the wheel. Leaning into the window, she kissed him before he started the engine.
When she returned to where I stood, the car drove away. “Come on. Let’s go for a walk. Alan’s going to give us a little while to catch up.”
I started walking along side of her, unsure where we were going or what she might have to say.
“Are you married?” she asked.
“No.”
“Divorced?”
“No.”
“Kids?”
“No.”
She looked over, studying me. “You still have no idea, do you?”
The question could’ve referred to a million things, but I knew exactly what she was asking. “No. I told you, I don’t want to know.”
“So you still don’t have any symptoms?”
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
We walked in silence until the path came to a fork. We turned right.
“Have you fallen in love since we broke up?”
I didn’t have to consider it. “Her name’s Natalia.”
“How does she feel about your decision to not get tested?”
While I thought about how to answer, Summer came to the correct conclusion.
She nodded. “You dumped me because you didn’t want to put me through possibly watching you get sick. I tried for months to get you to change your mind. So I’m guessing your warped brain now thinks it’s easier to not even tell someone you care about. Just love ’em and leave ’em with no explanation so they hate you. Am I right? She doesn’t know you have a fifty-fifty chance of developing Huntington’s disease. Or that you’re too stubborn to get tested.”
“What good would it do? So she can worry about me?”
Summer stopped. “I thought you said you loved her.”
“I do.”
“Then doesn’t she deserve the truth and a chance to make the decision with you?”
“No. Sometimes lies save people a lot of pain. You knew, and it made it harder for you to move on. What if I told her and let her be part of the decision, and she convinced me to get tested. What if it’s positive and she won’t leave me, and then she has to watch me suffer and die at forty?”
“What if it’s negative and you’ve missed a lifetime with Natalia?”
I blew out a deep breath. “It’s too big a chance to take. She’s got history. You don’t understand. Every man has let her down in her life. I can’t do that to her—be another man who disappoints her.”
She caught my eyes. “Sounds like you already are, Hunter.”
***
The car was waiting again when we returned to Jayce’s grave almost a half hour later. Summer motioned to her husband to let him know everything was okay and held up two fingers.
“I gotta go. We have a doctor’s appointment in a little while. But I’m really glad I ran into you.” She gave me a hug and took two steps toward her car before turning to walk backwards. “Truth or dare. Come on, one last time.”
I shook my head. “I’m not giving your pregnant ass a chance to pick dare.”
“Fine,” she said. “But only because I’m pregnant. Not because I’ve lost my balls. I’ll pick truth.”
I chuckled and thought of a question. “Do you want a boy or a girl? And you can’t say you want a healthy baby, because we’re playing a serious game here.”
Summer rubbed her belly. “If I could pick the sex, I’d pick a girl. But I’ll take a healthy baby of any sex.”
“That’s fair.”
“Your turn. Truth or dare?”
“Since you picked truth, you know I have to pick dare.”
It dawned on me that this had been her plan all along.
“Go after the woman you love, let her be part of your life, and actually live for a change.”
***
“You look like shit.”
“That’s a nice way to answer the door.” I brushed past Derek and plopped down on his couch. We’d made plans to play racquetball tonight, yet he was still in a suit. “I didn’t realize there was a dress code.”
“Wasn’t talking about your clothes. You look like hell. Have you slept lately?”
I hadn’t, because the world was out to get me. In the last few days, I’d met Summer at my brother’s grave where I’d gotten a lecture. Then I’d flipped on the news to be slapped in the face by a story about the upcoming early release of Natalia’s asshole ex-husband, and finally, this afternoon I went to throw on some jeans that were back from the laundry and found a lacy red G-string of Natalia’s in the laundry bag.
I’d forgotten I’d found it under the bed when I double-checked the sublet before I left. I’d stuffed it into my suitcase while I was packing and then scooped the contents of my suitcase into a laundry bag when I returned home. The panty find had brought me a momentary rush of excitement, until I realized I’d washed them and could no longer smell her, no matter how hard I tried.
“Just busy at work,” I lied.
Derek shook his head. “So full of shit. Whatever. You can try to fool everyone around you, but you can’t fool yourself, jackass. I’m going to get changed.”
While he was changing, Anna came in the front door with the baby. She held her finger to her lips, motioning for me to keep quiet as she tiptoed past with the baby sleeping in her arms. She disappeared into Caroline’s room and came out with a monitor a minute later.
“Sorry. She was a little fussy, so I took her for a walk and just got her to go down for a nap. I didn’t want to wake her.”
“How’s my little peanut doing?”
Anna’s face lit up. “She’s pretty awesome, if I say so myself.”
She walked to the chair and sat across from me. “You want kids someday, Hunter?”
That was a question I always hated to answer. Wanting kids and being able to have them were two different things. So while the answer was that I’d love to have a little rugrat one day, I answered with the half-truth that had become second nature to me.
“Don’t think kids are in my future.”
“How come?”
Shit. Though I’d known Anna for years now, she’d always been my friend’s girl. A red box on the checkers board, when I was black. I hopped over and around her, but never landed there. We didn’t have these types of conversations. Obviously she had a reason to take an interest in me as something besides her husband’s buddy now, and that interest unnerved me. I looked over my shoulder, hoping to see Derek coming down the hall to interrupt. No such luck.
“Some people are just meant to be cool uncles, not dads.”
Most people took the hint at my vagueness. Not Anna.
She squinted at me. “Are you always this dodgy when asked questions? I don’t think I’ve paid close enough attention before now.”
My hand automatically went for my tie to loosen it, only I didn’t have one on. Before I could figure out how to respond to her non-question, she fired again. “You were great with Izzy. Maybe you shouldn’t sell yourself short.”
“Izzy’s a great kid.”
Anna studied me the way a detective examines a suspect. She was zoned in, ready for any telltale sign my face would give.
“Nat’s done an amazing job with her,” she said.
I looked away under her scrutiny, but she likely saw me flinch at the mention of Natalia’s name. “She has.”
Anna waited until I met her eyes. I always used the same damn move on Nat when she tried to avoid me.
“Too bad her father is going to be back in the picture soon. They’re releasing him next week—a month early due to overcrowding. I’m sure that will require readjustment for Izzy.”
I nodded.
But she didn’t stop goading me. “And Nat. I’m sure he’ll try to use Izzy to creep back into Nat’s life as much as possible.”
It was impossible to remain steady after that comment. Even if I’d kept quiet, I knew my face screamed that I wanted to strangle someone.
“Natalia’s smarter than that.”
Anna went in for the kill. “She is…but she’s in a vulnerable place right now.”
Luckily, Derek finally finished getting dressed. Anxious to get the hell out of here, I abruptly stood. “About time. We’re going to be late. They only had an hour of court time available.”
Derek looked at his watch. “We have plenty of time.”
Jackass.
Ignoring him, I leaned down to brush my lips on Anna’s cheek. “It was nice to see you, Anna.”
She made a face that said bullshit and stood.
Derek snapped his fingers. “I forgot my racquet. Be right back.” My soon-to-be ex-friend disappeared again, leaving Anna and me facing each other. After a silent exchange, she reached out and squeezed my arm.
“She’s in love with you,” she said softly. “But Garrett is a charmer….”
I closed my eyes.
“You ready?” Derek yelled as he emerged from the hall once again.
“Yeah.” I locked eyes with Anna. “Have a good night.”