Wolf and Sawyer looked at each other, and if it wasn’t all so damned fucked up, it might’ve been funny.
“Were you going to hit me or...”
“Yeah,” Wolf said. “I was pretty well prepared to hit you a few times.”
“Great. Go ahead.”
“But you love her,” Sawyer said.
“Yeah,” Hunter said. “You can still hit me if you want. She’s still your little sister. Innocent, and all that.”
“Probably not anymore,” Wolf said, not making direct eye contact.
“Well,” Hunter said. “No.”
“And you didn’t ask her to hide it,” Sawyer said. “She asked you to, and you were just...”
“Respecting her,” Hunter said. “I told her that I didn’t care who knew. I was happy to let everybody on the ranch know. Hell, I was happy to let them know before I realized I was in love with her.”
“Why are you in love with Elsie?” Wolf asked.
“Why would I not be?” It wasn’t that he didn’t have a specific answer. It was just there were too many. It was like looking up at a sky full of stars and trying to pick just a handful. But he did it anyway. “Because she knows exactly what it’s like to be left behind, and she made herself stronger for it. Because she isn’t afraid to call me out when I need it. Because she’s the best horse wrangler in the whole place. Because I can talk to her in a way that I’ve never talked to anybody before. And she listens. Because she’s beautiful. Because there’s a thousand more reasons to love her than to not love her. And because... I can’t imagine life without her.” He nodded. “I’ve lived life without a lot of people. I don’t have a father that’s worth anything. And my mother left. I’m fine with that. I could be fine if you guys never spoke to me again. Sorry. I’m not okay without Elsie.”
It was all clear. Sharply, beautifully clear.
“Well, hell,” Sawyer said, shaking his head. “I—I don’t know what to say. You love her.”
“I do,” he said. “Big surprise to me. Didn’t expect it. Gotta say.”
“Yeah. Well. You never do,” Sawyer said. “You never do.”
“He got married and he didn’t expect it,” Wolf said. “So I wouldn’t really listen to him.”
“Says the guy who got a woman pregnant.”
Wolf shrugged. “Worked out.”
“Yeah. Well, I hope that you guys will still be my friends. Since I’m hoping you’ll be my brothers-in-law.”
Both Wolf and Sawyer looked deeply uncomfortable with the thought. “Well. I guess that’s... Yeah. I mean...”
“Not only that,” Hunter continued. “It’ll be nice to get advice. Because I’ve a feeling I’m going to need it sometimes. I don’t know how to be right for her. I don’t really know how to be right for anybody. But I want to be. For her. And you know, she’s...difficult.” He smiled.
Because she was his difficult. And he liked it.
“Yeah, well, don’t say we didn’t warn you. But if something goes wrong, we’re going to kill you,” Wolf said.
“Even if it’s her fault,” Sawyer said.
Hunter nodded slowly. “That seems fair.”
“I thought so.”
“I have a feeling, though, that she’s not in the best place,” he said. “It’s complicated.”
“Look,” Sawyer said. “There’s a limit to what I want to know. But I can’t imagine how the hell...you and Elsie. I just would never have ever...”
“Whether you believe it or not, it started with good intentions. What I didn’t want to see was her getting involved with that Travis asshole without a little oversight. Because that’s what she was going to do.”
They both recoiled.
“No,” Wolf said. “That guy seems like an asshole.”
“That’s my opinion,” Hunter said. “But I’m not going to say that my motivation stayed pure. Obviously.”
“Rather have you for a brother-in-law, that’s for sure,” Wolf grumbled.
“You sure? I’m a McCloud,” he said. “Bad blood and all that.”
“That was just your dad. He’s a bad seed,” Sawyer said. “There’s a lot of McCloud blood here on this soil, as much as the Garretts and the Sullivans and the Kings. And if it wasn’t good blood, nothing would grow. So overall, no matter what’s happened, no matter what we’ve done... I think it kind of evens out.”
And he liked that more than he would’ve thought. Needed it more than he would’ve imagined.
“Yeah,” he said. “Maybe that’s true.”
“Yes, true,” Sawyer said. “Because I’m never wrong.”
Wolf shook his head. “Your ego is a problem.”
Sawyer shrugged. “Evelyn doesn’t mind it. Hey, Hunter. You and Elsie should come to dinner tonight.”
“I... Yeah. Sure. We will.”
Hunter got into his truck, and as he drove down to her house, the realizations that tumbled over him seemed so clear now.
Of course he loved her. Of course he had.
And when he looked back over the course of his life, he wondered if there had ever been a moment where he hadn’t.
But his feelings had just been waiting. Waiting to grow and change along with the two of them.
They’d always been just right for where they were.
Now it was time for more.
And he could only hope that she thought the same way he did.
Because as far as he was concerned, as he drove his truck down the familiar path that would take him to her house, his road had always been leading here.
From the very beginning.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
SHE WAS TERRIFIED that the next time she saw Hunter he would be in a body bag. But no, he wasn’t. He was back with a dinner invitation. And Elsie was...
Completely not okay.
Because what was the point? Because it was going to end. Of course it was going to end. Everything ended.
People left. It was what happened.
It was...
She could have lost Alaina with her behavior, and it had been such a stark reminder that relationships were not unconditional. They were very, very conditional. And it was only because Alaina was so changeable that theirs was salvaged. It certainly wasn’t because Elsie deserved to have her friend speak to her.