And just when she thought she had said all the right things, Katie’s face scrunched up, and she started to cry.
Hard.
“Oh, crap! Oh, Katie, I’m sorry! I just thought…” But she never got to finish because she found herself in her friend’s fierce embrace.
And it wasn’t a bad place to be.
So she hugged her back, knew in her mind this was just hormones, and came to the realization she wasn’t going to have a moment’s peace until Brian was home.
“Eli, let’s go!” Hunter called out with more snap than he meant to.
“You okay, Hunt?” It wasn’t the first time his father had asked him that this week and more than likely wasn’t going to be the last.
“It’s just been a long day, Dad, and I still have a shit-ton of stuff to do.”
“Today was your last day of work for a few weeks, right?”
“Yeah, but…”
“So then what’s the hurry? You’re going to have plenty of time on your hands to do anything you want or need to do,” his father stated simply.
If only…
He hadn’t seen Violet since she left his house the morning after the baby was born. They talked and texted every day, but it wasn’t enough.
And it was making him more than a little irritable.
“Hey, Dad!” his brother Kyle called out as he walked through the front door with a couple of pizzas. “I brought dinner!” He grinned on his way to the kitchen. “You and Eli staying?”
“Uh…no. I didn’t know you were bringing dinner,” he murmured and looked for where Eli was.
“So, stay,” Kyle said. “There’s plenty here and I’m sure you don’t feel like going home and putting on your apron.”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded.
His brother stared at him blandly before shrugging. “Still in a pissy mood, huh?”
“What the hell…”
“Dude, you seriously sound like a broken record. Get a new phrase, for crying out loud. And while you’re at it, maybe find a way to get Violet to come out and help you get out of this mood you’re in.”
“I’m not in a mood…” But even he knew he was lying.
“Trust me, you are so in a mood,” his brother countered.
“Okay, fine. I’m in a mood. Happy?”
“Always,” Kyle said with a big grin. “Life is good. Why be depressed or pissed off?” He shrugged. “Life is all how you look at it.”
Yeah, easy for him to say, Hunter thought. His brother had no real responsibilities–he only had himself to worry about. No doubt, if he were a single father who was suddenly thrust into the role of sole parenting while trying to work a full-time job while his daycare provider was on maternity leave, maybe he’d understand.
And all of those things combined hadn’t put him in the foul mood he was in.
He missed Violet.
Needed her.
Craved her.
Knew he was going slowly insane without her.
None of these things were good signs. If anything, this week should have been precisely what he needed to get his head on straight. Now that Katie had given birth and Brian was coming home, he knew Violet was leaving. So why wasn’t he taking advantage of this time to work on making a break from her?
Because I don’t want a break from her. I want her to stay.
Oh, right. That.
It’s like they both knew it was coming, but neither wanted to bring it up. And the fact that they hadn’t had any alone time together all week wasn’t helping. Violet was busy helping Katie with the baby and getting everything ready for when Brian came home, and he was working all kinds of crazy hours before taking his leave of absence that it was helping them both avoid the one thing they needed to talk about the most.
At least…he did.
“Uncle Kyle!” Eli called out as he ran into the room and jumped into Kyle’s arms. And that’s when Hunter realized maybe it would be a good thing for them to stay and hang out and have dinner together. It was better than the two of them home alone–especially since he knew he was a little short-tempered.
As if reading his mind, his father walked by and said, “I’ll set two more plates at the table.” And just like that, Hunter felt like he could breathe a little easier.
For the next hour, he talked about his plans to go through all the boxes of Eli’s stuff they had gotten from Melissa while he was home for the next several weeks and the possibility of doing some work in his yard–expanding the deck and building a jungle gym for Eli.
“Why expand the deck?” Kyle asked. “You ask me, the two of you are going to outgrow that house. You should look into adding another room or two. You know I could help you with it.”
“It’s not like it’s something we could do, just the two of us,” he countered. “We’d need engineers and architects and…”
“Yeah, and I work for a construction company, so you’d have access to all of it,” Kyle reasoned. “You know it was something you talked about when you bought the place.”
It had been something he planned on, but…life had other plans for him.
“It’s fine for us for now. And there’s no harm in making the yard someplace a little more enjoyable for us. I know when everyone comes over that it would be nice to eat outside and have more furniture out there–maybe add a firepit with some seating around it…”
“I guess. But wouldn’t you love to have a second story with a real master suite for you with your own bathroom?”
Would he? Hell yes! But it wasn’t practical. “I wouldn’t be comfortable sleeping upstairs and Eli being downstairs.” He shuddered at the thought of it. “Maybe when he’s older, but…”
“Maybe by then you could move to a bigger place,” his father chimed in. “You know the house was just a starter house for you, Hunter. And there are a lot of great places available in the area. We’re still a little untapped here–the tourists aren’t moving here full-time yet. You’d be smart to think about selling and getting something with more room before more people realize what a great place Magnolia Sound is.”
After that, Kyle shared news on what he was working on with Coleman Construction and how much he was hoping to get promoted to a foreman position. There wasn’t a doubt in Hunter’s mind that his brother could handle the position, but Kyle tended to be a little impatient and impulsive. Hopefully, his bosses would start him out on a small job if they did promote him.
There was never a lull in the conversation, but by the time they were done eating, Hunter realized his son had fallen asleep–his head resting on the table.
“Okay, I think that’s my cue to get going,” he said as he stood. “You must have really worn him out today, Dad.”
“Well, we worked in the yard. He helped me plant some vegetables and seemed to enjoy digging.”
Carefully, Hunter picked him up and got him settled in his arms. After a quiet round of goodnights, he made the cautious effort of getting Eli in the car without waking him up. Although, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if he were awake, but sometimes he tended to be more of a bear who refused to go back to sleep.