“Yeah, I’m sure he will, but…with his schedule, it’s harder. His siblings will help out, but I hate it for Eli.”
Me too…
“Anyway, I won’t bore you with my tales of woe,” Katie said with a sigh. “I hear Kira getting up from her nap so I need to go. I’ll get those dates over to you, and I want you to give us a quote that includes everything you think we’ll enjoy. Brian says not to worry about the budget so go deluxe for us!”
“I’m already thinking of the perfect place! I’ll email you tomorrow.”
“Thank you! Talk to you later!”
When they hung up, Violet stared at her computer and decided she needed something to eat since she worked through lunch. Once she ate, she’d work on Katie’s trip and wished she had one planned for herself. She thought about the California trip she had considered back when she and Hunter first started dating. Maybe what she needed was a little time away to get out of this funk so she could stop thinking about and missing Hunter.
The more she thought about it, the more excited she got. A good road trip through some of the most beautiful cities and towns in California would be a great way to escape for a little while and to help her regroup a bit. The urge to start pulling up some websites immediately was strong, but her growling stomach was stronger.
“Fine! Food first and then I’m going to plan the most epic road trip California has ever seen!” she said as she walked to the kitchen to make herself a sandwich.
And tried to push away the thoughts of how she wished she had someone to take the epic road trip with her.
It was after midnight, and Hunter was still wide awake and staring at the ceiling.
Which had kind of become the norm for him lately.
He wasn’t sleeping well, he had no appetite, and he was working himself to death around the house while trying to still have plenty of quality time with his son. The deck was done, he built a jungle gym, and had done some major landscaping around the perimeter of the yard. And yet no matter how much he exhausted himself, whenever he climbed into bed at the end of the day, he couldn’t fall asleep.
It didn’t seem possible that one person could leave such a big hole in his life when she’d only been a part of it for such a short time. It didn’t seem logical or practical–two things that ruled his life–and yet…he missed Violet so damn much he felt like he could barely breathe. His whole life was turned upside down and in chaos and he couldn’t seem to control or fix any of it.
It was maddening.
When Brian had come by earlier and told him how Katie wasn’t sure she’d be doing daycare anymore, it had been just one more thing to add to the list of what was beyond his control. He still had another month of leave from the department, so he knew there was plenty of time for him to find a new daycare for Eli. His friend had worried that he’d be pissed or angry at Katie for changing her mind, but he wasn’t. Hell, he envied how she was doing what was best for her.
“I don’t even know what’s best for me,” he murmured into the darkness. “I thought I did, but…” Yawning, he rolled onto his side and punched his pillow. Not that it mattered. He couldn’t get comfortable anyway. With nothing left to do, he closed his eyes and prayed sleep would claim him.
The next thing he knew, Eli was climbing onto the bed.
“Daddy?” His little hands rested on Hunter’s arms and shook him. “Daddy, I’m hungry.”
“What the…?” Rolling over, he noticed the room was bright, and when he looked at the bedside clock, it was after eight. Muttering a curse, he pulled Eli into his arms and hugged him. “Sorry, buddy. I didn’t mean to oversleep.”
Off in the distance, the doorbell rang, and Hunter’s head was spinning as he tried to wake himself up.
Placing Eli on the bed beside him, Hunter kicked off the blankets and stumbled out of the room. The sun streaming into the living room was almost blinding, and by the time he got to the front door, he swore he’d never see normally again.
“Dean?” Opening the door, he found his older brother standing there with a box from Henderson’s bakery and a tray with–what he hoped–was two cups of coffee. “What are you doing here?” Stepping aside, he motioned for his brother to come in.
“Uncle Dean!” Eli cried as he ran into the room. Luckily his brother was swift on his feet and managed to slide the box and drinks onto the kitchen table before Eli launched himself at him.
“Hey, little man! You want a cinnamon roll?” Dean asked.
“Yeah!” Eli immediately scrambled out of Dean’s arms and sat at the table before opening the box for himself.
Hunter slowly made his way into the kitchen and gladly accepted the cup his brother handed him. “Thanks.”
Dean poured Eli some juice before sitting down and grabbing a pastry for himself and then pushing the box toward Hunter. “You doing okay?”
“Yeah, why?”
“For starters? It looks like you just woke up.”
“I did just wake up.”
“Dude, you’re an early riser. So what gives?”
“I like to sleep in on the weekend. It’s no big deal.”
“It’s Tuesday,” Dean said flatly. “Try again.”
Hunter casually nodded toward his son, and thankfully his brother knew to change the subject until they could talk freely. In the meantime, they talked about all the work he’d done in the yard.
“Dad mentioned how this all started because you wanted a bigger deck. It’s amazing how these things can snowball, right?”
“Yeah, sure.” He took a sip of his coffee and it tasted better than anything had in a while.
At least until he took a bite of the cinnamon roll.
That was pure heaven.
“I swear, I don’t know what Mrs. Henderson does to these things,” Dean commented, “but they are pure perfection every time.”
Hunter whole-heartedly agreed.
Once they were done, Hunter set up Eli in the living room to watch Doc McStuffins so he and Dean could talk. Back in the kitchen, he sat down and took another sip of his coffee and figured his brother would start the conversation.
And he did.
“You know you’re a colossal jackass, right?” Dean said with a small grin.
Choking on his coffee, it took a minute for him to catch his breath. “Are you trying to kill me?”
“Look, I know Dad’s talked to you, I know Kyle’s talked to you, and I’m sure Scarlett’s talked to you too.”
They all had, but it was a bit of a blur to Hunter. Everyone was telling him how wrong he was and to unclench and go after Violet, but…he’d been a little busy trying not to think about her, so he ignored all their talks.
“So I’m here to return the favor.”
“Um…what?”
Nodding, Dean took a sip of his coffee before continuing. “Do you remember when Courtney was planning on leaving Magnolia and moving to Raleigh and you came over and pretty much knocked some sense into me?”
Crap…
“Yeah…”
“The dumbest thing I ever did was not being honest with Court when we first started dating.”
“No, the dumbest thing you ever did was not notice she was in love with you for years before you started dating.”