And then his hand was curling around my cheek, and he was tilting my head back so he could slant his mouth over mine.
Kissing and kissing and kissing me until I was breathless and dizzy off Hunter Dixon in the best way.
I gripped his wrist when we broke from the kiss to catch our breaths. Our stares locked on each other and the promise of what was to come hanging between us.
“Fuck in my back seat, I’ll murder you,” Beau growled.
The corner of Hunter’s mouth slowly lifted. “If that’s what you consider fucking . . .”
“Don’t,” Savannah hissed, reaching back to smack him.
“Stop,” I whispered, eyes flaring in warning even though a laugh was building in my chest. I gripped his shirt and pulled him closer. “But also don’t.”
A devilish smirk flashed across his face before he crushed his mouth to mine.
The kiss hard and needy.
Slow and passionate.
Soft and playful.
Everything that was us, and everything that the rest of our night was made up of.
Savannah was officially Avalee’s new favorite person.
After following her to Blossom Bed and Breakfast, she’d taken us right into the insanely massive kitchen and given Avalee a homemade cinnamon roll. Once my daughter was set up with some of the kids’ toys in the game room and Levi was down for a nap, Savannah had led me through the plantation house.
Explaining how they’d brought the house back to its former glory and then improved on it—something I’d known had always been a dream for her and Beau. Showing me every room that had its own distinct farmhouse feel, and all seemed to flow together. Excitedly telling me what life there was like and the kinds of guests they’d had.
And with every room, I felt myself relax a little more. Felt some of my worries and hesitation from just being near Savannah after everything begin to fade. Felt myself get pulled back into her infectious nature and our effortless friendship.
By the end of the tour, we’d found ourselves in the living area. Piled up on one of the couches with coffee in hand, talking as if not a day had passed.
Reminiscing on all the fun we’d had.
All the trouble we’d gotten into—almost always with the Dixon boys.
And all the nights we’d spent planning out how our lives would go. Her and Beau together, buying this house and fixing it into this. Hunter and me, helping his dad with the orchard.
All of us as the family we’d always felt we were.
Somehow, talking and laughing with Savannah made it not hurt as bad. My heart twisted and there was that longing that never faded. But it wasn’t the soul-crushing ache I’d been buckling under ever since I’d seen Hunter the evening before.
“And Sawyer would’ve been off, playing in the NFL, taking care of us all.” My lips twitched into a little smile before a gasp ripped from me. I leaned forward and pulled my legs up under me like I used to when we were teenagers, gossiping about all the goings-on in Amber. “That reminds me . . . I saw Sawyer at Brewed this morning. Which, by the way, Brewed? I love what they did to it.”
“Oh my God, was the coffee shop not part of it before you left?”
“No.” I glanced at the mug in my hand, my brow furrowing as I wondered where I’d left my coffee from the shop. “But I loved their coffee—what I drank of it anyway. My momma’s always going on about it. Anyway, Sawyer . . . the girl he was holding on to was not Leighton. I couldn’t believe it. If I hadn’t been so shocked from seeing him, I probably would’ve just stared at this other girl, completely dumbfounded.”
Sawyer and Leighton had been a forever-kind-of-love the same way Beau and Savannah were. The same way I’d thought Hunter and I would be.
Savannah’s shoulders sagged as a weighted breath left her. “Oh, Madison. Your parents never said anything?”
A sickening chill spread through my stomach. For a few seconds, I just looked at her. “No?” I licked my suddenly dry lips when Savannah didn’t offer anything. “They stopped updating me on anything to do with the Dixons.”
Her eyes creased at the sides. A look that said she didn’t agree with that or any of my decisions. “Leighton died . . . right after Mr. Dixon did.”
“No . . .” I said softly, drawing out the word. “Oh no. That poor—oh gosh. Oh, poor Sawyer.”
“I know,” she agreed. “But Rae, that’s who Sawyer was with, has been so good for him. And we all love her.” The corner of her mouth lifted a little. “You shoulda seen the way she stirred up the town when she arrived . . . she’s Emberly’s older sister.”
I blinked and my head slanted. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Yeah,” she said on a breath. “It’s a crazy and incredibly devastating story, I’ll tell you all about it. But I’m so glad she’s here because she’s really saved Sawyer, and I think she played a huge role in helping mend hurts when it came to Cayson.”
“Wait, what happened to Cayson?”
Savannah watched me for a while as if trying to figure out what to say. Finally, she exhaled heavily and said, “The Dixons . . . their family is really broken. I mean, think about how the Dixons used to be, and then try to imagine the exact opposite. It’s been terrible.”
I leaned against the back of the couch, part of me wanting to shut out what she was saying. It was instinctive—protective. Another was so stunned that I needed her to talk faster and tell me everything.
“Just before their dad died, Cayson left and stayed gone until about . . .”—she glanced to the side, thinking—“I’m not sure. This past fall? Cayson, Beau, and Hunter didn’t speak for the entire time he was gone. Sawyer walked away from his scholarship and football and fought with Hunter a lot because Hunt wouldn’t let him in on the business.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” I murmured only to clamp my mouth shut.
“What doesn’t?” Savannah asked, her expression urging me to say what I’d been about to.
I hesitated for a moment before conceding, “Hunter always wanted the orchard, but it bothered him that his brothers didn’t. He said it was supposed to be a family business. I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t let Sawyer in.” I quickly shook my head. “But I don’t know him anymore.”
Savannah nodded, her stare drifting. “That actually does make sense then.” She released another long sigh and focused on me. “When Cayson came back, he and Hunter started talking and repaired things between them. But that’s because they were the only two that knew their dad hadn’t been a good man.”
My eyebrows lifted as shock filled me. “What?”
“I know,” Savannah said, looking defeated in a way I couldn’t begin to imagine. “These past six months have been such a mess. Apparently, Cayson’s dyslexic, and no one ever knew. He didn’t even know. But their dad knew he couldn’t read or write and was incredibly cruel to him.”
I used my mug to try to hide my shock, my head moving in faint shakes.
“When Hunter took over the business after their dad passed, he found out he’d been doing really bad dealings with grocers and not paying taxes or his employees.”