Another gasp from my mom, her stare darting between my dad and me as she whispered, “That trash.”
A giggle bubbled free. “Momma!”
“It’s true,” she said, fingers at her neckline. Expression still utterly horrified. “Who says that in front of company at all, let alone a child?”
“I know,” I murmured in acknowledgment, fingers pressing deeper against the burning and the aching in my chest. An ache that felt so unlike anything I should be feeling after what I’d just gone through. “When Avalee first said it, I was so shocked that it’d come out of her mouth. Then I went to upset and pissed real fast.”
“Not right,” my dad said, shaking his head slowly. “What he did, and what they’re doing . . . ain’t right.”
I nodded as I quietly informed them, “They’re getting married. Raf told me tonight.”
Neither said anything. Both gave each other gutted looks before studying me, waiting to see what I might need. If I was about to break. If I was okay.
And I was so thankful they didn’t ask. Even with my parents, I didn’t know how to answer, “I’m surprisingly okay,” to what was going on in my life.
But then my dad nodded at me, his brows furrowing as he gestured to where I was still pressing against my chest. “You gonna be okay there?”
I nearly laughed at the identical question, even though the meaning had been entirely different. But my brows drew together, much like his, as I looked behind me again.
“Yeah, I . . .” My head shook. “I just feel . . .”
Like I was being called that way. Almost as if my soul was reaching. Begging me to leave.
I inhaled quickly. “Oh my gosh—Hunter.” I looked at my mom. “He’s outside. Right now. I completely forgot.”
I would’ve wondered how, but I already knew. The only thing in the world that could’ve made me forget Hunter Dixon was anything having to do with Avalee.
Raging at Rafael for a situation he’d put her in included.
Now, it was nearly impossible to focus on anything but the fact that Hunter was there. Right there. Waiting.
Promising comfort and strength and the half of me I’d been looking for all these years. The piece of me I needed.
“Well, get on,” Dad said with a slight dip of his head.
I looked to my mom for agreement, but within her smile was a hint of something. Whether it was her continued worry of Hunter being the reason for my leaving all those years ago or her hesitation to accept his being there the way my dad was, I wasn’t sure.
“I’ll be right outside in case Avalee needs me,” I assured them.
“Nope,” Dad said, drawing out the word. “Get on outta here. We got the munchkin. Y’all got things to talk about. Go talk without worrying about people listening in.” He slowly hooked his thumb in Momma’s direction.
“Jim!” she said, looking all kinds of shocked and offended.
“Don’t need that shit public,” he said unapologetically.
Momma turned her head away from him, the corners of her mouth tilting up as she fought a grin. “As if I would.”
A whisper of a smile danced across my face. “Thanks, Daddy.”
His only response was a subtle nod before I turned and headed for the door. Then I was out in the humid spring air, stepping closer to where Hunter Dixon was leaning against his truck.
Head down. Arms folded over his chest. Legs crossed at the ankle.
Lit up like a beacon in the evening sky.
A lighthouse guiding me home after years lost.
At the sound of the door shutting, his head snapped up. Those eyes hidden beneath his hat in the dark, but I felt them on me like a caress.
My heart thundered and my lungs ached from the way they filled so fully after years of running at half-capacity. Every part of my body coming alive being so close to him. Under his stare.
It was a wonder how I’d ever survived without him.
“Madison,” he murmured when I stopped in front of him.
“Hunter.”
His chest expanded with a large inhale, like just the sound of his name was enough to send him spiraling into this place of warmth and comfort he never wanted to escape from.
At least, that’s how it’d felt for me.
“Think we can talk?”
“Might not be easy,” I said gently.
“Never thought it would be.” A flash of white teeth met me. “Didn’t think I’d ever see you again though.”
“If someone asked me, I would’ve said the same. But if I’m being honest, I think I knew this moment would happen someday.”
A shiver rushed through me when he slowly pushed from his truck and took a step toward me. Close enough for me to smell him, all leather and cedarwood. Close enough to touch if I just reached out.
“So, let’s talk.”
“You wanna go for a drive?” I offered, voice soft and uncertain.
I felt his surprise ripple out between us and mold with that intoxicating mixture of adoration and need that I’d learned so well over the years.
He tipped his head toward the passenger side as he took a step that way. Voice warm and inviting and commanding all at once as he said, “Get in.”
My heart tripped and fumbled in its desperate race toward him.
I was too caught up. Too deep in our past and the way Hunter still held me as if we were in an intense, passionate dance that had come to a breathtaking pause.
And in that pause were all my vulnerabilities.
My guilt and heartbreak. Our pain.
But I could feel it in the weariness of my bones and the aches of my soul that this drive was going to be the best decision I’d made since the day I’d told Hunter goodbye.
The moment Hunter shut the door behind me, I became lost in a sea of leather and cedarwood and memories. When he climbed in next to me, I felt suffocated by it in the best and worst ways.
I’d dreamed of that moment. I’d ached for it.
But we had thirteen years of pain separating us. There were lies and actions at the root of it all. And I didn’t know how we were supposed to bridge that while pretending I hadn’t spent every minute of those years loving him. Especially when he headed to the Dixon orchard and drove to the far corner . . . to the spot we had claimed as ours long ago. The spot where we’d shared all of our firsts.
The place we’d go to talk or sit in silence.
The place he’d take me when I needed to cry or scream or share exciting news.
Where we’d go in the early mornings with a thermos of coffee to sit and enjoy the quiet after tending to their animals.
Where I’d fallen more and more in love with him.
From the energy that snapped and pulled between us when he turned off the engine, I knew he was seeing all those memories too. Knew he was feeling them.
Just as I began wondering if he was regretting driving there, he glanced at me uncertainly. His stare drifting toward the back for a moment before he climbed out of the truck.
Not a word spoken.
But an offer, just the same.
And I felt more torn than I could begin to comprehend with my mind clouded by the past and present and him.
Hunter and I there spelled trouble. But talking in public about anything just wasn’t an option in a town like Amber. We might as well hold a town hall meeting and have it out in front of everyone.