Hunter looked at it and then me. “Now’s the time to bow out if that’s what you want. I can cope with this on my own. Leave you out of it.”
“What do you mean exactly?” Was he suggesting we stop seeing each other? Just thinking about that made me feel sick. I couldn’t lose him. Not after I’d finally let myself give in to my feelings. I wanted to be with him.
In truth, I was already in love with him. Letting him go seemed unfathomable.
“I don’t want you to do this because you feel sorry for me. Or obligated,” Hunter said. “You have to protect yourself and Tyler. If we go with Madeleine’s plan, you’re going to see a lot more of yourself splashed on social media and gossip rags. I guess what I’m asking is—are you sure I’m worth the trouble?”
I traced my finger along the edge of the counter. What would my dad tell me to do? He’d been a private person too. A man who didn’t want anyone else knowing his business. I’d gotten that from him. And there was Tyler too. Did he really need his mother on display? Would it cause him problems at school?
“Yes, you’re worth the trouble,” I said. “But it doesn’t mean the whole thing doesn’t scare me.”
“I’m scared too, but I can tell you—I’ve lived in Willet Cove without anyone even knowing who I am. This whole thing’s not typical of my life. I’m just a simple guy who wants simple things.”
“Such as?”
“A family. Married to the woman I love. A home where I’m loved and supported. I know it’s early, but there’s something about you that feels right. Like we belong together. I never thought I’d trust myself to fall again but you’re impossible to resist. If you want to be here, I’m not going anywhere. But if it’s too much, please tell me. I can disappear and you can get back to your life.”
I shook my head. “Hunter, you’re quickly becoming my life. I know it sounds crazy but it’s true. And if we have to have our photographs on some tabloid sites until Dana goes away, then so be it. People weather much worse things than this.” I got up from the stool and went around to stand next to him at the stove. He set aside his spatula to take me into his arms.
“You know what I’ve always daydreamed about?” Hunter asked.
“What’s that?”
“That someday I’d have someone who would dance with me in the kitchen.”
“That’s what you daydream about?” I asked, laughing. “I think we can make that happen.”
“Yeah?”
I left him for a moment to turn on my favorite streaming device on my phone, which was connected to the built-in speakers. “What’s a good song to dance to?”
He appeared to think for a moment, then said, “How about “Die a Happy Man”—Thomas Rhett. Appropriate one for our very first dance?”
“It’s perfect.” I pulled the song up and hit play, then turned back to him. He held out his arms and I went into them as the first notes of the song filled the kitchen.
He placed one hand at the small of my back, the other holding mine against his chest. We swayed to the music, the beatof his heart in time with the music. I couldn’t remember a time I’d felt as safe in anyone’s embrace.
Suddenly, a memory surfaced. I was about six when I found my father in the living room, sitting on a chair with his face in his hands. A record played on the turntable. Willie Nelson’s “Always On My Mind.”He’d looked up, his eyes damp. He’d been crying.
“Daddy, what is it?”
He’d pulled me onto his lap, stroking my hair. “Just missing your mama. We used to dance to this song. All around the living room. When we were too broke to go out, which was most of the time.”
“You miss her?”
“Very much.”
I nestled against his chest. “I wish I missed her. Then I would remember her.”
“Sugar Plum, that’s exactly right. Even though I miss her, I don’t regret a single moment. When you love someone as much as I did your mother—it hurts to lose them. But I have many sweet memories to remind me about the great love I felt for her.”
Hunter’s arm tightened around my waist. “You okay?”
“I just remembered a moment with my dad. When I was a little girl, he told me he and my mother used to dance around the house.”
“So we’re carrying on a family tradition?” Hunter asked.
I smiled, looking up and into his eyes. “And creating new ones of our own.”
