Can't Help Falling in Love

by Samantha Chase

  He shrugged. “I wasn’t sure how to word it, but…you know what I mean. If you want to go, I won’t stop you. Not now, not later. What do you say?”

  It scared her how much she wanted to stay–to be a part of their little morning breakfast routine and just be with them.

  Granted, she’d been living with Katie for a month and had experienced her family routine, but…this was different. She was comfortable with Katie; she was family, and Violet never had to pretend anything with her. But this? Being with Hunter and Eli felt like a much bigger deal.

  Stop being a weirdo; it’s just breakfast for crying out loud! Surely you can handle sitting through some cereal without freaking out!

  Off in the distance, she heard some movement in the other room and figured Eli was up.

  “Vi?” Hunter asked. “I need to get up and throw on some clothes. You probably should do the same.”

  “Oh…yeah. Right. Sorry.” She went to scramble from the bed, but he stopped her and kissed her with an intensity that surprised her. They had been lying there talking about some deep stuff and yet he kissed like they had been making love. When he lifted his head, he was smiling. “What’s that smile about?”

  “You. It’s just about you.” Then he jumped up and pulled on his shorts from last night and was dressed before she even sat up. “I know I said I had only one more question, and I already asked it but…I lied. There’s one more thing.”

  “O-kay…”

  “How do you like your eggs?”

  Kicking the blankets off, she stood and pressed up against him. It felt a little decadent to be completely naked while he was dressed. “However you want to make them.” Then with a quick kiss, she started pulling on her clothes.

  Hunter had seen a lot in his life–both in his personal life and professional one. He’d survived losing his mother at a young age, he’d witnessed life coming into the world and watched as death claimed one. But listening to Violet talk this morning hit him hard.

  To the world, she presented a picture of a very confident woman. The type who could conquer the world. And yet, his invitation to have breakfast with him and his son had exposed a vulnerable side–a softer side–and he wanted nothing more than to make everything better for her. Of course, he couldn’t take away the pain of her childhood, but he desperately wanted to show her how good life could be.

  With him.

  He was so far in over his head and it was both terrifying and exciting all at the same time. Violet made him believe he could have all the things he wanted–that part of him wasn’t dead or even just going through the motions because he had to.

  The terrifying part was going to be convincing her things weren’t happening too quickly, and she didn’t need to travel the world to be happy.

  And what better way to start than with a great family breakfast with him and Eli.

  “Breakfast is served!” he called out. Violet and Eli had been doing yoga in the living room and it was one of the most adorable things he’d ever seen. The serious look on his son’s face as he tried to hold the poses Violet was doing had been priceless. It was obvious Eli was a little infatuated with Violet, and Hunter couldn’t blame him. Even now, Eli wouldn’t come to the table until he held Violet’s hand and could lead her there.

  Fortunately, she didn’t look the least bit put out by it either.

  Thank God…

  Pouring himself a cup of coffee, Hunter had to wonder how he went from sort of being okay with this being a casual relationship to needing Violet to move her life here to Magnolia Sound with him.

  His family would say this was typical of him–how they all knew he wasn’t capable of having a fling. And they would be right. Then they’d point out how he only has two speeds when it came to relationships–full-speed ahead or dead in the water. And again, they would be right. But that didn’t mean this was wrong, did it?

  Yes, this was fast, and yes, they didn’t know each other all that well yet, but it didn’t diminish what he felt for her and what he hoped she felt for him.

  Maybe it was time to sit down with Violet and see if they were on the same page.

  Or even remotely near it.

  “Ooo…omelets?” Violet asked as she sat down. Wide-eyed, she looked at him. “You seriously just whipped up some omelets?”

  Nodding, he took his seat and smiled. “Eli and I love farmer’s omelets. They’re our favorite, right, buddy?”

  “Yeah!” Eli cried out before he dug into his breakfast.

  “Wow,” she said as she slowly picked up her fork. “I never knew anyone who made omelets at home. I always thought they were the sort of thing people got when they went out for breakfast to the diner or something.”

  “We are big fans of breakfast food,” Hunter explained. “Pancakes, waffles, French toast, bacon and eggs, and cinnamon rolls. Those happen to be my favorite–especially the ones from Henderson’s Bakery.”

  “I’ve had them! Honestly, I think I’ve had one of everything they have in that bakery and it’s all fantastic.”

  Conversation flowed over breakfast with Violet asking Eli lots of questions about his room, his favorite toys, and what were some of his other favorite foods. And Hunter sat back in amazement as his son chatted away–in full sentences no less!–answering all of her questions. By the time they were done eating, Eli ran off to build Violet a castle out of blocks. It was incredibly sweet and Hunter decided to take the opportunity to broach the subject that had been consuming him all morning.

  “So…Brian’s back,” he began before taking a casual sip of his coffee. “Katie and Kira must be thrilled.”

  “Oh, they are. I teared up watching them. And when he saw Benjamin for the first time?” Her hand rested over her heart. “It was amazing. He cried like a baby and then Katie was crying…” She shook her head. “Kira was hugging Brian’s leg and started crying, but I don’t think she really knew why.”

  “Wow.”

  “I know. That’s why I felt like I shouldn’t be there. I wanted to give them some time to be alone as a family without an audience. I know Rose is going over there today, so…”

  Hopefully that meant she wasn’t in a rush to leave…

  “Do you have plans for the day or do you need to get back to Katie’s?”

  “Um…no. No plans. I told her I’d be back tonight for dinner.”

  “You’re more than welcome to hang out with us today. I wasn’t doing anything except working on some plans for a new deck.”

  “A new deck?” Violet craned her neck to look out the back door. “What’s wrong with the current deck?”

  Shrugging, he explained, “It’s fine, but it’s a little small. Like I can grill out there and maybe another person or two can hang out with me, but there’s not enough room for a place to eat.” Pausing, he figured he’d get her input on some other things. “I was talking to my dad and Kyle about it last night over dinner and they both seem to think I should be looking into buying a bigger house.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I guess now that Eli’s living with me full-time, it makes sense. It’s a small house and we’ll outgrow it, eventually.”

  “Seriously? But it’s just the two of you.”

  Hunter stared at her for a moment and carefully chose his next words. “Well, it might not be just the two of us forever.”

  And then he waited for Violet to react or respond.

  And waited.

  And waited.

  She took a sip of her coffee, nodded, and stared down at her plate before she said, “I guess that makes sense. Plus, there’s a good chance Eli’s going to be as big as you and will outgrow his room before you know it.”

  “Uh…sure.” He paused. “I hadn’t given it much thought until recently, but I wouldn’t mind a little privacy. You know, a real master bedroom with its own bathroom and maybe not five feet away from my son’s room.”

  Another nod, another sip of coffee.

  Okay, maybe he needed to be a little more�
��obvious.

  “You know,” he began after a moment, “if I had a bigger place that afforded us a little more privacy, we wouldn’t have to be as quiet as we were last night. Not that it wasn’t satisfying on a whole other level, but…I kind of like being vocal with you.”

  Blushing, Violet put her mug down. “I like being vocal with you too, Hunter,” she replied shyly. “But…I don’t think you’re going to move in the next few weeks, so…”

  “Maybe not in the next few weeks, but…in the near future. You know, if you decided to hang out a little longer.”

  “Hunter…”

  “No, I mean…I know Brian’s back and all that, but you’re still coming to the wedding with me next weekend, aren’t you?”

  She nodded.

  “So…maybe you stay a little after the wedding.”

  “Hunter, it’s already a little crowded at Katie’s…”

  “You can stay here!” he blurted out. “Obviously Eli’s not scarred from having you here this morning and that was my biggest concern, so, you know, it would be fine. Great, even. I’m off for the next several weeks so we could finally get to spend some real time together. I could show you all the hidden gems here in Magnolia!”

  That seemed to perk her up a bit.

  Reaching over, she placed her hand on top of his. “Funny you should mention that because I was thinking of you and I maybe getting away for a few days. You know, we can go to the mountains, or I could show you Nashville…” She shifted excitedly in her seat. “I was looking up some resorts near Asheville and Grandfather Mountain, and I think we could have an amazing time in our own private cabin with a hot tub! No one around for miles so we could be as vocal as we wanted. What do you think?”

  I think we are so not on the same page.

  We’re not even in the same book.

  Carefully, he pulled his hand away and stood up. “I should get this mess cleaned up.”

  Her brows furrowed as she looked at him. “I’m sorry? Did I say something wrong?”

  “What? Uh…no. No. I just hate looking at this mess, so…”

  Violet was immediately on her feet. “No, let me. Please. You go and see how Eli’s doing, and I’ll do the dishes.”

  “Violet…that’s not necessary.”

  She shooed him away and gave him a playful shove toward Eli’s room. “Nope. You cooked; I’ll clean. Those are the rules. Go.”

  He knew it was a common rule, but he felt it was a lot more common for her, and his heart ached for her all over again.

  Not that he let himself dwell on it.

  Or on the fact that maybe he was getting a little too far ahead of himself.

  These next few weeks that he was going to be home were for him to spend time with Eli and take care of things around the house, not go gallivanting to resorts in the mountains or go to Nashville. As a parent, he couldn’t just pick up and go and especially not right now! It was bad enough he’d had to bounce Eli around between all his siblings this past week, there was no way he was going to pack him off just so he could go on a trip with Violet.

  Pushing all that aside, he walked into Eli’s room and found him building the castle he’d promised to Violet. He helped him and a few minutes later, Violet joined them. After that, it was hard to feel anything but happy because this was the kind of setting he always envisioned for himself when Eli was born–a family sitting together for breakfast and then playing together and just enjoying each other’s company. That never happened with Melissa, but it was now and…

  Holy shit! Is that what I’m doing? Am I putting Violet in this role because I genuinely have strong feelings for her and want a future or am I doing it because she fit in easily?

  Okay, yeah. That was something he was going to have to deal with.

  Fast.

  Like before he started making any more plans in his mind for the two of them.

  Thirteen

  “Want to tell me why Hunter thinks you were home with us last night?”

  Busted.

  It was just after six in the morning and the last thing Violet expected was an ambush at the front door.

  After putting her purse on the sofa and her overnight bag on the floor, she faced Katie and sighed. “I needed some time alone to think.”

  Motioning for her to sit down, Katie made herself comfortable as well. “Before I say anything else, are you okay? Where did you stay last night? I kind of figured you’d spend the weekend at Hunter’s. I thought the whole going to a hotel story was a little flimsy.”

  “Well…my plan had been to go down to Wilmington for the weekend to give you guys some time alone, but I stopped at Hunter’s on my way out of town Friday night and spent the night there.”

  “You know his place is in the opposite direction of leaving Magnolia for Wilmington, right?”

  Violet simply stared at her.

  “Okay, fine. So you stayed there Friday night. Why didn’t you just stay for the weekend? And for what it’s worth, he was kind of freaked out that you weren’t taking his calls.”

  Sighing, she asked, “What did you tell him?”

  “Well, considering you told me you were going to a hotel for the weekend, that’s what I told him.”

  “Shit.”

  “Sorry, but…” She shrugged. “Okay, so what happened that you lied to him and left?”

  “I told you, I needed some time alone to think.”

  “About what?”

  “Everything.”

  “Um, yeah. I’m going to need something a little more specific than that.”

  Violet explained about her time with Hunter and Eli—from spending the night to breakfast omelets, building castles, shopping for plants, and designing a deck.

  “Okay, clearly I’m missing something because that all sounds great. Like everything that just came out of your mouth was positive.”

  Twisting on the couch, she let her head fall back and let out a huff of annoyance. “He wants me to stay, Kate! Like...move here! With him! I mean...that’s crazy, right? People don’t do that!”

  Slowly, Katie raised her hand. “I did. If you remember, I met Brian when he was on leave and visiting Nashville for a long weekend. We did the long-distance thing for a month when I packed up and moved here. Well, not here to Magnolia Sound, but Jacksonville by the base.”

  “Okay, fine, but...that was different.”

  “How?”

  “What do you mean how? It was you and Brian! You guys were like in love at first sight!”

  “Ooohhh...okay. I get it now.”

  Violet’s head snapped up. “Get what?”

  “You’re freaking out.” She shook her head. “I should have seen this coming.”

  “What on earth are you even talking about? Seen what coming?”

  Reaching out, Katie took one of Violet’s hands in hers and squeezed. “Sweetie, I love you like a sister. You’re seriously the only family I have besides Brian and Rose, and I know you better than anyone.” She paused. “But you kind of have a tendency to...sabotage your relationships.”

  “What? You’re crazy! I do not do that!” She went to jump up, but Katie kept a tight grasp on her.

  “Yes, you do.”

  She tried to yank her hand free, but Katie wasn’t having any of it. With another huff of annoyance and a low growl, she let her hand drop to the cushion. “Give me one example of how you think I sabotage my relationships.”

  “Remember David Klein? Junior year of college? You were crazy about him and he was even crazier about you and you dumped him when he started talking about moving in together.”

  “It wasn’t sabotaging, Kate. I just wasn’t ready to live with him.”

  “Okay, after David was Max Collins. He was hot and sexy and played guitar and wanted to take you on tour with him the summer after you broke up with David. You dumped him too.”

  “He was touring with a band called Riot Hammers! Why would I want to go on tour with them?”

  “Because he wrote a ton
of songs about you and would talk about you at every show! He practically worshipped the ground you walked on, and on top of that, he was a genuinely great guy!”

  She sighed loudly. “None of this is sabotage, Kate.”

  They sat in silence for a few moments. “So what’s wrong with Hunter, huh? He’s great, he’s got a career, he’s a solid, standup kind of guy who must seriously be crazy about you if he not only wants you to move here but move in with him and his son.” She paused and let that sink in. “You have to realize something; Hunter has been almost obsessive about keeping any woman he’s dated away from Eli. If he trusts you with his kid, then he’s not messing around, Vi. So what is tripping you up here?”

  Oh, God…

  There wasn’t anything in the world that she couldn’t tell Katie. Her friend wasn’t lying when she said she knew Violet better than anyone, but that didn’t mean she was ready to admit her biggest fears.

  Or maybe…she needed to.

  “He’s just interested now because things just sort of crashed and burned with his ex,” she said flippantly, even as the words made her heart ache. Swallowing hard, she added, “I’m the rebound.”

  “Oh, Vi. You don’t really believe that, do you?”

  She shrugged. “Trust me. It’s all it is. And you know the rebound thing never works out, so why should I linger? It would be better for everyone if I just…you know…let this be a fling and leave like I had planned.” She paused. “Okay, not quite as I planned. I’ve got the wedding to go to with him next weekend and then I plan on staying for another week.”

  “Really?” Katie asked excitedly.

  “Yeah, but…don’t be upset with me…”

  “Oh, lord. Now what?”

  “I’m going to stay at the B&B.”

  “Why? There’s no reason for you to do that!”

  “Kate, your husband just came home after being deployed. I’m sure he’d like to ease back into his home life with you and the kids without a houseguest.” And before Katie could argue, Violet held up a hand to stop her. “You know it’s true. The last thing I want is to feel like a fifth wheel. I think we can both agree I’ve had enough of that in my life. So…just let me do this, okay?”