by Unknown
“It was a tough job, but someone had to do it,” Colton said gravely, to more groans.
“Holy shit,” Max said, his eyes glued to his smartphone. “Did you guys hear Gavin Guthrie got arrested last night?”
A gasp went through the room.
“For what?” Hannah asked.
“He got into a fight at a bar out on 114.”
Ella got up and headed for the conference room door.
“Ella?” Charley called after her. “Where’re you going?”
Ella didn’t reply.
“What the hell?” Charley asked the others. “What’s up with her?”
“Leave her alone,” Hannah said quietly.
“What do you know, Hannah?”
Hannah put up her hands to ward off Charley. “Nothing.”
“Whatever it is, I’m sure she’ll tell us when she’s ready to,” Molly said, sending the signal that the subject was closed—for now.
“While we’re all here, Hunter, bring us up to speed on what’s going on with the diner,” Lincoln said.
All eyes shifted to him. He liked it better when they were making fun of Colton. “As you’ve all heard by now, Nina and Brett are moving to France, and the diner was up for sale. Gramps came to me and suggested we look into snapping it up while we could. His thinking and mine is that with the website coming online in the next couple of months, we’ll see an influx of visitors to the store and the town. They’ll need a place to grab a meal.”
“What does our sudden purchase of the diner have to do with you and Megan dating?” Charley asked.
“He’s dating Megan?” Lucas asked.
“Catch up, man,” Max said. “Even I’ve heard about that.”
“It’s got nothing to do with me dating Megan,” Hunter said with a pointed look for Charley. “We’re talking to her about managing the diner for us, but nothing is set in stone.”
“If she doesn’t take the job, who will?” Charley asked.
“We haven’t gotten that far yet,” Hunter said. “We just came to terms with Nina yesterday, and there’s some work we need to have done before we reopen.”
“Assume you’re talking to Noah about that,” Will said of their cousin, the general contractor.
Hunter nodded. “He did the inspection for me the other day and will be handling the upgrades, too. We hope to get them done in the next week or two, so we’re only closed for a short time.”
“Dude, are you sure about Megan?” Landon asked. “She can be kinda—”
“I firmly recommend against finishing that thought, Landon.” Infuriated, Hunter stood and gathered his belongings. “Whatever thoughts any of you have about her you can keep to yourselves. If I have my way, she’s in my life to stay, so live with it.”
He left the conference room, went into his office and shut the door behind him. No way would he stand for anyone disparaging Megan, let alone members of his own family.
A quick knock preceded his mother’s entry into the office. She closed the door and leaned back against it.
“Um, come in?”
She smiled. “I didn’t want to give you time to tell me to go away.”
“Go away.”
“Not so fast. That was quite a speech just now.”
“So what about it? I’m not going to let anyone speak poorly of her, especially people who don’t even know her.”
“Fair enough. You care about her, so you shouldn’t have to put up with that. But you should know, they care about you. They’re concerned about you.”
“No one needs to be concerned about me. I’m fine. I’m happy.”
“It’s happened fast with Megan.”
“Not from my point of view. It’s taken forever.”
“Still … Telling your entire family she’s in your life to stay a couple of days after your first official date … That’s fast. You’re being careful?”
“You’re not seriously asking me about safe sex, are you, Mom?”
Molly snorted with laughter. “That’s the least of what I’m asking you. I’m far more concerned about your precious heart than I am about your …” She waved her hand as her face flushed with color.
“Precious penis?”
“Hunter! Stop it.”
He laughed. “What? You went there. Not me. My heart is fine. It’s in very good hands with Megan.” Even as he assured his mother, a nagging sense of doubt plagued him as he remembered what Megan had said about not getting serious. He pushed that aside, not willing to entertain any scenario that didn’t include her as a permanent part of his life. “No need to worry.”
“I am worried. I’m worried what’ll become of you if she disappoints you.”
“I’m hardly a child. I’ve been disappointed before.”
“This would be different.”
Since Hunter could hardly tell her she was wrong about that, he didn’t try. “Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do and why you’re trying to do it. I don’t need to be warned off her. Things are great with us. They’re going to stay great.”
“Be careful, Hunter. You’re a good man, one of the best I’ve ever known.”
“And you’re not at all biased about that.”
“Not one bit. I speak the truth. You put others ahead of yourself all the time. It’s what you do. I don’t want to see that come back to bite you. I think it’s wonderful that you’ve found someone you care so deeply about. Just make sure you get back from her everything you deserve and then some.”
“I hear you, and I appreciate what you’re saying.”
“Good. Bring her to Sunday dinner this week.”
“I’ll ask her. Now tell me … What’s up with Ella walking out of the meeting like that after she heard about Gavin being arrested?”
“I have no idea.”
“But I’m sure you plan to find out.”
“Duh. What do you think?”
Hunter was still laughing at his mother’s predictable reply when another knock sounded at the door. He was resigned to this day being a total loss. “Come in.”
Hannah stepped into his office and closed the door behind her. “Everything okay in here?” She glanced from her mother to her brother.
“Everything is fine,” Molly said. “How about you tell me what’s going on with your sister and Gavin.”
“Nothing that I know of,” Hannah said.
“So why did she bolt out of here like that when she heard he’d been arrested?” Hunter asked.
Hannah seemed to be weighing whether she should tell them something.
“Hannah?” Molly said. “What do you know?”
“She has a soft spot for him. That’s all I’m going to say.”
“Ella has a soft spot for Gavin Guthrie?” Hunter asked, astounded. “For how long?”
“Quite some time now,” Hannah said.
“How did this get by us?” Hunter asked.
“I know everyone in this family is always in everyone’s business,” Hannah said, “but I think we should leave her alone with this. It’s a delicate situation. He’s … He’s still broken, over Caleb, and she’s …”
“Fragile,” Molly said. “Easily wounded. Kind, compassionate, caring.”
“All those things,” Hannah said, nodding. “Sometimes I think he might be the worst possible guy for her, as much as I adore him.”
“You’ll keep an eye on her?” Molly asked her oldest daughter.
“Always,” Hannah said. “She talked to me about him once before. Hopefully, she will again if need be. I’ll make sure she knows she can.”
Molly hugged Hannah. “I love the way you all look out for each other. It’s my proudest accomplishment as a mother.”
“I wish we looked out for each other a little less sometimes,” Hunter said.
“I’m sure you do,” Hannah said, “but you’re not getting off the hook that easily. Not after the way you tortured poor Nolan when we started dating.”
“Tortured is such a strong word.”<
br />
Molly laughed at their banter. “I’ll let you two work this out the way you always do.” She came around his desk to give Hunter a hug. “Love you.”
“You, too, Mom. I heard what you said. Every word of it.”
“Good. Don’t forget it.”
“How could I?”
Molly gave Hannah another hug on her way out of the office.
“What was that all about?” Hannah asked him when they were alone.
“She’s worried about me with Megan. Too much, too soon. Over the edge.”
“Does she have a point?”
“No, she doesn’t. It’s fine. Is it happening fast? Maybe, but it’s hardly like we just met each other last week. I’ve known her for years. Wanted her for almost as long as I’ve known her. Now I finally get a chance with her and everyone is worried. I’m a grown man. I can take care of myself.”
“We know that, Hunter. You’re the most competent person any of us have ever known. You’re almost good to a fault.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You take care of others at your own expense. You always have.”
He didn’t bother to tell her their mother had just said basically the same thing. “I don’t do that.”
“Yes, you do. Remember when Caleb died? You barely left my side for the first year, and in all that time I never saw you shed a tear despite what was a devastating loss for you, too.”
“It wasn’t about me then.”
She challenged him with the same eyes that stared back at him in the mirror. No one had ever seen him as completely as Hannah did, and at times like this, her fundamental understanding of him made him pretty damned uncomfortable.
“I shed my share of tears over Caleb. I still do.”
“I have no doubt you’ve grieved for him, but you never let me see that.”
“It wasn’t about me,” he said again, more intently this time.
“Yes, it was. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. He was my husband, but he was your best friend, and you had every right to be almost as devastated as I was. Even when it’s about you, you put others before yourself. None of us want to see you get hurt when or if Megan decides she wants to be somewhere else or that she’s not as serious about you as you are about her. Only a short time ago, she was still pining over Will. Has she really moved on from him? Those are the things that worry me.”
Those things worried him, too, not that he’d ever admit that to Hannah or anyone else. Her words had struck at some of his deepest fears where Megan was concerned. “All I can tell you is that things are good with us. Really good.”
“I’m happy for you. You know that, right?”
“Even if you wouldn’t have chosen her for me?”
“I never said that, and it’s not about who I want for you. It’s about what you want and making sure you get it.”
“I’m doing my best to get what I want and to make sure she gets what she wants, too.”
“Does she know what she wants?”
“She … She’s working on that.”
“Make sure she doesn’t get what she wants at your expense.” She checked her watch. “I’ve got to run. Doctor’s appointment in half an hour.”
He stood and went around his desk to get the door for her. “Is everything all right with the baby?”
“Everything is fine. Routine checkup.”
She gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Think about what I said.”
Watching her go, Hunter wondered how he would think about anything else.
CHAPTER 26
Ella drove like a woman possessed, out of Butler, over the one-lane covered bridge, past her parents’ home on Hells Peak Road, heading north. She flew by the road that led up to Colton’s mountain and kept the accelerator pressed closer to the floor than she normally dared.
Gavin had been arrested. Arrested. Was he still in jail? Or had he been released? Was her middle-of-the-workday trip to his home at the logging company he owned a fool’s errand? Would he want to see her if he was in some sort of trouble?
The last time she saw him had been at Hannah and Nolan’s wedding in late July. That was almost two months ago—two long months of thinking about their kiss on the beach at the lake, how he’d told her he wasn’t capable of giving her what she deserved, that if he had been capable, she’d be the only one he’d want.
Those words, reliving that kiss … She’d lost a lot of sleep over Gavin Guthrie in the last few weeks. The remarriage of his late brother’s wife, even to a man Gavin loved and respected, had hit him hard. He’d admitted as much. Had he been spinning ever since? The thought of that, of him going through that kind of pain alone, brought tears to Ella’s eyes. His agony over the loss of his brother was still so raw, so close to the surface even after all this time.
She wiped away her tears, determined to find him and offer him anything he needed. The Gavin she knew and loved—yes, she loved him—didn’t get into fights in bars. And he certainly didn’t get arrested.
Twenty minutes after she’d walked out of the office—and there’d be hell to pay for that with her family, not that she cared—she drove through the gates to Gavin’s logging company, which was abuzz with workers and trucks and equipment. She paid no mind to any of that, heading directly to the log cabin he’d built for himself on the property.
She’d never been here before, but after hearing so much about the business, she knew exactly where to go. Pulling up in front of the house, she noticed his big pickup truck parked outside, but that didn’t mean he was home. What if he was still in jail? Would she actually go there and post his bail? Absolutely.
Her hands trembled as she got out of the car, leaving her keys and purse behind as she went to his front door and knocked. She waited for several minutes before she knocked again. What was she doing here? This was none of her business, and he’d probably resent the interruption, if he was even home. A bead of sweat rolled down her back. Ella Abbott didn’t sweat. This was ridiculous.
She was about to return to her car and regroup when the inside door opened to reveal Gavin, fresh from the shower and wearing only a pair of unbuttoned faded jeans. Water dripped from his dark hair and his usually gorgeous face was bruised and swollen. She gasped at the sight of him.
“Ella? What’re you doing here?”
“I … um, I don’t know. I shouldn’t have come. I heard … I’m sorry.” She would’ve turned away and left except he opened the storm door, grabbed her hand and half dragged her into the house, slamming the inside door closed behind them.
“Tell me why you’re here.”
“Gavin,” she said softly. “Your face. Does it hurt?”
“It doesn’t feel great, but the other guy looks worse.” He attempted a cocky grin that turned into a grimace when his battered face fought back.
“Have you iced it?”
“Not yet. I just got home a little while ago.”
Since she’d already invaded his privacy and his home, she didn’t see anything wrong with going to his freezer, finding an ice pack and bringing it to him. “Put this on it.”
“Why are you here?”
“Ice your face.”
“Answer the question.”
“I heard you got arrested, and I was worried.”
“Worried. Not horrified?”
“Not horrified. What happened?”
“Some dude got mouthy with me, so I shut him up. The owner of the place called the cops, and they arrested both of us.” He shrugged as if it were no big deal to have been arrested.
“You spent the night in jail?”
“Yep, arraigned this morning and charged with disorderly conduct. But don’t sweat it. My lawyer is on it. I’ll pay for the damage, and he’ll get the charges dropped.”
“Damage?”
“We busted up the place pretty good before the cops got there.”
“Gavin … This isn’t like you. Brawling in public …”
“How do you know what�
��s like me? You don’t know me.”
Though his sharply spoken words cut her to the quick, she refused to be brushed aside like she didn’t matter to him. She knew better. He’d told her otherwise that day at the lake when he’d kissed her. “I do know you, and this isn’t like you.”
He removed the ice pack from his face—his incredibly handsome, even when bruised, face. “Maybe it is. Maybe it’s more like me than either of us thought. It sure felt good to pound the shit out of that bigmouthed asshole.”
Ella crossed the room to where he leaned against the bar between his kitchen and a spacious family room adorned by one of the biggest flat-screen TVs she’d ever seen. Such a guy. She pushed the ice pack back onto his face, covering his hand with hers. “What did he say?”
“It’s not worth repeating.”
“Tell me anyway.”
“Something about how we wasted our time in Iraq.”
“Oh God …”
“Yeah, that’s a bit of a trigger for me.”
“I imagine it is. The poor guy didn’t stand a chance.”
“Whose side are you on anyway?” he asked with the hint of a smile.
“Yours. I’m always on your side.”
He stared at her for a long moment before he withdrew his hand and the ice pack from under her hand. “Feels better now.”
“That wasn’t long enough.”
“I’m getting a brain freeze.”
“Your eye is swollen shut. Did you have that looked at?”
“No need. I can see fine.” His one working eye looked her up and down, making her feel exposed and off-kilter, which was nothing new where he was concerned. “You look gorgeous as usual. Shouldn’t you be at work?”
“I was at work, and then I heard what happened. I walked out of a room full of family members to come check on you, so don’t brush me off like my concern doesn’t matter to you. I know better.”
“It does matter, El,” he said with a tortured sigh. “And it’s nice of you to come all this way to check on me and risk family scandal to do it. I appreciate it.”
“But you don’t want me here.”