They would find a way.
Chapter Twenty Five
Hunter and Becca arrived the next day at the Sundstroms' feeling refreshed. After they left the airport last night, Hunter took her home and they held each other all night, just talking about everything. It felt good to talk about old memories. They'd made a point to at least go an hour without talking about the crash and it had worked. An hour of normal.
"Want me to carry that?" Hunter pointed to the dish Becca held. She'd wanted to make something to bring over.
"I've got it, thanks." She also had her purse, camera bag and another small bag with a change of clothes and towels for swimming.
Hunter shrugged and rang the doorbell.
Eva's mom answered the door. "Come in, come in! Hunter, why on earth are you making her carry everything?" she scolded.
He opened his mouth to protest.
Becca laughed. "Oh, don't scold him. I'm just extra stubborn. I told him not to take anything from me. I think he's finally learned not to argue."
"Stubborn? There's two kinds of stubborn. The good and the not so good. I don't always see 'good' stubborn anymore. I guess you're the first. I like it! Hunter needs a good stubborn woman in his life, though his dear daughter is very stubborn like both of his parents. A bit of a mix." She stepped back to let them in.
Hunter kissed her cheek. "Speaking of Sienna, where is my girl?"
"In the pool with Todd. She's been having a blast and doesn't want to get out. I tried to tell her you were here, but she wanted to stay in the water." Mrs. Sundstrom turned to Becca. "Now my dear, what did you bring?"
"I was in a baking mood today, so I made a variety of cookies. I hope you don't mind."
Mrs. Sundstrom reached for the dish and offered up a smile at Becca. "Mind? Of course not! How thoughtful."
"You have a beautiful house," Becca said, still looking around the living room. Beautiful, dark hardwood floors and vaulted ceilings gave it a homey, warm feeling.
"Thank you. Come right this way and I'll take you out back. I'm so happy you two came over today. It's been a while since we've had a nice dinner." A tinge of sadness crept into the woman's voice.
"It has, and I'm sorry for that," Hunter replied, taking Becca's hand in his.
"If we're lucky, the worst is over and things can be normal again." Opening the patio door, Mrs. Sundstrom gestured for them to head out back. Becca stepped out into the warmth of the midday sun and grinned as she caught sight of Sienna splashing her grandfather and squealing happily.
"Sienna, your daddy's here! Look!" Todd pointed at them. Sienna turned her head, and her smile grew.
"Daddy!"
"Hey Princess! I'm coming right in!" Hunter slipped out of his shoes then pulled off his socks and stuffed them inside. He handed Becca his keys and wallet. "Will you put these in your purse? You're coming in the water with us, right? Don't make me have to toss you in." His eyes gleamed mischievously.
Becca took the items and dropped them inside her purse. "You will do no such thing. You forget that I love the pool." She laughed at how she took the fun out of it for him.
"You have ten minutes to follow, or I'll come and get you," he threatened, leaning in for a kiss.
"Mmmhmm, whatever you say," she shot back.
Hunter took off his shirt and tossed it on the chair, then made a sprint toward the pool. Sienna and Todd moved out of the way as he took to the diving board and made a big entrance into the pool. Sienna immediately swam over to him, bobbing around in the water in her pink floaties and life vest. Becca watched their interaction. Now there was a dad who had so much love for his little girl. Her tangled memories of her own dad made her miss those kind of days. She'd bet he'd done those kinds of things with her and Ellie. A pang of sadness wrapped around her heart and squeezed. Feeling nostalgic, she longed to get in that pool and make new memories. Sniffling, she swiped at her face, clearing away any evidence of the tears that brimmed in her eyes.
"Are you all right?" Mrs. Sundstrom lowered herself on the chair next to Becca.
"Watching them took me for a ride down memory lane," Becca answered honestly. What little she had of memory lane with her family, anyhow.
The woman reached out and grasped her hand. "I can't even imagine the kind of things you went through. Like Hunter, you seem so strong."
"Sometimes life gives you no choice."
"That's very true. Becca, I hope you and Hunter can build on the happiness you both deserve. No denying he's in a rough place right now, and I know he is my ex-son-in-law, but that boy is still a part of this family. I wish my daughter would come to her senses and stop blaming Hunter for things that were far out of his control."
Becca nodded. "To a point, I get her pain. Don't get me wrong, I hate that she blames Hunter and acts out toward him over it, but I know that grief. Losing someone way too soon has a way of messing with your mind and heart. I had moments of acting out at my grandparents a few times the first couple of years. I never knew them before I had to live with them, and I didn't understand. It didn't help that they didn't really want me there. They didn't know what to do with me. I was stuck inside a broken body and no one to connect with. If it weren't for Hunter keeping up with my life ... I don't know where I'd be."
"Less than five minutes!" Hunter called to her. He had Sienna on his shoulders and bobbed up and down, making her laugh hysterically.
Becca laughed and stuck her tongue out at him.
"Five minutes?"
"Yes, he said if I wasn't in the pool within ten minutes, he'd come throw me in."
"As fun as that would be to see, I won't distract you from spending time with him. I do enjoy getting to know you, Becca. How long are you staying out here?"
"I go back to teaching in August." She slid out of her sandals. She'd made the smart move to wear her swimsuit under her clothes. She stood and shimmied out of her shorts.
"I do hope to see more of you this summer. From the little I've seen with the two of you, I can tell you make each other happy. Hunter lights up every time you're near him. I know he and Eva loved each other, but anyone would be a fool not to realize you and Hunter are in love. There's a big difference."
Becca said nothing, just sent the woman a smile and looked at Hunter in the pool. She did love him, so much. "There's definitely a difference," she finally said, sliding her arms out of the tank top and raising it over her head. Gathering everything, Becca folded them and put them on top of the bag.
"What happened there?" Mrs. Sundstrom pointed.
Becca followed her finger, realizing she'd noticed the ugly scar on her knee. She cringed. Normally, she'd do everything she could to hide that scar. She hated talking about it. It was one of the physical reminders of what she went through. "It's from the crash. I had a scrap of the plane embedded there."
Mrs. Sundstrom gasped. "Oh dear, I'm sorry I asked. I can be so nosy sometimes."
Becca patted her hand. "It's okay, Mrs Sundstrom. I'm better about it than I used to be. I never used to wear dresses or shorts so that it would stay covered, but I've learned I can't always hide. It's who I am."
"Two minutes!" Hunter warned.
The women laughed. "He's not going to give up easily. You'd better get to him. I should start tending to some food. Please, call me Beverly. No formalities around here."
Becca stood, ready for a swim. "I'm happy Hunter has found friends that are like family. I love that you remain close, even with what you went through."
Tears formed in the corner of Beverly's eyes. "Thank you for that, child. He's been wonderful to get to know." With little warning, she drew Becca close for a hug.
Afterward, Becca headed for the shallow end of the pool. The pavement under her feet was hot. She dipped her toes in to check the temperature of the water. A little cold, but she liked it that way.
"Well, well, look who decided to heed my warning," Hunter teased. Sienna was behind him, holding on to the edge of the pool before she pushed off to swim.
"No? Well I guess I'll have to work harder," he teased, moving closer and grabbing her hands. "I thought maybe you were testing me."
She laughed. "No, just having a nice conversation with Beverly."
Hunter picked her up. "Don't believe a word she says about me."
"You say that often!" Becca squealed, wondering what he was up to.
"Yes, well, she's far too nice to say anything mean about me. But we all know I'm not that nice." He grinned. Droplets of water fell from his hair. He moved further into the pool, holding her.
"What do you plan on doing with me?"
"Oh, I'll keep those details to myself right now. You'll see later tonight what I have in mind." He kissed her.
"I didn't mean later, you one track minded man!" Becca swatted at him playfully. "I meant now."
"Now? Okay, you asked for it!" Hunter made an evil sounding laugh before he jumped up. They were a tangle of arms and legs as they sputtered, raising their heads from the water.
Todd and Sienna laughed at them.
"That was mean!" Becca splashed at Hunter, moving away from him.
"He's sneaky," Todd called, holding Sienna.
"Yes, he's very sneaky!" Becca laughed, brushing her wet hair out of her face. "I'll get you back somehow."
"Ha, we'll see about that, angel. You're too innocent," he teased.
She folded her arms over her chest. "Yeah, we'll see."
Sienna swam over to her with a big grin.
"Hey you! Having fun?" Becca took Sienna's tiny hands.
"Lots!" Sienna giggled.
"Let me help you with that!" Hunter called out. Becca turned to see him step out of the pool and head to Beverly by the grill.
"Are you the distraction keeping Hunter from coming back to work, young lady?" Todd asked from behind her.
Startled, Becca faced him, still holding Sienna. His smile told her he was only teasing. "Me? No. I think he's still having a hard time after the incident a few months ago."
"Incident?" Todd frowned and scrunched up his nose in confusion.
Oh no, did he not know about it? Oops. Not good. Becca hadn't even thought about that. Dang it, why did she have to say anything? The words slipped from her mouth before she had a chance to think about it. Well, nothing she could do about it now.
"Becca, what do you know?" Todd spoke in a calm, quiet voice. "I'm really worried about him."
"I thought- I figured you would have known. I-" Worry shot a sucker punch to her gut. She couldn't not say anything now, but for whatever reason, Hunter hadn't told him. Ugh!
"Look, I know you love him and of course you feel like you're betraying him if you say something, but what incident? I need to know. I don't want Hunter to cause any harm to himself or anyone else if he's having problems."
With a heavy heart, she told Todd what she knew. She couldn't very well hold back now. He already knew something had happened, and she felt horrible about it.
*****
Something seemed off. Todd kept looking at him with a concerned frown, and Becca was quiet and nervous. Had he done or said something to worry either of them? He couldn't recall. He tried hard today to stay focused. He wanted a nice day with Becca, Sienna, Beverly and Todd.
The food was delicious. After they were done, they'd sat around the patio table talking and laughing.
"More swim?" Sienna pleaded, looking at Hunter for approval.
"Well..."
"I'll take her back in if you want," Becca offered quickly. She avoided his gaze.
Yup. Something was wrong.
"If you're willing, that's fine. She's eaten plenty, and swimming will tire her out for sure," Hunter said. He reached for her hand, hoping she'd look at him. "Hey. Something wrong?"
Finally, her eyes met his. She shot him a deer in the headlights look, as if he'd caught her doing something. What the hell?
"Swim!" Sienna jumped off her chair and ran to Becca, tugging on her hand eagerly.
Hunter was about to say something to his daughter, but Becca already looked away and focused on Sienna. Hand in hand, they walked toward the pool. Hunter pushed his chair out, curious as to what Becca was holding back when Todd stopped him.
"We need to talk, Hunter," he said, seriously.
Catching his lip between his teeth, Hunter focused tried to focus solely on him. The sounds of laughter and splashing from the pool still drew his attention. He really just wanted to find out what was up with Becca. It would have to wait. No point in being rude and brushing Todd off. "What's up?"
"This better not be any work talk," Beverly warned her husband. "We're having a nice day."
"Well, it kind of is. This is important though, Beverly." Todd shot her a look and used a tone that said he was going to go on with this conversation anyway. "Hunter, why didn't you say anything about you having a rough landing a few months ago?"
Shit. How the hell did he find out about it?
Hunter put two and two together. He'd left Todd in the pool with Becca. Ever since then, both of them had been watching him wearily. Why would Becca have said something? He thought the other day after snapping at her about not talking to someone she'd just let it go. She had to go and say something to Todd?
"Rough landing?" Beverly raised her voice, alarmed.
Hunter sighed. "It was the night of the divorce. I was upset, not thinking and yes, I took a spur of the moment flight with someone. I made a bad judgment call all the way around. Simple as that. I didn't say anything because I didn't think I needed to."
"You haven't been the same since. You turn down a lot of the bigger flight requests. You're not sleeping and no one had to tell me. I can see it. Your mind seems to be all over the place. I've been wanting you to come back to work, but maybe you need more of a break. Are you having nightmares?" Todd leaned forward in his seat, his eyes narrowed and focused on Hunter.
He froze. Did Becca tell him that too?
"I don't even need a verbal response. That look in your eyes just proved it. Hunter, you need to talk to someone and get whatever it is under control. I can't have you flying if you're distracted."
"I'm not-"
"Yes, you're very distracted. I get that. You've had a lot go on in the past few years. You're starting a new relationship and you worry about your daughter. You space out a lot. I've had a couple of clients comment about how they're worried about you. You know darn well we take care of our own around here, so whatever you're going through, I just want you to know-"
"Come on, Todd. I'm fine! So I'm a little tired." A little? Yeah he knew that was an outright lie, but he'd been working just fine. It sounded as if Todd was about to make him take more time off. Part of him wanted that, but he'd wanted to do that on his own terms, not because he'd been pushed into it. Frustration shot through his body, making him edgy and restless. He glanced over at the pool. Becca faced away from him, probably purposely, while she splashed around with Sienna. What would possess her to say anything? He didn't want to be, but he couldn't help but be a little pissed at her.
"I think I'll go find those cookies." Beverly shot to her feet, taking off for the house. She never did like it when they discussed work during family gatherings, especially if there were issues.
"I wish I believed you, Hunter. I think it's a lot more than that. You were warned a few weeks ago to take it easy before you wound up in the hospital, but you're just as much on edge, if not more. What's going on?"
With a grunt, Hunter raised his glass to his lips. The cool liquid ran down his throat. He slammed it down a little too rough. "Okay, it's more than just tired. It's everything. Eva, Sienna, the divorce. Becca ... and while we were on the island, we had a few mishaps." He filled Todd in on the details. The boat, the storm, the letters, and what happened when they arrived at the house. He wasn't happy about having to share all the details at the moment, but he figured why the hell not. Todd seemed to know ev
erything else now.
Todd's scowl deepened as he clasped his hands together. He never took his eyes off Hunter. "I suggest you talk to someone. I can understand what's going on with you, but I've said before, I can't have you putting yourself or anyone in danger."
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" His heart raced, blood roaring in his ears. He shot to his feet, a wave of dizziness slamming into him at the same time.
"You know I think the best of you, but you're dealing with something out of your control. It's best that you don't return to work until we know for sure what we're dealing with here," Todd said quickly.
"Are you suspending me?" He couldn't believe he was hearing this.
"I wouldn't call it that-"
He raked a hand through his hair, his mind spinning. "This isn't right. I can't believe you're doing this! Maybe I should just quit!" Whoa, now where the hell did that come from?
"Hunter, why in the hell don't you want to see-?" Todd started.
"What are you doing here, why are you yelling at my father, and who is that woman in the pool with my daughter?"
Hunter froze, recognizing the angry female voice. He slowly turned. Standing in the doorway was Eva, her face twisted into an angry snarl, hands on her hips. And the hits just keep coming.
Chapter Twenty Six
"Where have you been?"
That was the first thing out of his mouth. Hunter glared back at his ex-wife, the anger at Todd and Becca pushed on the back burner as he wondered what the hell she'd been up to.
Eva leaned against the door frame and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I asked the questions first. How is it you all can have a good time? Why are you here, Hunter?"
"We invited him, Eva." Her father jumped to his aid from the table.
"How nice," she snapped sarcastically. "And the woman in the pool holding Sienna?"
Blowing out a breath between clenched teeth, Hunter glanced at Becca. This time, she was looking his way, her eyes wide as she watched the scene unfold. Sienna stood at the foot of the steps. "Mommy?" She ran out of the pool, heading their way.
A Masterpiece Of Our Love (The Masterpiece Trilogy Book 1) Page 25