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“Can we have ice cream, Daddy?” Charlotte asked.
“Only if there is no crying,” he said, reaching over to boop her nose. She seemed to have made a complete recovery, and Hunter smiled at her and then Molly. He wouldn’t want to be raising a family with anyone but her, and he hoped she knew it.
* * *
Hunter sighedas he finally entered the master suite. Molly sat up in bed, looking at something on her phone. She immediately set it aside. “Well?”
“He hasn’t kissed her.” He groaned as he reached up to pull off his T-shirt. He unceremoniously flung it aside and pulled down the covers on his side of the bed. “I’m tired, baby.”
“Same.”
He crawled into the king bed and all the way across it to her. He laid his head in her lap, where she played with his hair. “Your hair is getting long again.”
“Mm.” He closed his eyes. “Your mama couldn’t take Clay tomorrow. It’ll be fine. We’ll do river fishing, so it’ll just be on the bank. The kids can throw in rocks and we’ll pack a picnic.”
“Hunter, you don’t have to do that.”
“You have a spa appointment at ten-thirty, and Gloria and Cosette know you’re not coming in tomorrow.”
She said nothing, and Hunter took that as her acceptance. When she did speak, it was to say, “Ryder and Clementine. Who knew?”
Hunter smiled and pushed himself up to a near-sitting position. “Remember when I first asked you to be my girlfriend?”
She gave him that soft smile he loved. “Yes, I remember.”
Hunter kissed her, the feelings of nostalgia mixing with pure love for his wife. “We made it, baby,” he said. “He’ll be okay. He said he wouldn’t be late anymore.”
“He’ll still go over there,” Molly whispered. “Should I talk to Poppy?”
“Probably,” Hunter said. “I can call her tomorrow.”
“No.” Molly ran her hands along his shoulders. “I’ll talk to her on Monday when I’m at the farm.”
“Sounds good.” He leaned in to kiss her again.
“Hunt?”
“Hmm?” He dropped his mouth to her collarbone, so she could keep talking.
“Are you really going to retire?”
He smiled against her neck as he slid his lips along the smooth skin there. “Yes, ma’am,” he whispered in her ear. “With a little luck and a lot of prayer, I’m going to be done by the end of the year.”
His wife wrapped both arms around him, her fingers clasped on the back of his neck. “And we’ll move out to the farm?”
“Yes,” he said. “My father said he and Mom would move into the generational house whenever we want them to.”
Molly nodded and kissed him again, and Hunter recognized the vibrancy in her touch. He kissed her back, ready to make love to his wife after a day that had been stressful for both of them.
18
Gerty sat on her front porch, shucking an early crop of peas for her mother. She glanced up every few pods, looking for Mike. She’d been given strict instructions not to come over to the administration barn without him, but by her clock, they were late for her birthday luncheon.
His daddy had been in town for a couple of days before returning to Coral Canyon. He’d taken Mike to lunch and then the physical therapist, and Gerty hadn’t walked in on her boyfriend weeping again. She reminded herself that Mike hadn’t been weeping in the first place. He’d been in a lot of pain and he’d been cranky, and Gerty could understand that.
She felt like that right now, and she thumbed the peas out of the pod and into the bowl and said, “It’s lunch, and Mom’s going to have all of your favorites there.”
Denver looked up from his spot at her feet, and she gave the dog a quick smile. “Just talking to myself again.”
