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Janie savored the warm, tickling sensation that raced through her as she made her way back to the kitchen. She made it all the way to the oven before Hunter intruded on her giddiness.
And that silly, wonderful buzz fizzled at the image of his dark, angry gaze. Ugh. Hunter ruined everything.
Hurt more than angry.
Janie ignored that whisper in her heart.
“I don’t care,” she declared to her perfectly baked pies. And she worked really hard to believe it.
Eight
“Thisisatown?” Gemma stood just outside of Bennett’s Bronco, her hand on the open door, staring at the full length of Main.
The opposite car door slammed. “More like a ghost town,” Nathan grumbled.
“People live here.” Bennett came around the front of the vehicle and stopped beside Gemma, squeezing her shoulder. At least the girl had tried to keep up a decent outlook as they’d flown from Chicago to Billings, caught a ride from Billings to Bozeman from José, who had made the two-hour drive to pick them up, and then piled into Bennett’s SUV to travel another two hours to Luna.
Bennett had second thoughts about making the full trip in one day, now that they’d planted their weary feet in the dirt of Luna’s Main Street. The kids might have taken this otherworldly transition better on a bit of rest in between.
But he had an appointment with the Luna real-estate agent—who happened to be the sheriff’s wife. And he had a driving desire to see a certain honey-haired mountain girl as soon as possible.
Looking down the boardwalk, past Luna’s Pantry toward Janie’s Café, Bennett searched the one-block-length street for that particular woman. Hazel had said she’d make it down from Elk Lake to meet them. His gaze was met with an empty dirt road and a vacant boardwalk and landed on the rising layers of mountains framed by gloriously fall-dressed trees. If he’d been the photographer he’d claimed he was when first he’d come to Luna, he’d have pointed his lens at that scene and clicked away. Stunning.
But not what he was hoping for.
Just as disappointment settled, a pair came out of the sheriff’s office slash county jail—a woman and a man. Bennett grinned. There was no mistaking that leather Australian cowboy hat or the honied braid that draped over her shoulder. Bennett wasn’t sure why she’d been in the county jail with Jeremy, but at that moment, when his heart squeezed with giddy pleasure and electric anticipation, he didn’t care.
He set his stride to meeting her, his dark tennis shoes making a muted clap against the boardwalk, which contrasted with the much more pronounced smack of her boots against the wooden pathway. Jeremy held back as she neared the Pantry, and when she lifted her head, Bennett thrilled to see those golden eyes smiling at him beneath the brim of that hat.
And then she was in his arms. He pulled her in tight and buried his face into her neck, causing that hat to tumble to the boardwalk. Bennett inhaled the outdoorsy delight that was unique to Hazel Wallace. All sunshine and pine, with a subtle hint of woodsmoke. Home.
“You came back,” she whispered, her arms twisted around his neck.
“I’m still shocked that you thought I wouldn’t.”
“I’m glad it was a misunderstanding.” Hazel leaned back, allowing him to swim in that lovely warm gaze. “I missed you.”
Bennett leaned in to graze his lips across hers. “I missed you too.” He took another sip—this time longer—from the sweetness of her mouth. “Almost a month is too long.”
He hadn’t planned on being gone that long. Two weeks max. But once he’d decided to take on his siblings, there were legalities to work through, packing to be done, and contacts to be made for yet another major move. The second in less than a year for Bennett.
“Now you’re here to stay?” Hazel whispered, tentative hope in her voice.
A surge of joy met the tenderness in her question. “That’s the plan.” Bennett brushed another kiss on her cheek and then released her to take her hand. “Come meet the kids.”
Her wary glance told him she’d not quite come to terms with this part. In truth, neither had he. It was a monumental thing, becoming a guardian. Being solely responsible for two young lives. Only a year ago, Bennett had lived for himself alone. Shifting his life and choices for the woman he loved was one thing. This was a little different.
He barely knew his siblings. But here they were.
Bennett resolved to make it work. And not just work, but to do it well. If there had been anything that had been consistent in his character, determination was it, and every time panic loomed in his heart, he leaned hard into it.
And as far as leaning hard into something, Bennett resolved, as he strode hand in hand with Hazel toward the pair of teens hanging back at the car, that he would press harder into God. He knew nothing but that he was going to need Him more than ever in the next several weeks.
José’s promise of prayers—continued prayers—and anything Bennett needed, anytime, buoyed his sinking confidence. For now, he hoped José was praying for this introduction to Hazel. Heaven knew—and Bennett knew from prior experience—she could sure leave a person with a terrible impression. False, but awful nonetheless.
Then again, he’d not been exactly charming either that fall day nearly a year ago.
Three feet from the Bronco and still on the boardwalk, Bennett stopped, and Hazel came to a halt beside him. The best bet, he felt, was to begin with his sister.
