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The silence felt like a rubber band stretched taut. Distance and tension grew between them.
Hunter stepped backward, pinning his back against the pantry door opposite her. “How was your date?”
Did he have to work to put the cool, nonaffected tone into his question?
“Fine?” Shoot. Janie was pretty sure that had come out as a squeak. She cleared her throat and lifted her chin. “We just hiked part of the Elk Creek trail.”
“Upper or lower?”
“Lower. Then we had a picnic.”
He nodded, his attention focused on the floor.
“You helped Bennett all day?”
“No, not all day. Just most of the afternoon.”
This time Janie nodded. And stared at the floor. She crossed her arms. Shuffled her feet.
“Is there a time we can talk about food for the groundbreaking?”
“Sure. Anytime.”
His brows lifted at that, a sternnoin his chilly look.
No, he didn’t want to stumble into her when she was going out with Grady. No, he didn’t want to witness that one bit.
It was a small town though. If she continued dating Grady, Hunter would have to come to terms with running into them. Unless he decided to hide up at his lousy camper all winter.
He would. Janie felt instinctively Hunter would do exactly that, and it made her sad.
She sighed. “I can make time on Monday morning, if that would work for you.”
“Thanks.” Hunter stood straight and took three steps toward the exit. “Suppose Mama B would let me crash in my old room? Hazel will need a ride when she and Bennett make it back.”
“I’m guessing she was planning on it.”
He nodded. “Thanks for taking Gemma. I know it helped Bennett, and he appreciates it.”
“Of course. I’m glad to do whatever they need.”
Hunter reached for the door, began to pull it open, and then stopped. When he turned, he settled those brown eyes directly on her. “Are you going out with him again?”
If ever she knew how one of those hares felt in a Wallace trap, this was the moment. Sharp, burning pain clamped around her with a sudden force that threatened to steal her breath. And that steady gaze fastened on her, all blazing and tortured at once . . . The ache edged her close to nausea. All Janie could manage was a shrug.
Hunter nodded, then turned to leave.
“You can sit with Mama and me in church tomorrow,” Janie said in a rush, nearly choking on the swell in her throat. She didn’t want him to leave with this awful piercing sting throbbing in her gut. She didn’t want to shut her eyes tonight only to see the angry sadness in his. She needed him to smile at her—even just a little. Or sayokay. Anything was better than . . .
Hunter shook his head. “Thanks for the offer.”
And then the door closed. Janie sagged against the counter behind her, one arm wrapped around her middle. A single rogue tear seeped against the side of her nose. Friendship shouldn’t hurt like this.
Hunter lay in the soft bed that he’d spent much of his younger life in. The warmth of the log-cabin quilt covered him with weighted comfort, the smell of Pine-Sol and Old English furniture oil feathering against the memories of a few years of feeling steady. Mama B had that effect on him, and staying in her home wrapped him with the same security.
A blessing, since his heart had waged war all day.
Janie had moved on. After all these years of focused anger, she’d let it go, lethimgo, and had moved on. If she’d done so before he’d come back to Luna, it would have been easier. Probably. He’d not have woven through the stormy sea of their unresolved relationship only to come to the undeniable conclusion that he’d not gotten over her. He’d not have accepted the reality that he never would.
