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Bennett:I told you, I love her. I don’t think giving up is an option. I just don’t know what to do. I’m mad and frustrated. But I know why she said no. Like I said, I just don’t know where we go from here. Step back? Don’t know how. Pretend it didn’t happen? Not possible. Move on? To what? It’s a no-win.
No-win was exactly what it was. Objectively, Bennett was handling the situation way better than Hunter had handled his. After all, Hunter had evaded the woman who’d rejected him for as long as possible, and he had labeled hervampirein his phone contacts when she became unavoidable again.
Man, women could sure bring out the worst in men.
As Hunter refocused on Hazel, he felt his own frustration rise on Bennett’s behalf. Hazel had her reasons, that Hunter knew, but she was going to lose something really good if she couldn’t get past them. “Still being a fool, hmm?”
Her frown darkened. “Do you intentionally find the single thing that will provoke me the most?”
“No. I find the thing I think will be best for you, and for some undefined reason, you dig in your heels against it like I’m suggesting you become an actress or something. Bennett is good for you, and he onlywantsgood for you. You’re being a fool.”
“How do you know what will be best for me? I’m a grown woman, and I’ve lived on my own for seven years.”
“You’ve been lonely for seven years.”
“I was not.”
“So lonely that you thought it was a good idea to lie to a man who had lost his memory, making him believe that he’d married you.”
“That wasnotbecause I was lonely.”
Hunter raised his eyebrows, holding an unflinching challenge on her face until she looked away.
“How is it going to feel if he gets tired of waiting for you to come to your senses?” Hunter pressed. “How would it feel to see him with someone else?”
Hazel sucked in a breath. She recovered in the next heartbeat though. “That will just prove my point. People change. They let you down. Why make promises no one can live up to?”
“Self-fulfilling prophecy?”
Hazel huffed, rolling her fists at her sides. “We were fine. Happy. Why can’t things just stay the way they are?”
Though compassion moved in his chest for his exasperated sister, Hunter shook his head. “Zel, he’s a man, not one of your dogs you can train to sit and stay and wait until you throw him a treat or scratch him behind the ear. Bennett wants a future, and somewhat shockingly, he wants it with you. You’re not being fair. And worse, you’re being really foolish. I know you don’t want to lose him.”
She visibly swallowed. Then with hands planted on her hips, she turned to square up with him. She tipped her chin up so he could see the mossy tint of her eyes beneath the brim of her hat. “How about you worry about your own life.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Some guy came into town today.”
Hunter stared at her.
“A good-looking guy. Late twenties. He came into the café for pie and was full of compliments.” Hazel raised both eyebrows. “Apparently, he’s moving to town. Janie about swooned.”
Hunter’s stomach clenched hard. Janie . . .swooned?
“Winked. Flirted. Gave him a double scoop of ice cream on his pie. And couldnotstop smiling.”
Flirted? His Janiehad flirted with another man? One who was moving to Luna?Hunter’s lungs clamped, and his pulse shifted into overdrive. He stood there dumbfounded. Nauseous.
Rattled clear to his toes.
Some other guy had been the recipient of Janie Truitt’s (should have long since been Wallace) sweet smile. Had her blue eyes danced with warmth? Had she nibbled on the side of her bottom lip in that mesmerizing, half-smiling way?
Dear heaven and earth! Hunter might be having a heart attack with the way his chest tightened.
A look of warning, and maybe laced with a touch of spiteful satisfaction, filled Hazel’s blazing golden-green eyes. “You have your own problems to deal with, Hunt.” She strode toward the path that would take her over the ridge and back to her cabin. “Leave Bennett’s and mine alone.”
Hunter watched his sister disappear into the pines, and then he turned to stare absently at the falls.
