AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But I don’t.
Her gaze steadies, and her words are like a warning to a child. “Ashton… you play the Huskies next, don’t you?”
I don’t need to say a word.
She knows.
“You can’t…”
“I can, Joey. And I will.”
Chapter Sixteen
I have never felt lighterthan I have since Ashton and I have been together. Even in the middle of big problems and small ones—I still haven’t gone back to work, and there’s still telling Logan—I’m breathing more deeply than ever.
The epiphany hits me. Being in love isn’t taking your breath away. Being in love is breathing more deeply, filling your lungs with so much life it feels like it will go on forever. Ashton makes me feel invincible. It’s as if no matter what happens, I can handle it. So when he goes back to Santa Fe to resume practice on Monday, and stays the nightbecause he has physical therapy after, I decide to take my issues public. Well, Hunter-style public, and I invite everyone but Logan—who’s staying in the city with Ashton—over to my place to clear the air.
Bird’s Eye is a proper family home that my dad built with the intention of putting a roof over his four children in mind. I live here alone now, and even though I don’t exactly mind being alone, it’s not my preference. I want a house bursting at the seams with Hunters. They pour in on time, with Dash the last to arrive, very disheveled, I might add. All I can think is he must be nailing Molly. I have a gut feeling we’ll all find out about it soon, and if he is, he’d better not fuck it up.
Sam, Colt, Eve, my mom, and Dash are all reading my napkins to each other at the dining room table. The napkins have Christmas jokes on them, and I figured if for some reason I seized up tonight, they’d be good icebreakers. I don’t usually struggle to talk, I just find it hard to do it coherently. Especially when I’m emotional. But as I take my quiche out of the oven, I don’t feel in the least bit worried about it all coming out right. Ashton builds me up. His support is like the best foundation. And talking to him helps me process and have clarity I just don’t find on my own.
Everyone needs an Ashton.
I walk toward the dining table, and for some reason, being here now, thinking about Ashton and how he fits within all of this… My heart swells with gratitude for his support. As with these people sitting around my table, I can be my true self with him. His favorite thing about me is the one thing another man hated. He encourages me to find my authentic place within my profession, or not, and that either outcome is okay and I’ll still find happiness in this world. I’ve never felt more validated and seen than when I’m basking in his melted-chocolate gaze.
I place the quiche down on a trivet in front of one of the empty chairs at the ten-person table, and it’s the first time in a while I think about how my dad should be in one of these. I miss him but don’t think about it every day. But with all that’s been happening, returning to Starlight Canyon, finally getting with my forever crush, life seems to be coming full circle, and the only thing missing is Dad.
He used to say that families were branches growing on a tree all in different directions but that share the same roots. Dad would have loved me and Ashton together. Suddenly, I’m overwhelmed thinking about it—how lucky it is I’m ending up with a man who knew my father. It’s the best I could ever do.
“Honey, are you okay?” My mom stares at me, a deep line of concern between her eyebrows.
I shake my head before my eyes grow glassy with sentimental thoughts. “I’m great, actually.”
“Yeah?” she asks again.
This time, Colt glances at me, examining my face, deciphering it like it’s code.
Sam finishes laughing at the joke Eve just read to her and gives me a sideways glance, too. Dash has his hands folded in front of him on the table, staring at me like he lost his eyelids. Everyone knows there’s some kind of announcement about to happen. It’s not like we don’t get together for dinners and drinks. We do it a lot. But not usually on a Monday.
I cut into the quiche and admire how well I did getting a nice brown top. “So…” It’s better not to make eye contact just yet. “I did bring you all here to have a little talk about me and to put to bed any worries you might have.”
“Dad said you have a lot of eggs to get rid of,” Eve adds.
I gaze at her and laugh. “Well, that, too. I hope you still like baking because I don’t.”
She nods. “Can I collect them myself out of the hutch sometimes?”
“Of course. If you come in the morning around nine, they might even be warm still. They’re mid-morning layers. Come on Saturday, okay?”
Colt and Sam simultaneously wrap their arms around Eve, one draped across the back of the chair, one over Eve’s shoulders. Like King and Queen Hunter, they stare at me, waiting—patiently but somehow not. They’re both so damn put together compared to me.
“Well, anyway.” I dish a piece of quiche onto a plate. “I know you’ve all been worried since I’ve needed a break from the whole vet thing.”
“Why did you need a break, Auntie Jojo?” My niece’s face is bright with her innocent question.
When I invited Colt and Sam, Colt knew I might want to talk. He offered to ask Eve’s friend, Macy, to have her over after school, but I said no. It’s important Eve hears these kinds of conversations. She’s growing up, and feeling like shit and working through that is part of becoming an adult. And knowing that it’s okay to falter is part of life. Everything doesn’t have to go perfectly for life to be happy.
I know Eve looks up to me. It’s important for her to know I find life tough sometimes, too. I’d rather be human for her than a hero. It’s the best thing I have to offer.
