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I chuckled, shaking my head as I tried to imagine how Daisy would react to her new neighbor.
Chapter Nineteen
Daisy
I stared at the empty platter that once held two pounds of pot roast. I messaged Hunter before I put the roast in, wanting to confess my embarrassing Santa moment and find out when he thought he might make it to Buttercup Lake.
It wasn’t until the roast dinged in the oven that he messaged that he wouldn’t be coming up just yet. The cryptic tone in the text worried me. I suddenly felt a distance between us, but I didn’t know if that was in my head because I knew Brielle came to see him or if he’d gone back to being the aloof Hunter I’d first met.
The thought put a burning pit in my stomach, but not for long.
The moment I took out the tender roast and placed it on the carving board, it nearly shredded and cut itself.
Hunter was really missing out, and by the time I’d knocked at least half the meat back, a few potatoes, some carrots, and celery, I realized I was eating my emotions.
But I didn’t care. A nagging feeling pressed its way into me, and I ate a little more until I was miserable and finally put about a quarter of the roast away.
No one ever needed to know that I ate a pound and a half or more of beef.
But honestly.
Who did Brielle think she was, and if Hunter couldn’t just tell her to leave him alone, then that told me a lot about Hunter.
I also realized that I wasn’t one of those people who could just sleep with someone without getting… attached. I liked Hunter a lot. But maybe I didn’t see clearly enough, or I jumped in too soon. He’d obviously demonstrated a pattern with Brielle.
For the first time, it felt like the Sunshine Breakfast Club had lost their way. I shoved myself back from the table and groaned my agony into the palms of my hands. I didn’t know which hurt worse, my stomach or thinking that Hunter got swayed by Brielle again.
The thought tore me up inside.
I’d finally let myself open up to a person, and he was emotionally unavailable.
How ironic.
And then the look Hunter’s mom flashed me at the holiday bazaar. It was a cross between pity and…
No, it's just pity.
Or was it concern?
My doorbell rang, and a ridiculous amount of hope filled my veins, thinking it was Hunter.
But when I got to the door and opened it, I saw Maya, Nina, Grace, Millie, and even Abby from the coffee shop standing on my stoop. Their expressions were void of any emotion.
This couldn’t be good.
They charged right into the house and beelined for the living room.
“Welcome,” I said with a laugh.
Millie took a seat on the couch. “I wanted to get my book back.”
I shook my head, bewildered. “Your book?”
“The one for the book club. I decided we were switching gears. We’re readingA Christmas Carolafter all.”
I chuckled, thinking she was kidding, but she was very serious.
“Does this have to do with my Santa run-in?” I asked.
