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“Sometimes.” Hunter released one hand from the steering wheel and nudged her shoulder. “Seems like things are back on track with you and Bennett.”
Hazel stared out the windshield as the small town of Luna came into view. High-pitched roofs dotted the Elk Creek valley, interrupting the sea of vibrant yellow aspens that were quickly turning brown and would soon become large clumps of naked branches standing boldly from a blanket of snow. On the opposite side of the creek, the valley stretched in a series of shallow treeless pastures. A handful of ranch-style houses dotted the rich, rolling grassland, and a grid of log fence, built in the A-frame style, separated one ranchette from another. All of them snugged up against the rise of purple-gray peaks that hemmed in the southern and eastern sides of the valley.
It was like a world set apart. Isolated and beautiful.
Those boundaries don’t bother you?Hazel puzzled at that question—one that ribboned through her mind but didn’t seem like one she’d think up on her own. Why would the security of the hills surrounding her home and life bother her? They kept the valley set apart and pristine.
Hunter turned his truck left before he got to Main and followed the narrow dirt road two blocks east until he came to the old Elliot house. Parking parallel to the Victorian on the front yard, he shut off the truck. “Ready to scrape paint?”
“Is that what we’re up to?” Hazel scrambled out of the truck, happy to get out of her head, and followed Hunter to the front door.
“Yep. Starting with Gemma’s room—because Bennett promised. Bye-bye bubble-gum pink. Hello Gentle Wisdom. Gemma’s words.”
Hazel wrinkled her nose up at Hunter. “Gentle Wisdom?”
A genuine grin—a welcome sight after the conversation in the truck—cracked the dark shadow of his bearded face. “That’s what the paint card called it. Gentle Wisdom. And the wallpaper she picked out for the slanted roof part of her room is called Soft Vines. So I guess she’ll be all twined up in soft wisdom.” He winked and shrugged. “Could be worse.”
“Clever. When did you start paying attention to things like this?”
“I have a poetic side.”
“Hidden by flannel, a beard, and deadly aim.”
“I spent a few years without the flannel and beard. And anyway, I wasn’t always a jerk, and you know it.”
Hazel couldn’t deny that fact—especially now that she knew that some of the biggest things that she’d held against him, he’d actually done to protect her.
Turned out Hunter had always been intuitive and caring. Which made her a lucky sister after all. Now, if only Janie could remember the version of Hunter that she’d cared about . . .
Since when was Hazel so wrapped up with happily ever afters? Hadn’t been so long ago that all she’d wanted was to secure her land and have the rest of the world leave her alone.
The door in front of them swung open, and Gemma bounced onto the covered front porch. “Hi, guys! Ready for renovation?”
“We’re not tearing any walls apart today.” Bennett stepped out of the house behind the bubbly girl.
Gemma stuck out a pouty lip that didn’t appear too serious.
Bennett shook his head. “She spent the past two hours, while I was signing papers, watching that renovation show in Texas. Now she’s got it in her head that we need to gut the first floor.”
“It would be fantastic. All open concept. New windows, fewer walls . . .”
“Tell the truth, Gem. Had you ever even heard ofopen conceptbefore today?”
“Well . . .” Gemma peeked at Bennett with a sheepish but still determined grin. “No. But it would still be great.”
Bennett held a stern look down on his younger sister for all of two heartbeats, and then he melted. “You might have a point. But it’s not happening right now.”
“I’ll take that.” Her winning look made Gemma’s copper eyes dance.
Hazel pressed her lips together, trying to suppress a laugh as she looked up at Bennett. “Putty.”
“Hush.” He snagged her arm and drew her toward the entry. “You’re here to help.”
“I am being helpful.” Hazel stepped into the house, and her mouth drifted open as she scanned the front room. All the awful green carpet had been lifted and cleared, leaving dirty gray-brown floorboards exposed. “I see you started without us.”
“Yeah. I tugged on the loose corner over there”—Bennett pointed toward the wall that separated the front room from the back of the house—“and kept pulling. Apparently whoever laid the carpet didn’t like glue. Or padding. It was tacked down with a few nails, and I’m guessing held in place by heavy furniture.”
“Lucky for you.” Hunter passed from behind Bennett and Hazel. “Gemma, get me a brush. Let’s get this show started.”
