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“Time out,” Bennett called, catching Hunter before he set up the next hunk of wood to be split.
Hunter turned halfway, his look unsmiling but not necessarily unwelcoming. Then he went back to the pile of unsplit logs, picked up another candidate, and set it up on the base.
Bennett wasn’t sure if Hunter was ignoring him or just preparing for when this visit ended. Either way he continued toward his friend. Hunter pivoted again to face his guests, rolled his head toward one shoulder, then the other, and adjusted his hold on the handle of the sharp hatchet. “I wondered if I’d see you today.”
“That would explain your lack of surprise.”
Gesturing with axe in hand toward Nathan, Hunter attempted a grin. “Surprised to see this guy. Made the hike hobbled?”
“It wasn’t so bad.” Nathan seemed to stand straighter.
“Good man.” Hunter strode toward them, stopping a couple of feet short of their spot. “Know how to start a fire?”
Nathan visibly swallowed. “Hazel showed me the other day.”
“How about you go work that skill a minute.” Hunter nodded toward the trailer. “Keep it small and in the fire ring.”
Nathan nodded, then moved toward the trailer.
Bennett appreciated Hunter’s efforts, even if it seemed precarious. “Hopefully, he doesn’t set the forest on fire.”
“Fresh snow on the ground should make that a hard task.” Hunter switched the hatchet from one hand to the other. “I assume you’re here to talk about the other night.”
“Intuitive.”
Hunter rubbed the back of his head. “Janie . . . she makes me crazy sometimes. One minute she says she wants to be friends, and the next minute she’s hanging all over Grady, rubbing my face in it. I just . . . lost it.”
None of that came as a surprise. Bennett had even felt a slight edge of disapproval toward Janie the night of the party. Shehadbeen a little showy with Grady. Maybe it had been the natural progression of their budding relationship—Bennett couldn’t say. But he could see where Hunter was coming from.
Even so . . .
“If winning her back was your plan, you took a wrong turn.” Bennett reached across the space between the two of them and gripped the handle of Hunter’s hatchet. Just to be safe. “This isn’t going to get it done.”
Releasing the handle easily enough, Hunter’s shoulders collapsed into rounded defeat. “I know.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’ve been up here arguing with myself about it.”
“And?” Bennett set the hatchet on a downed pine that hadn’t been cut into sections yet.
A puff of white escaped his mouth as he sighed deeply. “I’m going to have to reach for some humility and go talk to her. Call it off.”
Bennett nodded. Tough call but the right one. “Think she’ll change her mind?”
Hunter shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s as stubborn as Hazel.” He smirked with a side-eyed glance. “But she also doesn’t like to leave home. I meant it when I said I didn’t think she’d make five days. I shouldn’t have said it, but it is the truth. Janie never wanted to leave Luna. Not for a week, a month . . . definitely not for a lifetime.”
Ah. The past was becoming clear. “Is that why you broke up?”
Face toward the ground, Hunter nodded. “I couldn’t stay and she couldn’t leave, and neither one of us were willing to budge.” He moved to grab the puffer vest he’d shed sometime during his wood splitting. After zipping it into place, he folded his arms. “I guess that makes us both stupidly stubborn.”
“Admitting it is the first step.”
Hunter rubbed the wool on his face. “Janie is pretty mad.”
There was that. “Pretty sure she thought you were flirting with Isa, so that might have had something to do with the whole thing.”
Hunter shook his head. “Isa was just there. She’s a nice girl—maybe too nice. But I don’t think she means anything. Think I should tell Janie that?”
