Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Emmalyn would have never offered Hunter Kane help if he wasn't with an adorable and terrified six-year-old girl, because she had never felt comfortable around him. The few times she'd tried to be friendly, he'd shut her down. She'd made excuses for his abrupt, intense nature because, clearly, he was in both physical and emotional pain. But even when he'd healed, he had still stayed away from everyone, which had made her wonder if that was just his personality, his preference.
She'd told herself it was none of her business if he wanted to be distant from his neighbors. She'd learned a long time ago that trying to change someone's mind was a futile task. No matter how much she wanted to make someone feel better or act differently, if they didn't want it, too, it wasn't going to happen.
But while she'd made peace with letting him struggle on his own, her heart had gone out to Olivia, who reminded her very much of herself once upon a time. She knew what it was like to be dropped abruptly into a strange situation with someone she barely knew, and if she could make things easier for this little girl, she would.
When they went downstairs to check the suitcase that had come with Olivia, she wasn't surprised to see that Hunter's apartment felt a lot like him: cold, dark, and sterile. While his apartment was the mirror image of hers in the layout, that was where the similarities ended. Her space was filled with color; his walls were a stark white, with not one photo or picture breaking up the blank space.
A single couch faced a TV mounted on the wall, and the coffee table held nothing but a remote control and a stack of exercise pamphlets. The kitchen counters were empty aside from a coffeemaker, and a quick glance toward the open bedroom door revealed an unmade bed and not much else. The only thing at all interesting was a model helicopter sitting on the table next to the couch. The personal item almost felt out of place, and she couldn't help wondering why he'd chosen this one thing to put on display.
"My dad has one of these," Olivia said, running toward the helicopter. She picked it up and ran her fingers along the blades, a sad expression on her face.
She glanced at Hunter, seeing his tight, somewhat angry scowl. To his credit, he didn't say anything, but if Olivia looked in his direction, she would have no problem seeing his discomfort.
Clearing her throat, she drew his attention to her. "Where do you want Olivia to sleep?"
"She can have my room. I'll sleep on the couch." He paused, giving Olivia a worried look. "Livvy…" He licked his lips. "Do you want to put that down?"
She looked up as she spun the helicopter blades. "Daddy let me play with his helicopter. He said when I grow up, I can be a pilot, too. I like to fly."
"Me, too," he muttered, his jaw still incredibly tight. "But let's put the helicopter down. I don't want you to accidentally drop it."
Olivia set the helicopter down on its side, then said, "Where's the bathroom?"
"It's there," Hunter said, pointing to the door off the short hallway between the living room and bedroom. Then he quickly moved across the room and set the helicopter right side up.
Watching the reverence with which he did that made Emmalyn more than a little curious, and she couldn't help the questioning glance she gave him when he moved away from the couch, his gaze meeting hers.
"Did you fly with Olivia's father?" she asked.
"Yes," he said shortly.
"Is that why you and her dad have the same model helicopter?"
He didn't answer right away, then said, "Gary, Olivia's father, and I made the model helicopters together. It was one of those weeks when a series of storms grounded us, and we were going crazy with the inaction. We found the kits at a nearby store, and we put them together." He shrugged. "It's stupid to care about a kid's toy."
"Not if it reminds you of your friend. You should probably put it away, though, because I suspect Olivia will want to play with it again."
"If it makes her feel more comfortable, then I'm fine with it."
"I didn't realize you were Olivia's godfather."
He shrugged, as if that fact baffled him, too. "I'm not sure why they asked me to do it, but I couldn't say no. Gary and I met ten years ago, when we were twenty-four years old. We spent the last ten years flying together." He paused. "I still remember the night Olivia was born. She came two weeks early, and Gary was stuck with me on the other side of the world. We stayed up all night, waiting for word. I'd never seen him so nervous in my life. Bree and Olivia were everything to him. He should be here now, but he died in the crash that injured me."
"I'm sorry." She knew her words were meaningless, but she still felt the need to say them.
"So am I. You probably want to ask about the crash, about why Olivia is here," he said with a resigned sigh.
"I don't want to pry."
"We were flying a humanitarian mission in northern Africa, in a remote area that had been cut off by relentless fighting for more than three months. They needed food and water. There weren't supposed to be any enemy combatants in the area. That turned out to be false. We were hit by fire and crashed. I was the captain on that flight. And my best friend died."
The heavy guilt in his eyes touched her heart. "That's awful."
"The point is I owe Gary, and I should have checked on Bree and Olivia months ago, but I wasn't in a good place, mentally or physically. So, I need to step up now and take care of Liv. I just don't really know what to do."
His humble candor was surprising, but she didn't comment. Sympathy wouldn't help, but action would. "Okay, this is what we're going to do. We need to figure out what Olivia brought with her and what she's going to need for school tomorrow." She'd no sooner made that statement when Olivia came out of the bathroom and ran to her pink suitcase. She sat on the floor and unzipped the bag, pulling out three small stuffed animals.
As Olivia played with her stuffies, Emmalyn couldn't help but notice the file folder sitting on a small pile of clothes. She pulled it out and handed it to Hunter.
Then she said to Livvy, "Let's see what else you brought." She found enough clothes for three to four days as well as a hygiene kit and several well-worn books. But no backpack, no lunchbox. "You need to go to the store," she said, glancing back at Hunter, who was staring at whatever was in that file folder.
Since Livvy was distracted by her animals, she walked back to Hunter. "Did her mother give you any more information?"
"Bree enrolled her in school. She left me her medical records." He shook his head in bemusement. "But nothing about where she is now and when she's coming back."
"She also didn't leave her with a backpack or a lunchbox, which she's going to need for school."
Hunter didn't act like he'd heard her. He was still staring at the note Bree had left for him.
"I'm going to check the bedroom," she said, sensing he needed a minute to regroup.
Olivia followed her into the bedroom.
"Do I have to sleep in here?" Livvy asked with concern. "It's cold."
She could see why Olivia was distressed by the room, which was as empty as the living room. There was a dresser to go with the bed and the nightstand, but no other personal items.
"I'm going to see if Hunter has some clean sheets for the bed, and then I'll make it up for you," she said as Olivia dumped her stuffies on the floor by the window, as if she was desperate to stay in the small beam of light streaming through the blinds.
She walked back into the living room. Hunter was still standing in the middle of the room, staring at the file folder, desperate to find some answer that wasn't there. "Do you have clean sheets I can put on the bed?"
He started, then frowned. "No. I'll have to wash the ones that are on the bed."
"Or you could buy sheets appropriate for a six-year-old when you pick up the lunchbox and backpack at the store."
"She needs special sheets?" he asked in bewilderment.
"Well, she doesn't need them, but anything we can do to make the bedroom feel warmer and more welcoming would be good." She paused. "Should we talk about food? If you want to go to the store, I can watch Olivia for you. Or we can all go together."
"I don't see how I'm going to do this," he mumbled.
"You're going to do it because you have to. Her mother must have thought you could handle it, or she wouldn't have left her with you," she said, although she had as many doubts about that choice as he did.
"Bree was desperate. I don't think she thought this through. She was living with her parents, but I guess that situation fell apart. She needs to find a job and a place to live. She's also still trying to come to terms with Gary being gone."
"Did she say when she's coming back?"
"No, and it doesn't feel like it will be soon. I can't believe she didn't have someone else she could leave Olivia with. Someone better than me. I don't know what she needs, and I don't want to hurt her."
His last statement made her realize that his fear was coming from a good place and not a selfish place. "You won't hurt her if you care about her."
"Of course, I care. But I don't know what she needs."
"Let's make a list," she suggested, moving into his kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and found beer, eggs, juice, and some take-out containers. She started rattling off some basic items while he took notes on his phone. Moving to the cupboards, she found them just as bare. "Do you eat at all?" she asked, giving him a questioning look.
"I haven't been that hungry."
He was lean, almost gaunt, she thought. Clearly, whatever injuries he'd been dealing with had left him with little appetite. She added more items to his list: cereal, bread, and snack items, as well as fruit and veggies to go into Olivia's lunch tomorrow. As the list grew longer, she said, "Let's go to the store now. I need to get back by six for taco night. In fact, you don't have to worry about dinner tonight because you and Olivia can join the taco party. Gabe and Madison are bringing the food, and it's going to be fantastic."
He immediately shook his head. "No, thanks."
"Why not?" she challenged.
"Because I don't need to be part of a group right now."
"That's exactly what you need. Coming to taco night will give you a break from entertaining Olivia. And Paige's son, Henry, will be there. He's the same age as Olivia. She'll have someone to play with besides you," she said pointedly. "When the taco party is over, it will be her bedtime. But if you want to do it your way and spend the evening alone together…"
He held up a hand in surrender. "No, you're right. Taco night sounds like a better way to go."
"It is, and you might even enjoy it." She paused, then asked a question that had been burning inside her for a long time. "What do you have against us, anyway? Did someone in the complex do you wrong? Did they say something that annoyed you? Or do you just hate people in general?"
"What I hate are questions and looks of pity. I'm very aware of the gossip surrounding me and my accident. And I don't want to talk about any of it."
"Okay, that's fair. But no one here is going to push you to talk. We respect each other's privacy."
"Do you?" he asked dryly.
She didn't miss his not-so-subtle reminder that she was inserting herself into his life at this very moment. "Like I said, I don't have to help."
"Sorry," he muttered.
"Look, people here are very friendly and supportive. We're like a family. But everyone has a private life, too. I have secrets I've never talked to anyone about because I don't want to. And people respect that."
Her words brought a curious and doubtful gleam to his eyes. "You have secrets? That's a little hard to believe."
"Why?"
"Because you're so wide-eyed and innocent. I can't imagine you have dark secrets."
"Well, you don't know everything. You don't want me to judge you; don't judge me."
Their gazes connected, and she felt a surprising spark between them, which was very unusual. It was probably just anger, she told herself. It couldn't possibly be anything else. She would never be interested in someone like him. "So, do you want to go to the store together or not?"
"Let's go together. And thank you, Emmalyn."
"You're welcome, Hunter."
It was the first time they'd addressed each other by name, and it felt like they'd broken down a barrier between them that had once felt impenetrable.
The mysterious, attractive, dark-eyed stranger with the persistent scowl and pain-filled, weary expression had just admitted he needed help. And hopefully, she wouldn't regret giving it to him.
He had misjudged Emmalyn , Hunter thought as they finished loading his car with groceries and other items. The sweet woman who had given him tentative but wary smiles over the past seven months was also smart, practical, and firm in dealing with both him and Olivia. He'd always thought she was a little scared of him, and he'd been fine with that. He'd wanted space to be alone, and keeping people at arm's length had given him the solitude he needed. But Emmalyn wasn't being timid now.
She'd taken charge of their shopping trip, forcing him to focus on what Olivia needed right now and not think about the bigger, overwhelming picture that made him wonder how he could possibly take care of a small child when he was in the final push to complete his rehabilitation and return to active duty. But Emmalyn was making him take things one step at a time. And every time he ran into a wall, she found a way out. Like when she'd realized he didn't have a car seat and had dug one out of her closet that she'd used for school field trips. He was beginning to think she was a bit of a magician, and he couldn't imagine how he would have gotten through this day without her help, which was shocking since he rarely needed help with anything. In fact, he prided himself on being self-sufficient. But taking care of a child was definitely outside his area of expertise.
When they got back to Ocean Shores, Emmalyn suggested he put the new sheets in the laundry while she and Olivia put the groceries away. Since Olivia seemed to feel more comfortable and happier with Emmalyn than with him, he was happy to follow that suggestion. He also wanted privacy to call Bree again.
Deciding he might as well wash more than just the sheets, he grabbed his hamper and headed across the courtyard to the laundry room. There was no one in the small room, so he set the hamper on the ground and pulled out his phone to call Bree. She didn't pick up, and he left another pleading message for her to call him back as soon as possible, assuring her that he wanted to help her.
He thought briefly about calling Bree's parents. He'd met them a few times at family events, but after what she'd told him about her mom and dad, he decided to leave them out of this situation. Clearly, she was at odds with them, and he didn't need to stir up more drama.
As he slipped his phone back into his pocket, Liam Nash entered the laundry room with a full basket of clothes. The laid-back, brown-haired former professional surfer was one of the few people he'd spoken to in the complex. There was something about Liam's easygoing nature that had reminded him of Gary, a man who had never met a stranger. Liam seemed much the same way.
While they hadn't talked much, he knew that Liam had recently taken over the ownership of a sporting goods store called the Beach Shack and that his girlfriend, Ava, was some kind of numbers whiz, who was building her own financial investments business. Ava's sister, Serena, and her husband, Brad, also lived in the building, and the foursome often spent time together by the pool. They'd been celebrating what sounded like an engagement a few evenings ago, although he wasn't quite sure. There were a lot of celebrations in the courtyard. He'd never lived with a happier and more celebratory group of people.
"Hey, Hunter, how's it going?" Liam asked with a friendly smile.
"It's going," he replied as he opened the door of the nearest machine and began to load his laundry.
Liam nodded as if that was the answer he'd been expecting since most of their conversations had gone this way. Hunter would have made his usual quick exit, but he wasn't in a hurry to get back to his apartment where he had a lot of other problems to deal with. So, he said, "Did I hear something about you getting engaged?"
Liam's smile spread rapidly across his tanned face. "Yes. Ava finally said yes."
"Finally? Didn't you just meet like six months ago?" he asked dryly.
"Yes, but it feels a lot longer than that," Liam answered with a laugh. "In a good way." He paused. "Did I see you and Emmalyn with a kid earlier?"
"You did. I'm watching my friend's child for a few days."
"That sounds…fun?" Liam asked, a question in his gaze.
He sighed. "I'm not sure I'd call it fun. I don't know much about kids, but my friend was desperate. Emmalyn has been nice enough to help me get set up to take care of Olivia."
"That explains the unicorn sheets," Liam said with a laugh, tipping his head at the brightly colored sheets he was about to put into the washer. "They don't seem your style."
"Definitely not. Emmalyn thought Livvy needed sheets suitable for a child to sleep on. I didn't know that was important."
"I wouldn't have known that, either, but Emmalyn is an expert, so you're lucky she's around to help."
"She's been very generous."
"That's Em," Liam said with a nod. "You're in good hands. She's the real deal."
"I'm grateful," he said as he finished loading the sheets and then turned on the machine. "How's your store doing?"
"Business is good. School is back in session, but with the warm weather, there's still a lot of action at the beach. The surf school I started has also grown in popularity. You ever surf?"
"A couple of times when I was a teenager, but that was a while ago."
"If you ever want to go out, let me know. I'll give you a refresher—on the house."
"That's a great offer, but I'm focused on getting back to work."
"You look like you're feeling better these days. When will you return to duty?"
"That's the big question," he admitted. "I have some hoops to jump through before that can happen, but I'll get there."
Liam nodded, a gleam of respect in his eyes. "The Marines are lucky to have you."
He was hoping the review board would feel the same way.
"Are you coming to taco night?" Liam asked, changing the subject. "Gabe's fish tacos are not to be missed."
"I am going to come tonight," he said.
Surprise ran through Liam's eyes. "Well, good," Liam said. "I figured you'd either move or stop fighting the current at some point."
"The current of…"
"Friendship, neighborly interest—the Ocean Shores family," Liam finished. "It's not for everybody, but most people eventually end up a part of things. It's hard to fight, but you've been doing a good job of it."
"I've had a lot to deal with. It's nothing against anyone."
"Sure. I get that," Liam said with an easy, agreeable nod. "I'll see you later then."
"Later," he echoed, following Liam out the door.
As he went back to his apartment, he passed by several people starting to set up for taco night. He usually avoided eye contact, but today he found himself responding to the manager's warm smile with one of his own. Josie, the quirky sixty-something manager, gave him a surprised look, telling him she hoped he'd join them for tacos. He said he would, which shocked her even more.
Maybe Liam was right about the futility of fighting the current. But it wasn't the current of friendship at Ocean Shores he was concerned about; it was Olivia's arrival and the uncertainty of his own future that made him feel like he was being carried farther away from where he wanted to be.