Chapter 12 Seraphina
SERAPHINA
Idid not relax. Not even close. I couldn’t write either, my mind crowded with all of this nonsense.
After everyone had left, I’d wandered around the house, trying to figure out exactly what was bothering me.
The plan was good. In fact, it might even end up being a net positive for me and my career.
The whole “no press is bad press” had been floating around my mind all day.
As calculating as this sounded, if Hunter were to declare to the world that he was in love with me, my readers would eat it up.
He was gorgeous and sexy. Mysterious and obviously brilliant at what he did.
They would love it for me. I’d had readers write to me over the years pitching their sons or grandsons as potential boyfriends.
However, I had to ask myself—what were the repercussions that came from a relationship in the public eye?
Did it matter at all? It wasn’t like I was a famous movie star.
As accomplished as Hunter was, he wasn’t well known.
Both of us had jobs that allowed us anonymity.
I’d always guarded my private life, mostly to protect Tyler.
Little was known about me. With this situation, all that was about to be blown apart.
Hunter had offered to cook us dinner tonight and had shown up with a bag of vegetables and chicken to make a stir-fry.
At the moment, I was perched on a stool at the island watching him move around my kitchen.
Tyler had not yet come home from a late baseball practice, so we were alone.
I wanted to share my jumbled thoughts with Hunter, but I didn’t know how to explain them.
That said, Madeleine Price was really good at her job. She’d given us a road map, and all we had to do was follow it.
Still, it felt strange and scary to think about what was about to unfold and at such a juxtaposition to what was happening in my house at the moment.
I breathed in the aromas of sesame oil and garlic wafting from the wok.
Steam rose from my rice cooker. Hunter added chicken into the oil, and it sizzled and snapped.
All perfectly ordinary. Yet we had to play the game.
“A crew came this morning to interview Ivy,” Hunter said. “She texted just now that it’s airing at ten tonight.”
“One of the networks, right?”
“Correct. Madeleine got her on one of the popular long format types of interview.”
“I’m nervous for her,” I said.
“Don’t be. Ivy’s really good at this kind of thing.” He tilted his head. “You’ve been quiet. You okay?”
“Just processing, I guess.”
“You sure you want to do this?” He gestured with the spatula. “Me and you. It’s not going to be easy. Everyone’s going to know our business.”
“I was just thinking about that. I’ve worked hard to keep my life private.”
“For Tyler.”
“Yes, and for me too. These photos circulating feel like such a violation. They captured a moment between us that should have remained private. Instead, anyone who cares to look gets a glimpse into my life.” I smiled, trying to make light of it, even though I was deeply unsettled.
“Having the camera capture how I feel about you makes me feel really vulnerable.”
“Yeah, I hate it. And I’m sorry.” He moved the chicken around the wok with the spatula, his head bowed. “You didn’t ask for any of this.”
“Neither did you.”
“No, but it’s my mess.”
The rice cooker beeped and flipped to its warm mode.
Hunter looked at it and then me. “Now’s the time to bow out if that’s what you want. I can cope with this on my own. Leave you out of it.”
“What do you mean exactly?” Was he suggesting we stop seeing each other? Just thinking about that made me feel sick. I couldn’t lose him. Not after I’d finally let myself give in to my feelings. I wanted to be with him.
In truth, I was already in love with him. Letting him go seemed unfathomable.
“I don’t want you to do this because you feel sorry for me.
Or obligated,” Hunter said. “You have to protect yourself and Tyler. If we go with Madeleine’s plan, you’re going to see a lot more of yourself splashed on social media and gossip rags.
I guess what I’m asking is—are you sure I’m worth the trouble? ”
I traced my finger along the edge of the counter.
What would my dad tell me to do? He’d been a private person too.
A man who didn’t want anyone else knowing his business.
I’d gotten that from him. And there was Tyler too.
Did he really need his mother on display? Would it cause him problems at school?
“Yes, you’re worth the trouble,” I said. “But it doesn’t mean the whole thing doesn’t scare me.”
“I’m scared too, but I can tell you—I’ve lived in Willet Cove without anyone even knowing who I am. This whole thing’s not typical of my life. I’m just a simple guy who wants simple things.”
“Such as?”
“A family. Married to the woman I love. A home where I’m loved and supported.
I know it’s early, but there’s something about you that feels right.
Like we belong together. I never thought I’d trust myself to fall again but you’re impossible to resist. If you want to be here, I’m not going anywhere.
But if it’s too much, please tell me. I can disappear and you can get back to your life. ”
I shook my head. “Hunter, you’re quickly becoming my life.
I know it sounds crazy but it’s true. And if we have to have our photographs on some tabloid sites until Dana goes away, then so be it.
People weather much worse things than this.
” I got up from the stool and went around to stand next to him at the stove.
He set aside his spatula to take me into his arms.
“You know what I’ve always daydreamed about?” Hunter asked.
“What’s that?”
“That someday I’d have someone who would dance with me in the kitchen.”
“That’s what you daydream about?” I asked, laughing. “I think we can make that happen.”
“Yeah?”
I left him for a moment to turn on my favorite streaming device on my phone, which was connected to the built-in speakers. “What’s a good song to dance to?”
He appeared to think for a moment, then said, “How about “Die a Happy Man”—Thomas Rhett. Appropriate one for our very first dance?”
“It’s perfect.” I pulled the song up and hit play, then turned back to him. He held out his arms and I went into them as the first notes of the song filled the kitchen.
He placed one hand at the small of my back, the other holding mine against his chest. We swayed to the music, the beat of his heart in time with the music. I couldn’t remember a time I’d felt as safe in anyone’s embrace.
Suddenly, a memory surfaced. I was about six when I found my father in the living room, sitting on a chair with his face in his hands. A record played on the turntable. Willie Nelson’s “Always On My Mind.” He’d looked up, his eyes damp. He’d been crying.
“Daddy, what is it?”
He’d pulled me onto his lap, stroking my hair. “Just missing your mama. We used to dance to this song. All around the living room. When we were too broke to go out, which was most of the time.”
“You miss her?”
“Very much.”
I nestled against his chest. “I wish I missed her. Then I would remember her.”
“Sugar Plum, that’s exactly right. Even though I miss her, I don’t regret a single moment. When you love someone as much as I did your mother—it hurts to lose them. But I have many sweet memories to remind me about the great love I felt for her.”
Hunter’s arm tightened around my waist. “You okay?”
“I just remembered a moment with my dad. When I was a little girl, he told me he and my mother used to dance around the house.”
“So we’re carrying on a family tradition?” Hunter asked.
I smiled, looking up and into his eyes. “And creating new ones of our own.”
The door from the garage opened and Tyler appeared, sweaty and dusty from baseball practice. He stopped, looking at us. We disentangled.
“Hey, honey,” I said. “How was practice?”
He didn’t answer for a second, staring at us as if he wasn’t sure who we were. “You guys dancing?”
“Just goofing around,” I said. “But dinner’s nearly ready. You hungry?”
“Starved. Do I have time to shower?” Tyler asked.
“Sure,” Hunter said.
“Great. I’ll be down in a minute.” Tyler headed toward the stairs but stopped at the end of the island. “It’s nice to come home to dinner on the stove and seeing you happy, Mom.”
“Thanks, baby,” I said. “That’s really sweet.”
“Hunter, do you think we could go out driving again tonight?” Tyler asked.
“Absolutely. Let’s eat first and then I’ll take you out,” Hunter said.
“Cool. Be down in a bit.” Tyler bounded up the stairs, leaving behind the scent of grass and teenage boy.
“Thanks for agreeing to another driving lesson,” I said. “It means a lot to both of us.”
“I’m happy to be useful. And grateful to be trusted with your boy.”
“I can’t think of a better man to trust him to,” I said.
The song had ended by then and a Randy Travis’s song in three/quarter time called “If I Didn’t Have You” started to play.
“May I have this waltz?” Hunter asked, his fingers closing around mine. He raised our hands, turning me in a smooth circle before pulling me back to him, my pulse tripping as I landed against his chest.
You may, I thought. For the rest of my life.
After dinner, Hunter and Tyler left for the driving lesson.
I did the dishes, music still playing through the speakers.
I thought about the last few days’ dramatic events.
They almost didn’t feel real. Ivy James.
Dana’s book. Madeleine’s plan. So much for my quiet life.
Everything had changed in the course of a few weeks.
I was suddenly embroiled in a deeply complicated situation.
I kept expecting myself to completely freak out and start to push away from Hunter, but somehow I just wanted to cling more tightly to him.