Chapter Five #3
“And everybody treats it like a soulmate myth, but the phrasing is vague on purpose. You happen to be straight and you meet a random stranger who happens to be another guy, it doesn’t say anything about your orientation.”
“Got it. So then, what? You’re just going to be best dudebros?”
“Maybe—or maybe you’ll figure out some other way to help each other ‘find your heart’s most secret hope.’ I don’t know. Maybe you set the other guy up with his future wife, or help him figure out his golf swing.”
“A better golf swing does not sound like something destiny would take an interest in.”
“Destiny is weird.” He put his hands in his pockets, his shoulders hunching slightly.
“Like, maybe you’ll end up loving hiking, and someday, everybody will look at us crashing into each other at the Crossing, and say, see?
I helped you find your heart’s most secret hope to become some sort of, I don’t know, outdoor enthusiast.”
She swallowed, her throat grating. Yet again, he was making it very clear that they weren’t meant to be together, except maybe as people who shared hobbies.
Well, fine. She could play along. “And I’ll… what? Recommend a book to you and help you discover your lifelong love of reading?”
“Sure, why not,” he said with a chuckle, relaxing slightly. “Like I said, it’s all ridiculous.”
“But people really do believe it. And they think it mostly has to do with soulmates,” she said, egging him on. “There must be some concrete examples.”
He sighed, moving to take the lead as the trail narrowed for a stretch to go around a big, knotty pine tree. “Tons. The mayor and his wife. Granny’s brother and his husband. Just to name a few.”
“You’re not exactly convincing me that this is just a myth right now.”
The trail widened again, beginning a gentle ascent. “But for every example that worked out, there’s another where it was total crap. My buddy Lucas met his ex at the Crossing when they were kids. They were high school sweethearts, but it all fell apart after they graduated.”
“I guess not everything can be happily-ever-after,” she mused.
Hunter let out a grunt of agreement that had a bitter note to it that caught her ear. She glanced in his direction, and their gazes met before he looked away.
“Happily-ever-after is just the beginning,” he said, shaking his head and increasing his pace as the trail led uphill. “But every story ends, eventually. And it usually isn’t happy.”
She blinked a couple of times, picking her way around some tree roots. “Well, that’s a cheerful way of looking at it.”
“That’s me. Mr. Sunshine.”
She bit her tongue, trying to decide whether to ask him for more details.
After a few beats, he broke the silence, though. “Granny told you that the town sort of adopted me when I was a kid. Well, that’s…” He scrubbed a hand through his hair before letting out a rough breath. “That’s because my mom died.”
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry—”
Hunter cut her off before she could express her condolences. “Long time ago. Just.” The trail leveled out again, and he slowed down a fraction, rubbing the back of his palm across his brow. “She and my dad—they met at the Crossing.”
“Oh.”
“Exactly. And it was great. Heck, it even made me believe in the whole bullshit myth, back when I was a kid. They were soulmates.”
Her heart sank.
“But happily-ever-after ends,” he said grimly. “She died. He lived. And he never got over it.”
“That’s awful.” Her fingers twitched at her side, the impulse to reach out and offer him some sort of comforting touch almost overwhelming her.
“Yeah.”
They’d reached a little clearing, and he stopped for a moment, reaching into the pouch on the side of his pack and pulling out a water bottle.
He uncapped it and took a deep gulp, his throat bobbing in a way that was far too entrancing, considering the serious subject matter.
To distract herself, she followed his lead, taking a daintier sip from her own bottle.
He swabbed at his mouth with his sleeve before putting his water away, not meeting her gaze as he did.
“In any case.” He started walking again, his posture and tone both stiffer than they had been before he’d opened up about his folks. “It gives you a real sense of perspective when you see where ‘happily-ever-after’ really lands you.”
“But it must have been worth it, right? They had a whole life together. And a family. You.”
“You’ve clearly never met my father.” He cast a dark glance down at her. “He’s a shell.”
“I’m sorry, Hunter…”
“Don’t be.” And there was that bitterness again. “They had a life. It was great. But there’s no possible way it was worth what he went through afterward.”
Her ribs squeezed inward. He might be pretending he was fine, dismissing her attempts to offer him her empathy, but there was a real pain living inside him.
“I’m sure—”
“I’m sure.” His nostrils flared. “And that’s why I don’t believe in destiny, or soulmates, or any of it.”
He flashed her a strained smile, as if to soften his words, but she heard them loud and clear.
The good news was that, when he met her at the Crossing, he wasn’t rejecting her.
The bad news? It didn’t matter.
He’d rejected the idea of being with anyone at all.