Chapter Thirty-Four
Seven months later…
AT NOON SHARP ON Memorial Day, the doorbell rang at the cabin. Hunter kept cleaning the grill, shouting, “Around back.”
But the doorbell kept ringing. Over and over and over.
Emma put down the tray she’d been carrying out. “I’ll get it.”
“No.” Rolling his eyes, Hunter set down the wire brush and wiped off his hands. “We both know who it is.”
“True.”
Hunter went through the cabin to get to the front door. It was still going off incessantly when he yanked the thing open.
“Right on time,” he muttered dryly.
Sure enough, his dad stood there, his hand on Wolf’s shoulder as Wolf kept on gleefully jabbing the button.
“About time,” his dad said by way of greeting.
His sister, Kyra, came bustling up the driveway with Lena in her arms and TJ trailing behind, laden down with a casserole dish and a case of beer. “Sorry,” Kyra said when she finally caught up.
“It’s fine. Seriously, though, Dad,” Hunter said. “When you’re invited to a backyard barbecue, it’s generally understood that you’re supposed to go around to the backyard.”
“Look.” His dad adopted an expression of put-upon innocence. “Someone gave me a hard time about not waiting for people to come to the door.”
“That’s because someone has a bad habit of dropping by unannounced,” Hunter retorted.
As casually annoyed as he was by his father’s stubbornness, he couldn’t help the smile that curled the corner of his mouth.
His dad was still the same old curmudgeon he’d been since his mother died, but there had been a shift in the past few months. Maybe it was that Kyra and the family were visiting more often, or maybe it was that his favorite author had decided to release a new trilogy.
Maybe it was that Hunter’s attitude toward his father’s grief had changed.
Whatever it was, their relationship felt lighter these days. It was nice to be able to joke around with the old man a little. The fact that he was here at all—even if it was probably because Kyra had all but frog-marched him out of the house—was a sign of progress.
As Hunter was greeting the rest of the family, including a bear hug for Wolf and a still-tentative fist bump from Lena, Emma emerged.
She shared her own warm hellos with everybody, including Lena, who went so far as to grace her with a rare, bright smile.
Looking on, Hunter shook his head fondly.
The kid might be shy, but she was a damn good judge of character.
“Come on. We’re just finishing getting set up out back. You’re the first ones here.” Taking the beer from TJ, Hunter led the way through the cabin and out to the patio.
As they walked, Kyra oohed and aahed. “Wow. Is this even the same cabin? It looks amazing.”
“Hey,” Hunter grumbled.
“We really didn’t change that much,” Emma demurred.
He shot her a skeptical look, but his chest was full and warm.
Earlier that spring, he and Emma had finally taken the plunge, and she’d moved in for real.
A part of him wasn’t sure why they’d waited so long.
They’d spent five nights a week together.
She hadn’t wanted them to rush into anything, though, and he supposed there was some wisdom to that.
She didn’t want to just float along into cohabitation with him the way she’d floated along into it with her ex. She wanted to be sure.
Hunter, though? He’d long since let go of any doubts.
Now she was here all the time, and it was better than he could have imagined. Gone were his silent, lonely nights.
And his decor.
Apparently, the passion she’d found for interior design and aesthetics had extended beyond seasonal decorating at the Cozy Nook Bookshop.
Most of his furniture had stayed, but with his enthusiastic consent, she’d taken the lead in overhauling and improving almost everything else.
After about a dozen visits to the hardware store—Lucas had given him so much shit—they’d painted the walls pale green and yellow and cream.
There were new shelves overflowing with books, and a cozy nook where she liked to film her increasingly popular, bookish social media posts.
Houseplants drank in the sun by the window, and paintings by local artists hung on the walls.
They had new plates and new mugs with silly cartoon animals on them, and bedroom curtains that blocked the rising sun.
The place was full of life. It was full of love.
It was full of her.
It finally felt like a home. To both of them.
“Well,” Kyra said, “I love it.” She shot Hunter a wry, affectionate smile. “Happy for you, bro.”
Grumbling, he waved her off. “Whatever.”
But really, he was pretty damn happy for himself, too.
As an additional bonus, when Emma had announced to Granny that she was planning to move out, Granny insisted that the apartment over the bookshop was part of the compensation package, and it was hers to do with as she pleased.
Emma’d found someone to sublet the place for the summer, adding to her income as she saved up to buy Granny out when she was ready to retire.
The guy who’d just moved in was nice enough, if quiet.
His name was Nick Chiu, and he was one of those digital nomads, working from home, doing something with computers, while living wherever he pleased.
Supposedly he was just passing through, but who knew.
Not everybody who moved to Heart’s Hope Crossing stayed, but the place had a way of worming itself into some folks’ hearts.
Speak of the devil, the gate to the fence creaked open, and in walked the town’s newest resident.
“Hello?” Nick called. He was thirtyish, Asian, with floppy black hair and more muscles than a computer guy had any right to have.
“Hey!” Emma waved at him and welcomed him over.
Hunter definitely didn’t narrow his eyes at the man as his girlfriend greeted him. He was way too secure in his relationship to be jealous. So what if the new guy was objectively attractive? He and Emma were good.
Said new guy had brought some dumpling-type things, which he and Emma talked about excitedly, using Chinese words he didn’t recognize.
Fortunately, he was saved from having to lose his temper by Lucas, Daniel, and a few of the other guys arriving. Lucas raised a brow at Hunter over the accidental death glare he was shooting Nick.
“Chillax,” Lucas urged him.
“What are you talking about? I’m super chillaxed.”
He managed to stop glaring, and it was a good thing, too, because their next guests showed up moments later. This time, it was a middle-aged white man with thinning gray-blond hair and a mustache, as well as a short, slim Asian woman.
Emma ditched Nick in a heartbeat. “Mom! Dad!”
Hunter let out a breath as she ran over to her parents.
Apparently, the three of them had had a good heart-to-heart last fall, during which she’d finally told them how she really felt.
As a result, her parents had flown in for Christmas, then finished out the winter in the southwest part of the country before turning their RV northeast. They’d arrived in Vermont just in time for the lilacs to bloom.
After spending a few weeks in Heart’s Hope Crossing, they’d wandered off toward Maine, but they’d promised to come back to enjoy the first part of the summer with their daughter before they continued up to Canada.
And here they were, fulfilling that promise.
Hunter was still a little sour with them over how they’d made Emma feel like her needs weren’t important growing up. But he was glad they’d listened when she’d told them what she needed this time around. Their presence meant the world to Emma, and so it meant the world to Hunter, too.
After they’d hugged, her mom and dad came over, and Hunter said hello to them. He swallowed as he shook her dad’s hand.
Before the Rogers-Lis took off for the summer, he had to find some time to sit down with the man. He had an old, antiquated, way-too-traditional question to ask him.
For now, though, he invited them to have a drink and a snack.
All the while, people continued arriving.
When Alix showed up wearing a shirt with the National Park Service logo on it, he suppressed a smirk.
She and her mom had finally come up with a compromise, where she’d decided to take a gap year between high school and whatever came next.
During said gap, though, she’d be doing a program where she’d be interning at a few different national parks and getting college credit.
It wasn’t the four-year university experience her mom wanted for her, but it was a chance to try something new on her own terms.
He’d miss her, both as his misanthropic hermit bro and as his co-worker—especially with how busy the preserve was these days.
@H_ForestRanger would never go as viral as he did the night Emma posted evidence of how gone the two of them were for each other, but he had a steady following, and he continued to both educate the public and draw attention to the unique natural beauty of this particular corner of the state.
Before long, the backyard was chock-full, with half the town milling around, eating and chatting. He fired up the grill and got some burgers and dogs going, while Emma hostessed like a pro.
It was a hell of a change from the previous summer. The only action his old grill had gotten was the occasional steak or brat for him and him alone. He never had people over; there weren’t enough people in his life to have any of them over.
And look at them all now.
“You okay?” Emma asked quietly, coming by to bring him some cheese to add to the burgers.
“Yeah.” He put down the grilling tongs just long enough to curl his arm around her. He looked into her dark, beautiful eyes. “Just happy.”
These few months with her had been the best of his life. He’d never imagined he could feel this way, or that he could be this happy. He’d been so convinced that letting people in just led to heartache.
And who knew. The future was uncertain. But what he and Emma had together? It was worth it.
“Me, too,” Emma said softly. She leaned up onto her toes, one hand on his chest. Their lips met in a kiss that was brief but that reached right into him. The depth of his feeling for this woman took his breath away. It didn’t seem possible, but he loved her more every day.
He couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life with her. Starting really, really soon.
For now, though, he let her go, narrowly saving the wieners from burning.
“Who wants hot dogs?” Emma called.
“Me!” Wolf made a beeline for her, only to be yanked back by Kyra before he could manage to accidentally run anybody over.
“Forget hot dogs. I need a drink.” Hattie roared in like a tornado, her usually messy hair even messier than usual, a weird, wild look in her eyes.
“Uh.” Emma furrowed her brow. “Are you okay?”
“No. No, I am not okay.” Hattie popped open the cooler and rooted around in it until she found some vibrant pink wine cooler. She held it up. “You got anything stronger than this?”
“I mean, inside,” Emma started. “But seriously. What’s going on?”
“I met someone after picking up my check from the diner this morning. A guy. A big, strong, disturbingly hot guy.”
Emma laughed, clearly relieved. “And this is a problem why?”
“Emma.” The intensity in Hattie’s eyes grew exponentially. “The guy was a stranger. And I met him at the Crossing.”
Emma stopped laughing. “Oh.”
Using her shirt, Hattie twisted off the top of her drink. As she lifted the bottle to her mouth, she scanned the crowd, but when her gaze landed on Nick, she froze. “And he’s standing right there.”
Eyes widening, Hunter looked to Emma. As their gazes met, her mouth curled up into a smile, and his own heart lifted.
Nick might think he was just passing through. But after what had happened to Hunter last fall?
He’d never question the power of love—or fate—again.