The Vineyard Inn (Martha’s Vineyard Promises #4)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

“ U h—hey there.”

This was Hunter’s sheepish and wholly unhelpful response to Cathy’s question. She stood stock-still in the middle of the room, gawking at him. He had his hands in his pockets and his face was flushed with what she assumed were nerves. But if he’d been so nervous to show up at the bed and breakfast without any warning, why didn’t he call first?

In fact—how did he even know where to find her?

“Hunter, what’s going on?” She folded her arms, unamused by his lack of explanation—as if he didn’t think he had anything to answer for. “Why are you here?”

“I needed to talk to you.”

“And your phone was broken?”

“No… It works just fine.” He took his hands out of his pockets and walked toward her. “But this conversation was one that had to be done in person.”

Cathy didn’t like the sound of that. The last time Hunter had insisted they sit down and talk ‘in person’ was when he asked her for a divorce. She’d been at the grocery store that afternoon, and he called from work to ask if she had plans that night.

“No,” she said. “Not unless you count throwing a frozen pizza in the oven and catching up on my shows plans.” She laughed. “You’re going to poker night, aren’t you?”

“Not tonight,” he said. “I’m going to be home tonight. And I was wondering if we could have a conversation.”

Cathy frowned in the middle of the produce section. “Um, alright. What’s up?”

“Not right now. Tonight. Maybe over dinner. I’ll cook something.”

When Hunter had suggested he would cook dinner for the two of them, Cathy knew he had something big to tell her. Had he gotten a promotion? Or did he want to finally take her on the honeymoon they were never able to afford to go on?

“It’s a date,” she told him.

Little did she know, it was going to be the last date they ever went on. Thinking back on it now, Cathy had half a mind to throw Hunter out of the building before he even had a chance to say what was on his mind. Whatever it was, she had a feeling it was only going to upset her.

“I—I first went to the house back in Buffalo,” Hunter continued. “But obviously you weren’t there. When I went inside and saw that one of the plants was dying and the mail hadn’t been taken out of the box?—”

“You went inside?” She cut him off. “Who said you could go inside the house when I’m not there? That’s a major invasion of privacy!”

“I thought something might’ve been wrong,” he said. “I called you twice yesterday and you didn’t pick up, and then when I dropped by the house, you weren’t answering the door. I panicked and had to know that you were okay.”

“I didn’t answer your calls because I’ve been very busy. You’re not the center of my world, anymore, Hunter.”

“Of course not,” he said, stepping back an inch or two. “I didn’t mean to insinuate that I was. I’m sorry for crossing a line. You’re right, I shouldn’t have gone into your house when you weren’t home.”

“Then why did you?”

“I was scared. I’ve been in a really odd headspace lately, and I haven’t been great at managing my emotions. That’s another reason I felt like I needed to see you—you were always so good at keeping me grounded.”

That’s also not my job anymore.

Cathy barely managed to keep this quip to herself, and she only made the effort because of the saddened look in her ex-husband’s eyes. He clearly understood that he’d made a mistake in showing up here unannounced, and she wasn’t going to rub salt in the wound. At least, not yet. She would hear him out first. If what he had come here to talk about ‘in person’ was as emotional and hurtful as the last time, then she’d have Anne throw him out with the fiery passion of a best friend called to action.

“So when I wasn’t home,” she said. “You just decided to, what, track my location or something?”

“No, I would never do that. I don’t even know how to do that.”

Somehow, this offered Cathy little comfort.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I called the boys after that, hoping they might know where you’d gone. At that point, I just really wanted to know you were okay. I had no plans on coming to find you.”

“Mm,” she said dubiously.

“It’s true. I called them, and Aaron didn’t pick up. No shocker there. But Andrew did, and he told me you were here, in Martha’s Vineyard. At first, I was confused. I thought maybe you’d come here on a vacation.”

“And so you came to interrupt my vacation?” Cathy laughed harshly. “Wow. This story just keeps getting better.”

“No, no,” he said, shaking his head. “Really, I wasn’t going to come at first. I realized that you were probably taking time for yourself and that you wanted to be left alone. I was going to wait until you got back into town to come and talk to you. But then I remembered that your grandmother lived here and operated this inn. I know you said that she didn’t leave the business to you, and it seemed to really upset you, and so I thought…” He trailed off.

“You thought what?”

“Well—I thought maybe you were dealing with something that might be difficult,” he said. “If there were things related to her death or her will that you were attending to, then maybe you could use someone by your side to help support you.”

“You’re not wrong about that,” Cathy admitted. “I did need someone by my side throughout all of this. But that’s why I brought Anne along with me. For support.”

He smiled sadly. “Ah, I see. I should’ve known you’d bring your best friend. And I’m glad you did!” He looked around at the lobby of the inn. “Though I’m still confused about what exactly you are doing here. Since when did the inn reopen?”

“Since I reopened it a couple of weeks ago.”

“Wait, really?” His eyes widened. “But—how?”

Cathy waved a hand in the air. “It doesn’t matter how. I’m not the one who needs to explain herself at the moment. You came here without any notice and I want to know why. What was so important you had to discuss it with me in person? And why wouldn’t you call first to give me some warning, dammit?”

He winced. “I probably should’ve, but I was worried you’d tell me not to come.”

“Yeah! I would’ve!”

“Right, so?—”

“So, instead of asking me if you could come to Edgartown, you just decided to do whatever you wanted, even though you knew I probably wouldn’t be very comfortable with it. So far, this explanation is not showing you in the best light, Hunter.”

He sighed. “You’re right. This is already so messy, and I should’ve done a better job of planning out what I was going to say before I actually got here. I tried writing this all down, but when I read it back to myself, it always sounded so… so lame.” He rubbed his face a few times and turned away from her. “Maybe that’s something I just need to get over though. The fear of seeming lame or pathetic is nothing compared to the fear of losing my family for good.”

Cathy, who had just a moment before been worried about the time and the possibility of missing her dinner date with Thomas, drew up with surprise. “What?”

“I said?—”

“No, I heard what you said. But I don’t understand a word of it. Why do you think you’re losing your family?”

“Well, for starters, the last time we talked on the phone, you were pretty short with me.”

She frowned. “You mean when you called about the remote? Of course, I was short with you! I didn’t want to be taking time out of my day to teach how to work the television! You can’t hold that against me.”

“I’m not, I promise!” He put a hand up to stop her. “You’re right that it was a dumb thing to call you about. That’s what I mean though, I keep messing everything up to the point where I feel like you and the boys don’t want me in your life at all. Andrew texts me every now and then, but our relationship is far from what it used to be, and Aaron doesn’t talk to me at all if he can avoid it. And then there’s us…”

Cathy shook her head aggressively. “You have no right to complain about where our relationship is. You’re the one who filed for divorce… not me.”

“But don’t you think you would’ve done the same if I hadn’t? Eventually, I mean? We were headed in that direction no matter what.”

“You’re just saying that to absolve yourself of guilt,” Cathy said. “Neither of us has any idea what would’ve happened if you hadn’t filed for divorce, but what I do know is that this was your decision and you have to stand by it. I’m sorry that the boys have been hard on you, but if you’re about to say that you came all this way to beg me to fix your relationship with your own kids, you have another thing coming.”

“No, that’s not why I’m here,” he said. “I know that reconnecting with the twins is my responsibility. Wholly. But?—”

He was interrupted, however, by the front door to the inn opening and Anne waltzing into the lobby with her arms full of grocery bags. She was humming to herself, not likely to have noticed that anyone else was in the room with her until her head snapped up and she spotted Hunter. Her glare was full of daggers.“What are you doing here?”

“He was just about to answer that question,” Cathy said.

“Er—” Hunter shuffled on his feet, rushing to help Anne with the bags. “Here, let me get those for you.”

Anne gave him a suspicious look in response but pointed with her head to the kitchen door. “They go in there.”

Hunter took all the bags from her and scuttled across the room and through the kitchen door. Once alone, Anne rushed to Cathy’s side. “What the heck is going on? Aren’t you supposed to be out with Thomas?” She drew back with a frown. “Is that my dress?”

“Huh? Oh yeah. I borrowed it.”

“It looks good on you.”

Cathy snorted. “Thanks. But this wasn’t exactly what I thought my night was going to look like when I put it on. Thomas is going to be coming down to meet me any second! I need you to help me get rid of?—”

“I would’ve put the groceries away,” Hunter said on his way back into the lobby. “But I don’t know where it all goes. That’s a cool kitchen though. I really like old appliances. Do they work well, or are there a lot of drawbacks to having that cool vintage hardware?”

Cathy furrowed her brow. Was Hunter really being serious? Did he think they were going to talk about the old appliances instead of him answering her questions? That was not going to fly.

“They work fine,” Cathy said shortly. “But can we get back to the topic at hand?”

“Yeah, I’d like that as well,” said Anne.

Hunter looked awkwardly at Anne, then cleared his throat and spoke under his breath to Cathy. “Could—could we maybe talk in private?”

“No way.” Anne clicked her tongue. “You’re not getting rid of me.”

But Hunter wasn’t looking at Anne. He clearly thought Cathy was the one in charge of that situation, and he wasn’t wrong. If she told Anne to leave, her friend would. Albeit begrudgingly. And if she told Hunter to walk right out the door and never look back, he probably would listen to her as well. All in all, how this conversation proceeded was entirely up to her, but that fact didn’t make her feel any more at ease. Cathy’s eyes kept darting up to the top of the staircase. She was so nervous that Thomas was going to show up at any second and then everything would truly spiral out of control.

“Okay—fine. Hunter, come with me into the kitchen, we can talk in there.” Anne opened her mouth to argue but Cathy didn’t give her the chance. “Anne, I need you to stay here and, uh, help any guests that may come looking for me.” She gave her friend a knowing look, and Anne snapped her teeth shut in realization.

“Oh. Yeah. You got it,” Anne said, nodding her head. “I will be right here in case anyone comes downstairs looking for you. But, um, be quick, okay? I—I don’t know if I can stall a needy guest for too long.”

“We won’t be long.”

Cathy walked towards the kitchen door and knew without looking that Hunter was right behind her. They went into the other room, and Cathy told Hunter to take a seat at the table while she got them both a glass of water. He looked a little worse for wear from traveling, and she hoped that giving him something to drink would help him get through the rest of this conversation in a more timely manner. When she sat down across from him, she waited for him to start talking first.

Thankfully, she didn’t have to wait long.

“Look,” he said, staring a hole into the table between them. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately, and I’ve realized that I made a horrible mistake.”

“In coming here? Yeah, I could’ve told you that. In fact, I basically did tell you that.”

He laughed. “Well, no, but maybe that was a mistake too… It kind of depends on how you respond to the rest of what I have to say.” He curled his hands around the water glass and drew in a deep breath. “Cathy—I never should’ve asked you for a divorce. I don’t know what I was thinking. I destroyed the best part of my life, and I am never going to be able to forgive myself.”

If someone had told Cathy a few days, weeks, or even months ago, that Hunter would come crawling back to her within a year or so of their divorce, she would’ve laughed in that person’s face. She never would’ve believed them, because not long after they separated, she had come to understand that their marriage was totally and completely over. Even though the divorce papers didn’t arrive on her doorstep for a long time, and even though she hadn’t said any of this out loud, she had accepted that she and Hunter were never going to be together again.

And that realization had been sad—but not life-shattering.

Now, ever since she’d started to look ahead toward her new life without Hunter, she’d been feeling hopeful and excited. She just assumed Hunter had been going through a similar transformation. Hadn’t he been living his life the way he always wanted to? Hadn’t he been dating or spending time with his friends?

It was just hitting her then that he most likely hadn’t been doing any of that. Sitting in front of her, poor Hunter looked like a shell of who he once was. He was much worse off, and he was blaming that on the divorce.

“I know I’m not in a place to be pushy,” Hunter said after a few seconds of silence. “But if you could say something, it would really help me not have a full-blown panic attack.”

Cathy sighed. “Don’t have a panic attack. I’m just thinking.”

“... Penny for your thoughts?”

She slumped her shoulders and tilted her head to the side. Hunter must’ve anticipated what she was about to say because he sat back in his chair with a huff. At least he didn’t interrupt her, because she was determined to get this all out in the open as quickly as she could. Not only could this conversation not be pushed off any longer, but she also had a cute British man possibly waiting for her in the other room.

“Hunter, you’re going through something right now,” she began. “That much is clear. I know that feeling disconnected from the boys is taking a really big toll on you, and I understand that feelings of loneliness can be extremely difficult to grapple with. Those feelings were getting to me at one point when the boys left after Christmas and I was alone in the house during the coldest months. So trust me when I say that I know what you’re going through. I really do. But…” She exhaled. “I don’t think you actually want to get back together.”

“I do!”

“No, you don’t,” she insisted. “You asked for a divorce for a reason . Multiple reasons, actually. And those reasons haven’t changed. If we were to get back together, it might make you feel less lonely for a short amount of time, but all our same problems would come up again. We would only be putting off the inevitable, and why would we want to put ourselves through the pain of a second break-up?”

“But I’ll try harder this time! I won’t let us fall apart!”

Cathy laughed softly. “It’s not that simple, Hunter, and I think deep down you know that. You know that our relationship failed because of many things going wrong, and it wasn’t all on you. Yes, you were ultimately the one who called things off, and I was confused at first. But now that I’ve had a year to reflect on everything, I have come to understand that we’re better off just being friends.”

“But we’re not even friends! We hardly talk!”

“Well, at first I needed my space,” Cathy said. “And I’m not going to sit here and lie to you. I’m not ready to be all buddy-buddy with you, but I would be willing to try a little harder to build a friendship over time.”

Hunter looked away and didn’t say anything for a moment. Eventually, he sniffled and faced his ex-wife head-on. “This was completely unfair, wasn’t it?”

“Hmm?”

“It was not okay for me to show up like this and tell you I want you back,” he explained in a voice full of shame. “And then to demand you be my friend, or whatever. I—I’m such a mess, Cathy. If you wanted to slap me across the face right now, I wouldn’t even flinch. I know I deserve it.”

“It may have crossed my mind,” said Cathy with a bit of a smile. “But don’t worry, you’re safe… for now.”

“I don’t know what’s going on with me,” he said. “Lately, I’ve just been feeling so lost, and I’ve been missing having you and the boys around. My life is just so… empty.”

Cathy let those words linger in the air between them for a moment. She knew there was nothing she could say to convince him that everything was going to be alright, so she ended up getting out of her chair and motioning for him to stand. “C’mere,” she said, arms open. “You’ll get through this.”

Hunter stood and let himself be enveloped in Cathy’s hug. It had been over a year since they’d embraced, and she couldn’t help but be comforted by the familiar feeling of being this close to Hunter. He smelled exactly the same as she remembered, and when she sighed out a full, weighted breath, she sank even deeper into his chest. As nice as the hug was, she didn’t feel any of the old romantic tension that used to exist between the two of them.

She was about to pull away when the swinging door to the kitchen opened.

“Oh, Thomas, wait!”

Anne’s voice echoed in the lobby, but she wasn’t the one coming into the kitchen. Instead, the face Cathy saw when she whipped her head around and stared at the door belonged to her British crush himself.

He stopped short when he spotted Cathy standing in the middle of the room, in another man’s arms.

“Thomas,” Cathy gasped. “It’s not?—”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Thomas said, awkwardly clearing his throat. “I was just, uh—I’ll just go.” Then he turned on his heel and disappeared even faster than he’d appeared.