Chapter 5
He prayed that was true, because in that moment, he felt like he’d been hit by a bus.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he said.
Zoey jerked and dropped her book, obviously startled. “Dad. You’re awake.” She rose from the chair and moved to sit next to him on the bed. “How are you feeling?”
“I’ve been better, but I’ll live.” He squeezed her hand.
His daughter let out a long breath, almost as if she’d been holding it ever since they’d left the healer’s office. “You’d better, because…” She brushed away the tears that leaked from her eyes.
“It’s all right now,” he said softly as he sat up, leaning against the headboard. “I’m not going anywhere.” He held his arms out to her, and his daughter clung to him while she let out all the emotion she’d been holding back since the magical attack.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” she said, her voice catching on her sobs.
“You don’t need to worry about that. It was just a freak accident.” But was it? Clearly there’d been some sort of curse placed on those vines. But by who?
It wasn’t some sort of ill-conceived security measure to keep people out of the pool area of the spa.
Faith would never do something that would put people in that kind of danger.
His head started to pound, and he reached for the pain potion and took a couple of swallows.
The headache started to fade almost instantly.
“Just promise me you won’t let anything like that happen again,” Zoey said, staring at him with wide eyes and a freaked-out expression.
He took her hand in his, suddenly feeling like there was more to this than him being attacked by the vines. “I’ll do my best. I promise.”
A single tear fell down her cheek, and she didn’t even bother to wipe it away. Instead, she just leaned into him and cried softly.
Hunter held her, whispering that he was okay and there wasn’t anything to worry about. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Craig did,” she muttered into his chest.
A long-unhealed crack in his heart started to ache.
Craig Chambers had been Hunter’s best friend.
He’d also been married to Zoey’s mother, Vivian, and for the first seven years of Zoey’s life, she’d thought that Craig was her father.
So had Hunter. But when Craig passed away after a major car accident, Vivian and Zoey had moved to Keating Hollow, and that’s when he’d found out that Zoey was actually his daughter.
Hunter had dated Vivian for a few months prior to her getting together with Craig.
Things had fizzled out naturally, and when his friend had started dating her, Hunter hadn’t had any reservations about it.
In fact, he’d been happy for them when they’d gotten married and Zoey had arrived.
He supposed he should have wondered if there was a chance he was Zoey’s actual father, but he’d been told that was impossible based on Vivian’s due date and suspected conception, so he’d never questioned it. Why would he? Vivian hadn’t either, so learning the truth was a shock to all of them.
Zoey had taken the news in stride. Hunter had always assumed she’d just been a resilient child, but now he understood his naivete. She’d known Craig as her father and had lost him. That kind of thing left scars, plenty of them.
“Craig didn’t want to leave you, baby. You know that, right?” Hunter asked her.
She nodded. Then she sniffed. “Do you think he’d be upset that I call you dad?”
That was a gut punch. Hunter was her father.
They had the paternity test to prove it.
But still, Craig had thought Zoey was his, so he understood why she was asking.
“No, I don’t. I think he’s probably looking down on us and is happy we found our way back to each other.
If he was still here, I’d be perfectly fine with you calling him dad, too. ”
She blinked. “You would?”
“Sure. He was your father in every sense of the word from the day you were born until the day he died. Just because I entered the picture, that doesn’t change.
I would never have tried to take that away from you.
Or him. He was my best friend. Instead of having a father and an uncle, you would’ve just had two dads. ”
She stared at her hand that was clasped with his and said, “I wish I still did.”
“Me, too, Zoey. Me, too.” He kissed her temple and added, “If you want to know my opinion, I think that Craig is looking down on both of us. Sort of like a guardian angel. Keeping us both safe even when accidents happen or things go wrong.”
“I like that idea.” She gave him a tiny smile. “I like that a lot.”
“Good. Now—”
The doorbell rang.
Hunter glanced at the clock again. It was a quarter after nine. “Who could that be?”
She shrugged.
The bell rang again.
“Where’s Faith?” Hunter asked as he nudged his daughter so that he could climb off the bed.
“She went back to the spa. She said she was meeting Uncle Drew. He’s doing an investigation or something.”
“Right.” Faith had told him she was going back to the spa right before he’d passed out and that she’d pick up the triplets from her dad’s house on the way back.
Ding dong!
“I guess we better see who that is,” Hunter said and then hurried down the hall, praying there wasn’t another emergency.
The doorbell rang again just as Hunter was pulling the door open.
“Oh! There you are.” Summer Thomas stood on his front porch, a plastic cake holder in her hands. “Autumn and I heard there was trouble at the spa and wanted to come check on you.”
Hunter ground his teeth together. “Uh, that’s very kind of you, Summer, but I’m fine. You really didn’t need to worry.”
“You know how I am.” The woman brushed past him, right into the house, completely uninvited. Autumn, her daughter, stood on the porch, hesitating.
“Hi, Autumn,” he said, waving her in while trying his best to keep his irritation out of his voice.
The redhead hurried into the house and stopped right in front of Zoey. “Hi.”
“Um, hi,” Zoey said, her voice hesitant. His daughter was just as confused as he was.
“Sorry it’s so late,” the other teenager said as she glanced at Hunter. “My mom really wanted to bring that cheesecake, but she had to get all made up first. She didn’t want to leave the house without a full face of makeup.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Hunter said and left the girls in the living room. He found Summer in the kitchen, making herself at home. He tried the diplomatic route first. “It was kind of you to stop by, but you really didn’t need to do that. We’re fine here, and in fact—”
“You look a little puckish,” Summer said as she filled the tea kettle that always sat on the stove. “I’m sure after you have a bite to eat and some tea that color will come right back into your cheeks.”
“I don’t drink tea,” Hunter said.
“Not normally, silly. But herbal tea has some wonderful healing properties. You’ll see.” She turned the burner on and set the teapot down on the stove.
“I already had a couple of healing potions,” Hunter tried again. “In fact, Healer Whipple said the best thing I could do was just rest, so if you don’t mind, I think maybe we should call it a night so I can do just that.”
Summer ignored him as she rummaged through the cupboards until she found a small serving plate. “Trust me, Hunter. One bite of this cheesecake and you’ll feel like a new man.”
He very seriously doubted it. After the day he’d had, and the potion he’d taken, his appetite was nonexistent.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Summer asked, leaning on the counter, her blouse gaping open far enough that he could see her cleavage.
“No. It’s over. I’d rather just forget it.” He took a step back, crossed his arms over his chest, and said, “Listen, Summer, it’s late and—”
“I know. I know. I’m overstepping. I can’t help it. I was just concerned. And since Faith doesn’t seem to be here, I really think you need someone to look after you.”
“I don’t,” he said, his voice clipped. While he’d been annoyed before, now he was just angry. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Faith will—”
“Oh, Hunter, don’t get upset. I’m just being a good neighbor.”
“Well, that’s debatable at the moment,” he said, raising one eyebrow. “I’m sorry, but Zoey and I just aren’t up for company right now.”
“Oh.” Her expression turned cold just before she turned around to shut off the stove. “Well, I hope you feel better, Hunter.”
Without another word, she stalked into the living room. The front door opened and a few seconds later, it slammed shut.
Hunter walked into the adjoining room to find his daughter and Autumn staring out the front window. “What are you looking at?”
Zoey spun around. “Ms. Thomas doesn’t look very happy.”
“She’s just…” Autumn shook her head as her voice trailed off. “She calls it blowing off steam.”
Hunter crossed the room and stood behind Zoey. Summer was pacing as she muttered to herself. He was half tempted to call emergency services, but suddenly she stopped, shook her head, and then climbed into her car. A moment later, Autumn’s phone dinged.
“She’s ready to go,” Autumn said and then looked up at Zoey. “Let me know if you need to talk.” She paused and then added, “I know what it’s like.”
Zoey gave her a hug and whispered, “Thank you.”
The two hugged for along moment, and then Autumn quickly let go and hurried out the door.
Hunter watched as the teenager got into the car, and then he waited until they backed down the drive. Once the lights disappeared, he let out a sigh of relief.
“Dad?” Zoey asked.
“Yeah, honey?”
“Summer Thomas has a thing for you.”
Hunter groaned. “It’s not like she’s trying to hide it, right?”
“Not. At. All.” She sat on the couch and crossed her legs. “Faith hates her.”
He chuckled. “Hate is a strong word, but I think it’s fair to say she’s not Faith’s favorite person. She’s not mine either, to be honest. But she’s mostly harmless.”
Zoey snorted. “If you say so.”
He shrugged. “So, what were you and Autumn talking about? What did she mean when she said she knew what it was like?”
His daughter glanced away, staring out the window. “Her dad passed away when she was really little.”
“Oh. I see.” Hunter’s heart started to ache. “The events today really have you thinking a lot about Craig, don’t they?”
“Yes, but that’s not it.” She gave him a heart-wrenching look before she said, “You scared me today, and… I just don’t want anything to happen to you. Autumn’s maybe the one person I know who can understand.”
“She sounds like a good friend to have.” Hunter walked over and sat next to her.
He draped his arm around her and pulled her in.
They sat together for a long time, her head on his shoulder.
Finally he said, “No one knows what our tomorrows look like. But you should know that the best day of my life was when I found out that I’m your father. ”
She turned to look up at him. “Not when you married Faith or when the triplets were born?”
He snorted. “Those are up there, too, but I saw both those things coming. But you? You were a complete surprise. One I’m grateful for every day. I love you, kiddo.”
“I love you, too, Dad.”