Chapter 2 #2
Hunter glanced around the campsite, then lifted his gaze.
The constellations within view shone brightly in the clear night sky.
His mom had educated him and his brother and sister well, regarding the constellations.
They fascinated her. Hence their unusual names, of which none of them went by.
Instead, they went by nicknames chosen with purpose.
The sound of the tent zipper pulled his attention from the star-lit sky.
Hannah caught his gaze.
“Everything okay? You need something?” he asked.
“No, just couldn’t sleep. I assumed when Alyssa and Bianca came into the tent, you’d turned in as well.”
He shrugged. “I wasn’t tired yet, and I like to soak in the peaceful night atmosphere for a while before bed. It relaxes me.”
She made a move to climb back into the tent.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Leaving you in peace.”
“That’s not what I meant. Join me. Relax and enjoy,” he said as he motioned to the bench across the fire pit from him.
From the edgy way she acted earlier, he figured she needed to find some sort of peace and relaxation. Maybe the serene atmosphere would help do the trick.
She closed the tent and took a seat on the bench opposite the fire pit from him and then lifted her face to the sky.
“It’s so beautiful. I miss this,” she said.
“Miss the stars?” he asked.
“Yeah. Going to school in the Twin Cities, with all the lights, you don’t see the brightness of the stars.”
That he understood.
“You said, miss. Were you not born and raised in the city?”
She focused on him. “No. Northern Minnesota.”
Ah, that explained the camping and hiking experience and readiness. She wasn’t a city girl. He’d suspected that.
“I’m actually from Door County, Wisconsin. We see the stars pretty well there, but not like this,” he informed her, though she hadn’t asked.
He raised his gaze to the stars. It easily landed on the Big Dipper.
“There’s the Big Dipper,” he said as he pointed to it.
“Yep, a group of stars within the constellation Ursa Major,” Hannah replied.
The fact she knew her stars made him smile.
“Also known as The Great Bear,” he added.
She nodded, and the corners of her mouth tipped upward.
So, she does smile.
She focused on him and sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and clamped onto it with her teeth for a couple of beats before releasing it.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier.”
“No worries.”
“It’s just...I have...never mind. You didn’t deserve it, and I’m sorry.”
She leaned forward slightly and wrapped herself in her arms. The story behind the sadness emitting from her gaze was likely the culprit for the need of a self-hug. It certainly wasn’t the weather. It was warm, especially with their proximity to the fire.
Hannah tightened her arms around herself as she stared into the flames.
The heat soothed her skin. The warm chestnut eyes glancing at her now and then over the fire showed concern, not anger, from when she’d snapped at him.
It wasn’t like she’d really let him have it, but she snapped at an innocent bystander.
She despised the angry person she’d become.
God, she was on edge. She couldn’t wait for this trial to be over.
For Sebastián to be convicted and rot in jail where he belonged.
But what if he didn’t get convicted and went free?
Would he stalk her again? Put his grubby hands on her again?
Anxiety swirled in the pit of her stomach and her body quivered.
“You okay?” Hunter asked.
No, she wasn’t. Far from it. But he didn’t need to know that.
“Yeah.”
He nodded, but the concern in his eyes deepened.
Hunter returned his gaze to the fire. She did the same, but rather than finding solace in the flames, they reminded her of the unshakable white-hot anger she held for Sebastián Garcia.
During the five-hour drive from the Twin Cities to this remote area of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the tension in her body had dissipated more and more with each mile of distance put between her and that horrible place.
Once she’d finished school and her work schedule, she’d vowed to never return to the Twin Cities again.
..except for when she had to testify. Then she’d never return to that godforsaken place.
She glanced around. Wilderness. Even considering there were bears and wolves, she felt safer here than in the city. Maybe Hunter had it right. Maybe this was the perfect place to live.
Recalling her encounter with the creep at the gas station sixty miles down the road, during the last stop she and her friends had before arriving here, she realized no place was exempt from assholes. Not even this tranquil place.
The intense, angry look the man had given her reminded her of the way Sebastián looked at her, putting her right back to the moment Sebastián laid his horrible hands on her.
Dread saturated every cell of her being and her body shook.
The gas station guy’s creepy eye color even matched Sebastián’s.
Dark, almost black, with a hint of red, russet with no variation.
No flecks of gold or green, just that dark brown with a red undertone. Devil like.
Now that she knew Sebastián and his true ways, she took the old saying that eyes are the window to the soul more seriously.
Sebastián was pure evil, and with the swift look she’d had into the eyes of the guy at the gas station, he was too.
For him to be that angry with her just because she drained the last of the coffee was ridiculous.
Even the attendant noticed and rushed over to start another pot.
So, the guy would have to wait a few minutes.
Big deal. The man’s loud and continued tongue lashing caused her to freeze in place.
She’d thought about giving him the cup of coffee in her hand, but then changed her mind.
Screw him and all those alike. She’d had enough of men and their stupid behavior.
Maybe he was just having a bad day, but that still didn’t give him the right to yell and cuss at her.
Hell, she’d had a pretty tough year, and she didn’t go around cussing at people.
If the guy hadn’t been so big, the encounter wouldn’t have been so scary, but he was big and seemed unhinged, so her fear was justified.
She glanced across the fire to Hunter and felt regret.
She did snap at him and for no good reason other than the asshole at the gas station, putting her in a foul mood.
An all-familiar mood that she’d thought she’d been making progress on changing.
She didn’t like her new self, the self that Sebastián had defined for her.
She needed to redefine herself, and as soon as he was convicted and sentenced, she would.
“It’s nice here,” she said, drawing a full smile from Hunter.
Nice, straight, white teeth gleamed in the firelight’s glow.
“I love it here. I hate the thought of leaving.”
“You’re leaving?”
His grin faded. “Yeah. Not for good, though. I plan to come back whenever I can. I just got my master’s degree in business, so I thought I’d better put that to use. I have a couple of job interviews scheduled for next week. We’ll see what happens.”
“Me too.”
Hunter arched a brow.
“I mean, I have a couple interviews lined up as well. I just finished school. My degree is in marketing.”
“Where do you hope to land?”
“I had thought that maybe I’d stay in the Twin Cities, as I enjoyed my first few years at school there, but now...let’s just say I might not be suited for the city.”
His brow arched again. Must be his thing.
“It’s a long story,” she added.
He nodded, but didn’t ask for the story. Smart guy. He’d figured out she didn’t want to talk about the long story.
It was getting late, and Hannah suspected Hunter wouldn’t climb into his tent until all his campers were tucked in for the night. Though her mind raced and she doubted she’d be able to fall asleep right away, she pushed herself up to let him off the hook.
“I guess I’ll turn in now.”
“Me, too,” he replied as he stood and broke up what remained of the dying fire.
Hannah made a move for her tent, paused, and looked over her shoulder. “Good night, and thank you for a good day. It was a pleasant hike to the waterfall. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
The handsome guide smiled softly. “Me too.”
She tried to pull away from his intense gaze, but couldn’t. Those warm eyes of his emitted pure kindness. Still, a hint of apprehension snaked through her. She’d once trusted Sebastián, and look how that turned out.