by Debbie Mason
Now what was he supposed to do after hearing that? He scrubbed a hand over his face and leaned over to open the door for Wolf. “Sucks for you, buddy. But that’ll teach you to be quicker next time. Don’t whine. At least she’s in the crate.”
“You’re a good dog, Wolf. I promise, I’ll buy you a treat at the grocery store.” Abby gave Wolf some love, and Hunter’s dog glanced back, looking as if his sacrifice might’ve been worth it after all.
“I don’t recall saying anything about a grocery store run.” Hunter might as well have saved his breath. Abby was already in the house. She might be uncoordinated but the woman could move when she wanted to. The thought had him thinking about her on the stairs, faking an orgasm, which led to him thinking about her ex.
Only moments ago, he’d agreed she’d shared too much so he didn’t understand why the curiosity now. Why indeed? he thought when she ran out of the house wearing leopard print shorts and a matching top with a deep V, her lips as shiny and as red as the hair she pulled on the top of her head in a mass of messy curls.
“See, I told you I wouldn’t be long.” She gave him a blinding smile as she climbed into the seat beside him.
He sat there looking at her for a minute, trying to figure out what was different about her. She looked the same but there was an energy about her now. She seemed vital and…happy. She was happy. That’s what it was.
“This is going to be so much fun. People to see, places to visit. Maybe I can stop in and say hi to Eden. And I definitely have to stop in at Home Sweet Home. The local Realtor,” she said like he wouldn’t know.
He rolled his eyes. “I did grow up here.”
“Yes, but you live in the woods. So there’s probably a lot that goes on that you know nothing about.”
“There’s not.”
“I’m sure.” She smiled. “So, I was thinking, you’re so good with wood and construction that maybe you could help me get the farmhouse ready for sale? I have a crazy-long to-do list, but I’m hoping the Realtor will be able to help me wheedle it down some. It shouldn’t take you more than a week—”
“No,” Hunter said and turned onto the main road.
“Why not? It’s not like you have a job. I’m sorry, that sounded rude. What I meant is you don’t have a boss you have to answer to. You can take some time off if you wanted to. Eden did say Liz would want you to help me, you know.”
“Okay, let me tell you again in terms you might understand. No. N. O. No way. No how.”
“You’re a very rude man, Hunter Mackenzie. And let me tell you, when I was driving for Uber, I met some winners. There was this one—”
“Abby, if you don’t stop talking right now, I’m going to pull over and you can walk to town.”
“You wouldn’t.”
He pulled onto the shoulder.
“Okay, okay. Gosh. You should probably get something to eat. You sound hangry.” She glanced out her window, crossed her arms, winced and uncrossed them, and then said, “Fine.”
He pulled back onto the road and drove in blessed silence the entire way to town. She started moving around in the seat as they passed the WELCOME TO HIGHLAND FALLS sign.
As the town came into view, out of the corner of his eye, Hunter watched Abby open and close her mouth. He had to work to hold back a laugh. It was killing her not to ask questions, but he had no intention of putting her out of her misery. She craned her neck to look at the falls as he drove across the bridge.
Brightly colored summer flowers and plants lined either side of the walking path, leading to gardens on either end of the bridge. It was a tradition started by the owner of the local garden center, Winter Johnson, who was the mayor of Highland Falls. She also owned a shop in town called Flower Power.
On the left side of the bridge, down from the falls, was the old mill that had been converted into Highland Brew. As Hunter drove along Main Street, he caught sight of Owen getting out of his patrol car in front of the police station and prayed the old man headed straight for the door. He didn’t. Someone called to the chief from across the street. He lifted his hand to wave…and spotted Hunter. His jaw dropped in shock.
Hunter hadn’t been in town since the day he’d returned from his last tour. If he’d needed anything he couldn’t grow or hunt, Owen or Liz picked it up for him. When Liz got sick, his family stepped in, leaving him food and supplies whether he wanted them or not.
Owen noted Hunter’s passenger, and his shock turned to disapproval. He wasn’t the only one. Just up the street, Hunter spotted his aunt, and she spotted him. Abby too.
So did his sisters’ friends, and a couple of guys he’d grown up with. Unlike Owen and Hunter’s aunt, they all got Praise be to Jesus, Hunter Mackenzie has come back to the land of the living smiles on their faces. No doubt his mother and his sisters would be receiving phone calls later that night. It wouldn’t take them long to start planning the wedding.
“I’ll help you get Liz’s place ready for sale.”
Abby shifted in the passenger seat to stare at him. “Seriously? You’re not teasing me, are you? You’re really going to help me?”
“Yeah. I’m really going to—”
Before he realized what she was up to, she launched herself over the console and threw her arms around his neck.
“What the—” As he turned his head to give her hell, she kissed him.
On the mouth.
In the middle of Main Street.
In the middle of rush-hour traffic.
Chapter Seven
Oh my gosh! Abby’s lips were pressed to Hunter’s mouth and not to his cheek, where she’d fully expected and intended for them to be. She hadn’t meant for them to land on his perfectly delectable lips, no matter how warm and firm they were. He tasted delicious too, like summer and blueberries.
Her eyes popped open. They’d been closed? A more important and urgent question took precedence over that one: What the heck did she mean he tasted like summer and blueberries? She hadn’t slipped her tongue into his mouth…Oh my gosh, she must have! How else would she know he tasted like blueberries?
She lifted her gaze to his as his whole body (at least the parts she was pressed against) went rigid. He stared at her for one terrifying second while lifting his left hand from the wheel to remove her arm from around his neck before turning his gaze back to the road. Her lips brushed his beard as he did so. It was much softer than she expected it to be.
“Do you mind?”
The anger beneath his coldly clipped question penetrated her shock, and she jerked back. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to kiss you.”
He stared straight ahead. His profile looked like it had been carved from granite—a study of rugged male perfection. Albeit furious male perfection.
When he’d pinned her with his glacial stare before returning his gaze to the road, she’d gotten a glimpse of the warrior his enemies must have faced. It had been a tiny bit scary.
“I meant to kiss you, just not on the lips,” she continued to explain. “I was so grateful and relieved that you agreed to help me get the house ready for sale, I kinda lost my mind.” Please, dear God, don’t let him change his. “But if you hadn’t turned your head, I would’ve kissed your cheek and not your mouth.”
She really, really didn’t want to bring up the whole slipping-him-the-tongue thing, but she had to try to explain and apologize. Because accidently slipping him the tongue was way worse than accidently kissing him on the lips. She glanced at him to see if her apology had softened him at all.
He still looked stone-cold furious as he turned in to the hardware store parking lot.
No doubt the conversation he’d overheard on the stairs earlier hadn’t done her any favors. He probably thought she wanted to jump his bones. She didn’t blame him. Haven and Haley were perfect examples of his widespread appeal so she imagined he’d been the recipient of unwanted female attention in the past.
Even she wasn’t immune to his appeal, as evidenced by the warm tingles lo
w in her stomach whenever she was around him. And he wasn’t her type. Though her stomach muscles clearly disagreed with her, because they’d clenched a couple of times. As far as she knew, nerves didn’t cause warm tingles and clenching muscles; excitement did. And, um, arousal. Which, if she was being completely honest with herself, after the initial shock of her lips landing on his, her tummy may have clenched with a tiny bit of desire.
There was a completely innocent explanation though. She was an affectionate person who enjoyed kissing and cuddling, and other than Bella, she hadn’t had anyone to kiss and cuddle with in more than a year. Long before Puppy-Gate, Chandler had brushed aside all her overtures with a perfunctory kiss on the cheek. It should’ve been her first clue that he was getting his kisses and cuddles elsewhere. Although Juliette didn’t strike her as the kissing and cuddling type.
No more putting it off, she thought when Hunter parked the truck and shut off the engine.
“So, about the tongue thing, I don’t have any excuse for it. Other than your mouth must’ve been open to yell at me, because we both know how much you love to do that.” She smoothed down her leopard print romper, which must’ve ridden up when she threw herself at the man currently staring at her like she had two heads.
She nodded. “You’re absolutely right. There’s no excuse for what I did, but I promise it was unintentional. And not only didn’t I mean to, I didn’t enjoy it even one little bit.” Lately, the Universe had been kicking her in the butt hard so lying probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do if she wanted a reprieve. Karma and all that. “I might’ve enjoyed it a tiny bit. I’m sure you did too. Just a little?”
His scowl said it all. He didn’t enjoy the kiss even a little. Though she supposed it didn’t qualify as a real kiss so there was no reason she should feel the least bit offended.
“You’re damn right I was gonna yell at you. You threw yourself at me in the middle of rush-hour traffic, Abby. I could’ve lost control of the truck and hit someone.”
She glanced at the six cars parked at the stoplight. “I don’t think that qualifies as rush-hour traffic. But I get your point, and I really am sorry. Please forgive me for kissing you and slipping you the tongue?” And please, please, don’t renege on your promise.
“What? You didn’t slip me the tongue.”
“If I didn’t slip you the tongue, and trust me, I’m so glad that I didn’t, why did I taste blueberries?” She left out the summer part.
“I finished off one of the blueberry muffins you gave me as I was coming down the stairs. I must’ve had a crumb on my mouth.” He moved the tip of his tongue over his bottom lip and made a face. “I don’t taste blueberries. I taste cherries.”
“My lip gloss.” She smiled and dug the tube out of her purse. “Isn’t it delish?” She pulled down the sun visor. As she reapplied her lip gloss, she felt his eyes on her and slanted him a sideways glance. He was staring at her mouth. Kinda like he might want to kiss it. Oh no, she thought as her stomach tightened in response to the thought and his steady gaze.
He rubbed his palm over his lips. “No, it’s not delish,” he said, then muttered, “You have got to be kidding me.”
“No. I’m serious. It’s cherry-flavored.” She went to hand him the lip gloss tube, but he was lowering the window to an older woman.
She had strawberry blond hair cut fashionably short with white bangs framing her face. Her eyes were as vivid blue as Hunter’s, and she was staring at Abby. But not in the same way Hunter had been staring at her seconds ago.
“You’ve got Liz’s eyes, and now you’ve got her house. It should’ve gone to my nephew, you know.”
“Aunt Elsa, let it go. Liz would expect better of you, and so do I.”
So much for Abby’s idea to ask Elsa Mackenzie for a job. Eden had filled her in about her husband and Hunter’s aunt and the Three Wise Women Bookstore that she’d owned with Liz and their mutual best friend Ina Graham. It didn’t matter that the last place Abby wanted to work was in a bookstore—she needed money for supplies and food.
When Abby leaned across the console, Hunter pushed back against the driver seat as if he was afraid she was going in for another kiss. She rolled her eyes at him while extending her hand to his aunt. “Hi, Ms. Mackenzie. Eden mentioned that you and my aunt were close. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
It grew awkward the longer Abby’s hand hung out all by its lonesome in midair, but just as she was about to pull it back, the older woman clasped her hand.
“It was a great loss for all of us in Highland Falls. The town isn’t the same without Liz. She was the lifeblood of this community. The best friend I could’ve asked for.” She gave Abby’s hand a vise-like squeeze that left little doubt how she felt about her. “But you wouldn’t know any of that because you didn’t know Liz. For the life of me, I can’t understand why she left you the farm.”
“Okay, Aunt Elsa, if there isn’t anything you need from me, you should probably head back to the bookstore and lock up.”
“Oh, there’s something I need from you, all right. I need to know if you’ve lost your mind or if I need to have my eyes checked. So please tell me I didn’t just see you kissing the woman who stole the farm from you?”
“I didn’t steal the farm from him! He stole it from me.”
Why? Why hadn’t she learned to think before she opened her mouth? She didn’t need this woman as an enemy, and she desperately needed Hunter Mackenzie’s help.
“You need your eyes checked, and I need to get into the hardware store before Ed closes up for the day.” Hunter motioned his aunt back and then opened the door, easing his long, lethal frame from the truck.
Abby did the same with her short, soft frame, but with far less grace than Hunter. At least she didn’t trip and fall on her face. How was that for looking at the bright side of life on a particularly crappy day? She might actually get the hang of this positive-thinking thing. Earning some good karma might come in handy too. When someone had had as much bad luck as she’d had recently, every little bit helped.
“Ms. Mackenzie, I really am sorry you feel I stole your nephew’s inheritance.” Abby rounded the truck to Hunter’s side. “I’m not sure why Liz left the farmhouse to me either. But I am grateful. Truly, I am.”
“If you were the least bit grateful, you wouldn’t be selling the place. Liz always meant for Honeysuckle Farm to be kept in the Findlay family. When Liz’s father disowned her, his mother, Mary Findlay, took her in. She left Liz the farm, just like Mary’s mother-in-law left it to her. But I bet you didn’t know that, did you? You don’t know Liz’s history or the farm’s. And looking at you, I can’t say I’m surprised. It’s too bad your father died. He at least knew the value of family.”
“If you believe that, you didn’t know him very well,” Abby said and walked away.
After having words with his aunt, words Abby couldn’t make out, probably because—along with her face—her ears were burning, Hunter caught up with her.
“Sorry about that. You okay?” He stopped her with a hand on her arm.
Even though she was far from okay, she nodded but didn’t meet his eyes. Elsa Mackenzie’s words had hit home, and they hurt, because she was right. Abby didn’t deserve any of this. She knew nothing about her great-aunt and the farm and what they’d meant to the people in this town.
Maybe it wasn’t entirely her fault. She’d been a kid when her father left them. She had good reasons for losing contact with his side of the family. But it didn’t make her feel less ashamed. Or unworthy. “Your aunt’s not very nice.”
“She’s having a hard time dealing with losing Liz, but you’re right. She wasn’t very nice.” He held open the door to the hardware store.
“From what I’ve heard, you loved Liz too, and I stole the farmhouse from you, but you’re nice to me…Well, sometimes you’re nice to me. Like when you handle pest control and offer to help me with repairs.” She gave him a tentative smile as she walked into the store. “You are stil
l going to help me, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, just don’t let my aunt or anyone else around here know.”
She stopped to stare up at him. “You mean Elsa isn’t the only one who feels that way about me selling the farm?”
“Seems to be the general opinion around here.”
“Then why are you helping me?” She narrowed her eyes at him as the answer smacked her in the forehead. “You want to get rid of me, don’t you?”
He lifted a broad shoulder. “Nothing personal. I like my space and my quiet, and there’s not been a lot of that with you and the rat around.”
“Stop calling Bella a rat. And it’s not my fault that—” she began, hooking her purse over her shoulder with a bit of attitude because he actually did want to get rid of her. It was too late by the time she realized she’d put a little too much attitude into the move to stop her purse from hitting a display of paint cans. Several of which would’ve fallen onto the cement floor if not for Hunter’s quick reflexes.
“And then there’s that,” he said as he returned the paint cans to their rightful places. “You can’t survive here on your own. You’re a city girl through and through.”
She opened her mouth to defend herself because it wasn’t fun to be considered completely useless and inept, which he didn’t say but his for the love of God expression totally implied. She cheered herself up with the knowledge that, as much as he didn’t want her here, she didn’t want to be there. And now that she knew how the entire town of Highland Falls felt about her, the sooner she got the farmhouse sold the better.
“I am a city girl, and I’m darn proud of it.” Instead of adding the so there that was on the tip of her tongue, she tossed her hair, added some more attitude—this time to her hips—and walked ahead of him.
