Reforming Hunt

by Jules Barnard

  “I know, honey. How did you get on the boat?”

  Noah leaned back and looked at her. “I work on it with Hunt.”

  Abby glanced at the man in question, her face hot with fury.

  Hunt didn’t even try to mask his horror.

  “I polished the side like Hunt taught me, and put the rags away at the helm.” Her son sounded so proud of his “work.” Then tears filled his eyes. “But it started moving when I tried to get off and I couldn’t get back.” He hid his face against her chest. “It was so scary.”

  “Shh,” she said gently. “You’re safe now.”

  Abby looked at Hunt, but he was storming off toward one of his brothers, waving his hands furiously.

  Kaylee walked up. “Abby, I’m so sorry. We don’t know exactly what happened, but after Hunt reached the boat, he said the throttle had been tied down. Someone had tampered with it. I’ll get to the bottom of this, okay? Nothing is more important to me and the rest of the staff than keeping the kids safe.”

  “Is it, though?” Her son had been bullied at Club Tahoe, and now, after Hunt had hired more people to watch over the growing children’s program, he’d nearly died in a boating accident.

  “Again, I’m so sorry,” Kaylee said, rubbing Noah’s back. “Are you okay, Noah? You’re not hurt?”

  Without lifting his head, Noah shook it.

  “I’m taking him home,” Abby said.

  “Of course. Please let me know if you or Noah need anything. I’ll drive over myself.”

  “Thank you,” Abby said, and glanced up to where Hunt stood with his arms crossed, head bent down. Levi was talking to him, and he didn’t look happy. “Tell Hunt…”

  God, what could she say to him? He’d just moved her and Noah out of her only home, so she couldn’t take her son there. “Tell him I’ll get a hold of him later.”

  Abby couldn’t worry about Hunt right now. She also couldn’t go to the house he’d intended for them to live in. It was a strange place for Noah, and Hunt wasn’t even there. Likely wouldn’t be there for hours after what happened today. Hunt was responsible for the beach and boating at the club; his brothers would never let him leave before this thing was resolved.

  No, Abby needed to take her son someplace safe and familiar.

  She grabbed her phone as she carried an exhausted Noah out of the club, and sent in a request for an Uber. Then she put in a call to her friend.

  “Maria?” Abby said. “Something’s happened. Can Noah and I crash with you tonight?”

  Chapter 28

  “I can’t believe you let this happen.” Levi was going off on Hunt, and Hunt couldn’t disagree this time.

  He was in shock. Horrified.

  If anything had happened to Noah… Hunt wouldn’t allow his mind to drift there.

  The moment he’d caught sight of Noah on board the breakaway boat headed for the rocks, he’d raced alongside and flung himself off the Jet Ski. Hunt nearly fell into the water before he’d managed to climb over the side of the old woody and reach the steering wheel. He’d cut away from the rocks and pulled up on the throttle that had been tied down by a thin string, seconds before collision.

  Heart pounding, Hunt picked up Noah, huddled in the corner of the boat, and held him tight until Hunt’s heart stopped racing.

  The Coast Guard tied up next to them, and Noah had been quiet the entire way back.

  This was Hunt’s fault. He’d encouraged Noah to learn about boating, believing he was doing something good for a lonely kid. But Hunt was the lonely one, and he’d only put Noah in danger.

  When Abby walked away, Hunt didn’t do anything to stop her. She’d been right to leave him. To protect her son. Because Hunt had barely saved Noah in time. Somehow, someway, he was responsible for this, and Noah and Abby deserved better.

  Why had he ever believed he could rescue them?

  He’d dreamed of being a protector, and when Abby came into his world, he’d thought he could help her and Noah. But Hunt wasn’t the pirate savior he’d dreamed of being as a child. Not a husband able to care for his family, either. He was a fuck-up. Just like Levi always said.

  “Back off, Levi,” Wes growled. “There are others who watch the kids, my wife included. You heard what Hunt said about the throttle being tied down. And someone had to have unmoored the boat. This was no accident. Somebody did this.”

  “You don’t know that,” Levi said. “What if Hunt had left the keys in the ignition, and the kid climbed on board?”

  Hunt glared at Levi. “I’ve never in my life left the keys in the ignition. We all got the same boat safety training, and I’m by far the most experienced in this group, given it’s what I do.”

  But Levi heard none of that. “The club could be sued,” he said. “If not by Hunt’s wife, who has every right to take us to court, then by the parents of other children who could have been harmed too.” He paced in front of the dock. “We should shut down the children’s program.”

  “No,” Emily and Kaylee said in unison.

  Emily touched Levi’s arm. “This program has been wonderful for the children. Listen to your brothers. Something wasn’t right today. We need to look into it.”

  While Emily talked Levi down, Bran walked over. “Hey, you okay?”

  “Levi’s right,” Hunt said. “I might not have left the keys in the ignition, but this was my fault. I’m in charge.” Hunt wouldn’t admit it to Levi, but he could admit it to Bran.

  Bran chuckled darkly. “Levi’s wrong fifty percent of the time. He just thinks he’s right a hundred percent.”

  Hunt shook his head. “I fucked things up. Somehow, I don’t know where exactly, I messed up.”

  Hadn’t he always screwed things up? It was what he’d been told over and over by Levi. It was what he’d believed even before that, when their mother died to keep him alive. Deep down Hunt knew he was the problem.

  “Hunt,” Bran said more loudly when Hunt didn’t respond the first time. “Levi has always been hardest on you, even before you hooked up with his high school sweetheart.”

  Hunt sent him a look. “Thanks for bringing up old baggage.”

  “The point is,” Bran said, “he’s the oldest and you were a toddler when Mom died. Dad was gone, and Levi took it upon himself to look out for all of us, especially you. He treated you like he was your father.”

  Hunt flinched. “Fucking-A, that’s a horrible thought.”

  Bran grinned. “Isn’t it? But it’s the truth.”

  “Well, he needs to cut the cord. I’m nearly thirty, and he’s managed to make me homicidal with his fatherly love.”

  “Which is why I’m saying this,” Bran said. “You’re not irresponsible—”

  “No, he’s right about that part.”

  “Hunt.” Bran squeezed Hunt’s shoulder. “Stop beating yourself up. You and Emily built a children’s program and made it into one of the biggest kids’ projects in town. You’ve quadrupled the lake activities for our resort, and you’re married now, with a wife and boy who love you.”

  Bran was wrong. Abby hated him right now.

  But Bran kept going. “You’ve also just single-handedly taken our shitty, stuck-in-the-eighties, ostentatious McMansion and made it fucking cozy.”

  “That was Abby. She picked the finishes.”

  “Most of the finishes aren’t even in,” Bran pointed out. “The house looks great because of you, you idiot. You’re not the bad guy. And I think you know that, or you wouldn’t have married Abby.”

  Wouldn’t he have? He’d wanted Abby, and he’d been willing to do anything to have her. Fix her car, pay for her son to attend Club Kids, marry her… Only Hunt’s head was so clouded right now that he couldn’t figure out if that was love or selfishness.

  He’d begun to think for the first time in his life that he’d finally found a woman he could be with long term. Only now he wondered if it was his selfish need to not be alone. Maybe what he felt wasn’t love.

  But it sure as hell
hurt when he’d looked back and seen her walk away.

  “Think, Hunt,” Bran said, pulling him out of his cloud of self-doubt. “Did anything strange happen over the last few days?”

  “Strange?”

  “You said the boat was tampered with. Was there anyone out of the ordinary on the dock? Anyone who stood out?”

  Hunt shot him a look. “We run a resort. Almost everyone is a stranger.”

  “Don’t be an ass. You know what I’m talking about. Anyone who looked suspicious?”

  Hunt was about to dismiss his brother’s paranoia when a thought crossed his mind. “The new Club Kids attendants we hired…I don’t know them that well.”

  “And?”

  Hunt thought back to this morning and dropping Noah off at the program. “The new guy rubbed me wrong. Didn’t say anything specific, but he’s not…”

  “Not what?”

  “Peppy?” Hunt searched for words, but that was the only one that fit.

  “Peppy,” Bran said. “What are you talking about?”

  His brothers were driving him batshit crazy today, and he had enough on his plate. “Peppy, you ass…bubbly…happy to be around kids.”

  Recognition dawned on Bran’s face. “Okay, so let’s start there. We interview the new hires. And the Club Kids employees. Maybe they know something.”

  By the time Hunt returned to the house after being grilled by his brothers and talking to the police, no one was there. He went to Abby’s old place, the one they’d cleared out that morning, but the landlord had already changed the locks, and Abby’s car wasn’t in the driveway.

  Hunt had failed to protect her son; of course she wasn’t waiting at home for him. That didn’t stop him from calling her.

  Only Abby didn’t answer. And she didn’t answer the next day, either.

  Hunt loomed the halls of the remodeled Cade estate like a ghost, walking around the workers in a daze. He had no idea where Abby had gone, and Noah wasn’t at the kids’ program. Hunt knew because he’d gone the last two days, looking for Noah and making sure the program was running okay.

  Lewis set his clipboard on the new kitchen counter and glared at him. “I’m gonna have to ask you to leave.”

  “It’s my house,” Hunt said incredulously.

  Lewis shook his head. “Don’t care. You’re driving the workers and me crazy with your moping. You’d think a guy who had an essentially brand-new house in under three weeks would be more excited.”

  Hunt hadn’t filled Lewis in on the club drama or the losing-his-wife drama, and he wasn’t about to now. “So you’re kicking me out, just like that.”

  “Pretty much,” Lewis said. “Go make yourself useful somewhere. You know, at your place of work or with your new wife. Where is she, by the way?”

  “Busy,” Hunt grumbled.

  He looked around the kitchen, which was nearly complete and insanely beautiful. He wanted Abby to see it, but of course that wasn’t possible. Why would she return to the husband who’d nearly gotten her son killed?

  If it weren’t for Hunt, Noah wouldn’t have even been there the day the boat accident happened. Hunt had been the one to drop Noah off, out of his desire to rush his family into the new house. But who cared about a house if there was no family to make it a home?

  Somehow, he had to make things right.

  “Did you find anything?” Hunt asked Kaylee once he made it back to the club.

  Kaylee closed her eyes. “You’re never going to believe this, but we think it’s one of the new employees we hired for the kids’ program. He hasn’t shown, and he doesn’t appear to live where he said he did. I also can’t get a hold of the references he gave me.”

  Hunt’s face turned hot and he felt like his head might explode. “You didn’t check the references?”

  Kaylee’s mouth twisted in annoyance. “Of course I checked. But his references aren’t answering the phone now, and one of the numbers isn’t connected anymore. Everyone who works with the children has been fingerprinted, and nothing’s come up. Whoever this guy is, he’s never been arrested.”

  “But you don’t know it was him that released the boat and tied down the throttle. You’re assuming.”

  “Well, yes,” she said. “Except that Brin saw him on the boat that afternoon before it was unmoored.”

  Hunt ran stiff fingers through his hair. “So this is all circumstantial.”

  “Yes, Mr. Lawyer, but it’s pretty damning. It would help if you could talk to Noah and see if he remembers anything.”

  “I can’t,” Hunt said, clenching his palm into a fist.

  Kaylee’s brow furrowed. “Is he okay?”

  “I don’t know. Abby won’t return my calls.”

  “I thought you lived together.”

  “We did, but she hasn’t come home.” Hunt would not cry. He was a man. Real men didn’t cry.

  Fine, he’d cried a time or two, but not since he was a kid. Fuck, why did he feel like crying now?

  Kaylee studied his face and her eyes widened. She stepped closer and gave him a side hug. “I’m sorry. Do you want me to try to get a hold of her?”

  “No. Wait—yes. Find out if she and Noah are okay. I don’t even know if they have enough money. Or who’s watching Noah when she’s at work.”

  Kaylee smiled. “I got this. You go back and finish that house you’re remodeling.”

  So this was what it had come down to. Hunt couldn’t hold on to his wife; he needed his brother’s wife to take things in hand.

  He wanted to bash his skull into a wall. His only consolation was that Lewis was going to love it when he showed back up at the estate.

  Chapter 29

  “Mom, you’re squeezing me too tight,” Noah said.

  “Sorry.” Abby loosened her hold.

  She’d been clinging to Noah these last few days, reliving every moment she thought she’d lost him for good. Nothing in her life had been more terrifying.

  Abby stood and clenched her hands. “Are you hungry, sweetie? Do you want anything to eat?”

  Noah shook his head, distracted by the television. Abby had loosened the reins on his TV time while they stayed with Maria.

  Maria and her roommate were at work, but they’d opened their door to Noah and Abby, and Abby couldn’t imagine how she’d ever repay them. She’d been able to save money while she and Hunt lived together, and it was time to find a new place, because she couldn’t continue living with Hunt. And she couldn’t stay forever at Maria’s.

  Abby rubbed her eyes, holding back tears. Marrying Hunt had been a mistake. She’d been distracted by her feelings for him and hadn’t thought things through.

  Hunt was a good man, but he’d put her child in danger with the boat training he’d given Noah. She wasn’t sure what all happened at the club the other day, but she knew that if it weren’t for Hunt and Noah’s closeness, her son’s life would not have been at risk.

  Vivian would learn about the accident and use it against Abby. Then she’d accuse Abby of marrying a man who was reckless; Abby could see the arguments unfolding now. To remain married to Hunt was asking for trouble.

  Abby knew it would come down to this, a choice between happiness or her son. She just hadn’t expected it to come as a result of her marriage to Hunt. Or under such frightening circumstances.

  A knot twisted in her stomach and she paced Maria’s small kitchen.

  Abby hadn’t returned Hunt’s phone calls. She didn’t know what to tell him. She should end things officially. After all, they would have ended their marriage eventually, and now it was prudent. But something held her back. To make matters worse, Noah asked for Hunt constantly.

  Abby was stalling, but every time she thought of leaving Hunt, her chest ached and tears threatened her eyes.

  She missed sleeping next to him.

  She missed talking to him about her day, and watching him with Noah.

  Not being with Hunt felt worse than the obstacles she’d faced supporting her son on her own.
As though nothing was worth it if she and Noah didn’t have Hunt. But that couldn’t be right, because her life was in more turmoil than before she’d married him.

  A knock sounded at the door and Noah looked up. “Mom?”

  “I’ve got it,” she said. “Stay there.”

  Abby unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door a crack. And saw Noah’s grandparents on the other side. Vivian was assessing the apartment building with her nose turned down.

  “Grandma!” Noah shouted, and ran to the door.

  Abby opened the door wider, and Noah ran into his grandmother’s arms.

  “Abigail,” Vivian said. “And Noah.” Vivian hugged Noah and smiled broadly. “How’s my favorite grandchild?”

  Noah laughed. “I’m your only grandchild!”

  “Oh, that’s right,” Vivian said.

  If Vivian hadn’t put Abby through so much after Trevor’s death, she wondered if they could have had a good relationship. All things said, Noah’s grandparents loved Noah and were far more attentive than her parents, who hadn’t even met their grandchild.

  “I brought you a gift,” Vivian said to Noah, and handed him a box with a picture of trucks on it.

  “Yay!” Noah shouted, and began tearing it open.

  “Not here, darling,” Vivian said. “Open it in the bedroom while your grandfather and I talk to your mother. Don’t forget to close the door.”

  Shit. This didn’t sound good.

  Abby nodded at her son, who’d looked up for approval. Noah ran off and slammed the door behind him. She’d have to remind him about closing doors quietly. Later.

  She walked toward the couch and sat, gesturing for Noah’s grandparents to do the same. “Is everything okay?”

  Vivian looked at her husband. “We heard about the accident at the resort where your husband works. Why didn’t you tell us?”

  Abby swallowed. “The workers called for help immediately, and everything turned out fine.” Not fine. Abby would have nightmares of that afternoon for the rest of her life, but Noah was safe. That was all that mattered.