by Janae Keyes
“Do you have kids?” Hunter asked quietly. I shook my head as more tears fought their way free.
“Sorry,” I whispered quickly as I stood from my spot. I padded across the floor rapidly to leave the room.
Feeling along the walls, I found the door to the downstairs bathroom and imprisoned myself inside the room. I couldn’t exactly see where I was going, but I managed to find the bathtub and sat on the edge.
My sobs filled the room as the door opened. I glanced up to see a tall figure in the door, it was obviously Hunter. He rushed to me and sat down next to me. With no words, he put his arms around me and held me close.
Pressing my face to his chest, I sobbed onto his plaid shirt. Hunter’s hand rubbed along my arm. I’d never confided in anyone about my miscarriages or the troubles in my marriage, I kept everything to myself bottled up inside of me. Tonight, the dam broke, and the waters literally flowed freely.
“Shhh, it’s okay,” Hunter cooed. As deep as his voice was, it was comforting and vibrated through my body.
Sniffing, I lifted my head from his chest. Hunter’s hand came to my face and began to wipe away the remainder of my falling tears. This man, who’d lost his everything was filled with a type of kindness I’d never known from a man. My ex had degraded me and kept me afraid of a life without him. Here I was sitting with Hunter, a man I barely knew, who held me and wiped my tears away.
“Umm… just over a month ago. I lost a pregnancy… for the third time,” I told him between my sniffles. “I’ve always wanted children. The thought of being a mother was the best thing ever, but pregnancy after pregnancy. I could never manage that.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine a pain like that,” Hunter said.
“My husband, he called me a failure and a sorry excuse for a woman. I went through it all, completely alone. This is the first time I’ve ever talked about it out loud,” I admitted to him. None of my friends or family knew my torment, I kept it away behind my polished exterior.
Everyone believed I lived the perfect life. As I’d projected this image of excellence and superiority. All of it was lies, and I wore a mask every single day. Everyone wanted to be me, but if they knew the truth of my life, they’d run far away in the opposite direction. I hadn’t lived a dream. I had lived a nightmare.
“You are no sorry excuse for a woman, he is the sorriest fucking excuse for a man there ever was, and I’m sorry you had to go through that alone.” Through the darkness, I saw the somber yet hopeful emotions on Hunter’s face. I took a breath and gave him a weak smile.
“You have no idea how good it felt to say that out loud,” I mentioned.
“I think I do,” he murmured, his thumb still running across my cheek.
“So,” I began as I tried to fight through my sorrow and find the more positive version of myself that was lurking inside. “We should find something to pass the time. I think there are some board games in one of the closets down here.”
“That sounds like fun,” Hunter said, a smile creeping across his luscious pink and kissable lips.
Hunter stood and presented me with his hand, I gladly took it as he helped me up from my seat at the edge of the bathtub. This night would turn into something good, I felt it, and I think Hunter did too.
Chapter 6
Hunter
What a transition, one minute I was holding a crying Melanie as she expressed to me her own pain of having lost three pregnancies while her husband, who was scum, in my opinion, treated her like trash.
The best part was minutes later, she and I were back in the sitting room playing an intense game of checkers while we sipped away at the remaining champagne.
She’d remembered the closet where the board games were stored. I’d gotten my work light from downstairs, and I lit the closet while she stood on an old chest and reached up to get the boxes. As wrong as it might have been, I took the opportunity to check out her long and limber legs as she stood on the tips of her toes, reaching for what would become the source of our entertainment.
I laughed as Melanie did a little dance after jumping one of my pieces. The champagne was getting to her head, I liked her this way. She had a joy that filled the room and laughter that reverberated through my soul.
“Damn you,” I muttered with a smirk in her direction.
“I told you, I’m a boss at checkers!” she claimed, giddy and filled with a raw excitement. “My uncle taught me how to play as a kid, and he taught me a few of his secret moves.”
“Secret moves, huh?” I questioned.
“Top secret,” she said before finishing off her flute of champagne. “I think that’s the last of it,” she huffed as she picked up the empty bottle that the two of us had drowned down together.
I watched her stand, the light of the flickering fire illuminating her. She pulled her hair to the side as she began walking toward the kitchen. I watched her go, her hourglass shape perfectly illuminated. I shifted my seated position to rearrange the goods that were reacting to her.
I shook my head, of course, I’d get stranded in a house with an incredibly sexy woman who was unattainable. I glanced down at my left hand. It had only been a month since I’d finally taken off my wedding ring at the insistence of my mom. She’d begged me to do it, she said it kept me held down in guilt and mourning. Honestly, taking it off had been a bit freeing. Tonight, for the first time, I felt a bit of my old glee slipping back into myself.
Only a moment later, Melanie returned. She sat right back in her spot on the floor, across the wooden coffee table from me. It was my move, I’d thought it out carefully. Picking up my black check, I moved it to the next acceptable spot. A smirk lined Melanie’s lips. Apparently, I’d made a terrible move.
“You are shit at playing checkers,” she teased before taking her red check and instantly jumping over mine and claiming it as her own.
“Fuck,” I hissed under my breath, this girl was good. “I might as well give up.”
“Probably,” she giggled. The sound of her pure laughter echoed through the room. It was genuine and real, I felt that she hadn’t been able to express delight like that in a long time.
I leaned my back against the couch behind me. I picked up my glass and sipped down the last of the rich champagne. I held back the laugh that came to me. I used to be this tough guy, a badass, that was until Katheryn. She’d found my soft edges that I’d hidden away and brought them out. I wouldn’t have been caught dead sipping champagne years ago, yet I was secure enough in myself to do so without an extra thought.
“How’d you become an electrician?” Melanie asked. I hadn’t realized it, but she’d moved from her spot across from me on the floor and was now sitting on the couch that I was leaning against. I glanced up at her, meeting her sultry cocoa eyes. She seemed truthfully interested.
“I don’t really know. I got into some trouble as a kid, and I had to do some community service. I was hooked up with the Fix-It crew to help them out. I kind of just picked it up. I got certified, and I kept at it. It just kind of happened in a strange way,” I explained.
“You seem like you like it,” she commented.
“I do. I was never passionate about anything. Growing up here, there was nothing to do, I got in trouble doing stupid shit. I had no goals or anything. When I started doing it, I found something I liked for once. Katheryn is who convinced me to get certified. She was such a passionate person, and that helped drive me forward to do more with myself.” I don’t think I’d ever told Katheryn how much she’d influenced me, but I believe she knew, I hoped she knew.
“She sounds like she was your soulmate. It must be nice to be with someone who encourages you to move forward instead of staying in one static place,” she said.
“Yeah, I was lucky to have her for the little time that I did.” I knew every word of it was the truth and maybe it was just that. I had her for that time, she was meant for me in that time of my life, but not for the whole journey. Her spirit was intended to be in other pl
aces doing what it did best, uplifting souls and being that optimism the world needed.
I was eager to change the subject, talk about something else, something happier. I’d spent the last ten months of my life caught up in the sorrow, I was sick and tired of it.
“Christmas Eve, do you typically spend it alone?” I asked, glancing up at Melanie, who sat with her knees to her chest, hugging them close. She shook her head.
“I normally spend it with my family, which is how I became a checkers champion,” she proclaimed proudly.
“Is that so?” I asked, still watching her, her face glowing from the reflection of the flames. Her crimson shaded lips slowly licked by her tongue. Damn, this woman had been through so much, and she could still sit there sexy as ever without even trying.
“My mom throws a huge Christmas Eve dinner. Everyone comes over and when I was a kid, my Uncle started to play checkers with me because my brother wouldn’t. Every year it became our thing.” Her eyes seemed to portray the happiness of her early memories as she spoke of them. It was like she had once again become that little girl, eager to learn.
“But not this year…” My voice trailed off and she shook her head.
“No, I would be going alone without my husband, he is out of town on business or possibly just away banging one of his side chicks,” she spat out of disgust. Every time I learned something new about this guy, I wanted to slam his face into the concrete more and more.
I’d noticed the wedding photo above the fireplace. Melanie looked absolutely stunning as she stood next to this man who barely took a moment to look at her as he stood with a glass of champagne in his hand asserting his superiority. He held onto Melanie as if she was a piece of property and not a treasure to be held tight and savored.
“My family, those people can be a nosey bunch and having just filed, I knew I might seem off to them. I knew there would be a million questions and concerns. I didn’t share much about my personal life with them with the intention of not having them worrying about them. Tonight, I wanted to get away from the noise and rejoice in silence.” I watched as she twirled the ends of her hair between her fingers. I understood wanting the noise to stop.
“I know how you feel. My parents are in the Bahamas for Christmas this year. They were going to cancel since it is my first Christmas without Katheryn, but I told them to go. I didn’t need their pity,” I explained.
“I completely understand that,” she agreed.
I’d never met someone who right away I had such a connection to. It was as if we led these opposite yet parallel lives. Our pain was different, but we shared just that, pain.
Chapter 7
Melanie
The flames danced away as I watched him intensely. The outcome of tonight wasn’t expected, but it was the best I could have. I had company that understood me and my pain, and for the first time in a very long time, I didn’t feel alone.
Peering down, I caught the ice blue eyes of Hunter watching me. Nervously, I bit down on the bottom corner of my lip. He had this intensity in his gaze that I’d never experienced before and caused an ache to burn from deep in my belly. I glanced away quickly.
“What are your plans, after your divorce?” Hunter asked, clearly curious. I looked back down at him as he sat on the floor, back leaned against the couch I occupied.
“If I can manage to have a little money at the end, I want to travel,” I mentioned thinking of things I always wanted to do. I’d traveled the world over my years with Raymond, we’d been to France, Italy, Thailand, Fiji, Bora Bora, South Africa, the list went on. I wanted to do something completely different. “I want to go on a road trip and visit the national parks. I’ve always wanted to go to Yellowstone and Yosemite. I want to visit Mount Rushmore and see the sites of America.”
“That sounds amazing.” Hunter’s eyes lit up. I gave him a grin. When I discussed my plans with Raymond or any of my friends, they thought I was crazy. “I grew up around here, and I never got huge opportunities to leave, but if I were to leave, that would be one of the first things on my list to do.”
“You’re welcome to join me,” I noted kindly to the man I’d gotten to know in just a short amount of time. “Are you comfortable down there? You can get on the couch too. I don’t bite, I promise.”
“Are you sure you don’t bite?” he asked with a smirk as he stood from the hardwood floor. I giggled.
“I can’t be entirely sure, but I think you’re safe up here with me,” I said as I patted the cushion next to me.
His eyes peered into mine. I saw something I’d seen on and off all night, a hint of lust. I looked away, it was too early for that. I’d only just left my husband, and though my marriage had been more of a sham, I still had loved him even if he didn’t love me.
Peering down at my knees, that I held tight to my chest, I smiled to myself. I knew the future held much more for me. I’d spent such a long time hoping my marriage would pan out into something wonderful, yet it continued to wither and waste away into nothingness.
“Hey, you okay?” Hunter’s voice shook me from my thoughts.
“I’m good, I feel like I need a drink. There is a liquor cabinet around here somewhere,” I mentioned as I stood from the couch, determined for a drink as my champagne buzz was wearing off.
I glanced around the room. I knew it was here. In the corner of the room was a wooden china cabinet that I remembered my husband storing some of his precious liquor in. Strolling towards the cabinet, I could hear footsteps behind me as Hunter followed.
I unlocked the doors of the cabinet with the skeleton key that lay in the lock. Opening it, I was presented with an array of decanters. I wasn’t a huge drinker, and I didn’t quite know what was in each of them. Picking one I pulled it out along with two glasses before turning in Hunter’s direction.
“Want some?” I inquired as I held up the glass decanter.
“What is it?” Hunter asked as he approached and examined the container I held in my hands
“No clue, but it’s booze,” I declared.
“Sure, why not?” Hunter said as he shook his head, obviously holding back a laugh.
Setting the glasses down on an end table. I pulled the stopper from the decanter and poured the dark golden liquid into the two glasses. Re-stopping the bottle, I put it away and closed the cabinet before handing Hunter his glass and taking my own into my hands.
“Merry Christmas,” I cheered.
Hunter glanced at his watch. “It’s 12:17 AM. So yeah, Merry Christmas.”
We clinked our glasses together before we each took a swig. I was instantly coughing as the strength of the alcohol. My senses were all on alert and wired in only seconds.
“Wow, that’s some good whiskey,” Hunter mentioned, his eyes wide before he took another sip.
“Come on,” I said as I took him by the hand. His hand was rough to the touch, obviously due to his years of putting them to work. His hand was also warm, and it squeezed mine gently as I pulled him along and back to the couch.
We both sat in our respective spots, sipping away at our drinks. Warmth began to spread through my body with each sip.
I watched Hunter set his empty glass on the coffee table before his fingers traveled to the buttons of his plaid shirt. My eyes were glued to him as he unbuttoned the first, then flicked open the second, and then the third.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled as his eyes met mine. “It got warm in here, I’m blaming the whiskey.”
“Yeah, and no problem,” I murmured, still mesmerized by his strong chest that had recently come into view. I inhaled sharply taken back by the heat, another type of heat, that began to burn from deep in my core, lust was taking flight. I worked to shake it away.
Forcing my eyes back towards the fire, I sipped away at my drink. The only noise in the room came from the crackling fire and I caught myself smiling.
“Want to know something silly,” I began.
“Sure,” Hunter said.
“As a
kid, my mom would read me this book. In the book, there was this story of a little girl eager to have a wish come true. The girl would stand in the snow and stick out her tongue. She would catch a snowflake before closing her eyes and making a wish. Growing up I thought it was silly, mostly because it doesn’t snow in the Bay Area. When I got here, and it was snowing, for some reason, I thought of that story, and I stuck out my tongue and made a wish. I wished to never feel alone again like I had in the past three years and for the first time, here with you,” I paused for a moment, there was no noise except for the crackling of the fire. “I don’t feel alone,” I whispered. I didn’t know if I should be embarrassed by it all or not. I felt like I could tell Hunter, I felt like I could tell him anything really.
I turned to Hunter, he was sitting up at attention, his eyes wide with amazement. I began to laugh before placing his face in his hands. I was certain he thought I was absolutely insane and childish for believing in childhood stories.
“I know, stupid right?” I said, shaking my head at my ridiculousness. There was a possibility I was already going stir crazy, catching cabin fever.
“No, there is nothing stupid about it. Want to know something?” I nodded at his question. “Katheryn would do the same thing. I don’t have any idea where she learned the story, but she was always standing in the snow making wishes. When I was finishing up my last job, right before I got the call to come here. I was standing outside my truck, and I thought of Katheryn and her crazy snowflake wishes. I caught myself standing in the grocery store parking lot with my tongue out, making a wish. I wished to be able to put the past behind me and to move on in the life I was given. Tonight, for the first time in ten months, I accepted that she was gone and it was time I moved past it.”
My mouth was open as I listened to his words. This couldn’t be real. Two people, who both made wishes, two broken people, who were stuck together, and their wishes were coming true with one another.
