Make Me Stay II: A Second Chance Romance

by Avant, Amarie

  Hunter helped her pick up the flour. “I apologize for causing you to make such a mess.” He continued to block the path for her to exit the pantry.

  When he gazed deep into her eyes, Avery said, “Thank you, Mr. Hayden Flint—”

  “Hunter.” He stepped closer.

  “Excuse me. You know, you really need to Google my fiancé, Donavan and I, Hunter.” Though he didn’t seem to notice, she gave him a friendly reminder. “I swear, I don’t know how you made a reservation for my B&B without reading the sordid backstory.”

  “Well, you keep surprising me. I definitely will.”

  “Alright, thanks for picking up my flour.” She glanced between them. A few moments passed. “Did you need anything?”

  “I could eat.” He finally turned away to place the flour bag onto the center of the island.

  “Oh, of course. Carly didn’t make it in this morning. I’m sure you’re aware of that.” She cocked a grin. “Donavan is more of the pancake and sausage type. He cooked for everyone else this morning. Unfortunately for you, he’s now on honorary carpool. Is there anything I can make you? Eggs or eggs?”

  He took a seat on the stool. “You look a little down, Avery. What’s up?”

  “Hey, I’m in the business of hospitality, Hunter. It’s my job to make sure your stay is to your liking, not mine.” Thick lips pushing into a wide grin, Avery placed her hands on her hips. “Now, omelet, pancakes? Fried egg. Poached egg. I’m good with eggs.”

  “Sunnyside up.”

  “Coming up.” She turned around and fired up the stove, placing a wrought iron skillet on the burner.

  When she glanced toward him to head to the refrigerator, he took his chance. “Really, what’s going on? You made the perfect hostess when I told my story about Hero, and it looks like something’s on your mind.”

  She nodded. “There is; otherwise, I wouldn’t have acted like an idiot when you came in a few minutes ago. I can usually sense people.”

  “Alright, we’re making leeway.” He rubbed his hands together, hoping that his mannerisms made her trust him. There was that one moment with Carly. He’d noticed a pause when he’d taken it upon himself to grab her cell phone. Being too assertive scared the girls.

  Pursing her lips, Avery stood there for a second. “I guess. It actually revolves around my being deaf.”

  His eyebrows rose as she finally moved into action, opening the refrigerator to grab the carton of eggs. “Two, three?” she asked over her shoulder.

  “Three if you will. Talk to me.”

  She plucked up three brown eggs. “My son is interested in getting a hearing aid.”

  When his eyebrows lifted, she nodded. “Yup. Like most parents, I do want the best for him. In this instance, that means his happiness.”

  He cleared his throat. “You sound like a very good mom to me, Avery. I bet if I knew you ages ago, my sister’s life . . .”

  Eyes warming with sincerity, Avery replied, “I’m sorry. I can’t believe I’m telling you this. With my close-knit family, I shouldn’t have.”

  “No please. So, what are your worries?” Hunter placed his forearms on the counter, leaning forward, displaying more attentiveness in Avery than he’d ever shown anyone in his entire life.

  “Donavan Junior wants me to get the same procedure and hear as well.” A few seconds later, Avery broke an egg. The contents splashed into the iron skillet and was sizzling in seconds. “Sunnyside eggs coming up.”

  He chewed on his bottom lip but realized she wasn’t going to share anything else without a prompt.

  “Wow, so you’ve been independent and courageous your entire life? No hearing aids ever?”

  “Thanks. Actually, I had a few. My parents made their attempts. They had the best doctors around. I was a rebellious, spoiled, little rich girl.”

  “You? Rebellious and spoiled? I guess those are synonymous with courageous and independent.”

  “Yeah, from the outside looking in. But if you really knew me, I just didn’t want to embarrass my father by wearing the darn things. Did your parents ever try to go that route with Hero?”

  “Definitely. They made appointment after appointment. She was just too depressed to leave her bedroom. So are you going to do it?”

  A quirk of a smile spread across her lips. “I can’t tell you before I tell my two Donnies. Sorry.”

  “Well then, I’ll either have to stick around or start getting postcards because I just have to know if you follow through with it.”

  “I see.” Avery reached over to grab a spatula. Then she turned back around, eyes brightening, snapping her fingers. “That’s a good idea, Hunter! We should have post cards available to our guests! You are not only a great listener, but when input is necessary, you’re on it.”

  “I aim to please.”

  “Well, I hope you pass through town more now. Carly could be that reason.” She leaned over to place the eggs before him. Instead of letting her set it down, Hunter mumbled his thanks while taking it. His fingertips glided along her soft skin.

  Avery tossed a thumb over her shoulder. “I should get to cleaning the guest bathrooms.”

  “Have you eaten?”

  “If you count those tasteless cracker things . . . I’m making up for that big dinner last night.” She shrugged.

  “Sit with me. Eat.”

  He pretended to fiddle with his food for good measure while watching her from the hood of his eyelashes. What was she second guessing them for? She’d stuck by that bastard for who knew how long. She deserved better. “Tastes really good. Would taste better with company.”

  Avery was hesitant for another moment. “You are a guest. Just a quick bite.”

  In less than ten minutes, she had a fried egg and was seated beside him. After a few bites, Hunter thought they’d settled into a comfortable silence until she spoke.

  “Do I remind you of Hero?”

  “My sister? No.” They stared at each other. A disconnect settled between them. He reached over to skim his hand over her shoulder when he heard footsteps.

  The thought hit him.

  He was in the house of his enemy!

  No recon.

  No intel as to when Donavan was due home.

  Today, Hunter hadn’t taken any necessary precautions, nor did he have solid intelligence regarding Donavan’s schedule. Instead of touching her, he clasped the pepper, and stood abruptly, ready for a fight.

  Avery stared at him, head cocked to the side. “Are you . . .”

  His gaze went to the door and met a set of very angry eyes.

  29

  Avery

  When Hayden Flint bounded to his feet, Avery stopped short of following suit. Evolution had her prepared to fight or flight, yet she paused for a moment, letting his current demeanor sink in.

  Her stomach had growled when he had asked if she’d like to sit and eat. Mr. Flint had started off cordial, making it easy to oblige his request. Now, it felt like a light switch had flipped in his mind. He was being downright weird. The story about his sister, Hero, compelled her to open up to him in the first place. It also helped her contemplate why she’d confided in Mr. Flint because, on the other hand, if Donavan had shared something so intimate with a stranger, she’d have snapped. Then again, the one psychology course she took implied women were more prone to be hurt by emotional cheating as opposed to men—who were hurt by the real cold-hearted thing.

  She glanced to where his gaze had just fallen. The entrance toward the dining room was empty. Avery turned back to Hunter.

  “Are you-are you alright?” She tried. “I’m sorry for bringing up Hero.”

  He bit his lip. “Yes, you were correct, Avery. I feel drawn to you—”

  Shaking her head, Avery cursed herself for being too nice. Had Mr. Flint read between lines that weren’t there, reading more into the situation than was fact. She spoke with firm authority. “That’s highly inappropriate—”

  “You remind me of Hero.” His voice had t
o be laced with such emotion. She could tell from the look in his eyes. His gaze dashed down toward the plate. A sadness radiated from him. He took one last bite of food. She was tempted to get up, so he didn’t feel obligated to speak, but he set his fork down. “Breakfast was great. I want to head into town for souvenirs for a few friends before I hit the road this afternoon.”

  She paused for a moment. It had been entirely too easy to speak with Hayden Flint until she’d compared herself to his sister. Why? From her standpoint, their first conversation after she’d fixed the lightbulb in his room was about Hero. Something had just hit a cord. But Avery didn’t know him and didn’t really need to. “Okay, enjoy your day.”

  Avery chewed a few more bites. She took the baby monitor that was by the stove and placed it on the window ledge, while washing the dishes. The red light flickered and flickered. While drying off the skillet, Avery deduced that the window was open next to the crib. She’d learned how to differentiate the duration of the monitor’s flicker, implying that Anya was crying or making cooing noises to just background white noise such as a bird chirping or the wind picking up. Avery slowly made her way up the stairs.

  As she moved, Hunter’s room came into view. The door was open. He always left his door closed, most of the guests did. She stepped forward, closed it, and rounded the landing toward the master bedroom. Goosebumps crept up her forearms, Avery peered over her shoulder, glancing back at Room Six. But her palm vibrated softly from the hypersensitivity of feeling the low frequency of waves coming from the baby monitor. Low and behold when she glanced down, the red light was going off. Poor Anya had to be crying. The stream was too frequent for cutesy little baby babble.

  In the bedroom, Avery moved toward the crib, reaching down to pick up her daughter. Anya wore a light-pink spring inspired onesie, with amber and olive colored flowers. A matching hat adorned her tiny head and had pushed back so that a few curly-cues peeked out from on top of her head. Heart melting, Avery adjusted the cap.

  “Wow, you aren’t crying. You’re talking, sweetheart,” Avery cooed, glancing out the window to see a blue jay perched on the landing. “You must’ve had a very good conversation with the birdie.” She held up Anya. The mixture of Anya’s baby chatter had to have mingled with the Blue Jay’s singing in order to incorporate such a long drum of a vibration for the baby monitor.

  “I want to hear you, honey bun,” Avery spoke aloud. Had she the ability to perceive her words they couldn’t have shocked her any more than the sudden admonishment. “I want to hear.”

  Anya smiled in response.

  “That’s right. When Daddy gets home, we’re going to tell him and Junior. And then I must call my mom, baby girl.” She paused sitting at the edge of the bed, holding Anya in her forearms, cradling her head in the palm of her hands. “Honey bun, I hope to God that I never do anything that separates us where you do not want to speak with me. And so I have to forgive her.”

  30

  Hunter

  The second Hunter entered his room with Hawk, he tossed a punch to Hawk’s jaw.

  “Nice try, little brother, but I taught you everything you know.” Hawk’s forearm cushioned the blow of Hunter’s knuckles.

  “Leave me the fuck alone,” Hunter growled under his breath, though it didn’t matter since Avery and her daughter were the only ones here. He offset the missed power punch with a quick jab to Hawk’s nose. His brother’s head reared back, but he was able to pivot on his feet, grab Hunter by the shoulder and whip him around until he’d turned him. With his chest to Hunter’s back, Hawk’s bicep sunk into his neck.

  “You’re losing it, Hunter McIntosh,” Hawk growled.

  Hunter tried to rear his head back, but Hawk tugged him until his crown was pressed against Hawk’s pectoral, constricting much of his movement.

  Blood sprouted up as Hunter’s fingernails chewed into his brother’s forearm.

  Hawk groaned as chunks of his skin was pulled away. “I’m saving you, dumbass. You don’t know these people. What kinda intel have you done, huh, Hunter? You plan on murdering Donavan? If that’s the case, what’s taking you so long?”

  “I am going to murder him!”

  “You can’t, and I mean that in every sense of the word. You fucking pussy.” Hawk let go, sending Hunter slamming into the dresser. “Do you know who these people are! Avery Castle? Avery fucking Castle?”

  They stared at each other.

  “You don’t know her.” Hunter’s voice was rich. His claim to Avery almost tangible.

  “Oh,” Hawk folded his arms. “So much emotion tied to that statement. You’re the dumbest shark to ever enlist. And I heard you mentioning, Hero. But the kicker is, my life is on the line for running after you, brother. I fucking love you, Hunter, not these people.”

  He waved him away.

  “What is it? The girl’s deaf like Hero became? Is that why you’re losing it over her? Quite frankly, you have been losing it most of your life.” Hawk gripped at his dark hair. “Bro, you didn’t do shit to help Hero when she started losing her hearing. I always sat with her. Talked to her. Tried to encourage her. You were such a fucking emo weirdo that I think you encouraged her isolation.”

  “Fuck you!”

  “Oh no, no cussing at me right now, brother. Not when I’m doing everything,” Hawk pounded a hand against his chest, “to keep you safe. Just like with Hero and her suicide. I tried to stop her. Mom was too sad. Dad was too much of a man to care.”

  Teeth gritting, Hunter pointed. “You don’t know anything!”

  “Might not know much, but I’m clever enough to know that you’re too stupid to understand that I’m saving your life at this very instant. You’re running around obviously abetting your vendetta by making a love connection with a girl who has loved Donavan since they were kids—”

  “You don’t know anything about them, her. Avery is mine.” His voice broke with each passionate word.

  “I don’t? Hey, I’m guessing the short biography welcoming folks to Franny’s B&B, which I read up on their website during the plane ride, must’ve been a lie then.”

  Chest puffed, vehemently breathing, Hunter was so angry that one thought rang through his mind. “You don’t know her.”

  “Really? Lover boy, her last name is Castle.” Hawk’s eyebrow arched. “If that shit isn’t ringing a bell, then I should snug a bullet through your skull before you disappear. Now stop trying to figure out how to take me down and get it through your head. Alexander Castle is someone you don’t fuck with. That means his daughter is off the market—as a lover or otherwise.”

  Hunter nodded, his gaze slid around the room, searching for a weapon. Pretending to agree, he sighed deeply. “Okay, bro. I didn’t know she was a Castle. I . . .”

  “You honestly don’t know the name, Hunter,” Hawk scoffed. “I just said stop being a little bitch. There’s nothing in here that’s going to help you take me down!”

  They both quieted, hearing the sound of feet. Hawk ducked down as the bedroom door was closed.

  “Shit.” Hawk stood slowly. “Can we go now, before Donavan comes home and realizes who you are?”

  “Let me pack my bag.”

  Hawk nodded.

  Hunter strode toward the closet. He reached inside, his hand going toward his hoodie. Wait, where was everything else. He snatched the hoodie up, feeling around the pocket, but his gun it wasn’t there.

  Just as he was about to turn around, a cloth went over his face.

  “Too stuck in your emotions to realize I had packed the bag. It’s on the floor next to the door, bro, and I removed the creepy photos from the closet wall. I’m keeping the gun. And now we go . . .”

  The scent of chloroform lulled Hunter into oblivion.

  31

  Donavan

  The mission was imbedded in his brain all too easily. Donavan sat at the bar with Willie across from him. He’d opened it and had two weeks to comply. And damn, he planned on following through so that he could pla
ce some cold, hard cash in his hands. However, he was waiting for the last possible second, trying to connect with Tripp first, and get it through his head that it was just one gig.

  “The old lady checked out your website. So, you’re booked solid until the Fourth of July.” Willie held up his own glass of whiskey.

  Donavan lifted his.

  “But ya don’t look happy,” Willie reached over and patted his shoulder. “Rich, beautiful girl, two kids, what’s troubling you, bro.”

  “Damn, I look that bad?”

  “Eh, I’m improving on my therapeutic services one bar patron at a time.” Willie waved a hand over to another guy. “Also doesn’t hurt that it’s before happy hour.”

  Donavan leaned back with a chuckle. “I just got a job after . . . well, I’m sure you know my resume hasn’t been exactly legit for the past few years.”

  “Shit, I reckon that’s another reason to be happy about. I’m also assuming this job has nothing to do with that thriving business you and the heiress are running? And when I say thriving, I understand that it takes about a year or two for businesses to otherwise make it. Trust me. Being a gambler and working for my brother, he told me so when I fucked up the first time, and all the way up until the hundredth time, since this bar was his pride and joy. Getting your money back from a business takes ages.”

  “Yeah, recuperating everything that’s in the B&B will take time. And it’s another gig.”

  “Good thing the old lady got me away from cards and horses for good.” Willie winked, understanding that the job wasn’t bound to end up on his empty resume anytime soon either. “Look, we do what we have to for our family. Long as it isn’t getting us into trouble.”

  “That’s not the problem.” Donavan tossed back his drink. Willie filled it up. “One of my old army buddies quit when I got the gig.”

  “Humph, sounds like he has a personal problem to me. I didn’t know you were in the army. You should’ve taken your ass to college. Young’n, you still have time.”