He’d been so certain Cam would tire of Lilli’s handicap and return to his wild ways, and Hunter would be there to pick up the pieces of Lilli’s heart. Lilli needed a very special man. Cam was not that man. She needed someone who was selfless, devoted, and madly in love.
Cam wasn’t those things. Cam couldn’t be those things. In all their time together, he’d never seen Cam demonstrate any of those qualities.
But what if he was wrong? What if he’d underestimated his friend?
And then there was Kate.
Beautiful Kate. So-completely-wrong-for-him Kate. And she hated him. Or at least, disliked him.
He should be relieved his relationship was over with a completely inappropriate woman. Yeah, he should be celebrating, but he wasn’t.
After wearing a path on the tile around the pool, Hunter picked up his phone and chose a number from his contact list. Tanner answered on the third ring.
“What’s up?” Tanner asked.
“Uh,” Hunter stuttered, something he rarely did, suddenly regretting calling Tanner for relationship advice. “I have a problem.”
“Let me guess. You’re in love and fucking denying it?” Tanner interrupted before Hunter could gather his thoughts.
“Why would you think that?”
“Because, buddy, love is in the air, obviously. First Cameron, now you.”
“Cam called you?”
“Hell, yeah. About your sister.”
“Cam loves my sister?”
“Yeah,” Tanner said with such dripping annoyance, he made it obvious Hunter was an idiot for not seeing it.
Maybe he was?
“I didn’t know that’s how he felt.”
“That’s because you’re too busy telling all of us how we feel. You know, that Zen Native American thing you have going. Guess what, buddy, you didn’t see this one coming. Did you? That pretty rich girl sneaked up behind you and hit you over the head, and you denied that huge lump everyone else could see.”
Hunter rubbed his hand over his face. His head hurt. His heart hurt. Now his pride hurt. Leave it to Tanner to cut through the crap right to the core of the problem.
“I don’t know how I feel about Kate. We’re opposites. Different lives. Different goals. Different cultures.”
“Whatever. That’s your issue to work out, but leave your sister and Cam alone. That’s none of your business even if you think it is.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“I’m always right. One more thing. That fucking horse better win the Derby. The girls just spent a shit-ton of our money buying Derby hats and victory dresses.”
“Victory dresses?”
“Yeah, for the big party afterward that you’re hosting.”
Party?
“Oh, okay.” Hunter hadn’t planned any victory or loss party. Lilli always took care of that crap for him.
He missed his sister.
Biting back his pride, he rang her number and waited.
* * * *
The Santa Anita Derby was the last big race for Jet before the Kentucky Derby. The prestigious California stakes boasted a purse of one million dollars. The horses would race one and one-eighth miles, one-eighth mile shorter than the Derby. Like the San Felipe, the horses started about two furlongs from the starting gate and would race past the stands and the finish line, around the track, and to the finish line a final time.
She’d seen Hunter several times, and they’d been polite to each other, but neither made a move to change the situation between them. Life was better this way, or so Kate attempted to convince herself.
Kate sat in the box of a longtime friend of her family, but she hadn’t realized her seat would be within feet of Hunter’s. He sat with a large group of people, most of them his investors and many members of his family. They took up a few boxes. The group was loud and boisterous, and she expected no less.
A pang of regret and longing swept over her, threatening to drop her to her knees. She picked up her binoculars and scanned the rowdy group for Talia. She didn’t really need binocs, but she hoped it gave the appearance of her watching the post parade to the starting gate. Talia was nowhere to be found, and she let out a sigh of relief.
This thing between them needed resolution, but she wasn’t ready to let go just yet, and Hunter made no attempt to, either. He’d been polite and distant each time she’d seen him near the stables or at the track in the early mornings. One morning she could’ve sworn she saw a wistfulness in his brown eyes.
He’d hesitated when he saw her and held out his hand as if to touch her. Then he’d shaken his head, shoved his hands in his pockets, and walked past with a casual hello.
As if they meant nothing to each other.
Only she’d seen his unguarded reaction with her own eyes. Perhaps she’d read too much into it, but this thing wasn’t over yet. She’d bet the farm on it, assuming she had a farm to bet. For now, she contented herself with not knowing. Rather than confronting a possible truth that would break her heart, she held on to her fantasy a while longer.
She had a race to win, or at least Jet did.
The horses entered the gate. Sid acted up. Throwing a tantrum only Sid could throw. Finally, they got him in the gate. The starter wasted no time. The gates sprang open. Jet jumped to the lead, as usual. Her finicky boy hated dirt and mud flying in his face.
She laughed as she realized Jet had developed opinions.
Sid hung back as was his MO. He trailed the stragglers by a length, only something was different this time. He actually appeared to be listening to his jockey. His ears swiveled back and forth. The pace was slow, and Jet took it easy in the front of the pack, his jockey smartly conserving his energy in case any horse challenged him in the stretch.
They rounded the far turn and Kate was on her feet, screaming with the rest of the crowd. Jet increased his lead to five lengths. In an odd déjà vu moment, Kate heard the crowd roar and knew this time they weren’t roaring for Jet. Sid bore down on her bay colt, weaving his way through the pack of horses with the speed and dexterity of a star running back.
Kate shoved her fist in her mouth as she stared dumbstruck at the blinding speed Sid displayed. The others appeared to be standing still.
Jet’s jockey glanced over his shoulder and gave Jet a solid smack with the whip. Jet surged ahead with a burst of speed he’d been holding in reserve for such a moment. Sid’s huge strides ate up the ground between them with alarming swiftness. The finish line was several strides away. Kate knew with a sinking heart the finish wouldn’t come soon enough.
Sid pulled ahead and under the wire, winning by a half-length. Hunter’s group erupted in a frenzy of cheering, backslapping, and hugging.
Kate watched them, holding the racing program tight to her chest. Hunter glanced up, and their eyes met. Her heart raced harder than the horses had. Dizziness overcame her. She gripped the side of her seat to keep from sinking to the floor.
Hunter raised a brow in a silent challenge, and she merely shrugged. She refused to acknowledge that Hunter’s horse was a force, just as Hunter was, but they both knew the truth.
There wasn’t a three-year-old who could beat Sid when he chose to run his race.
She only hoped he chose to be a sulking ass in the Derby four short weeks away, but she had a bad feeling about all this. A really bad feeling.
She had another feeling—this one not necessarily bad.
She could no longer deny it.
She was in love with Hunter.
Chapter 23—Derby Week
Hunter flew home for a short visit with his family before the Derby. Many of them were flying out to Kentucky next week, but Hunter wanted to check in.
He was free to go to Talia, but he couldn’t dredge up any interest in trying. Whenever he thought of Talia and tried to picture her face, he saw Kate’s instead. For years he thought Talia was his soul mate, yet his soul wasn’t cooperating, along with his head and his heart. Even his body didn’t lust for her
.
Lilli and Cameron accompanied them. Cam hit it off with his family as if he’d been born into the rowdy group. Everyone loved him. Like they’d loved Kate? And they had, he just hadn’t wanted to see it.
Cam took Hunter’s father aside and shortly after, he and Lilli announced their engagement. Hunter was guardedly optimistic.
Nana invited him over that afternoon. Hunter had a feeling she’d be prying where he didn’t want her to pry, but he couldn’t very well tell her no. He wasn’t that kind of a grandson. She was toiling over a hot stove, as usual. When she wasn’t cooking up a storm, she’d be making her baskets. Even though it took her arthritic fingers four times longer to weave the cedar strips into a beautiful yet practical work of art, she swore she’d die with a basket in her lap. Hunter believed her.
“Where is that pretty girl who was with you last time you visited?” Nana asked, her casual question anything but casual.
“We broke up.” Saying the words stabbed a knife deep in his gut and closed off his throat until he struggled to breathe.
Nana studied his face without comment and turned back to her stove. She stirred her stew and said nothing, but he knew she would have her say, so he waited. The savory smell of her incredible stew wafted to his nostrils, causing his stomach to growl. Right now he didn’t give a damn about his stomach. He desperately needed Nana to tell him he’d made the right choice. He and Kate weren’t fated to be.
Nana said nothing.
“Talia is single.”
Nana harrumphed and made no other comment, but a harrumph from Nana wasn’t a good thing.
She poured them each a large bowl of stew into the heavy earthenware bowls she’d made herself and sat next to him. Blowing on the first spoonful, she put the spoon in her mouth and closed her eyes, enjoying the taste of the stew.
Hunter lifted a few spoonfuls to his mouth and swallowed, even though it tasted like sawdust to him. “She’s from the tribe. She understands our ways. We’re a good match.”
Finally, Nana put down her spoon and raised her perceptive gaze to meet his. “Perhaps too much.”
“How is that possible?”
She didn’t answer his question but shot him a question of her own. “Please don’t tell me you broke up with Kate in order to free yourself for Talia?”
“I didn’t.”
“Talia is not for you, Hunter. I kept my counsel on her for years, you know that. Kate is your destiny. I feel it as certain as I felt my dear Thomas was mine. She may not be of the tribe. She may not understand our culture, but she showed a willingness to try, and a sincerity Talia never showed. Kate is not like you, but she is. She will challenge you. She will try your patience. She will be the first to tell you when you’ve done something wrong.”
Hunter started to speak, but she silenced him by holding up a wrinkled hand.
“Kate is loyal and faithful. Kate is struggling to find her destiny. You can help her with that. You can teach her our ways, our culture, and together you can make life better for our people and for yourselves.”
“She doesn’t fit in.”
“Then help her fit in. Did you ever consider that diversity is a good thing? We can use a dose of someone different. They bring new ideas to the table to mix with the old ways. Both can live together in harmony. By respecting your culture and utilizing innovative means, you could both work for the improvement of this small tribe and expand beyond that. Don’t you have faith in her? And yourself?”
Hunter stared at the bowl of stew as if he’d see an answer written in the thick broth. “I don’t know.”
“Then you should find out.”
Hunter swallowed. He thought he’d broken up with Kate because of Talia. Then he thought he’d broken up with her because she didn’t understand his culture. Now he realized his reason was more cowardly than noble.
He’d been protecting his heart. All their years together, he’d never let down his guard to Talia as he had with Kate in these few short months.
“You are most wise, Nana.”
She smiled at him, stretching the pale, thin skin across her bony cheeks. “I know.”
He laughed, and she laughed, too. Hunter sobered quickly. “She’ll never forgive me for claiming she wasn’t the right person for me and my future.”
“She’ll forgive you. Sacrifice the thing that matters most to you, and she’ll understand your sincerity.”
Hunter nodded. “I think I’ll go for a walk before the rest of the family gets here for dinner.”
“That is wise.”
Hunter waited for Nana to say more, but she didn’t. She never said more than necessary, preferring that her family work their problems out with minimal guidance from her.
Hunter walked along the sidewalks green with moss in some places where the sun rarely reached. His head reeled with questions he couldn’t answer or didn’t want to answer. As if on cue, Talia walked down the sidewalk toward him. He suspected his cousin had called her. She appeared to be watching Nana’s home. When she spotted him, she gave a guilty start but covered it up quickly with a welcoming smile, which quickly turned sultry and inviting.
Hunter waited for the old feelings to flood back and for his body to respond. Absolutely nothing happened. Even when she approached him and threw her arms around his neck in a faux gesture of welcome, nothing stirred within him. Not the way it did when he spotted Kate walking down the barn aisle or leaning against the racetrack railing.
He gently set her back from him, holding her at arm’s length. She misinterpreted his rejection and smiled as if she’d won the battle. She probably thought she was getting to him, and she was, but not the way she hoped. Not at all.
“Talia,” he said with flatness in his voice.
She blinked, caught off guard by his tone, then her predatory smile returned, and she moved in for the kill. He wasn’t about to be hunted by her. He backed up a few steps and shook his head. He’d seen enough. Talia was not the one. She most likely never had been. He’d deluded himself all these years, believing her to be someone she wasn’t instead of appreciating her for the person she was. She’d tried to change him, too, to force him to pick between her and what he loved. A person in love never did that. A person in love made their own sacrifice without pressure because they wanted to and because in the long run it would be for the best.
“Hunter.” She put a lot of sexy power in that one word. There had been a time when she’d said his name and he’d fallen to the ground in worship of her. And that was the gist of it. He’d worshipped her. Been her servant. But they’d never been equal partners.
She’d done him a favor when she’d broken his heart.
He shook his head, and not without sadness. He’d wanted what she wanted at one time. Now his desire for her slipped into the past and stayed there, a stepping-stone to something better.
Something with Kate.
* * * *
Restless and out of sorts, Kate keyed up a number on her phone and waited for the caregiver to answer. “Hi, can Mom talk today?”
“Oh, Kate, I’m glad you called. Yes, she’s having an incredibly good day.”
A few minutes and some rustling later, Kate heard her mother’s frail voice. “Hi, honey. How are you?”
“Better now that I can talk to you.”
“I wish I could be there for the Derby.”
“I wish you could, too.” Kate closed her eyes for a moment, trying to shut off the stream of tears. She must stay upbeat and positive. “I’ll be there as soon as the race ends.”
“Will you be bringing your boyfriend? I so want to meet him.”
Kate froze, searching for the right answer. She chose honesty. “No, we parted ways.”
“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry. What happened?”
“I don’t fit in his culture.”
“He’s Native American if I recall.”
“That’s correct.”
“And just like that you gave up? That’s not like you.”
&nb
sp; “There’s not much I can do about it.”
“You could prove him wrong. You could fight for him.” A tiredness crept into her mother’s voice.
“What if he doesn’t want me no matter what?”
“Then you have your answer.”
Her mother sighed. “I wish I’d changed things years ago. I wish I’d followed my heart, left my farce of a marriage and married your father. He was the love of my life, but he was a lowly plumber, and I wasn’t willing to give up the perks of being married to a wealthy man. Now I realize how little things mean and how much love means.”
“My father?”
“Yes, I’m not telling you what you don’t already know.”
“Who was he?” Kate swallowed hard and waited.
“His name was Jonathan Barnes. We met in college. Then ran into each other later and started an affair. When I became pregnant, I chose to stay with your father, and he agreed to stay out of your life. He didn’t want to, but he sacrificed for us. He died in a car accident six years ago.”
“I’m so sorry.” Kate nodded solemnly, trying to take in her mother’s words of a love lost forever.
“So am I. More than you’ll ever know. Don’t make my mistake, Kate.”
“I need to concentrate on the farm,” Kate insisted stubbornly.
“No, you need to concentrate on you. The farm situation will sort itself out as it was meant to be.”
“You sound like Hunter.” Kate laughed.
Her mother laughed back. “You should listen to me and to him. I clung to this farm for too long and made you do the same, which was selfish of me. Make decisions for love, honey, just as I’m doing now. Let the farm go. It’s not meant to be.”
“But Mom, it’s our legacy.”
“Build a new one, Katy. It’s time to let go of the past and look to the future.”
Kate hesitated. She’d striven for this very thing for so long, she didn’t know who she was without it.
“Buy something less grand and expensive with your proceeds and start that retirement home for old racehorses we’ve talked about. That would mean more to me than you saving this farm.”
Game Changer: Seattle Steelheads Football (Game On in Seattle Book 7) Page 21
