Hunter was right, maybe this was the best way to deal with it. Worrying ourselves to death wasn’t helping anyone.
We arrived at the car and got in. “Okay,” I said, buckling my seatbelt. “I guess that makes sense.”
“Speaking of our futures, I thought our fortunes looked pretty good. I mean, I’m gonna find treasure.”
I scoffed. “You didn’t get the hanged man card!”
“But she said that was breaking free, right? Or something. Honestly the whole thing was kinda confusing. But treasure!”
“I don’t know,” I said, putting on my seat belt. “I think I had some brain cells die in there with all the candles and incense.”
He shrugged and started up the car. “Alright, so you don’t like fortune tellers. Shit’s not real anyway. Sorry you didn’t have a good time.”
I reached over and gave his arm a squeeze. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I appreciate the effort to do something fun.”
He nodded and, with a lurch from his seriously ancient car, we were off. I spent the rest of the day thinking about how I could keep Hunter’s spirits up for the next few days. He was trying hard to stay upbeat, but I was worried that the test was bothering him more than he let on. Still, even if his bravado failed, maybe it was better to face it head on rather than hide from it. Would I be able to face my own issues head on like he had?
Was sending Marco a letter enough of a step in the right direction? I still hadn’t told Hunter about it, but I made a note to myself to get his thoughts on it as soon as I had a chance.
Chapter Fourteen
STOLEN MOMENTS
We were in a wood-paneled room with one small window behind the desk. I sat at the front of the wooden desk covered with papers and looked at my interrogator. He was an unfriendly man with a rising hairline trying to act kind and understanding. It didn’t suit him.
He leaned forward on his desk. “Alright, just so we’re clear: you have no recollection of any events between your mother and Mr. Peralta that would suggest a possible rift growing between the two?”
“That’s correct,” I said, just as my attorney had taught me to respond. If I said “yes” or “no,” that could be taken the wrong way.
“No screaming matches, nothing like that?”
“That’s correct.”
He put his glasses down and rubbed his eyes for the hundredth time. It was like he was trying to show me his frustration. “No drinking? Drugs?”
“Right.”
“Even your mom?” he asked, putting his glasses back on.
I shook my head. “She pretty much quit drinking after she left my dad.”
He nodded, then got out of his chair and came around his desk. I scooted my chair back as he took a seat on the desk’s edge, his pants uncomfortably close to my face.
“Listen honey, we need a motive, and you’re our best shot. You’ve got to give me something, okay? There had to be some reason this guy killed your mom.”
I turned my face away, partly to get away from the prosecutor's crotch in my face, partly to hide my tears. When I turned back, his face had changed.
It was Marco. He reached out for my neck to strangle me. To kill me. Just like he’d killed my mom.
I screamed even as his fingers dug into my neck, cutting off my air. Time passed, his fingers dug further in, and I kept on screaming.
I woke up with a jolt. I had fallen asleep with my laptop next to me, open to the website of an art school. My heart still pounding, I sat up on the couch. This obsession with Marco’s motives was getting worse. I hoped I would get a letter back from him soon.
Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes and looked around me. It was already Sunday afternoon and the midafternoon sunlight streamed in through the curtains. The details of the dream were starting to fade away but my heart still beat quickly in my chest. It didn’t help my nerves that we would be getting Hunter’s test results in only a few days
Aunt Caroline and Uncle Stewart had taken my cousins off to a baseball camp. I had stayed in the living room to browse some art schools while Hunter continued his work in the dining room. Some of the schools looked amazing, but the idea of moving and attending one was pretty daunting. There were a few that weren’t even in the United States. After looking at them for too long, I must’ve dozed off. There was no point in obsessing over that now anyway, we still didn’t even know what Hunter’s condition was going to be.
The noise coming from Hunter’s work in the dining room stopped, and a moment later he was beside the couch. “Hey, let’s get outta here,” he said. He dried his hands with a paper towel as he talked. “I wanna show you something.”
“What is it?” I asked, a little uneasy. The last time he’d wanted to show me something, it had been his MS treatment. Maybe I was just stressed out because we were still waiting on Hunter’s test results. The dream hadn’t helped my nerves either.
“Don’t worry, it’s something good. Come on, it’s crazy warm out.”
He motioned toward the door. It would certainly help me forget about that horrible nightmare and the little smile on his face intrigued me. Plus, it would be a shame to stay in the house all day. Hunter was probably worried about his test results too, and staying in all day while I moped around about my dream wouldn’t do anyone any good.
I rubbed my eyes, and yawned. “Just let me get changed real quick, okay?”
He shrugged. “Yeah sure, but hurry up.”
“Okay,” I said with a laugh. “Where are we going? Since I’m getting dressed.”
“You can wear whatever,” he replied. Then he seemed to think better of it. “Actually, you probably want shoes you can walk in.”
I nodded and walked upstairs. After a few minutes deliberation, I decided on a sundress. Might as well celebrate the first warm day of the year. Thanking myself for shaving my legs in the shower the previous night, I got dressed and bounced downstairs wearing a comfy pair of flats.
Hunter was waiting for me by the door. After making sure I was ready, he led the way to his beat up car out front. He had the directions to where we were going on his phone, but when I asked to be navigator he said no.
“So . . . are you going to tell me where we’re going?” I asked once we were on the road.
“It’s a surprise,” he replied, shooting me a sly grin.
I shrugged and sat back in my seat. The last time he’d surprised me, it had been the carnival. Whatever this was, it was probably good. I felt bad that Hunter had to take charge of cheering himself up, but to this point he had seemed to have his mood under control and I didn’t want to make him feel like I pitied him. I knew he hated that.
We rolled down the windows and let the cool spring breeze draft through the car. Hunter drove through the flat roads of Indiana until we were on the freeway. Whatever he had in mind, we definitely weren’t going to the fortune teller this time. I was starting to feel better too. The fresh air helped me get my mind off of that nightmare.
“Hey Hunter?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for suggesting this.”
He laughed. “We haven’t even gotten there yet. You have no idea where we’re going.”
“Yeah, but just leaving the house is helping me relax. I had a really awful nightmare while I was napping on the couch.”
“Oh, what about?”
“My stepfather’s trial.”
“Oh.”
I took a deep breath to steady myself. It seemed like so long ago, but talking about it now was still difficult. Even so, I wanted to tell Hunter. I knew it didn’t help to keep it inside. “It was kind of a flashback of when they were questioning me about my mom and Marco’s relationship. One of the hardest things about what happened was that nobody ever figured out why Marco did it. It’s really been bothering me a lot lately.”
Hunter nodded, his eyes were on the road, but I could tell from his expression that he was listening.
I continued. “I mean, maybe it would have made sense if he was in
to drugs or fought a lot with my mom or something, but none of that ever happened. They always seemed happy together. It just never made sense. The prosecutors pushed me and pushed me. They were sure I’d remember something if they kept going through it, but I didn’t. I’ve kept thinking about it even after the trial. Nothing.”
“Shit, that sounds really hard.”
“Yeah. I think that’s what made it so difficult for me to face what happened.”
“Do you think you’ll ever find out the reason?”
“I don’t know, but I wrote him a letter back asking him.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. Dr. Schwartz thought it might be good for me, so I did it last week. I don’t know if he’ll reply, but maybe I can get some answers.”
“I hope you can get the answers you want too.”
I nodded and turned to look out the window at the trees passing by.
He brought us out here to lighten the mood and here I was talking about depressing things again. I turned back to Hunter and smiled at him, patting his knee. “Anyway, let’s not ruin the sunny weather.”
Hunter smiled back and put his hand over mine reassuringly.
We sat in silence for a while, each lost in our own thoughts and enjoying the scenery passing by. I couldn’t help myself. The wind blowing through my hair made me drowsy and before long I closed my eyes and drifted off. This time, it was a dreamless sleep.
I woke up almost an hour later. As I rubbed the grit out of my eyes, we whizzed by a sign at the side of the road that read “Indiana Dunes National Park.”
I had come here once when I was really young, but I didn’t remember much. What had caused Hunter to want to take this long trip?
I stretched out, feeling in a playful mood. “Jeez, you drove us a long way.”
“Hey Snorrie, you woke up just in time, ” he said, a big dopey smile on his face.
“Why the day trip? You know we didn’t have to come this far if you just wanted some alone time.”
“Well, you’ve only got a few more days before you gotta submit your portfolio, so I figured you might want some better drawing subjects than the inside of your aunt’s place and Bernie.”
“Did you—?”
“Yeah,” he said, reading my mind. “I got your supplies from your room. They’re in the back seat.”
I beamed at him. The sun was shining bright and we were already turning onto a dirt road. To either side of the car were vast plains of grass and wildflowers. I watched the scenery go by, getting more excited by the minute. He was right. This would be a perfect place to get some drawing done and really get my mind off my nightmare.
After some more driving, we were pretty far off of the main road and Hunter parked the car in a little patch of gravel.
“This look good?” he asked.
I surveyed the surrounding landscape. We were surrounded as far as the eye could see by rolling dunes and trees. It was perfect.
“Yep,” I said. “This is just what I needed. Thank you so much.”
We got out of the car. Hunter got a blanket from the back seat and I carried my art supplies. We walked a few minutes until we were away from the car and got set up. Hunter spread the blanket out and plopped down. I unslung my bag of art supplies and did the same.
While he laid down and stared at the sky, I got my sketchbook out and began scanning our surroundings for the perfect subject.
Hunter propped himself up on his elbow and watched me as I made the first tentative lines of a horizon.
“Looks like you’re settled,” he said. “I’m gonna go look for another spot for you to sketch.”
I smiled up at him as he stood up and dusted himself off. “Okay.”
With a wave, he turned and headed off. I watched him go for a moment, then went back to my sketch.
Suddenly I had an idea. I looked up and watched Hunter as he scanned the woods looking for a way in. The way he was framed against a particularly large dune in the background under the cloud dotted sky was just perfect.
I tore out the page I was working on and began to quickly sketch the scene before he made it too far. The details could be fleshed out once I had the basics down, but I wanted to capture this moment as best I could.
The basics came together just as he seemed to spot an opening and charged up the hill into a forest of trees. Smiling to myself, I started work on the details.
I’d been working for around forty minutes when he came back into sight. By the time he got back to the blanket, I was just finishing up inking my sketch.
He looked over my shoulder. “Is that me?”
“Yep. I was watching you go when I realized I had the perfect subject.”
He grinned. “Well, I found you another one. There’s a really cool spot about fifteen minutes walk from here. You game?”
I put my drawing away carefully. “You bet,” I said happily.
It took us a few minutes to pack up, then we were off. We walked across the field and then took a turn up into the trees. After winding around a makeshift path through the trees, we came to a hill.
“The spot’s just up ahead,” he said.
I wanted to ask him how he had found this place but he was already walking up the hill. Hunter got to the top first and flexed his biceps with his chin in the air like he had just won a bodybuilding competition.
I reached him a minute later, a little sweaty.
“Hey, I didn’t realize we were raci—” I trailed off when I saw the view, my mouth dropping in awe.
Lake Michigan shimmered bright and blue beyond the small white sand beach. The calm blue waters stretched out farther than the eye could see. Thick green leaves framed the view from the row of trees that lined the hill. Other than the two of us, there was no one else in sight.
A fresh breeze blew my hair across my face, carrying with it the smell of grass and wildflowers, cooling the sweat on my brow.
I turned to Hunter and tiptoed up to kiss him on the cheek. “Wow. This is beautiful. How did you find this place?”
He grinned and spread out the blanket. “Good old-fashioned exploration. Come on, you get to it. I think it’s my turn for a nap.”
“Okay, let’s lay that under a tree, so at least we can lean on something.”
Hunter nodded and followed me as we walked along the crest of the hill until we found the perfect spot. He spread the blanket against a nice thick oak tree and sat down at the base. I took a spot next to him, gazing out across the lake.
After I had taken my supplies out of my bag, Hunter rested his head on my shoulder so he could nap. I started sketching the horizon where the lake met the sky but was distracted when Hunter kept nuzzling at my neck.
So much for napping. I ran my fingers through his hair while he left soft kisses on my skin. When I looked at him again his hair was sticking in a few different directions like a bale of hay. There were even some eraser shavings in his hair. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“What are you laughing at?”
“You look silly. I don’t know if I can keep calling you Gunther Handsome with that hair.”
“Hey, you made it that way. Besides, true beauty comes from within.”
He nodded sagely.
“Wow,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You’re so insightful.”
“I’ll show you insightful.”
He leaned in and pressed his lips against mine. I hesitated for a moment, then melted into him, overcome by my desire for the wetness of his mouth. The drawing pad fell to the side, but I didn’t care. Even though my aunt and uncle gave us our space, we hadn’t had a chance to kiss like this since our night at the carnival.
We finally broke apart, my chest heaving and breathless. Hunter was staring at me intently, a simmering heat in his eyes.
Our lips crashed together again, and a shiver of pleasure ran up my spine. He smelled liked spring and I could already feel the stirring of heat in my core. Hunter’s rough hands slid up the loose sundress I was wearing. When his th
umb rubbed light circles on my thigh, my insides clenched.
I pulled his face to me, needily. I wanted to taste him right now. I reached towards his body, smiling into the kiss when my hands finally found what they were looking for. Hunter grinned too when I rubbed my fingers lightly up the smooth skin of his tight abs and up to his hard chest. He breathed deeply, his chest moving up and down.
“Look what I brought.” Hunter reached into his pocket and pulled out a condom.
I slapped him playfully on the chest. “What made you think you were going to get lucky today? Just because you took me to this great spot?”
“Yeah, I figured once I proved to you how good I am at finding just the right spot, there’s no way you’d turn me down.” He gave me a saucy wink before burying his face into the side of my neck and leaving a fiery kiss there.
My face heated, I checked around us to make sure the coast was still clear. I’d never done this with anyone somewhere so public. There didn’t seem to be anybody in sight, but I was still nervous.
“What if someone sees us?” I whispered.
Hunter stopped kissing my neck and looked around, “Well they’re gonna have to watch on the sidelines, I know you’re not interested in threesomes.”
“No! You know what I mean.”
“I’ve been walking around the whole area for the past hour and haven’t seen a soul. I’m pretty sure we’ll be fine.”
I pursed my lips. Maybe I was making too big a deal out of this. He was right. I hadn’t seen anyone out and about either.
“Besides, we’ll probably hear them coming before they see us anyway.”
Chewing on my lip, I ran my fingers down his chest. What the hell? Why not be a little risky today?
He was eyeing me carefully. “So do you want me to find the perfect spot or what?”
I giggled. “Alright, but only if you stop telling those corny jokes.”
He mimed zipping his lips shut and tossing away the key.
Then he started leaving a trail of hot kisses down my body through the light fabric of my dress. I gasped at the sudden shift in his mood and my heart pounded in anticipation. His kisses went lower and lower, each one a promise of what he would do to me with his mouth.
Rescued Page 11
