She’d spent the night in Chris’s house, in his clothes, talking about his past, and everything seemed so comfortable between them. Then he touched her cheek, a second away from finally pressing his lips to hers, and her mother walked in.
Like a bucket of ice water over her head.
There was no telling what would have happened if her mother hadn’t arrived, but before Bronte could even imagine it, the waitress reappeared to take their food order. Hunter got another beer, and by the time he’d moved on to his third, he’d made friends with the table next to them: Todd, Mark, and his wife, Kelly. Soon, their tables were pushed together, pints spread among them.
“Loosen up,” Hunter said into Bronte’s ear at some point after midnight.
“I’m ready to go. I want to get up early tomorrow so we can look around.”
He placed a sloppy kiss on her jaw. “We have all weekend. There’s no need to get up early.”
She eyed him. Did he really not know her at all?
“We’ll go in a bit.” He pointed to the pool table. “Me and Todd have winner.”
After downing a gallon of beer and playing a couple rounds, Hunter finally returned to Bronte at the table, and she had to hold him upright while he said his drunken goodbyes to his new buddies. She kept an arm around his middle once they were outside, and he let his head drop toward hers.
“Are you mad at me?” he slurred.
“Yes, I’m mad. You took me out, got piss drunk, and then ignored me. Might I remind you that you planned this getaway.”
He broke away from her and walked right into a tree branch.
He held his forehead. “Did you see that?” He giggled—actually giggled—and said, “Don’t be mad.”
She grumbled. “Shut up.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted her and marched back to the B&B, where Bronte poured him into bed.
It was half past five and still dark outside when Bronte’s phone rang, jostling her from a light sleep. She squinted at the screen, all blurry without her contacts in.
“Bronte!” her sister half cried, half yelled.
She sat up in bed, on high alert. “Shell, are you okay? What’s wrong? Is the baby—”
“It’s Dad.”