“And? What did he have to ask you?”
“I don’t know!” I exclaimed. “The stupid expo coordinator picked that moment to walk up and mention all my financial problems.”
“Ugh. I wonder what he wanted to ask. Maybe he’s been madly in love with you all these years and wants you to run away with him to the Caribbean.”
I rolled my eyes. “He probably wants to know what happened to dad’s old Mustang. I kind of hope that’s what he wants, because I don’t know what to do with it.”
“You could sell it,” Lizzy pointed out. “It’s an antique. You could probably get a lot of money for it.”
“I’m not ready to do that yet,” I said, pausing to take another long drink of beer. “Dad only died a month ago. Selling his Mustang… It feels like I’m throwing away a part of him.”
Lizzy leaned across the bar and put her hand on mine. “I know, sweetie. It sucks.”
“Yeah, it sucks,” I agreed.
I finished my beer and then got on my bike to head home. As I followed the trail through the wooded area on the edge of my neighborhood, the wind blowing my blonde hair back behind me, I started to feel better about everything that’d happened today. The beer certainly helped. Everything life threw at you was easier when you were good and buzzed.
I pulled onto my street and frowned. There was a big black SUV parked in front of my house. I hoped it wasn’t one of the neighbors coming by to check on me. Mom and dad had been popular fixtures of the neighborhood, and since they passed, all of their old friends had been very helpful to make sure I was okay and didn’t need anything. It came from a good place, I knew, but it was beginning to feel smothering. It was tough to get over your parents’ passing when people kept coming by and reminding you about it.
I steered my bike around the SUV and pulled into the driveway. The motion caused the flood lights to come on, bathing the area in harsh light. Behind me, someone stepped out of the SUV.
Expecting it to be a neighbor with a casserole dish, I turned and put on my best smile. But it wasn’t a neighbor, and they didn’t have a casserole dish.
It was the same boy that had fled from the house five years ago. The one I had fled from at the expo today.
“Hey, Erica,” Hunter said, flashing me the same charming smile. “Got time for an old friend?”
15
Erica
I gawked at the boy standing on my front lawn. Seeing Hunter at the expo was jolting enough. So was knowing that he was in town. But having himhere, at my house?
I can’t believe he’s here.
“You, uh, okay?” he asked with a nervous laugh. “You ran out of the expo like your hair was on fire, and now you’re as white as a sheet.”
“No. I mean, yes! I’m okay. I, uh, had to leave the expo because my boss called. I had to go to work. I’m a bartender at the Buckeye Brewery.”
I was rambling like an idiot, but it was tough to put together coherent sentences with all the adrenaline surging through my veins.Hunter Cade is back. At my house.
“Buckeye? No shit?” he asked. “I used to know the bartender there, back when we were in high school. He served me even though I was underage.”
“Well, you’re looking at one of the new bartenders,” I said. “And Idon’tserve high schoolers.”
“You always were a stickler for the rules. Except when it came to safety. You always forgot to buckle your seatbelt, and…” He pointed. “You’re not wearing a helmet.”
“I ride on the Belt Park Trail. I’m going too slow to hurt myself.”
He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. “I was going to, uh, ask if you wanted to get a drink somewhere. But since you just got back from a brewery…”
“I have beer here,” I quickly offered. My throat tightened as I asked, “Do you want to come inside?”
Hunter smiled at me. “Yeah. I’d like that.”
I opened the garage door and rolled my bike inside. “Oh man, the Mustang is still here?” Hunter asked, lifting the protective cover.
“Sure is. Dad never did get it working.”