“Yeah, business,” I said. “It’s almost like fate brought us together.”
It was a dumb thing to say, and I regretted it as soon as the words left my mouth. Fate intervened forimportantthings, like to save a life, or to fulfill true love. Fate didn’t weave its web to create small businesses.
I was still surging from the excitement of my new business, and from the cheap champagne, and because I was getting used to having Hunter around again. Clearing my throat, I jumped forward into a topic I had been avoiding since he got back.
“Say, whydidyou leave so quickly five years ago?”
The question was so blunt that Hunter almost choked on his champagne. “Oh. I don’t know.”
“It…” I hesitated, then went on. “It didn’t have to do with me, did it?”
I held my breath while waiting for his response. Hunter sipped his champagne, put the flute down, and then studied it for a long time.
“I was dealing with a lot of stuff back then,” he said, dark eyes flirting up to mine. “My parents’ death, trying to get settled in by myself, figuring out whether to go to community college or focus on my YouTube channel. Or, give it up and try to find arealjob. I was a mess back then, Erica. I had no idea how to move forward. In the end, I decided I needed a fresh start somewhere new. Moving in with my uncle in Portland ended up being the best thing for me.”
The way he described how he had been a mess reminded me of what I had told Lizzy at the brewery, howIwas a mess lately and didn’t know what I was going to do. I gazed over at Hunter and felt a new connection to him, like I finally understood what he had been going through all those years ago.
And I also felt like a self-absorbed asshole. I had assumed Hunter’s sudden departure was because of me, when in reality it was because he was dealing with the weight of life bearing down on him.
“You made the right choice,” I said. “You moved out west and focused on your channel, it became a huge success, and now you’re engaged…”
“Yeah,” he quickly said. “It was the right choice.”
The phone suddenly vibrated on the counter. Hunter reached across me—bringing back that delicious, intoxicating scent—and grabbed the phone. I saw Carmen’s name on the screen.
He ignored the call and shoved his phone in his pocket.
“How is Carmen?” I asked.
“Oh, she’s good,” Hunter said. “Really good. Busy with her job. She works a lot.”
The subject prompted me to take another deep pull from my bad champagne. “She must be really special for you to finally settle down.”
Hunter blinked at me. “What do you mean?”
“Well, back in high school, you seemed to date a different girl every week,” I explained as if it was obvious. “You were kind of a player.”
He grunted. “I wouldn’t say I was a player. I just liked to explore my options.”
“Same thing,” I said. “What made you finally get serious with Carmen?”
He shrugged as if the question made him uncomfortable. “I was just waiting for the right woman, I guess.”
“What does she do?”
“She’s a CPA. Financial auditing, mostly for non-profit organizations.”
I drank the rest of my glass then refilled it myself. “Wow, she must be really smart.”
He nodded. “You have no idea. She’s like Rain Man when it comes to numbers.”
“Rain Man?” I asked.
He looked sideways at me. “Come on. You’re only a year younger than me. You should get that reference.”
“That old Tom Cruise movie? That came out long before either of us were born!”
“Yeah, but it’s a classic. Dustin Hoffman’s character is an autistic savant, and he’s really good with numbers.” His smile faded. “Carmen’s not a savant, but she was born to work with spreadsheets.”