A loud roll of thunder interrupted her thoughts, and she flopped back down on her pillow. No sunrise shoot today, then.
She fumbled for her phone, disconnected it from the charger, and squinted at the blinding light of her screen. There was already a message from Hunter.
No shoot today, babe. Get some extra sleep.
She smiled and replied back,Yeah, I need it after last night.
You cowgirls have a late night?he wrote back, and she could just see his crooked half smile filled with insinuation.
She smirked.I hate bachelorette parties on principle, but last night was the worst. I spent most of the time trying to find Jenna and Caroline outside.
She waited for his response, which took longer than she expected, but then, she knew he wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer in the early morning.
They left?he finally responded.
She thought back to the night before and shook her head again even now. It was the stupidest thing she’d ever seen or heard of, all the girls trying to be stereotypical cowgirls but looking more like Daisy Duke working at Hooters. And then there was the guy…
The girls surprised Jenna with a stripper, she wrote, hoping that would be enough for him to understand.
Oh…he texted in return, which made her sigh in relief.
She tilted her head in thought, then smiled and said,On the plus side, he looked like Matthew McConaughey. But Jenna never wanted a stripper. She and Caroline left the moment he appeared, and she was really upset.
His response was immediate.I can see that. Did the others stay?
Again, Mal shook her head, silently laughing now.Oh, I left Taryn for all that stuff. I got out of there to find my cousins. She said they had a great time. Lots of dramatics and drinking. Bethany slapped Alexis for making out with the stripper. Sophie came dressed in a flannel that was identical to mine from BBQ night, but decided leather shorts were a better touch. Maybe she thought you would be there.
She bit her lip as she waited for his response, wondering if he would take the bait.
On that note, I’m getting off and finding forks for my eyeballs. Go to sleep, beautiful.
She set the phone aside and hunkered down into the warmth of her bed. A lazy morning might be just what she needed after all the excitement this week. And a morning free of Hunter might just clear her head a little.
After getting more shuteye, she puttered around the cottage for a while, texted with Taryn, who was thankfully not as hungover as expected, but it didn’t take long for her to be completely stir-crazy with nothing to do. The day’s scheduled events were canceled, which would only really upset the kids, as it was supposed to be a kids’ water day.
Hunter had apparently done some scrambling with Tom and Jenna, and they found a house above the resort that had an entire movie theater screen in their basement. The family was not using the house, so they were able to shuttle the kids there instead.
Jenna and the girls were off doing a fitness Bridal Bootcamp thing spontaneously, and Mal had been invited, but hot yoga with the Barbie gang was not her idea of fun. She’d sent Taryn a message about it, knowing how she loved being among the group, but apparently last night had been enough. And while Mal might be out of her comfort zone on this whole extravaganza thing, there was no way she was going to spend her time taking pictures of the girls under these circumstances.
The problem was that she had nothing left to do. Taryn and Dan were editing everything, and she’d only be in the way, looking over their shoulders.
A faint rumbling of thunder gave her pause. The storm would make for an excellent addition to her resort repertoire. She imagined some of the vistas and views she had seen so far over the course of the week, and the idea of catching them again with the clouds and the rain… It could be brilliant.
In a strange twist of fate, just at that moment her phone buzzed, and Hunter had texted her.
Don’t go out today, okay? Really slick and more rain on the way. I’m dealing with resort stuff, but I’ll come by later and pick you up.
Mal didn’t think that required a response from her. Despite what Hunter thought, she had a job to do, and she’d been out in far worse weather than this for a shoot. She texted Taryn her plan and gave her an estimated time she should be back so they could edit these together. Then she tossed her phone onto the couch and hurried to get her boots and coat. This was a perfect opportunity for her, and no overprotective resort owner was going to ruin that.
Hunter finished the rounds at the few houses that tended to have trouble when it rained, checked in with the grounds crew to see if there was any trouble with landslides or trees down, and fielded four phone calls with Tom about Jenna’s worries for the wedding on Saturday. He repeatedly assured his friend that everything would be fine in two days. The forecast showed things clearing up this evening, and nothing else coming until next week.
He prayed the forecast was accurate.
Hunter drove down to Mal’s cottage, wanting to see her, hoping they could grab lunch, and generally just wanting to be with her. The next few days were going to be crazy, with the wedding on Saturday and rehearsals and everything tomorrow… It might be the only day they would actually get to spend time together.
And then what?
He didn’t really want to think about what came next. How could he explain to her what she made him feel and how deeply he felt it? After less than a week? It was certifiably crazy, and he knew it.