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Jared’s hand wrapped around my bare bicep, pulling me out onto the porch. Dad’s frame took up the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. “Lottie, he doesn’t love you.”
“Yes, he does,” I snapped.
“I do,” Jared said.
“No man that truly loves a woman would tell her she was the reason her mother died,” Dad fumed. “I have half a mind to get my goddamned shotgun from upstairs.”
Dad’s words stirred something inside me. I’d almost forgotten what Jared had said to me in the heat of the moment. It was easy when he was like this—weepy, apologetic, loving. But he was a monster.
“I think you should leave,” I breathed.
“Lottie, no,” Jared said, his voice sterner. His hands fumbled in the pocket of his hoodie. “Look, I… I came here to do more than apologize. I love you, Charlotte. More than life. More than myself. More than anyone I’ve ever met.”
“Jesus,” Dad cursed.
“I’m so sorry for everything. I’m a piece of shit, I know that. But you make me a better man. And I want that for myself, you know? I want to be that better man. For you, for us.”
“You… want me to make you better?”
“For us. Make me better for us,” he grinned.
Before I could comprehend what was happening, lightning flashed again and he was on one knee, his face morphing with every flash. From Hunter to Jared, Hunter to Jared, Hunter to Jared. What was happening?
“I want to do everything in the world with you,” Jared said, sliding a little velvet box from his pocket. He popped it open revealing a pretty, shimmering diamond ring. “Marry me, Lottie.”
“Oh, fuck no,” Dad said.
“Jared,” I croaked.
“Be with me forever. We can do it right, baby. We can start over.”
Tears dripped down my cheeks but not a single sob crossed my lips. I just stared, stared at him, at the ring, for what felt like hours. My feet grew soggy in the pooling rain, my heart racing, and before I could open my mouth again, Dad’s foot collided with Jared’s shoulder.
“Get the fuck off my land,” Dad barked as Jared’s body rolled down the front porch steps. He landed at the bottom on his hands and knees, coating himself in mud. The open ring box lay face down in the dirt, and Jared scrambled to pick it back up, hoisting himself to his feet. “And don’t you dare come back unless you want to leave in an ambulance.”
Jared’s footsteps fell hard against the stairs until he was back up on the porch, coated in mud and grass, soaking wet from the rain, one hand clutching the ring box in a death grip. His other wrapped itself around my forearm, tight and unwavering, hard enough to leave a bruise. “I’m not leaving without her,” he called over my shoulder.
“I’m getting the rifle,” Dad snapped, disappearing behind the doorway.
I could hear his footsteps banging against the staircase as I stared headlong at Jared. “No,” I said softly.
“What do you mean, no?”
“No,” I said again. “I don’t want to marry you.” His grip tightened on my arm. I sucked in air through my teeth as the wind whipped at my hair.
“You’re marrying me, Lottie.” His fingers fumbled with the ring box until he freed the dirt-covered diamond from its case and forced it onto my finger. “I’m not taking no for an answer.”
I tugged, trying to get my arm free, but he only dug in harder, leaving little half-moons from his fingernails. “Please let go,” I whimpered. “Please?—”
Gasping for breath, I shoved the blankets from my body, scrambling until I was upright in my bed. It was a dream. Just a fucking dream, just a nightmare of the worst goddamn moment I’d had with Jared. My nightshirt barely covered anything below my waist, and as I stared down at my body, I couldn’t help but still feel the indentation of Jared’s hand on my arm. If only he’d stayed away after that night.
Just a dream.
But why was he Hunter?
————
The sun shone through the break in the clouds, warming the little amount of skin I had left exposed to the crisp air. Dad looked out at the expanse of our property, his chin tipped up, his eyes locked on the tree line that led up into the mountains. He’d barely been able to move after the wedding, and even though he’d recovered a little, he was worse off now than he was before.
