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“Just think about it,” he whispered.
————
The headstone atop the loose earth beside me would be my new form of company on the porch. I held my cup of coffee between my interlocked fingers, rocking slightly in Dad’s chair, as I looked at the newly engraved piece of marble:
Brody Charles Hammersmith
December 15, 1954?November 28, 2023
Loving father and husband
Hunter had been able to put a rush on the engraving and convince the headstone company to deliver the stone the day of the funeral. They would be returning in a few days to cement it into the ground. I made a mental note to call the company and ask them to pick it up and add Mom before they did that.
The sliding glass door opened and Hunter stepped through, pulling my attention away from my father’s final resting place beside me.
“Almost everyone’s gone home,” he said, stepping around me and plopping down into the other chair. “Dana’s just getting rid of the stragglers.”
I nodded. “Thank God. I’m ready for it to be over.”
“I thought you might be.” Slowly, he rocked, his eyes locked on me. I didn’t care that my knees were pulled up to my chest and that he had a straight-shot view of my panties beneath the skirt of my black dress. He didn’t seem to notice. “Can we talk?”
“Depends on what you want to talk about.”
“Us,” he said softly. “We haven’t yet.”
I pursed my lips and looked out at the silhouette of the mountains. The sun had set an hour or so ago, and all that remained were shadows and stars. “I don’t know how I feel about you moving in here,” I sighed. “Especially if it means selling your house. There’s a lot that’s still unknown, and I don’t think either of us is in a position to make major decisions right now.”
He nodded to himself. “You don’t want me to move in?”
“We still have a lot of issues to work out before I’m fully comfortable with you.”
“Like the forty-nine percent.” He sighed.
“Like the forty-nine percent.”
“I’m sorry I tried to go back on that.” His chair stopped rocking, drawing my attention to him. “In all honesty, Lottie, I didn’t realize that it was such a big deal when I offered it to you in the first place. I only found out later from my father that my mom had practically built that part of the business from the ground up as a labor of love. He’s… very attached to it.”
Oh. Why didn’t he just say that to begin with?
“I panicked when he told me that.” The shy little grin on his face made my chest ache. “I shouldn’t have tried to take it away. That’s on me.”
I sipped my coffee, taking a moment to think about what I wanted to say. I couldn’t come up with a response to him. I appreciated his apology, genuinely, and appreciated the explanation. At least he wasn’t going to take it away from me without good reasoning. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Jared,” I mumbled.
“You already apologized for that.”
“I’m apologizing again.” I glared at him. “I panicked when I realized that you knew who he was. And I knew the kind of shit he was capable of. I didn’t want you to think that I was anything like him, but I kind of dug my own grave with that.” I glanced down at Dad’s grave beside me and snorted.
“I get that,” Hunter sighed. “He’s a piece of shit.”
“He is,” I nodded.
The sliding glass door opened again and Dana’s head poked through. “Hunter, can you help me? I can’t get your parents to leave.”
“Of course.” He pushed himself up onto his feet and leaned over me, placing the smallest and gentlest of kisses against my forehead. “I’ll sleep at home tonight and give you some space.”
“Okay,” I said. Please don’t.
“I’ll see you soon.”
