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Eventually he stands to deal with the aftermath. I lean over and switch on the lamp on a side table, purely so I can watch him stroll around my apartment naked and delicious.
The curtains are still drawn as I sped out this morning, a mental and exhausted stressball after my meeting with Kyle. My half-unpacked suitcase is in the corner, spilling clothes from my trip to Vermont. The coffee table is covered in piles of papers as I studied the financials for Collingwood Farm for the past few nights, using every minute I had to figure out if my plan was even feasible.
Hunter finds his way to my bathroom and when he returns, picks up his trousers and pulls on his boxers. His eyes are on the papers on the coffee table, and he shoots me a glance. “What’s all this?”
I bite my lip. “We might have a conundrum.”
“We do?” His gaze drops to my breasts and he smirks. “I like you that way.” Yet he passes me his shirt and I pull it on, my heart suddenly in my throat.
“Not that type of conundrum.” I’m about to drop a bomb.
He sits down next to me and picks up a set of financial statements.
“The sale of Collingwood Farm—”
“I don’t care, Beth, you do what you need to do with the farm. It doesn’t matter.” He tosses the papers back on the coffee table and pulls me close.
“The sale has been cancelled.”
“Cancelled?” He stares at me, eyes wide. “Why?”
“And Kyle might not speak to me right now, but he’ll come around at some point.”
“What have you done?” he asks, the concern for my relationship with Kyle utmost in his mind by the tone of his voice.
“And I need to apply for a loan of around three million dollars and I don’t know if I’ll get that on my law credentials alone—not once I’ve quit.”
His eyes go wide. “Jeez, Bee? What’s going on?” He reaches for my hand and clasps it between his. “I have to warn you that I might have a mental block when it comes to loans of three million dollars.”
I bite my lip, the moment upon me. I take a deep breath. “I refused to sell the farm for development and offered to buy Kyle out as a going concern. His hands are tied, and he’s out of pocket by a solid million at least, but I don’t care.” I turn to Hunter and burrow my face into his neck. “I took a leap of faith too.”
Hunter’s arms circle around me, harboring me against his warm safe chest. “Why did you do that? Are you going to become a dairy farmer now? What about your law degree? Your partnership here? All your hard work…”
I plant a trail of kisses along his neck to his jaw and top it with one on his lips. “None of that makes me happy. This has never been my purpose. I know I’ll find something that adds value and makes a difference to people’s lives in Ashleigh Lake. This corporate law… I’ve hated this part of me for so long, I just didn’t realize it.” I look up to meet his gaze. “Work will figure itself out. All I know is that I never want to be separated from you again and this is what I want. More than anything else.”
He squeezes me closer to him and a shudder runs through his body. “God, I don’t know what to say.”
“Say nothing and kiss me.”
He kisses me deeper, and in me everything feels so right and light, that pure joy fills me—I’ll finally be going home with Hunter, and it’s a reunion that has been years in the making.
EPILOGUE - BETH
The drive up to Hunter’s house is all dark grays and stark white from the snow we had overnight. This is what I love about Vermont. Every season is distinct and different and there’s something to love in each one of them. In the blue twilight I spot our house through the trees. Hunter insists I call it our house, but my head is slow to catch on. I mean, we’ve only been together for two months and back in this house for a few days.
I glance towards the cottage where the lights are switched on. Bob is well installed and has been so since late October. There’s a car parked in front of the cottage which means he has company too. This makes me smile. We weren’t here when he moved in, but Jessie made sure he had everything he needed.
We only arrived three days ago from San Francisco. I had to work my notice period, but once Hunter made himself at home, it became evident that he really was keen to spend more time on the west coast. If I hadn’t pushed to move to Vermont, he would have happily stayed a year or two. Even more. With Derek being on site at the factory and Hunter managing everything he has to do online, there was no rush. But I had plans that I didn’t want to put on hold any longer.
Hunter shoveled the snow this morning, but more fell during the day. The many tire tracks in the fresh snow tell a story—there’s been a ton of activity here today. What did Hunter get up to while I went out to Montpelier? He’s been so secretive lately. This is going to be one epic Christmas. Bill has fully recovered from his triple bypass and there’s such an air of relief and celebration that hangs over Brodie and Logan land that it can’t be anything but an epic Christmas.
I park, gather my purse and several bags of rushed shopping, and make my way to the front door and the soft light that glows from inside. As I look through the glass door, my heart stutters. Oh. My. God. It’s breathtaking. I push open the door and try to take everything in. Hunter didn’t bother with Christmas lights outside because there wasn’t time, but inside, he has turned his house into a… Christmas fairy tale.
I drop everything at the door, take my boots and coat off, and slip my feet into my slippers.
“Oh, you’re here! Surprise!” Lucy calls from the kitchen as I walk deeper into the house. She only arrived from France yesterday. Hunter bought a very long list of ingredients for her for the Christmas Eve dinner she wanted to make and had it all ready for her to dive into today.
“Hi. Did you—” I break off, at a loss for words.
