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A smile brightened his face, and he winked at her. “I am a charmer.”
“With everything that happened between us, I just had all these bad feelings toward you, but now things are changing.”
Hunter paused. “I don’t take your words lightly, Reese. You mean a lot to me.” He moved to her side and took her hand. “I know you are with Roger. I get that, and I get how stupid I acted after Trent passed away. The past couple days have brought me back to the real me. I’ve been thinking a lot about how I treated you, and how I took my anger out on you for everything with Trent. I’m sorry.”
It felt like everything had changed in just a matter of seconds.
“Will you forgive me? Please say it.”
She blinked and then realized a tear was falling down her cheek. “Of course I forgive you. Will you forgive me?”
He hesitated. “For what?”
“For not being there for you when it all happened. I know I had Roger and all of that, but I should have handled everything differently.”
He nodded, then smiled. “Yeah.”
“Say it.”
“I forgive you, too.” Then he bent and pulled her into a hug.
She relished the feel of his body against hers. Finally, the air was cleared between them.
She pulled back. “I’m glad you chose to pay your penance.”
The corners of his lips turned up. His eyes roved across her mouth, then back to her eyes. She felt that little flip-flop in her stomach, the kind she knew all too well when it came to Hunter. “I’ll pay as much penance as I need to be with you, Reese.”
Something felt off about his words. He wasn’t talking about the motorcycle accident anymore.
Chapter 21
Hearing Cheryse say those words meant a lot to Hunter. “Thank you. I didn’t know how much I needed your forgiveness until I hurt you so badly.” He cringed and closed his eyes for a second, then flashed them back open. “Reese, I want you to know that I don’t care what happens in our lives. I don’t care if you marry Roger. I don’t care if you stay in town or if you go. I will always be your friend. I am that same guy you used to rely on. I am.”
A small smile played on her lips. “I believe you.”
For a long moment, they stared into each other’s eyes. Hunter couldn’t allow himself to hope for more, to hope that she might feel the same desire for a relationship that had plagued him this past week. Her friendship was enough. He had to be grateful for that.
He stood and gestured toward the pile of wood. “Let’s make some decisions on where you want these garden boxes built.”
“Could you build them so they are longer, along the fence line?” She pointed at it. “I want to maximize the space and still be able to get in there and pull weeds when I need to.”
“You bet.” He began taking measurements and jotting them down in the notes app on his phone.
For a long time, she said nothing, and he just worked in silence. Then her phone rang. He looked up at her. She frowned. “Sorry, I have to take this. Roger’s been calling all day, and I’ve ignored him.”
“Fine with me.” Hunter pointed to the side of the yard. “I’ll just grab some more wood.”
He could hear bits and pieces of their conversation as he got to the truck. He finished putting in some measurements, musing on how backwards this was. Roger might be the one talking to Cheryse on the phone, but Hunter was the one here, acting like her boyfriend.
That thought made him smile. “What do you think about that, bro?”
In his mind, he could see Trent’s mischievous grin, and he envisioned his brother walking over and giving him a fist bump.
Hunter laughed. “Maybe I haven’t done things perfectly, but I’m trying.”
You need to keep Reese away from the snooty fundraiser.
“I know.” Unrest simmered within him. The trouble was, he didn’t know how to keep her away from anyone. “But I’m just lucky she’s talking to me.”
