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Trey held baby Trey in his arms, and baby Trey kicked his legs and protested. None of them paid any attention.
“Is she with Roger or not?” Trey asked.
Hunter sucked in a long breath. “I think what you’re really asking is, do I want to be with her?”
Marshall grunted. “How many SEALs does it take to find out about a love story?” He flashed a grin. “Oh, it takes a Night Stalker. Right, are you guys going to be together or not? And what about Roger? Did she dump him? Is she gonna dump him?”
Hunter and Trey both leveled Marshall with a look. Neither of them thought his little joke about Navy SEALs was funny.
“I don’t know if she’s going to be with Roger. Do I want to be with her? Yes. Gosh, I want to be with her. I basically told her that, but she also knows that I respect her and Roger.” Hunter would only tell the truth with his brothers and sister. They had been courteous enough not to ask him or put him on the spot recently, but of course they could see it. “I don’t know the guy very well, but why would she still want to date him?”
Marshall let out a sound that reminded Hunter of steam coming out of a radiator. “You never know the mind of a woman. It’s intricate and detailed, and they view things so differently. It’s like those rare spotted lions in Africa.”
Trey rolled his eyes and slugged his brother in the shoulder. “You sound so misogynistic. I can’t even explain how horrible you sound. It’s like you think women aren’t people. Like they don’t have desires and worries and all the same things we have, idiot.”
“Yeah,” Hunter said to Marshall in his most sarcastic way. He agreed with Trey, but it was funny to hear Trey chastise Marshall’s idiocy.
“What?” Marshall stuck his chest out. “I know women are people. I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that, especially compared to military people like us, they don’t have an ordered chain of command about things. Or maybe you’re right, Trey. People who don’t think in the same ordered way seem very confusing. Is that better?”
Trey didn’t look convinced, but he kept his eyes on Hunter. “You never convince me of anything.”
In response, Marshall slugged Trey in the shoulder. “Shut up, dude. I know what I meant. You guys know what I meant. I was just trying to talk. Maybe I didn’t do it as eloquently as the great Trey, but I’m saying that this whole thing is confusing to look at. Especially when we have Roger, the do-gooder. He prances around, speaks like he’s from Harvard, and wears golf clothes and tweed jackets, which are way too hot, by the way.”
Marshall was on a roll, and though his anger was directed at Trey, Hunter was interested in what he was saying. Hunter was actually learning a lot of things about Roger.
Marshall kept talking. “The guy is a pansy. Sure, Kat tells me Cheryse says Roger would be a good husband. Roger would be stable. Roger is kind and he would never act like her ex-husband did.” Marshall let out a curse word. “We’re not pansies, but we won’t beat up our wives. Just because we know how to deal with evil in the world, that doesn’t mean we use those skills when we shouldn’t. Well, except when you ran her over with the motorcycle. I guess there is that.” He had a laugh at Hunter’s expense.
Hunter was not amused. “I didn’t hit her with my motorcycle on purpose. Yes, it was my fault, and I take full responsibility for it. But I would never hurt Reese on purpose.”
Marshall shrugged. “True.”
Trey sucked in a long breath, like he was already exhausted from this conversation. He put baby Trey back on the ground.
Trey Junior bolted for the beach.
Trey gave Hunter a look. “I have to go chase my toddler, but make sure you really aren’t crossing lines if Reese doesn’t want them crossed. You guys have a history. I know it was messy with Trent. It always was. And I actually think that’s kind of normal. If Kensi and I had been both male and both of us had liked Ava, it would’ve driven me crazy.” He glanced toward the beach; Baby Trey was making great progress.
Marshall bolted away from them, right on baby Trey’s heels. “I got him. You keep imparting your big brother wisdom.”
Trey and Hunter couldn’t help but smile. It was nice to see how protective Marshall was with the babies.
“You don’t have to say anything else.” Hunter was about done with this conversation. He’d heard all the brotherly wisdom he could endure right now. He turned toward the salon. “I’ve got to get back.”
Trey’s hand settled on his shoulder before he could leave. “Bro. We are all cheering for you and Reese, but I just want to make sure that you don’t hurt her. And that you don’t get hurt. She might pick a guy like Roger. Not all women can handle a Stone man.”
“True.” Hunter chuckled and cuffed his brother’s shoulder. “I guess we’ll see.”
Chapter 27
The next weekend, Hunter helped Cheryse finish all the boxes and plant them. She giggled, feeling like a little kid on Christmas day. “I can’t believe I’m going to have all these spaces for vegetables and flowers and herbs.” She turned and threw her arms around Hunter. “Thank you.”
“Of course.” He pulled back, grinning widely. “You’re going to be the true town witch, that’s all I’m saying. Making your potions.”
“Yes, I will.” She then hobbled to the deck. “Did you notice how good I’m walking?”
“You are walking really well. But remember what the doctor said: a lot of times people start feeling good, and then they re-injure the ankle. So maybe you should go back to the scooter for the rest of the day.”
Cheryse waved a dismissive hand through the air. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.” But she grabbed her scooter and took his advice. He was so cute about doing everything, but she wanted to get her hands dirty, which led to doing a little hop-hobble thing as they planted.
