Here For You, page 7
As soon as the words left his lips, Chris knew he’d said the wrong thing.
Hunter stiffened. “You know what? I think the tea helped. I’m going back to bed.” He got to his feet, and Lucy shifted. “Thanks for... for waking me, but I’m sure I’ll be able to sleep now.” He leaned down and patted Lucy on her head. “Thanks, girl.” Then he walked out of the kitchen.
Chris listened to the whisper of Hunter’s bare feet on the stairs. He caught the soft click of the bedroom door. Whatever else was on Hunter’s mind, it wasn’t for sharing.
Chapter Nine
The smell of coffee teased Chris’s nostrils. Looks like Hunter is awake early again. Chris had heard Hunter’s alarm. He’d hoped Hunter would sleep in a little, given the hour they’d gone back to bed. On the comforter, Lucy yawned widely, then crept closer for a snuggle, like she did every morning.
“Hi there, girl.” Chris stroked her head. “You did good last night.” Lucy’s reactions had gone a long way in confirming Chris’s suspicions about the true state of Hunter’s health. Not that he was going to say a word—not yet, at any rate. They were just suspicions, after all. Chris needed to see more pieces of the puzzle before he committed himself to action.
One thing was obvious. There was more going on than Hunter was admitting.
Chris took a brisk shower, his mind never still as he washed, trying to come up with anything that might help the situation. By the time he was dressed in his jeans and a clean T-shirt, he’d come up with a possibility.
Now all he had to do was get Hunter to go along with it.
He went down the stairs, Lucy trotting ahead of him, and walked through the archway into the kitchen. Hunter was sitting at the table, his hands wrapped around his coffee mug. He glanced up as Chris approached, giving him a nod.
Christ, he looks tired. And like he really needed that coffee.
“Help yourself to breakfast. I’m not really hungry this morning.” Hunter held up his mug. “I’ll have some more coffee though.”
Chris refilled the mug, handed it back to Hunter, and then reached into the chicken-shaped ceramic egg basket and grabbed a handful. “Uh-uh. Your mom would kill me if I accepted that excuse. Scrambled okay? It had better be, because any other kind I try to make come out like bullets.”
Hunter arched his eyebrows. “Do I have a choice?” He peered down at Lucy and smiled as he petted her. “Your daddy is bossy. Did you know that?”
Chris snorted. “And Lucy is stubborn.” Except that was a lie. Lucy didn’t have a stubborn bone in her furry body. He got out the pan and broke the eggs into it. “And you can pour me a coffee, please.”
Hunter chuckled as he filled another mug.
Chris gestured to the egg basket. “Isn’t that the one you got for your mom that Christmas when you were seven?” He and Hunter had saved up their allowance, and had bought two identical baskets for their moms.
Hunter nodded. “She gave it to me when I got the house.”
“Do they still live on Manchester Drive?” Hunter’s dad owned a boat charter service.
Hunter laughed. “Could you really picture them moving from Saugatuck?”
“Yeah, no.” Chris smiled. “So when you and Cally left home, you didn’t move all that far. Just across the river. I can see that pleasing your folks. How often do you get to see them?” What surprised him was that Hunter hadn’t mentioned them since Chris had come to stay.
Hunter’s face tightened. “Maybe a couple of times a month. We don’t live in each other’s pockets. Besides, Dad’s always got his hands full this time of year.” He sipped his coffee, and inclined his head toward the pan. “If you burn the eggs, you get to eat every last mouthful.”
Chris pushed the wooden spatula around the pan, keeping the eggs on the move, the heat low under them. “How are they? Your parents?”
“Okay, I guess.”
Now Chris was worried. Hunter had always been really close to his parents. In fact, when they were teenagers, Chris had envied Hunter’s easygoing relationship with his dad.
This was not the time for keeping quiet.
“Is anything wrong?” he asked in as nonchalant a tone as he could muster. “Because I can’t help noticing that—”
“Look, my mom has a few ideas that I’m not happy about, okay?” Hunter interjected. “And seeing as she never lets up about them, it’s... easier to keep my distance.” Lucy pushed her nose higher on his thigh, and he gazed down at her, his hand gentle on her head.
Chris was dying to know more, but judging by Hunter’s closed expression, that was not going to be forthcoming. He gave the eggs his full attention.
“About last night...”
Chris stilled. “Yeah?” He didn’t turn to look at Hunter.
“I don’t want you worrying Cally with any of this, okay? So... don’t mention the nightmares.”
“Got it.” On that point, Chris was in complete agreement. Cally didn’t need to know that part. She had bigger things to occupy her.
“You given any more thought to how long you’re staying?”
Chris had wondered how long it would be before Hunter brought up the subject. “Not really. But if I’m in the way...” As if, in a house that size.
“No, no, you’re not.”
“And I can pay toward food. In fact, I was going to suggest I buy the next load of groceries.” If there was a prize for the perfect house guest, Chris was planning on winning it. He was not going to give Hunter any excuse to demand his exit.
“That... that’d be cool.”
Chris finished the eggs and spooned them onto two plates. “Eat ’em while they’re hot.”
Hunter’s lips twitched. “Do they bounce?”
Chris narrowed his gaze. “They’ll be delicious. Just try them. And do not feed them to Lucy.”
“I thought she didn’t beg.”
Chris smiled. “She doesn’t, but she loves eggs. That means you get a dewy-eyed stare the whole time you’re eating. I warn you—she’s hard to resist.” He’d succumbed on more than one occasion.
They ate in silence, and Chris smirked when Hunter dropped eggs onto the floor accidentally on purpose. Lucy’s nose twitched, but she stayed put.
Chris wasn’t that heartless. “Go on, girl. You can have it.”
The eggs were gone in a heartbeat, then Lucy went back to fixing Hunter with a hard stare.
Hunter laughed. “Wow. She’s got that look down to a fine art, hasn’t she?” He scooped the last bit of egg onto his fork and ate it. Lucy let out a soft woof, and lay down at his bare feet. Hunter peered at Chris. “So what are your plans for today?”
Chris got up to refill the mugs. “I was thinking it’s time I took Lucy for a really good run. When we got here, I promised her we’d go to the beach.”
Hunter’s lips twitched again. “You made a promise... to your dog.”
“Yeah.” Chris stared at him, as if daring him to comment further. When Hunter remained silent, Chris pressed ahead. “Dogs are still banned at Oval Beach, right?”
Hunter nodded. “Technically, they’re banned at Douglas Beach Park too, but no one pays any attention to that. Let’s face it, the beach isn’t that big.”
“Then that’s where we’ll go,” Chris said with a decisive nod of the head. “That means you too.”
Hunter blinked. “Excuse me? I don’t need to go chase a ball along the beach.”
“No, but some fresh air and exercise will do you good,” Chris persisted. If he was right about what was going on with Hunter, a bit of exercise was just what the doctor ordered.
Except Chris doubted Hunter had told any doctor about the nightmares.
“I get exercise,” Hunter groused. “I see my physio, remember?”
“Not the same thing and you know it.” Chris glanced at Lucy. “What do you think, girl? Shall we take Hunter with us to the beach?”
To his amusement, Lucy took the hem of Hunter’s jeans in her teeth and pulled on it.
Chris laughed. “See? Even Lucy thinks it’s a good idea. We don’t have to spend all day there, just an hour or so. And we could stop for lunch on the way home.”
“Where?” Hunter asked suspiciously.
“The Farmhouse Deli over on Blue Star Highway. I know it’s still there, because I passed it on my way into town. And you always said they were the best deli in West Michigan.” Chris went for the jugular. “Do they still make that belly buster sandwich you used to love so much? The one with the slow roasted pulled pork in barbecue sauce, smothered in melted cheese?”
Hunter glared. “Christ, you fight dirty.” He pushed his chair back and picked up the plates. “Okay, okay, I’ll come with you. But you’re buying lunch.” He stared at Lucy. “Happy now?” Lucy let out a joyous bark, and Hunter laughed, his face alight. “God, you’ll have me believing she understands every word we say.”
Privately, Chris was pretty sure that wasn’t far from the truth.
“I don’t remember there being this many steps down to the beach,” Chris said as they descended through the trees that lined the steps from the parking lot. “Or it being this difficult to get down there.”
Hunter laughed. “That’s because you’re out of shape. When was the last time you saw the inside of a gym?”
Chris snorted. “Er... never? Whereas you live in one, from the look of you.”
The fact that Chris had noticed Hunter’s physique sent a flood of warmth through him. “It’s a physical job, right? I have to stay fit.” Except he hadn’t set foot inside Snap Fitness since the fire.
There are a lot of places I haven’t been since then. If Cally had noticed, she hadn’t said a word.
“Do you still go to Oval Beach?”
“Not really.” Hunter couldn’t face the popular beach these days. For one thing, he didn’t want the memories to resurface. For another, he didn’t want to see the happy couples strolling through the sand dunes or playing in the surf.
That was too much like torture.
“Mom says it’s became a really gay-friendly spot,” Chris remarked. When Hunter jerked his head to stare at him, Chris shrugged. “It came up in conversation, when I told her I wanted to take Lucy for a walk on Oval Beach.”
“I suppose it has. Not that I’ve noticed.” Hunter kept his gaze focused on the steps, doing his damnedest not to react. When they were kids, Chris always had a knack of knowing when Hunter was lying, and he wasn’t about to test that ability.
They reached the beach, and Chris bent down to unfasten Lucy’s leash. He held the red ball aloft, and she focused on it instantly, her body still, waiting.
“There you go,” Chris called out, launching it into the surf. Lucy ran after it, bounding through the waves, her tail wagging so hard Hunter was sure it was going to come loose.
“She looks like she’s used to the water,” Hunter remarked. He laughed at the sight of Lucy swimming back to shore, the ball held carefully between her teeth. She raced toward Chris, dropped it at his feet, and gazed up at him with her usual expectant expression.
Chris stooped down to retrieve it before throwing it back into the water. He smiled as Lucy gave chase. “She loves it when we go to the beach. During the week she comes with me to the training center, and although there’s space for her to run around, there’s not all that much freedom. I think the beach is Lucy’s idea of doggy heaven.” He laughed as Lucy dropped the ball, then jerked her head, seeking it out.
“I can see why you didn’t want to give her up.” Hunter thought Lucy was adorable, a sweet-natured dog who seemed in tune with those people around her. The way she’d not budged from his side the previous night, as if knowing he needed comfort...
They strolled along the sand, throwing the ball for Lucy and laughing at her antics. The sun was warm on Hunter’s skin, and the sand felt great underfoot. He had to admit, this had been a wonderful idea. As the morning progressed, Hunter became aware of the tension seeping from him, driven away by the sunlight, the smell of the beach, and the feel of the warm breeze that caressed his bare arms and stirred his hair.
The nightmare that had made his skin crawl and sent ice dripping down his spine was fast becoming nothing more than a memory.
“Remember when we used to come down to the beach?”
Hunter snickered. “Are you thinking of the times when it was the three of us? Or those times when we snuck out and left Cally at home?”
Chris chuckled. “Oh God, she hated it when we did that.”
Cally had been thirteen at the time, a whiny brat who’d clung to them, demanding ice cream or wanting to play ball on the beach. Much as he loved his sister, at fifteen he hadn’t wanted to be saddled with her. He and Chris had often snuck out of the house, not telling anyone where they were going, and Cally had been pissed when they returned.
Hunter had loved those times. Alone with Chris, playing catch on the beach, or simply lying stretched out on towels, their skin damp from swimming... How hard he’d tried not to stare at Chris, contenting himself with sneaking a glance at him every now and then, noticing everything: the beads of water that glistened on his chest or collected in the hollows of his collarbones; his damp hair, brushed back off his face, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses; and the curve of his thigh as he bent one leg at the knee, his hands behind his head, his belly concave...
Fuck.
Hunter pushed down hard on the recollections, the familiar mantra replaying in his head, telling him it had been a phase, nothing more. Except wasn’t there a part of him that longed to believe it wasn’t just a phase? Wasn’t there a part of him that had longed to stretch out a hand to stroke Chris’s damp skin, caress it...?
Enough.
Coming to the beach had been a bad idea. Hunter couldn’t think why the hell he’d agreed in the first place. Except that was a lie. He knew all right.
Because I wanted to remember. To catch a glimpse of how we were, how I hoped we’d be. Hunter knew why he no longer frequented Oval Beach. He saw the couples, saw what they had...
And wanted it. Yearned for it, with all his heart.
But not with just anyone. There was only one man taking up space in Hunter’s heart.
The same man who’d crept in there all those years ago, and had never left.
Chapter Ten
“So you’re okay with that? You get the groceries while I go to my physio appointment?”
Chris assured Hunter it was fine. He’d drawn up a list after going through the cabinets, the refrigerator and the freezer. Plus, there were a few extras on there that Hunter hadn’t mentioned, but which Chris figured would be a nice surprise.
“I was thinking about roast chicken for dinner.”
Hunter grinned. “Like I’ll ever say no to chicken. There’s a deli on the way to Walmart that has the crispiest, most succulent chicken ever.”
Chris made a note, sighing inwardly. I guess I know the way to this man’s heart, not that it’ll do me any good. “Then I’d better be going. I don’t want to get there and find out all the chicken has gone.”
Hunter widened his eyes. “Don’t even joke about it. Get your ass out of here, now!” Then he chuckled.
Chris grabbed his car keys and the list. Lucy raised her head and Chris shook his head. “Sorry, girl. You stay here. I won’t be long.” She lowered her nose to rest it on her crossed paws.
“Chris?”
He paused at the front door. “Have I forgotten something?”
Hunter smiled. “Thanks for this morning. You were right. That walk was just what I needed to blow the cobwebs away.” He grinned. “Even if I did get an impromptu shower, courtesy of Lucy.”
“Hey, I did say you were standing too close.” Inside, Chris was buzzing. It might have been his imagination, but Hunter seemed more relaxed than Chris had seen him since his return. More like the Hunter he remembered.
He left Hunter getting ready for his appointment, and got into the car. Instead of heading for the highway, however, he drove onto Water Street and parked up by the water. Chris pulled up Cally’s number and clicked Call.
“Hey.” He could hear the smile in her voice. “You’re still alive, then. My brother hasn’t killed you yet.”
He laughed. “So far so good. I’m off to shop for groceries, and I wondered if you needed anything.”
“Aw, you sweet man. Steve did that yesterday. Which turns out to be a good thing, in the circumstances.”
“What do you mean?”
Cally sighed. “He’s been called away, for work.”
It was then Chris realized how little he knew about Cally’s life. “What does he do?”
“He’s a site superintendent. They’re excavating for a new warehouse, God knows where. I didn’t ask and Steve knows better than to tell me. When he talks about figures and diggers and deadlines, I usually switch off, because all of that is about as interesting as whale shit.”
Chris chuckled. “So there’s a problem on site?”
“Yeah. Apparently, one of their excavation machines slid down a ravine. A two hundred and fifty K machine.”
“Oh, so you gleaned that much.”
“Hey, you listen to enough of this stuff, something’s bound to slip through. Anyhow, it seems an operator made a miscalculation, and the machine is at the bottom of a culvert. Steve’s problem is to figure out how to get a one hundred-plus-ton machine out of there. He left here in a foul mood. He has no idea how long it will take to get the stupid thing out of there. The boss is gonna be pissed.”
“How long will he be gone?”
She huffed. “As long as it takes. He wasn’t going to go, to be honest.”
Chris could understand that, what with the baby due any day now. “Yet he did.”
“Yeah. That was my fault. I told him to go. Look, I feel fine, all right? And I’ll still be fine when he gets back late tonight. Or tomorrow, if things are really bad over there.”
Chris didn’t like the idea of Cally being on her own. “If you need anything, you will call, right?
