Love Inspired Suspense July 2015 #1 (62 page)

She had her family. She had her career. The future looked bright. Once she crossed the Florida border, she would feel that she had left Cedar Key and its memories behind. Then she would be ready to embrace the future.

A future without Hunter.

* * *

Hunter eased to a stop on Dock Street, his boat trailing behind the Tundra. A family of tourists crossed in front of him. After a slow September, the cooler October weather was bringing more activity to Cedar Key, which helped everybody, including Darci.

The small group stepped up onto the sidewalk and headed toward the Island Trader gift shop. Hunter pressed the gas and sighed. The omelet he'd had for breakfast sat like a rock in his gut.

Meagan was gone. He'd seen her leave. At least, he'd seen a cab stop at the curb in front of Darci's store and had watched her climb in. She didn't notice him. He was sitting at a stop sign a block away, waiting to cross Second. Even though traffic was clear, he didn't budge. He sat for several seconds staring at her, trying to imprint her image on his mind, until a horn had sounded behind him.

By now she would be at the bus station, ready to head back to her life in California. It was for the best. He really didn't know what he wanted. And she had her own issues. She needed time to heal.

He reached the end of Dock Street and followed the curve around to the left, headed toward the city boat ramp. As he drew closer, he spotted Blake sitting on a bench looking his way, his right leg extended and his cane propped against the seat next to him. What was
he
doing there? He had a boat of his own, a really nice one. So sitting at the city ramp watching boaters come and go wasn't a usual pastime for him.

Hunter backed his boat down the ramp, and by the time he stepped out of the truck, Blake had made his way onto the dock. He stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the metal railing.

“I figured you'd show up.”

“What do you mean?”

“Any time something's bothering you and you need to clear your head, you take the boat out.”

Hunter stepped into the water to unhook the winch cable from the boat. “What makes you think something's bothering me? I can't work right now. I figured I'd go fishing.”

“Uh-huh. So where is Meagan?”

“I assume she's at the bus station.”

“You let her leave.” It was a statement, not a question, but it was filled with disbelief. And a good dose of disgust.

“Of course I let her leave. What was I supposed to do, arrest her?” He stepped onto the dock, holding the bow line. He had to do everything left-handed, because his right was pretty much useless. A cast ran from his shoulder to below his elbow, and inside, a pin and screws held the bone together. And Blake seemed more prepared to harass than help.

“No, but you could have told her you wanted her to stay.”

Hunter guided the boat off the trailer, then squatted to tie the line to a cleat. “What if I don't want her to stay?”

“That question doesn't even deserve a response.”

Blake was right. It didn't. He wanted Meagan to stay as much as he had ever wanted anything. But to ask her would involve making promises he wasn't sure he could keep. Maybe not in so many words, but the implications would be there.

He had thought about it and prayed about it and agonized over the decision until it had almost driven him crazy.

He moved up the dock and got into his truck. “It doesn't matter whether I want her to stay. She has a life in California. Now that Edmund is going to be put away for a long time, she has no reason not to go back. What she does with her life is none of my concern.”

“If Meagan's staying or leaving wasn't a big deal to you, you wouldn't have been so grouchy the past two weeks.”

“I haven't been grouchy.” He closed the door and stepped on the gas to pull the trailer up the ramp. After parking the truck, he returned to the dock.

Blake nailed him with a judgmental glare. “You want to know what your problem is?”

Hunter stepped onto the boat and moved to the back to start the motor. “No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me, anyway.”

“You're in love with her, but you're too thickheaded and proud to see it.”

“Pride doesn't have anything to do with it.”

“Yes, it does. You've spent your whole life wrapped up in always being the
good
son, nothing like your brother.”

Hunter scowled at Blake. He was the only one in Cedar Key who knew about Howard, and he was using it against him.

His friend obviously wasn't finished. “I know you don't want to hear this, but someone needs to tell you. You're so concerned about your squeaky-clean reputation, not one woman in a thousand is going to be perfect enough to meet your standards.”

“Look, I'm not just thinking of me. I'm thinking of her, too.”

“How?”

“Now that Edmund is no longer a threat, she'll ditch the alias and go back to her real name. How do you think the people of Cedar Key will take to being deceived for the past several months?” Everything she had presented them with had been a lie. How would they ever trust her? How could
he
ever trust her?

“The people of Cedar Key will be reasonable enough to see that she had no choice. And they'll admire her courage and strength and ingenuity.”

“Maybe that's true. But I'm responsible for setting an example for my kids.” He had drilled it into them how important integrity was. To always tell the truth, even when it was hard. He had standards to maintain, both as a mentor to young people and an officer of the law.

He untied the dock line, then kicked the motor into reverse. Even though he was moving away, Blake's words still reached him.

“Someone was trying to kill her, so she changed her name, just like they do in witness protection. Now she's changing it back. It's not a big deal.”

Hunter backed away from the dock, then shifted to forward. Blake managed one more comment.

“Face it. You're the only one with a problem.”

He gunned it and sped away from the ramp. Maybe he was. But his problem wasn't pride. It was trust. Being repeatedly lied to had a tendency to make one leery of believing what others said.

He had never set out to be “the good son.” He had ended up with the title by default. Almost from the time they could walk, Howard had seemed bent on destruction. And had caused their parents countless hours of grief.

Hunter had always tried to be as good as his brother was bad. Praise was a great motivator. So, unlike Howard, he towed the line, always took the right path and never got into trouble.

And he was mighty proud of it.

He pulled back on the throttle as realization broadsided him. Was that what Blake was talking about? Was he really proud? And was that pride making him so judgmental of others that he didn't consider Meagan good enough for him?

Or was he, as Blake said, so concerned about his great reputation that he didn't want to consider hooking up with someone who might have a few blemishes on theirs?

With Denise, it hadn't been an issue. She was a pastor's daughter, raised in the church, well thought of in the community, known for her transparency.

Since her death, he hadn't been willing to love again. But now, for the first time in four years, he was ready. Something had happened over the past few weeks, so gradual he hadn't noticed the change. Healing had begun.

Was Meagan the one? He didn't know.

But one thing was certain. If he let her go back to California, he would never find out.

* * *

Time moved at a snail's pace.

Meagan sighed and dropped her gaze from the clock on the wall to the book of poetry lying open in her lap. Voices buzzed around her, and across the room, a mother tried to quiet a crying baby.

The door opened, but she refused to lift her head. She had spent the past hour and a half looking up in anticipation every time someone opened the bus station door, then drowning in disappointment when it turned out to be yet another stranger.

No more. It was time to face the stark truth. Hunter wasn't coming.

She turned the page, to “Twenty Years Hence,” by Walter Savage Landor
.

A figure stepped into her peripheral vision and drew closer. Probably another passenger waiting for his departure time.

Twenty years hence my eyes may grow,

If not quite dim, yet rather so...

It was a man wearing shorts and tennis shoes. She could tell that much without her eyes leaving the page. He approached and sat immediately to her right. With all the empty chairs in the place, he had to choose the one right next to her?

Yet yours from others they shall know,

Twenty years hence.

A familiar scent wafted toward her, the faintest hint of evergreen, tipped with spice. Her thoughts tumbled over one another.

“Mind if I interrupt your reading?” The voice close to her ear was liquid smooth, sending goose bumps cascading over her.

She squelched the unexpected urge to throw herself into his arms, and instead rested her hands on the book, fingers entwined. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to ask you to stay.”

“I've already bought my ticket.”

“You can turn it in.”

She shifted in her chair to angle herself toward him. Ever since she had decided to leave, she had wanted nothing more than for Hunter to ask her to stay. Now that he was doing just that, she was no longer sure. He had given her no indication that he felt anything deeper than friendship for her. If it was all going to lead to a dead end, she would be better off leaving now.

“Why? Why do you want me to stay?”

He glanced around him, and she followed his gaze. No one seemed interested in their business. No one except the clerk. She was the same one who had been at the ticket counter the last time. She currently had no customers and sat staring at them, one ear cocked. She wasn't even trying to be inconspicuous.

Hunter shifted in his chair. “Can we talk outside?”

She shrugged. “Whatever you have to say, I don't see any reason why it can't be said right here.”

He looked around again. They had garnered the attention of a couple other people. “Come on, Meagan, let's go outside.”

“You're way too concerned about what everyone thinks of you. You want me to stay? Prove it.”

He heaved a sigh, full of resignation, and his eyes locked with hers. “Yes, I want you to stay. I want you to stay, because if you leave, I'm afraid I'll never see you again. And I don't know that I could live with that.”

“And if I stay?”

“I don't know.” His gaze shifted to the opposite wall. For several long moments he was silent, the struggle inside evident on his face.

And she waited. He didn't have to commit to forever.
She
wasn't ready to commit to forever. But he had to at least be willing to give it a shot. She wasn't going to stay in Cedar Key to be just another one of Hunter's friends. She had friends at home.

Finally, he turned toward her and reached for her hand. His right hand rested in his lap, his arm still in the cast.

“I was happy with my life. I had my friends, my job, my church activities and my volunteer work. I stayed busy, and life was satisfying. Until you came. The more I got to know you, the more I began to see that something was missing. Something I had convinced myself that I didn't need. I was wrong.”

He leaned toward her, tenderness in his eyes. If he was aware of the audience they now had, he apparently didn't care. “Remember when you asked me to show you what it's like to feel loved and cherished? I kissed you. And it shook me to the core. You know why? Because I meant it. Every bit of it.”

Meagan released a breathy sigh. The audience was no longer forefront in
her
mind, either. Hunter had just in so many words told her he loved her. Her heart stuttered, and her stomach settled into a quivery lump.

He squeezed her hand. “I love you, Meagan. And if you're ready to give this thing a try, I am, too. Please come back to Cedar Key with me.”

She opened her mouth, but the words stuck in her throat. Hunter had come for her. He was asking her to return with him. And he had just told her he loved her. In front of a dozen strangers. But there was one more thing she needed. Without it, she wouldn't go back.

“What about trust? You have mine. You've had it almost from the start. But if I don't have yours, it'll never work.”

He drew in a deep breath. “I trust you, sweetheart. I see your integrity, your honesty and your selflessness. Lying goes against everything inside of you. I couldn't see that before. My pride got in the way. But now I know. You're beautiful, inside and out.” His gaze locked with hers and held. “Please come back with me.”

Joy flooded her. Hunter had just given her everything she desired. “Yes, I'll come back.”

Applause broke out, started by the clerk, reminding Meagan that they
did
in fact have an audience. Hunter stood and pulled her to her feet.

“Let's get that ticket cashed in.”

When they reached the counter, the clerk already had the money counted out. “Good luck to you kids. I hope you find happiness.” Her eyes locked with Meagan's as she tilted her head toward Hunter. “Honey, you need to get some help for that temper of yours.”

“What?” She looked at Hunter. Then realization dawned, and she shook her head. “Oh, no, that wasn't me. He got shot. I didn't—”

Hunter began to laugh. With a hand on the small of her back, he guided her toward the door, still laughing. They stepped out into the October sunshine, and her own laughter mixed with his. Giddiness swept through her, an odd sense of weightlessness.

She had come to Cedar Key to escape. To live out her life alone, in safe obscurity.

Instead she had found love.