I should’ve been paying Minnie this time. At a minimum we should’ve called it even. We’d finished our session, but I’d stayed to chat while doing a little first aid.

The blisters on her fingers from her incessant checking that the front door was locked and the stove was off had opened, and I was concerned that they might get infected. Snapping on rubber gloves, I cleaned out the raw wounds and wrapped her fingers as we chatted away about my life. I’d told her all about Hunter over the last two months.

“There are only three reasons a man is noncommittal. Either he’s a fisherman, a milkman, or a priest.”

I glanced up at her. “You’re going to have to explain that one.”

“A fisherman knows there are plenty of fish in the sea, and he doesn’t want to spend his life eating cod when there’s tuna and striped bass that he still hasn’t tasted yet.”

I wasn’t sure if Minnie realized her euphemism for a player was rather gross—eating fish. But I got her point.

“I really don’t think that’s Hunter’s issue. Although maybe I just don’t want to believe he’s like that. My gut says it has nothing to do with needing to move on to the next woman.”

“Alright. Then maybe he’s a milkman. Good woman at home, and yet keeps going out to make deliveries to unsuspecting housewives.”

I laughed. “I don’t think that’s possible. I’ve been to his house, and there’s no sign of a woman. Plus, Derek and Anna would know if he had a serious relationship.”

“Then he’s a priest.”

I cut the tape on the last finger I’d wrapped, and smoothed it down as gently as possible. “He’s definitely not a priest.”

“I didn’t mean he doesn’t like a little no-pants dance. A priest is someone who sacrifices for the benefit of others,” Minnie said. “They’ll give up their own happiness so the people in their flock don’t get hurt.”

Hmmm. “But why? What could he possibly be trying to protect me from?”

“He knows your story. Maybe he’s afraid to let you down, or that he’s not good enough for you.”

I scoffed at the last part. “Hunter Delucia has more confidence in his little pinky than I do in my entire body.”

“Sometimes confidence is worn like a mask to shield people from seeing insecurities.”

“I suppose. I just…that doesn’t seem to fit either.”

“Maybe the last woman broke his heart. Has he ever had a serious relationship before?”

“Once.”

“Did he tell you what happened?”

“No. He actually gave a really vague response, and I have no clue why things ended.”

Minnie lifted her newly wrapped fingers and wiggled them around. “Might want to see if you can get more information about that.”

***

After Izzy went to bed, I curled up with a cup of tea and picked up my cell. It was almost eleven in New York, but still only eight in California. I’d thought all afternoon about my conversation with Minnie and decided going straight to the tightlipped source wouldn’t be half as productive as calling my best friend.

“Hey,” Anna said. “It’s the fairy godmother.”

I smiled. “You know, when I was little, I always imagined my fairy godmother looked like Stevie Nicks.”

“I think Stevie Nicks would be a kick-ass godmother. Maybe I should see if she’s available instead. Pretty sure she lives in L.A. Then again, who knows, I might have you here after all. Derek said you and Hunter were all kissy face.”

My shoulders slumped. “I wouldn’t count on it.”

“Oh no. What happened?”

“We had a great two months.”

“Okay…”

“And…we had a great two months.”

“You don’t think a long-distance relationship will work?”

“It’s not me. It’s Hunter.”

“He doesn’t think it will work?”

“I have no idea. We basically agreed to be fuck buddies for a few months. Now it’s over.”

“Do you want more?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know.”

“You sound sure of yourself.”

“I like him, Anna. A lot. Way more than I wanted to.”

“Oh, honey. Does he know how you feel?”

“I haven’t come right out and told him, although he knows I have feelings for him. But he won’t even let himself consider giving things a go.”

“Why?”

“And there’s the million-dollar question.”

Even three thousand miles away, Anna knew I was hurting. Her voice softened. “God, I’m sorry, Nat. I told you when you first met that I knew he dated a lot. But so do a lot of guys. I thought…you know, sometimes it just takes the right woman to come along.”

Sometimes the unspoken words are heard the loudest. I wasn’t the right woman for Hunter. While that hurt to think of, it also reminded me of the woman I’d been curious about.

“Let me ask you, do you know the details of what happened between Hunter and the woman he dated for a long time?”

“Summer? Not really. I know they met while in college, but they’d broken up before I met Derek. The only thing I really know is she called Derek a bunch of times after Hunter broke it off. She’d have a few drinks and call him, all upset about the break up.”

“He broke it off with her?” For some reason, I’d assumed it was the other way around and he was skittish because his heart had been broken. Oh wait, maybe that was me.

“Yeah. He definitely broke it off. Although I don’t really know why. Derek never said, and I never had a reason to ask. But let me poke around a bit.”

“Alright. Don’t make it too obvious.”

We stayed on the phone for another half hour, chatting about Caroline, the christening, Izzy, and life in general. It felt really good to talk to her, even if I still had more questions than answers about Hunter when I hung up.

Chapter 30

Natalia

Izzy got sick with the flu, and it lingered for more than a week.

So the plans I had with Hunter to enjoy our last week and a half had turned into him coming over and watching TV on my couch while Izzy beckoned me from her room every fifteen minutes.

Tonight was supposed to be our first date night now that Izzy was finally feeling better. She had a sleepover for a friend’s birthday, so we would even have the full night to ourselves. Unfortunately, not even that enticing thought could get my ass out of bed to start the day. Every bone in my body ached. I felt so awful that I had to use my cell to call Izzy from my bedroom to make sure she was up for school. The thought of standing and walking from my room to hers made me too exhausted to actually do it.

Still in denial that I’d caught the flu from my stepdaughter, I canceled my morning appointments and went back to sleep for a few hours. My hope plummeted around noon when I woke up and dragged my ass to the bathroom, where I took my temperature. A hundred and two.

I can’t be sick.

I have a date tonight, and Hunter is leaving in three days.

A wave of chills seemed to answer that thought—but not the type of chills I normally had when thinking of Hunter Delucia. My brain wanted to be frustrated, but honestly, I didn’t have the energy to be upset. It was all I could do to choke down two Tylenol and crawl back under the covers.

I couldn’t bring myself to officially cancel my date until Hunter texted later in the afternoon.

Hunter: Wear red tonight.

Disappointment settled in. This was how things were going to end for us. We wouldn’t even get to go out with a bang.

It hurt the skin on my fingers to type back, if that was even possible.

Natalia: The only red I’ll be wearing tonight is from a fever. Sorry. I think I caught Izzy’s flu.

Hunter: Shit. Sorry. You need anything?

Natalia: Got a magic pill to make me better?

Hunter: I’m going to refrain from telling you I have something you can swallow that will make you feel better.

I smiled and shook my head.

Natalia: I’m really glad you refrained…

Hunter went silent after that. On any other day, I probably would’ve wasted two hours overanalyzing the stream of texts. Lucky for me, today I didn’t have the energy. The fever had wiped me out, and I fell back asleep for a few more hours, until the buzzer woke me.

I padded to the door with my blanket wrapped around me.

“Hello?”

“Just me,” Hunter’s voice said. “Got done early so brought you some chicken soup.”

The girly part of me wanted to run to a mirror and wash my face and fix whatever smear of yesterday’s makeup was likely still on my face. But the sick part of me told the girly part to shut up and sit down. I pressed the buzzer to unlock the door, then leaned against the wall while I waited for the elevator to arrive.

Even sick as a dog, the sight of Hunter striding to my door woke up my body. He wore jeans and a button up that was rolled at the sleeves. And he had on those work boots I loved. He was also carrying bags in both arms.

“Guess you just came from the job site?” I said eyeing the boots as he walked.

“Nope. Had a client meeting, then a meeting down at the building department. Wore the boots because you like ’em.”

“How do you know I like them?”

“I watch you.” He kissed my forehead. “It’s how I also know you like it when I hold your hands above your head while I’m inside you.”