Chapter Sixteen

"Well, what's the verdict?" Hunter asked as Walker Williams wrote notes on a paper tablet.

He'd met Walker an hour and a half ago at the house Hunter someday hoped to live in, and the architect had been meticulous in looking over the house from top to bottom and back up again.

Right now, they stood in the attic, which was stuffed to the gills with the treasures of a family Hunter had never met. Some of the furniture he planned to clean up and use because it was good quality. The rest of the stuff, though, he intended to dispose of. He would have asked Dally to help him sort through it and decide if any of it could be donated to the church or the Pendleton Women's League to distribute to families in need, but his sister was in no condition to sit in a musty, dusty attic.

Luna's sweet face came to mind, and Hunter smiled just thinking about her. He'd had such a grand time with her during the Independence Day festivities. Luna had been so engaged and interested in everything. It had made his experiences of the day that much richer for enjoying them with her.

At church on Sunday, he'd hoped to figure out a time for her to come out to the ranch. Those plans had fallen apart when Dally hadn't felt well, and Nik had been called to the hospital, so Hunter had rushed his sister home instead of lingering to chat after the service.

Now, the week was half over, and he still hadn't spoken with Luna. He fully intended to catch up to her before another day passed. He wouldn't admit it if asked, but he missed her. Missed the energy snapping in her deep brown eyes, the vibrance of her being, and the way she brightened his world with her smile.

Lost in his thoughts of Luna, Hunter didn't notice at first that Walker was moving toward the stairs.

"I want to take one more look around before I give you my opinion," the architect said as he headed back to the second floor.

"Fine by me," Hunter said, following Walker to the main floor.

Walker got down on his hands and knees and used a flashlight to illuminate the dark space inside the chimney in the fireplace in the parlor. Without saying a word, he added more notes to his writing tablet, then went into the sitting room that Hunter intended to turn into his office with a library. There was a second fireplace there, and Walker again got down on the floor and peered into the chimney. After jotting more notes, he went through the dining room and kitchen and up the back stairs again.

Walker examined each room a third time before he finally went down the front stairs and outside. He crawled around the foundation, using a shovel to push aside weeds that were in his way and moving a bullsnake that took exception to being disturbed.

Hunter shuddered, glad it was Walker who had come upon the reptile instead of him. He could handle almost anything, but he really did not like snakes. Thankfully, Walker was busy studying the foundation and didn't notice his aversion to the snake as it slithered away.

Finally, Walker stood, walked over to the warped porch steps, and sat on the top one. He glanced through his many pages of notes, then looked over at Hunter as he took a seat beside him.

"We should fix it," Walker said.

"Fix it? The house? You mean repair, restore, and remodel instead of demolishing it?"

Walker grinned. "That's exactly what I mean. The foundation is in great shape. The house has solid bones. Even the chimneys are only in need of cleaning and not repairs. It would be worth the time and effort to fix the house instead of tearing it down. I had a few thoughts for adding more comfort to the home, and you mentioned turning the sitting room into a library you could also use for an office. Overall, though, if we got started in August, I don't see any reason the work couldn't be completed before Christmas, if not sooner."

"Really? That quickly?" Buoyed by the thought of having his own place to live, and much sooner than he'd anticipated, Hunter grinned and reached out a hand to Walker.

The architect shook his hand and then stood. "I need to go through my notes and draw up official plans. I've got a few projects ahead of you, but I'll try to get something on paper by the end of next week, and then you can decide what you'd like to do."

"That sounds great, Walker. Thank you. I'd like to add a space for a laundry room, and a bedroom for a housekeeper downstairs near the kitchen. We talked about a bathroom upstairs, and I'd like one downstairs as well. Can we make all that happen?"

"We absolutely can." Walker jotted several notes, gave Hunter's hand another shake, then hurried out to his automobile and waved before he left.

Hunter went back inside the house and envisioned it not as it looked then but how it would a year into the future when he'd had time to settle into it. He could hear the echoes of laughter and stepped into the hall, almost expecting to see his sister and Luna there.

Frustrated with himself, Hunter scrubbed a hand over his face. Why was Luna so incessantly in his thoughts? It was as though she'd taken up residence in some deep crevice of his brain. That was bad enough, but she'd also claimed a huge part of his heart.

After Katherine had left him feeling both betrayed and stupid, he was sure he'd never fall in love again. Yet, he had.

Only the timing was terrible. If all he had to do was work on his newly purchased properties, he could labor from before dawn to after dusk and still have months and months of duties weighing him down. Add to that time spent training Dally's horses and helping around the B Bar D, not to mention finding himself on the local baseball team that sometimes required traveling out of town to play. Some days, Hunter wasn't sure if he was coming or going.

At that moment, he longed to sit on the veranda at Bramble Hall with a tall glass of sweet tea and some of the butter cookies his grandmother liked, watching the thoroughbreds race each other across the pasture without a care in the world and no responsibilities waiting for his attention.

There were many hands to see to the necessary tasks at Bramble Hall. Right now, Hunter felt overwhelmed with responsibilities and duties.

One of the more pressing weights was Dally's continued and stubborn refusal to contact their parents and share her happy news with them. Hunter knew everyone at Bramble Hall would be excited to know she and Nik would welcome a baby in a few months. However, Dally had gotten some notion in her head about it, and no one, not even Nik, could get her to talk reasonably about the subject.

Regardless, Hunter had plenty of his own worries to handle without adding more to the pile.

He made sure the back doors to the house were closed as well as the windows, then strode out the front door of the house. After checking on his work crew to see how they were progressing with building fences and getting the former wheat fields ready to plant apple trees in the spring, he rode Wind into town at a fast pace. When he did go into town these days, he more often took the automobile. He missed riding Wind and feeling the freedom he experienced every time he let the horse have his head and race down the road.

He'd considered going home to take a bath and change into clean clothes, but he didn't have time for that. He didn't exactly have time to be dashing into town to seek out Luna, but he needed to see her, if only for a few minutes.

Considering the time of day, he knew she wouldn't yet be at Caterina's. It was time for lunch, and Hunter's empty belly growled in protest. He thought about stopping at Gideon McBride's restaurant before looking for Luna but decided seeing her came first.

He stopped at Ilsa's shop, only to discover the door closed with a sign that said she'd be back at one.

Hunter tried Tony's photography studio, but it was closed, and his hired help at his ice business said Tony was out on a delivery. With his patience rapidly unraveling, Hunter rode to Tony and Ilsa's house.

All seemed quiet there, but a noise that sounded like giggles drew him around to the back of the house where Ilsa, Luna, and Laila sat on the back porch about to eat their lunch.

"Oh, Hunter! How nice to see you. Join us?" Ilsa motioned for him to come onto the porch.

He swung off Wind and left the horse ground tied at the edge of the lawn, then walked over to the porch and up the steps. There was an empty seat by Laila across the small wicker table from where Ilsa and Luna sat.

"Mind if I wash up a bit?" he asked, glancing from his filthy hands to his dusty clothes.

"Go right in," Ilsa said, smiling at him as though she knew something that he didn't.

Hunter removed his boots, spurs still attached, left his hat on the porch railing, brushed dirt from his clothes, and carefully walked inside Ilsa's sparkling home. He washed his hands and face, then hurried back outside.

After easing onto the wicker chair that looked like it was meant for a dainty tea party rather than holding a large, hungry man, he smiled at Ilsa and then Luna.

"Would you offer a word of thanks for us, Hunter?" Ilsa asked.

He nodded and bowed his head, giving thanks for the meal and the opportunity to share it with friends.

"I really don't mean to intrude on your meal. Please tell me I'm not about to eat Tony's lunch."

"You aren't. Daddy is having lunch with Mrs. Williams on the reservation today. He's taking her ice."

"That's nice." Hunter smiled at Laila. "I spent the morning with Walker out at my place."

"You did?" Luna asked, taking a scoop of fruit salad made with fresh melon, cherries, and strawberries.

"I did." Hunter took the platter Ilsa handed to him that held slices of cold chicken and cheese. He spied butter and biscuits on the table and concluded the Campanelli women wanted a simple, cold lunch. Not that he could blame them. It was already blazing hot, and they still had to make it through the heat of the afternoon. "I appreciate the invitation to join you for the meal."

"You are welcome anytime, Hunter," Ilsa said, grinning at him while handing him a dish full of deviled eggs. He helped himself to three deviled eggs and held the dish out to Laila.

"Tell us about your meeting with Walker. What did he say?" Luna asked. She was aware from their conversations how much Hunter hoped to be able to preserve the house and make updates to it.

"He said that overall, the house is solid and in good shape. Of course, there are many updates we'll have to make. All the windows will need to be replaced, and some of the rooms will be completely remodeled. I also asked him to add on a few rooms, but Walker thinks if we begin in a few weeks, the house will be ready to move into by Christmas."

"That's wonderful news," Luna said, beaming at him as she held a dish of pickles in her hands while Laila forked out a few. "Such wonderful news. Are you pleased?"

"Pleased?" Hunter shook his head. "I'm not pleased, I'm ecstatic!"

Luna and Ilsa laughed, while Laila cocked her head and gave him a curious look. "What's that mean? Ecstatic?"

"Thrilled. Excited. Overjoyed. Delighted."

"Oh." Laila grinned at him, looking like a dark-haired version of her mother. "I'm ecstatic you came for lunch."

Hunter chuckled and tweaked her nose. The conversation as they ate was pleasant and covered his house, the horses he was training, a dress Ilsa was finishing to send to a princess in the small European country of Briden, and Laila's excitement over spending the weekend with Sophie at Dogwood Corners. From the outside, the orphanage looked like a grand plantation from the south, but inside, love flowed through every room, lavished on the children from Lars, Marnie, and the staff who worked there.

As soon as they finished eating, Ilsa stood and dropped her napkin on her plate. "I must get back to work. Laila, I have a project you can assist with this afternoon." Ilsa held her hand out to her daughter. "Would you mind doing the dishes, Luna?"

"Not at all. Do you and Laila want—"

"We'd best be off," Ilsa said, tugging Laila into the house. Hunter heard Laila's fading protests, and their footsteps, then the front door opening and closing. He assumed Ilsa went inside to retrieve her hat and gloves.

"What were you about to say before Ilsa lit a shuck out of here?" he asked as he helped Luna gather the dishes to carry them inside.

Luna grinned. "That is an apt way of describing her abrupt departure. I was just going to ask if they wanted a dish of pudding for dessert. I made chocolate pudding this morning and chilled it. I'd planned to serve it with freshly whipped cream and raspberries I picked at Caterina's place yesterday." She gave him a coy glance as she stacked dishes in the sink. "I don't suppose you might be interested in a bowl?"

"I might be, but I'll help you carry in the rest of the dishes first."

"You don't have to do that." Luna poured hot water off the stove into a dish pan and added soap.

"I know, but I don't mind." It took a few minutes for them to carry in the food, put it away, and leave all the dirty dishes soaking.

Luna dolloped whipped cream and a handful of raspberries into two bowls of chocolate pudding and handed one to Hunter. He followed her as she returned outside to eat.

"We've been spending more time out here, especially in the evening. The house just gets so warm, especially if Tony or I are cooking."

"A cold lunch hit the spot today and was good. Thank you for sharing with me. I sure didn't intend to intrude."

"You are never an intrusion, Hunter. A welcome diversion, perhaps."

He grinned at her and spooned a bite of the creamy pudding. "So good. Thank you."

"You are quite welcome. Now, other than your fabulous news that Walker can save your house, was there another purpose to your visit?"

Surprised Luna knew him well enough to realize the house wasn't the reason for his visit, he took another bite of pudding as he gathered his thoughts. "I wondered if I might convince you to come out to the ranch either Sunday afternoon or on Monday, since the restaurant is closed then."

"Oh, Sunday would be nice. I promised Aundy I'd go out to Nash's Folly on Monday. I'm going to help her can cherries."

"They grow the sweetest cherries there," Hunter said. "I should see if she'd be willing to give me a start from one or two of her trees."

"I'm sure she would if you asked. After all, you are practically related to her."

Hunter shrugged. "Practically. It seems we are practically related to half the town sometimes."

Luna laughed. "Try being a Campanelli. When I was growing up, it seemed like a new relative popped up every other week."

Hunter chuckled and ate several more bites of his pudding. "Why don't you plan to go home with me after church on Sunday? I'll let Dally know you'll be there, and she can have a skirt in mind for you to borrow if you'd like to ride Breeze. Either way, I'd love to show you the ranch and my place."

"I look forward to seeing both. I've been out to the ranch, as you recall, but we didn't explore anything more than the room Dally plans to turn into a nursery that day. Speaking of which, I believe Aundy, Ilsa, and Marnie are planning to help her get the room set up right after wheat harvest." Luna swirled her spoon through her pudding. "I heard two ranchers talking at the restaurant yesterday that several farms have already begun their harvest."

"I heard that as well. Before you know it, it's all anyone will talk about for a few weeks, then the topic will move on to finishing the harvest for gardens and rounding up cattle before the snow flies."

Luna sighed and sat back in her chair, looking off in the distance before her gaze connected with his. "Life here is just so vastly different. I never once considered where the beef we ate for dinner came from. Seeing ranchers raise big herds of cattle specifically for beef puts it all in such a different perspective."

"It certainly does, but you'll get used to it." He shoveled in his last few bites of pudding. Luna pushed her half-eaten dessert toward him, and he quickly cleaned it up too. "Come on. I'll help you with the dishes, then I had better get back to the ranch before Dally thinks I've run off and joined the circus."

Luna picked up the pudding bowls and walked into the house. "If you were inclined to do such a thing, you'd already be a performing member of Buffalo Bill's Wild West."

"True." He grinned, picked up a dish towel, and started drying dishes as Luna washed them.

"What's your favorite meal, other than Italian food?" Hunter asked as he carefully wiped the moisture from a crystal serving plate.

"Hmm. That is a good question. I never ate a lot of food that wasn't Italian before arriving here. Cousin Anne—she's married to Tony's brother—is English, and when she cooks, the food is so different from our spicy offerings. Papa always calls it boring and bland, but please don't ever tell her that was mentioned. Anne is one of the kindest people I know, and we wouldn't hurt her feelings for the world."

"I would never share that with anyone, Luna."

She handed him a glass to dry. When their fingertips touched, he felt something tingle all the way up his arm. He had to focus to keep from dropping the glass.

"What about you? What's your favorite meal?" she asked.

Hunter didn't have to think about it. His mouth watered as he recalled meals their cook at Bramble Hall made. "Southern fried chicken with potatoes and gravy, or potato salad and cabbage salad, as well as green beans simmered with bacon and onion. Big, tender biscuits loaded with butter and jam. And apple pie for dessert."

She smiled at him. "That all sounds wonderful. I've never had southern fried chicken, that I can recall. From the meals I've eaten here, there are many good cooks. Aundy is a wonderful cook, and everything she's made that I've tried is superb. I suppose if I picked something not Italian, it would probably be chicken pot pie. The cook at Dogwood Corners made that one day, and I loved it. All the fresh fruit around here is wonderful too. Have you ever had Bertie Walsh's brownies? They are incredible."

Hunter couldn't recall if he'd eaten brownies or even what they were at the moment. When Luna closed her eyes and licked her lips, as though she'd just tasted something divine, he lost his entire train of thought.

The urge to lean over and kiss her, to taste those ripe lips, was nearly more than he could resist. Before the temptation became too much for him, he stepped back and finished drying the last few dishes, while Luna put things away.

"I should go," Hunter said, tossing the towel onto the counter and turning toward the door.

"I'm ever so glad you stopped by, Hunter, and I look forward to seeing you Sunday. If there is anything I can bring for lunch, please let me know."

"Just bring yourself and that beautiful smile," he said, lifting his hand and letting his fingers trail over Luna's smooth cheek. "Have a good afternoon, Luna."

"You as well, Hunter." Her eyes had grown darker and widened, but her smile was still sweet and bright.

Lest his tight grip on his self-control slip, he hastily yanked on his boots, grabbed his hat, and hurried out to where Wind nibbled on the grass in the shade.

"Bye, Luna Moona!"

She laughed and waved at him as he swung onto the horse. As he rode down the driveway, he refused to contemplate why he felt like he was leaving behind a huge part of himself.