Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Stace

I really didn't expect her to come. When she showed up it kind of felt like a miracle. And then she kissed me, and I wished we could have gone straight back to her place or mine, whichever was closer.

I lied when I told her I put all my dirty thoughts away. That wasn't possible when she was nearby. But I could shove them behind a door and put some plants in front of it to hide that and hoped for the best.

I had to clench my hands into fists so I wouldn't reach for her hand as we walked through the restaurant to the table my parents had reserved.

"Stay!" Carson yelled and ran over to throw himself at me.

"Oh, hey," I said, picking him up and giving him a huge bear hug.

"Who's that?" Carson asked, staring at Hunter over my shoulder.

"That is my friend Hunter. Can you say hello?"

I set Carson down and he walked right up to Hunter.

"Hello, I'm Carson. I brought you this." He held out one of the colorful rocks that he'd painted in art class.

Hunter glanced at me as if she didn't know what to make of him. I pressed my lips together to hide a smile.

"Hi Carson. I'm Hunter. It's lovely to meet you. Thank you so much. This is beautiful." She studied the rock and then slid it into her pocket.

He nodded. "It's nice to meet you too."

I snorted.

"Okay, bud." I put my arm around him and led him back to the table where Mom was practically vibrating in her seat and Dad had a hand clamped on her shoulder to keep her from running over and hugging Hunter. I'd warned her about that.

"Hi, Hunter. Good to see you," Torrin said, getting up and shaking Hunter's hand. "Sorry. That was formal."

"It's okay," she said, smiling.

She was so pretty I couldn't even think. Her hair was twisted back, and her makeup was lovely, and it was obvious that she'd put effort into her look. More effort than she usually did, at least when I'd seen her.

"Stace, bring that lovely girl over here so I can meet her," Mom said, finally losing her patience.

I gave Hunter a look and nodded at her to try and give her courage.

Hunter approached the table and Mom popped to her feet.

"Mrs. Thomas, it's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for inviting me." Of course, Hunter had perfect manners.

Mom beamed. "Oh please, you can call me Maggie. Aren't you pretty as a picture. Can I give you a hug?" I'd told her not to offer the hug at all, but old habits died hard. My mom was a hugger.

"Oh, sure," Hunter said, and let my mom hug her. She didn't flinch back or freak out, so that was something.

My dad shook her hand as well and then it was time for us all to sit down.

"Mom, can we go play games?" Eli asked, his eyes bright. He had a drawing for Hunter, but I knew he was going to be shy about giving it to her.

"Please, Mom," Carson begged, clasping his hands together and pouting.

"Yes, you can go play games until the food gets here." She gave them money and they ran off.

I sat down with Hunter on the outside and Tor on my right.

Mom and Dad were on the other side with Eli and Carson's empty chairs beside them.

"So, Hunter, Stace has told us so much about you, I feel as if we've already met," Mom said.

"I've heard wonderful things about you as well," Hunter said. Her spine was straight as an arrow and she had her hands folded in her lap. She was so tense that I couldn't help but reach under the table and put my hand on her leg, squeezing lightly.

Telling her to calm down. That she was safe here. Safe with me. Safe with my family. No one was going to be rude or awful to her. No one was going to treat her the way her parents treated her.

"You're so sweet. And I'm loving your hairstyle. Stace showed me your social media and it's so impressive. I got exhausted just seeing all the things you're doing."

"Oh. Thank you. I like to stay busy," she said, and I stroked her leg again while I watched her relax by millimeters.

She really was stressed about this but she'd come anyway.

This woman. I would do anything for her. Anything.

Hunter made small talk and I tried to keep things moving and smooth over any rough edges. Tor helped, talking about how much he loved Hunter's yoga classes and Mom started peppering her with questions about fitness and if she should be doing yoga.

"You're more than welcome in any of my classes. I have students of all ages. One of my favorites is this woman who's in her seventies and she's more flexible than I am," Hunter said with a laugh. Her shoulders had been nearly up by her ears when she sat down and now they were much lower. She'd smiled and laughed, and I didn't think it was my imagination that she was having a good time.

Food arrived as Eli and Carson rejoined the table with their prize tickets.

"I think we should have a toast," Dad said, raising his plastic soda cup. Everyone hurried to do the same. "To Eli, for winning the student of the month award in his classroom. We're all very proud of you, Eli. To Eli!"

"To Eli!" we all cheered, even Hunter. Then came tapping our glasses together and trying not to spill. Carson held his cup in both hands and only dripped a little bit.

The boys ate fast and then dragged Tor back to the games with them so it was just my parents, me, and Hunter.

She sipped her drink and I could see some of her tension return. My hand went back to her leg again. I wished I could say something to her without my parents seeing.

Mom sat back in her chair and I could see her trying to read Hunter. I didn't like it. I wanted to kick her under the table, but she'd probably ground me.

"It's so nice to have you here, Hunter," Mom said. "I'm just hoping some of your style will rub off on my daughter."

"Hey!" I said. "I dress fine."

Mom turned her glare on me. "Sweatpants are not appropriate for family meals in public, Katrina."

I cringed. "Seriously? You're going to first name me?"

My face went red and I turned to see how Hunter was taking this.

"I'm afraid I'm not an authority. I wear a lot of yoga pants," she said, shrugging.

"I'm not asking for her to dress like a model, but can you convince her to wear an outfit that looks like she didn't just come from the gym?" Mom said to Hunter.

"I'll see what I can do," Hunter said, giving me a mischievous look.

"Wow, I did not come to this lunch to get ganged up on!" I said, pretending to be offended.

"Well maybe you should have dressed better," Dad said, winking at me.

"Wow. I think I'm going to try my luck with the kids," I said, pretending to get up.

"No, don't go," Hunter said, grabbing my arm and laughing. "Stay."

"Okay," I said, dropping down into my chair again. "But only because you asked."

She smiled at me and I smiled back at her and I knew we were being obvious but I couldn't help it. I couldn't stop being like this around her.

"Should we get dessert?" Dad said, his voice loud.

"Absolutely," I said.

"Yes, please," Hunter agreed.

"Has Stace told you that she won the state spelling bee championship?"

I rolled my eyes. "Mom, that was a million years ago. It doesn't mean anything. I'm literally almost thirty years old."

Hunter let out a little snort next to me.

"Spelling bee champion, huh? Can you spell perspicacious?"

I looked at the ceiling and spelled the word without pausing.

"How about choledocholithiasis?" Mom asked, her eyes glittering. She loved this game and always threw in tons of medical words for fun.

I spelled the word and Mom nodded. "That's my baby." There were tears in her eyes.

"Jesus, Mom. Get a hold of yourself."

"I'm not allowed to be proud?"

My face was on fire and I wished Hunter wasn't seeing this, but she had a soft smile on her face next to me.

Dessert came and the boys returned. It was messy and loud, and I worried that Hunter would get overwhelmed, but she actually started talking to Eli about art and I literally watched him fall in love with her right there.

He showed her some pictures of his drawings and she showered him with praise and tips and he was absolutely beaming.He finally gave her the drawing her made and she exclaimed at how good it was and thanked him until he was bright red and stammering.

I needed to get home to Buck, and Hunter had other things to do today so we said goodbye before the check came.

"Thank you for coming," Mom said as she squeezed me. "And thank you for bringing her. She's lovely." That last part was said low enough so only I could hear.

Everyone else got huge hugs and Hunter also embraced everyone.

"They're wonderful," she said as we stood together at her car.

"Sorry, they can be a bit much. But that wasn't horribly painful, was it?" I braced myself.

Hunter gripped both my arms and gazed up into my face.

"It wasn't bad at all. Your family is amazing." Her voice caught on the last word as a few tears slid down her cheeks.

"Oh, baby, what's wrong?" I brushed her tears away with my thumb.

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "It's just that…your family loves you so much. And you love them. And it's beautiful."

She sniffed and I wished I had a tissue or something to give her.

"I'm sorry," she said, more tears leaking. I pulled her into my chest and held her as she cried.

"Shhh, it's okay. Everything's going to be okay."

Hunter cried for a few minutes and finally took a few deep breaths before leaning back, her arms still gripping onto my coat as if she was worried I'd run away.

"You gonna be okay?" I asked her, wiping her nose with the sleeve of my coat. She could snot all over me if she wanted to.

"Yeah." She nodded and sniffled again. "I'm just not used to seeing love like that. It's overwhelming."

I bet it had been.

"Listen. I know you haven't had an easy time and even if you don't want to be with me or just want to be friends, you can always talk to me. Always."

"I know," she said. "Everything feels better when I'm with you."

Shit. She couldn't say things like that. They made me hopeful. They made me picture what the future could look like with her by my side.