with your hair, Lyra. Doesn’t Rick like it when you curl it?”
Chapter 3
“We don’t need to tell anyone about Tucker getting lost for a few seconds,” Hunter said as he turned onto the dirt lane that led back to the farm. “Okay, guys?”
“Okay,” both boys said from the back seat. Hunter didn’t think for a second he could actually keep it a secret. He’d have to have a reason for why he was twenty minutes behind everyone coming home from church, and he wasn’t going to bring up Molly’s name.
At the same time, why couldn’t he bring up Molly? Perhaps his father and Elise could help him understand the knot of feelings in his chest.
No, he told himself. You pay a therapist for that. He’d call Lucy in the morning and find out if she had any appointments that week. He could zip down the street during the day if he had to.
He pulled to a stop in front of the farmhouse he’d grown to love over the years. He’d definitely had moments where he hated living here, and moments where he’d loved it. Now that he hadn’t been here for a while, only the fond memories seemed to be coming through.
He killed the engine about the time his grandfather walked out the front door, and Hunter jumped from the truck then. “Grandpa,” he called, feeling very much like the little boy he’d been when his dad would bring him out to visit his grandparents.
Hunter helped the little boys down from the back seat first, and then he hurried toward the front porch and up the steps. “Grandpa,” he said again, taking the older man into his arms. “Oh, it’s so good to see you.” He loved his grandfather so much, as the man had spent a lot of time with Hunter out here on the farm. They’d had many talks over the years, and so much of who Hunter wanted to be existed inside his grandpa.
“Oh, my boy,” Grandpa said, and he pulled away and ran his hands down the sides of Hunter’s face, a soft, loving smile on his face. “I think you’re taller than last time you were here.”
Hunter chuckled and shook his head. “Nope. I think you’re shorter, Gramps.”
“That makes you taller, doesn’t it?” Grandpa turned and started toward the front door, which Tucker and Deacon had left open. “Come see Grandma. She’s been fretting about you for an hour.”
Grandpa limped into the house, and Hunter followed slowly behind him, holding the door open and then closing it softly behind him. “He’s here, Bev.”
Hunter grinned as his grandmother hurried into the foyer to greet him. He let her fuss over him and cry when she saw how “grown up” he was. He accepted the new book of crossword puzzles and the bottle of lemonade she kept in her fridge specifically for him, and he felt like he’d come home.
At the same time, he knew he couldn’t stay at the farm forever. His thoughts wandered as he wondered where he’d end up, and by the time Grandma and Elise served lunch, Hunter’s nerves had returned in full force.
He sat next to his father, realizing he was just as big as the man now. Maybe five or ten pounds heavier, as Hunter shared a lot of interests with his dad, but one of them was not running marathons.
The conversation flowed around him, mainly focusing on his siblings and what they’d be doing now that school was out for the summer. They usually went to Coral Canyon for the summer, and as Hunter ate and listened, he realized his move back to Ivory Peaks had delayed them from returning to their summer home in the mountains.
“You guys can go,” he said. “I’m fine here.”
“I wanted to be here,” Dad said.
“We wanted to be here,” Elise corrected him, shooting a look at Dad. “Coral Canyon isn’t going anywhere, Hunt. We wanted to see you and find out how your first week at HMC goes.” She gave him a warm smile, and Hunter’s heart expanded with love for her. She’d always been interested in what he was interested in, even when she didn’t understand some of the terms he used.
She’d patiently ask him questions until he could explain what he was doing at school, and why he liked it. She didn’t know it, but it was something Elise had said about taking advantage of educational opportunities that had spurred Hunter into asking his uncle about his work with veterans.
Uncle Cy and