smiled at Gloria when she came out of the barn.
“Molly,” she said. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Yes.” Molly didn’t know what else to say, and she gave Gloria a quick hug that felt more awkward than friendly. She got the distinct impression that Gloria didn’t let too many people get too close to her, so when Matt joined them and she gave him a warm smile, it was practically the temperature of lava.
The wind rustled through the trees on the far side of the pasture from where they stood, the rushing of it as it moved almost like the sound of a river. Molly loved the woods, the mountains, and the trees. She loved nature, and she smiled at Matt and Gloria as her nerves settled.
“I guess I’ll just say it,” she said. “You two know Hunter and I broke up, right?”
Matt blinked but Gloria nodded.
“Okay,” Molly said, drawing in a deep breath. “I just don’t want it to be weird. I don’t need to be re-set up with him or anything.”
“That’s not what this is,” Matt said, his eyes wide. “At all.” He exchanged a glance with Gloria. “We would never do that to you, Molly.”
She nodded, glad she’d said something. “Okay. Thanks.” She smiled at them again, lunging at Matt and hugging him. “Thank you for inviting me out here.” It felt good to have his arms around her, though there were no romantic feelings between them. She stepped back and inhaled as she looked at the completed stables and barns.
“This place is so amazing,” she said. “How are the horses coming along? Will you guys open in the spring like we planned?”
“That is another reason we asked you to come out here,” Gloria said slowly. “We can’t run this program without you, Molly.”
“Oh, Hunter—”
“Hunter put you in charge of it,” Matt said. “Gloria and I can work with the horses and counselors, but we need you to handle the children.”
Molly looked back and forth between them, her indecision raging. Could she really drive out to this farm every day? Hunter’s farm?
He won’t even know, she thought. “How often does Hunter come out here?”
“Only Sundays,” Matt said. “I swear, Molly.”
She nodded. He’d be CEO soon, and he was probably already keeping those hours. His advancement had been announced, and the beginning of the new year only lay a couple of months away.
“Okay,” she said. “Fine. I can do it.” She put a smile on her face that felt like it stretched too far. “But I think it’s too cold for a lesson today. Can we just eat lunch in a warm house?”
Matt chuckled and ducked his head. Gloria grinned and said, “Yes, I agree. Let’s go.”
Molly went with them to a single-story house behind the farmhouse, falling easily into the small talk. She enjoyed her time with them, and she clutched the tiny crystal apple Chris said Bev had bought for her at a craft fair the previous summer when she hugged him after they’d eaten.
On her way back home, Molly tried not to let the horrible reality of her real life press in on her and ruin the past couple of hours, but it did anyway.
She walked into her house alone. She fed her dog and cat and faced the empty space. Everything was so quiet, with nothing to do, and Molly slouched onto the couch with tears in her eyes.
She hoped this hopeless, lonely feeling would pass quickly, and she opened her mouth and prayed for exactly that.
Chapter 26
Hunter twisted in his chair and looked out the windows. Snow fell outside in a wicked way, and it reminded him of his time in Massachusetts. That, or the fact that he currently listened to Will detail his plans for the upcoming new year.
“With the new funding,” Will said. “We’ll be able to take on twenty percent more veterans in the first quarter alone.”
“That’s great,” Hunter said. “You’ve been doing an amazing job out there, Will.”
“Are you still planning to come for Thanksgiving?”
Hunter thought of Cambridge, and he did miss the city. He loved to walk along the Charles River, even in the winter, and he often found himself trawling up and down the pedestrian mall here in downtown Denver, his thoughts half a continent away.
Or just over in the next town, at an elementary school. Every strawberry blonde he saw made his heartbeat quicken, and every time his phone made any noise at all, his adrenaline spiked.
“Yes,” Hunter said, making his decision. “I’m still planning