My Best Friend's Bride (25 page)

Hunter released a weighty breath. “Jill…”

“Just let me finish, please. I appreciate the gesture, I really do. It’s very sweet. I just don’t feel right about it.”

“Because you’re an independent woman?”

“Is there anything wrong with that?”

“Not at all, Jill. That’s one of the reasons I…care for you so much.”

“I care for you too, and don’t want you to think I don’t appreciate all you’ve done for me. Hunter, I went to Green Meadows today and saw my grandfather.”

“That’s wonderful. How is he doing?”

“Perhaps I should ask you? It appears you’ve been seeing him more than I have.”

Hunter was unabashed. “Yeah, that’s true. He and I have been building a relationship. Plus we’re a deadly duo at canasta.”

“But why didn’t you tell me?”

“Oh, Jill. Can’t you see?” His face fell in a frown. “You’ve been working so hard, knocking yourself out. I know you’ve been feeling guilty about missing your regular visits to Green Meadows, but I’ve also seen you sweating bullets trying to get your manuscript done. That’s why I thought it might be a good idea if I, you know, stepped in. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to stress you out, make you feel bad for not being there yourself. Not when I understood the pressure you’re under.”

Emotion flooded her and Jill felt overwhelmed, not just by Hunter’s thoughtfulness, but also by his compassion. Of all the men she’d been involved with, none of them would have been selfless enough to do something like this. Not a one would have sacrificed two lunch hours a week to ensure the grandparent she loved was looked after. She decided this was the time to tell Hunter what she’d held back, the truth about her grandfather. “Hunter,” she said, “it’s not all about the manuscript. I mean, yes, there is pressure to get it done, but when I said it was for professional reasons that was only half the truth. And when I told you I was building an addition…” Her lips quivered. “I’m afraid that part was a lie.”

Hunter took her hand. There was acceptance in his eyes. “You didn’t have to lie to me, Jill. You could have told me the whole truth from the beginning.”

“Maybe then, I thought it was too personal. Now that you’ve gotten to know my grandpa and see how special he is, perhaps you’ll understand. Green Meadows is a great place.”

“Top-notch, from what I’ve seen,” Hunter answered.

“Yes, but all that excellent care comes at a price. A very high one, Hunter. And without this book deal…” Her voice fell off and she was unable to finish, there was so much hurt in her heart. If Jill couldn’t continue to help her grandpa, she didn’t know what she’d do.

“I know how much you love your grandfather, so I do understand what this project means to you, and how the fake marriage figures in. You probably felt like you had nowhere else to turn. That you were alone in this.” Hunter squeezed her hand. “But Jill, you aren’t any longer.”

Jill’s throat felt raw as tears leaked from her eyes. She’d never had a man be this kind to her, this caring. And there was no pretense in this moment. Every word that Hunter said came from his heart. “Would you mind?” she asked with sniff. “If we sat on the swing?”

Worry marred his features. “Of course not. What’s wrong?”

“If it’s not too much to ask…” Her chin trembled as a tumult of emotion closed in. “Could you hold me? Just for a while?”

Hunter calmly set aside Jill’s champagne, still holding her hand. Then he led her to the porch swing, where they snuggled in together. Warm breezes blew as Hunter wrapped her in his embrace, securing her in his arms. “It’s going to be all right,” he told her. “Everything’s going to work out.”

“I know.” Her voice warbled. “But, my grandpa, he’s so old and…”

Hunter stroked her hair, holding her close. “He’s in a good place, Jill. And you and I are going to keep him there, okay? Together we’ll find a way.”

She nodded through a blur of tears and Hunter placed a tender kiss on her forehead. “You’re a wonderful person, and the world’s best wife. Don’t think I won’t stand by you.” He steadied her against him and sent the swing into a gentle rocking motion, while she listened to the slow, rhythmic beating of his heart. Then they stayed there together for a long while, until well after the sun went down.

Jill and Hunter made a quiet supper together, pulling leftovers from the fridge and dining by candlelight. The feelings between them were too powerful to be contained by mere words, so they barely spoke. Instead they went about the business of putting a meal together and eating and cleaning up, as if all their motions were choreographed in a graceful dance. They weren’t awkward together in this silence. Rather, it was beautiful and telling. They held hands walking down the hall until they reached the doors to their bedrooms.

“Hunter,” Jill told him. “I don’t want to be alone.”

His voice was gravelly. “Are you sure?”

She nodded and Hunter cupped her cheek in his hand. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for you.”

“I think I do.” Jill tilted up her chin and brushed her lips against his, before speaking in a whisper. “I’ve waited for you too.”

Hunter bent to grab her behind the knees and lifted her into his arms. “Well, darling,” he said with a sexy growl, “your waiting is over.”

Then he kicked back the master bedroom door and carried her to the bed.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Jill rolled over under the comforter and reached for Hunter, but he was gone. She opened her eyes, fearing for a moment she’d dreamed it. Then her nose caught the fine aroma of brewed coffee. She slipped into her robe and headed to the kitchen, hoping to find Hunter there. But as she passed the living room window she saw his SUV was gone. When her eyes snagged on the clock over the stove, she saw why. It was nearly ten o’clock! No wonder she’d overslept. Hunter had tenderly made love to her, taking all the care in the world, then he’d cradled her in his arms all night long. She’d slept with her back pressed to his beating heart. Jill had never known such comfort or serenity, and had never fully understood the meaning of becoming one. But she was united with Hunter. She understood that now, body and soul.

She strolled to the coffeepot, her spirits soaring. There, she found a note from Hunter saying he’d fed the pets before leaving and would miss her the whole day through. She lifted the notepaper to her face and caught a whiff of him. The masculine scent of his heady cologne. Oh, how she wanted him home already, but Jill understood Hunter had work to do. He’d made partner! What a glorious and well-earned achievement for such a hardworking man.
 

Jill couldn’t help but recall how he’d sweetly held her on the porch swing and the way he’d later brought his body to hers, gently but with passion and skill. Jill flushed from head to toe thinking of him, knowing she’d miss him all day through as well. But just like Hunter, she had a job to attend to. And today, Jill sensed, the writing would go a whole lot easier. From this day forward, in fact, it was bound to be a breeze. She was no longer just writing abstractly about married love: Jill was living it. At this moment in time, Jill couldn’t imagine her life being any more perfect.

Mauve strode out of Cassandra’s contemporary kitchen wearing baggy pajama pants, a droopy shirt, and his horn-rimmed glasses. He held a coffee mug and the morning newspaper. “You’ll never believe what I found in today’s edition.”

Cassandra looked up from the sofa, where she was busily typing on her laptop. She’d been so intent on her story she’d missed some of what he’d said, and by his expression it was urgent. “Did you say something?”

“Jill’s new book!” His eyes grew big. “There’s a press release announcement.”

“Press release?” Cassandra asked, confused. “It’s come out already?”

“No, not until late spring, but the publisher, Browning, has set up preorders.”

Cassandra flipped her laptop shut. “Let me see that,” she said, reaching for the paper when Mauve came and sat beside her. She quickly scanned the text on the page, her mouth hanging open. She shut it long enough to swallow a mouthful of saliva. “Well, well, well… What do you know?”

“
Married Love: Keeping Those Home Fires Burning,
” Mauve recited with a knowing air. He turned his eyes on hers. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“You know I am!” Cassandra stared at him in disbelief. “All this time I was right, Mauve. I just
knew
something was up with Jill’s marriage! First she’s engaged to Brad, then the next thing you know, she’s hooked up with Hunter? They marry two weeks later?”

“We did see them, Cassandra,” Mauve reminded her. “We watched them for a while and both came to the conclusion their relationship was legit.”

“Yeah, a legitimate pack of lies.”

“How are you going to prove it?”

“I don’t know, but there must be a way.” She drummed her fingernails against her laptop, thinking. “There was clearly something in this for the two of them. We already knew Hunter wanted that promotion, because Fred Forester paid you to try to debunk Hunter’s marriage.”

“And Jill’s career was on the brink,” Mauve said.

“The brink of disaster, yes. Her second book was a stinker, and for good reason. Nobody believes an ‘expert’ giving advice who can’t keep a man of her own.” Cassandra folded her arms across her chest. “Isn’t it
convenient
how this sweet little marriage between Hunter and Jill suddenly evolved—right out of the clear blue sky?”

“A little too convenient, if you ask me,” Mauve said.

“Precisely.”

“What are you going to do?”

Cassandra flipped her laptop back open to study the story she’d been writing. “Detective work, hmm.”

“Cassandra, what are you thinking behind those crazy blue eyes?”

“You know,” she said, looking at Mauve. “I just might have a plan.”

Later that evening Cassandra and Mauve huddled by Hunter’s unit door in his condominium building. They were dressed as pizza delivery people and each carried a steaming box. They’d been lucky to sneak in with another tenant while the doorman was away. “We probably could have gotten in without the pizza,” Mauve said.

“Sometimes it’s better not to take chances,” whispered Cassandra. She scanned the narrow hallway, checking the angle of the ceiling at either end, but thankfully found no security cameras installed. “Here, take this,” she said, sliding her pizza box on top of the one Mauve held.
 

When he did, Cassandra withdrew a thin plastic card from her jeans pocket. “What’s that?” Mauve queried.

“Library card,” she hissed back. “It’s more pliable than a credit card.”

Mauve stared at her with a combination of fear and awe.

In a matter of seconds, Cassandra had jimmied the card between the door latch and frame and popped the door ajar. It swung open just a crack.

“Remind me to stay on your good side,” Mauve quipped.

“Shut up and come on,” she said, urging him inside. Cassandra looked around the darkened space and Mauve reached for a light switch. “No, don’t!” she warned him. “We don’t want to call attention.” Mauve scanned the efficiency-style room that melded a living area with a kitchen and set the pizza boxes on the counter between them, while Cassandra slipped into a pair of latex gloves and pulled a penlight from her hip pocket.

“Can I at least have a piece of pizza?” he asked, whining like a baby. “I’m hungry.”

“Oh, all right,” Cassandra replied testily. “Just don’t drop anything on the floor and don’t make a mess.” He followed her around the room, sending the scent of pepperonis wafting through the condo, as Cassandra opened and closed drawers and peered under objects.
 

“What are we searching for?” he asked between swallows.

“I’ll know it when I find it.” Mauve was so close on her heels he was driving her insane. Plus he was chewing loudly. “Why don’t you just wait in here?” She shot his food a derisive look. “With your pizza?”

Mauve shrugged and walked back to the counter while Cassandra crept into the next room. Her eyes stealthily took stock of the king-size bed and Scandinavian dresser. There was a matching nightstand to one side of the bed. She decided to start with that. Cassandra pulled out the single drawer, finding a legal-seeming document inside. It looked suspiciously like some kind of contract. She raised her penlight to examine it more closely, her heart pounding fiercely.
Bingo, you little lovebirds. Gotcha!

Mauve came searching for her a few minutes later to see what was taking so long. He found Cassandra hunched over papers laid out on the bed with her cell phone camera, snapping shot after shot. “You found something?” he asked with unmasked glee.

Cassandra shared a sneaky grin. “Mauve,” she crowed quietly. “We’ve hit pay dirt.” When she finished taking her pictures, Cassandra placed everything back in the drawer, just as she’d found it. Then she instructed Mauve to wipe down the counter where he’d set the pizza boxes with one of the sanitary wipes she’d made him bring in his fanny pack. Seconds later, the two of them backed out the door and shut it. Mauve nervously glanced around, then cleaned the knob with another sanitary wipe.

As they passed the doorman in the lobby, he eyed the two pizza boxes and asked with a puzzled expression, “Nobody home?”

“Wrong address,” Cassandra said in a businesslike tone before leading Mauve out the door.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Hunter had never seen anybody as excited about Thanksgiving as Jill. She flitted about the kitchen, checking on this and testing the temperature of that, and peering under tinfoil tents that emitted incredible aromas. “When do you think they’ll get here?” she asked, speaking of Brad and Susan.

“Any minute. I’m sure they’re just running a little late.” They’d also extended an invitation to Morgan, but she’d declined, saying she was going to be in New York with Owen and his brother’s family.

Hunter admired the golden brown turkey as Jill pulled it from the oven. It was hard to imagine there were only four of them for dinner. Jill had prepared a veritable feast. She was certainly a domestic goddess, and this fall of living with her couldn’t be described as anything less than marital bliss. Since joining Hunter in her old bedroom, Jill hadn’t returned to the guestroom once. The pets had gleefully taken up their former quarters in the guestroom, and Hunter had grown accustomed to waking with Jill in his arms. Neither one had said “I love you,” but perhaps at this juncture that wasn’t necessary. It was evidenced by the way they spent their time together and lived harmoniously in caring consideration of one another’s needs.