Page 77 of Shades of You

I had a hard time finding the words. “Because… I felt like an outsider. I wanted him to have this time with his family. And I got a little insecure about how much Hunter cares about me.”

Braden’s blue eyes clouded, and his face grew tight. “What do you mean? Did he blow you off?”

I lifted my palm out before my little brother could fully rev up that protective streak. “Not at all. The moment wasn’t about us. I didn’t want to butt in.”

Their expectant gazes encouraged me to continue.

“Hunter and Evan reconciled, right there on the field after the game.” The words tumbled out, laden with the significance of the moment I had observed.

Braden’s eyebrows shot up, and Harper’s mouth formed a perfect O.

“Wow,” Harper breathed out and took a quick sip. “You mentioned they were trying to mend things. But they were estranged for a long time. Now all’s well between them?”

“What I saw was very different,” I confirmed, nodding solemnly. “The entire family was on the field.”

“Huh,” Braden murmured, leaning back in his chair. “Never thought I’d see the day. Guess we’ll have to find a new source of gossip now.”

I swatted his arm, ignoring his grin. A weird mix of pride and sadness enveloped me. Pride for Hunter’s courage and sadness that confronting my own fears seemed an insurmountable task. Sadness that I couldn’t share this momentous occasion with him.

“Good for them,” Harper said finally, a note of admiration threading through her voice. “It takes a lot to bury the hatchet after so long.”

“Isn’t that the truth.” I sighed, staring down at thepolished wood of the table, tracing the grains with my finger.

“Are you okay, Brenna?” Braden asked. He cleared a space in the middle of the table as a big basket of fried shrimp and French fries arrived.

“Me? Yeah, I’m fine,” I lied, offering a smile that didn’t feel very genuine.

Harper studied me, her intuition always attuned to my moods. Then again, she knew there was more to my story with Hunter than Braden did. “No, you’re not,” she said, her eyes locking onto mine. “You’ve got that look.”

“What look?” I reached for a handful of crispy fries but dropped them on my plate, my appetite suddenly waning.

“TheHunter’s invaded my thoughts and now I’m spiralinglook. You can’t fool me, Bren.”

I exhaled slowly. “It’s just… watching him make peace with Evan today. I felt like I was seeing the old Hunter again. No, that’s not quite right. Maybe a brand-new Hunter—the good man who’s always been beneath all the trauma, you know? And I just couldn’t handle what was happening. So I got up and left without saying anything to him.”

“Why?” Braden’s question was gentle, but it sliced through the haze of my uncertainty.

“Because I felt so apart from everything, and I don’t know where things stand.” I glanced away, watching the ebb and flow of the patrons around us. “We got into a fight and haven’t really talked since. Which is my fault—he reached out to ask me to attend the game.”

“Have you thought about talking to him? Like, actually sitting down and laying it all out on the table?” Harper asked.

“Every day,” I admitted. “But fear’s a powerful thing. It keeps telling me I might not like what I hear.”

“Or,” Harper countered, pointing a French fry at me, “you might find out he cares about you more deeply than you realize. Especially now that he’s got his family problems settled. Is that worth the risk?”

“Probably,” I murmured.

“Look, I’m no expert on love, but if there’s one thing I understand, it’s taking risks.” Her gaze turned pointed, unwavering. “You keep talking about how Hunter is willing to fight to turn his life around. Maybe it’s your turn to fight for what you want. For who you want.”

“And that brings us back to square one,” I said as I pushed some shrimp around on my plate. “It’s not just about me and Hunter, is it? It’s about all of us. Coleridges and Markhams.”

“So you keep telling us,” Braden said, and Harper elbowed him. I shot her a smile at the support, much more obvious today, as if hearing that Hunter and Evan had made up reassured her about him.

Trying to gather my thoughts, I ate a crispy fried shrimp. “Seeing Evan forgive him today… it helped me find my own courage. This feud has served nothing but to keep people apart. If Evan can put aside years of resentment, of a shattered life, surely my own family can sit down with Hunter—without casting judgment or bringing up the past.”

“I’ve had my doubts about you being involved with him,” Harper said as she swirled a finger over the rim of her pint glass. “And I’ve had plenty of resentment toward the Markhams. The hostility between Evan and Hunter only solidified it for me. So the two of them reconciling today… I didn’t think it would ever happen. I’m big enough to admit when I’m wrong about someone.”

“Does that mean…” I trailed off, hesitant to get my hopes up.

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