Page 11 of Meet Me at Sunset Cove

He picked his way across and entered the old workshop, emerging a moment later with the supplies he needed.

When he returned to the sunroom, the figure was gone, though a long shadow seeped out at the bottom of the door. Hunter smirked as he knelt to work. “You still there?”

“Oh, I’m here,” she replied, her voice steeped with playful sarcasm.

He let out a sideways chuckle. “Good. I was afraid you’d run off before I’d get the chance to rescue you.”

“My hero,” the woman said. “I don’t suppose you happen to be a firefighter, or police officer, or someone else who specializes in breaking down doors?”

Hunter glanced at her shadow, grinning despite himself. “You’re in luck. I’m a contractor. Doors are kind of my thing.”

“Hear that? A contractor, just what a girl like me needs.”

He laughed, working on the mechanism. “You know, most people wait until after they’ve seen my face to start flirting.”

“Who says I’m flirting? Maybe I just really, really want out of this room.”

“Fair enough. Although I have to warn you, I’ve been told I’m devastatingly handsome. You might swoon when that door opens.”

“I’ll try to contain myself,” she replied dryly.

With a final twist and a firm push, the door swung open. “There we go! You’re free to?—”

Hunter’s words died in his throat as he found himself face-to-face with a ghost from his past. Her honey-brown hair was longer, her short, choppy bob now long enough to be pulled back into a peppy ponytail. Her clothes were different. Her makeup was different. But those eyes were unmistakable.

“Daisy,” he breathed.

Her playful smile faltered, replaced by a look of shock that must have mirrored his own. “Hunter?”

For a moment, neither of them seemed able to move, memories flooding the space between them, holding them captive.

His chest tightened.

A flicker of movement over her shoulder caught his attention, and his gaze shifted to the wall behind her where a phone was propped up against the windowsill. He caught sight of himself, his wide frame filling the doorway. His attention snapped back to the woman trespassing in his house, and he nodded toward the phone. “Turn it off.”

Daisy’s eyes flashed with confusion, her brows drawing together as she glanced back over her shoulder. “Oh! Sorry!”

She hurried across the room. “Okay, friends, I think that’s enough of an adventure for today…maybe even enough for the next couple of days. Be on the lookout for new postings on my channel. Until next time, love ya!”

She tapped a button, and the stream ended.

“I amsosorry,” she said, turning back to him. “I wasn’t trying to trespass, I just?—”

“What are you doing here?” he cut her off.

Daisy froze, her lips parting as though in shock. “What amIdoing here? I’ve got the same question aboutyou.”

“I live here.”

Daisy’s gaze darted around the obviously unoccupied house.

Hunter gave an exasperated sigh. “On Jonathon Island. But you knew that.”

She frowned. “No…I didn’t. You told me you lived in Michigan. Not a magical Hallmark wonderland.” Hunter rolled his eyes at that. “I wanna buy the house.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s not for sale.”

She stepped back, cocking her head, the dirty sunlight spotlighting her as her demeanor changed. She rested a hand on her hip. “Really?”

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