Page 19 of Meet Me at Sunset Cove

“All right, all right, you caught me,” his brother said, his voice settling down. “But that doesn’t explain whatyouare doing up this early. What’s going on?”

Hunter let out a deep breath and leaned his back against the stair railing. “I need someone to process with.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“All right,” Hunter started, running a hand over the back of his neck. “But what I’m about to tell you is strictly confidential.”

“Top secret, you got it.”

“I mean it, Miles. Waylen can’t keep a secret to save his life. Jude and Evan wouldn’t take it seriously. You cannot tell a soul.”

“You’re good, Hunt.” His voice turned serious. “I won’t tell anyone…But you are freaking me out a little bit. What’s going on?”

Hunter took a deep breath. “You remember Daisy.”

“Daisy…As in, the girl you used to talk about incessantly for four years after every single conference you attended? And then never mentioned again after you very suspiciously stopped attending said conferences?”

Hunter dragged a hand over his face. “Yeah. That one.”

“Never heard of her.”

“Miles.”

“Sorry. Yes, I remember her.”

“Well, there’s a little bit more to the story than that.” He braced himself for a snarky quip.

“Okay, so tell me about it,” his brother said, no quip. Huh.

Hunter’s eyes traced the horizon, watching the sun rise as he told the story of Daisy.

“So, you know we met at these Midwest construction and design conferences. I was trying to expand the business. She was building her design portfolio and running a YouTube channel with her partner, Logan.

“The first time we met, I swear, I knew she would wreck me. And I leaned right into it. I thought to myself ‘hey, we’ll probably never see each other again. What’s a little shameless flirting?’ She was very charming while shutting me down. Which is fortunate, because as it turns out, the Midwest construction world is pretty small.”

“This is ringing a bell,” Miles joked.

Hunter ignored him, continuing the story. He had to get it out. To lay out all the variables in the equation of why Daisy Decker would offer to help him. The answer had to be there. “We started seeing each other at every convention. She and Logan and me. And we all became friends. We started looking forward to seeing each other at these events, swapping notes, sharing ideas. And then Daisy and I started talking outside of them too.

“I always thought there was something between us, but I don’t think either of us wanted to mess up the good thing we had going. We were long distance, and there was Logan…”

Even now, Hunter felt the burn of humiliation at just how naive he’d been.

“Anyway, at the Chicago convention, there was a huge design contest. The winner would get to pitch a show idea to a couple of HGTV showrunners. Like usual, the three of us were inseparable. And there was this electricity in the air. Like the whole world was riding on this shot. So, Daisy and Logan suggested that we do a little brainstorming.”

He ran a hand over the back of his neck, mentally preparing himself for what came next.

“I already had my design in the bag, but I was happy to help them. We were friends, and they didn’t have anything sketched out. We all hung out in my hotel room. And then Logan decided to turn in early, and Daisy and I stayed up talking. And…”

The memory of that night filled his mind, Daisy’s easy smile as his gaze dropped to her lips, her cheeks turning the lightest shade of pink when he brushed a lock of hair away from her face and leaned in…Like he said. He’d always known she would wreck him.

“It felt like everything was finally falling into place, you know? But then the next day, when it came time to submit my design, it was gone. And then Daisy and Logan won the contest…with my design.”

He could almost feel his brother’s pitying expression, and it burned in his throat.

“Hunt…that’s…”

“Yeah, well…” Hunter replied, letting his brother off the hook from trying to make him feel better. “Daisy and I never spoke again. She got the show and it came out shortly after that she and Logan were dating…I realized Dad was right anyway. Those conventions were a waste of money.”

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