Page 81 of Meet Me at Sunset Cove

“I’m not blind, Daisy. I watched the video. I know your voice. I know your face,” he snapped, his gaze finally meeting hers. “Maybe I am blind for trusting you again.” Daisy’s breath caught in her chest at the wounded look his eyes. “You know the worst part? You couldn’t even wait for things to fall apart before cutting me loose.”

He pushed away from the door, turning his back to her.

Daisy scrambled for something to say, anything to make him stay. “What about us?”

Hunter stiffened, the lines of his broad shoulders tightening. He spared a glance over his shoulder, his eyes flashing with anger.“What part don’t you understand, Daisy? There is no us. We are over. And I hope it was worth it. Because it looks like you’ve been canceled. Your followers are dropping like flies.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but Hunter continued, his words laced with bitterness.

“And boy, you really had me fooled.” He laughed humorlessly, shaking his head. “But I see the real you now, and you were right. I am disappointed.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks, and Daisy stepped down, the envelope slipping from her fingers and fluttering to the ground.

Hunter’s gaze swept over her one last time. “Go home, Daisy,” he said, his voice firm. Resolved. “It’s over.”

He turned and stepped inside, shutting the door behind him.

ChapterEighteen

The early-morning sun simmered in the steam off the lake, lying like fog upon the water. Hunter sat on the dock, the sounds of ice chunks crushing against one another over the quiet harbor, his elbows resting on his knees, head hanging low. In his hand, his grandma’s ring weighed him down, the stone cutting into his palm. He couldn’t look at it anymore. He closed the ring box and tucked it back into his pocket.

The last week had been a nightmare. First there had been the video itself. The words cut deep, etched into his memory. And then there had been the reactions. His dad’s. His brothers’. But worst of all, his grandpa’s. Hunter’s face burned just thinking about the look of betrayal and disappointment that had been heavy in the old man’s eyes.

Things were fraying already. It was just a matter of time…

And what was he doing? Sitting on a cold dock, waiting for a ferry to meet up with his brothers so he could watch his mom marry someone he’d never met.

A pair of footsteps thumped quietly against the dock, and Hunter lifted his head.

Tara Chamberlain stood beside the bench, her winter coat cinched tight at the waist. She held two cups of coffee in her gloved hands, a soft smile on her lips. “Good morning, Hunter. Do you mind if I join you?”

He let out a breath. This was not what he needed right now. He scooted over. “Have at it.”

Tara quietly perched on the bench. Extended one of the steaming cups toward him. “I spotted you on my way to Good Day. I wasn’t sure if you’d still be here, but I grabbed you a coffee.”

Hunter frowned in surprise. “Thank you.”

An uncomfortable silence stretched between them as the ferry appeared in the distance.

“Where’s Daisy today?” Tara asked, taking a sip from her cup. “I’d gotten used to seeing you two together.”

Hunter turned the cup in his hands, letting the heat warm his palms. “She’s gone. It’s over. I guess she finally saw what everyone does about me.”

It was a heavy statement. Not something he wanted to share with someone so familiar with his failures. But he couldn’t seem to hold the words back. Tara had been like a mother to him once, and maybe there was a part of him that really needed that right now.

Tara tilted her head. “What is it you think everyone sees in you, Hunter?”

Hunter licked his lips. Discomfort creeping up his throat. He glanced away, focusing on the sheets of ice in the bay, reflecting the sun. “I think they see every bad thing that’s happened to me as one more piece of baggage…I think they see a million broken pieces. The ruins of an old house. They see me as too much work.”

“Is that what you think I see in you?” she asked quietly.

“I think it’s why you look at me the way you do.” The words scraped his throat. “I think I let you down when I didn’t protect Belle the way I should have. I think you realized that the people in my life end up getting hurt or getting out. You got out. And who would blame you?”

Again, the heavy silence.

“Hunter Barrett. It was not your responsibility to protect Belle,” Tara said, her breath hanging in the air. “She made the choice to jump into that water. It was a choice I wish she hadn’t made, but never for a moment did I blame you for it…But I couldn’t look at you without seeing that terrified look on your face when we showed up at the hospital. When I look at you, I relive the most terrifying night of my life. And that’s not fair to you…I’m sorry.”

Hunter lifted his head. All these years…“Thank you.”

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