Page 15 of 2204 Hunter Lane
“Uh, yeah, I already spoke with him.”And I wish I hadn’t.
“Coffee, deary?” Payton asked, already moving towards the cupboard to grab me a mug.
“Please, thank you.”
Dex slid out of the bench as the wooden floor creaked beneath his boots. He dumped the remnants of coffee down the sink before giving Payton a swift kiss on the head and pushing past me to get outside.
What the hell was with the guys of this family? I mean, at least Dex didn’t outright berate me with his words but he still treated me like some freaking parasite that crawled out of a wormhole.
Whatever. I wasn’t here for them.“Payton, I was hoping to talk to you about something.”
“Anythin’, you got it. How much cream?” She responded, stirring in some sweetener.
“Hm…”None, none, none.“Two tablespoons?”
She nodded and brought the mug to the table, waving me over before taking a slurp from her own cup.
“Did ya sleep okay?” She asked, rounding her blonde hair into a low bun.
I wrapped my hand around the mug, lifting it to my lips. “So well,” I sipped, allowing the rich liquid to soothe my throat. “I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done for me, Payton.”
“Oh, it was absolutely no bother hun. You’ve gots to lean on people from time to time, and you can’t be sorry for nothin’.
That brought a smile out of me. “Well I’m sorry that your husband and son –Hunter,” I corrected myself, “hate my guts. I’m sure you had to hear about it a lot this morning.”
She snickered but it wasn’t a happy laugh at all. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve placed some sadness in her tone.
“Dex, yah, tons. He wasn’t too keen ‘bout a stranger showin’ up at our place, eatin’ our food and all that but he’s an easy tree to cut. Hunter on the other hand –” she shook her head, taking a sip of her coffee. “He’s out most nights. Can’t talk to someone who ain’t around.”
I wanted to ask where he went, why she always looked so upset when his name came up. But it wasn’t my business. I didn’t know the kind of relationship they had, how they were even related,ifthey even were. She kept saying that he wasn’t her son, but they lived together so they must’ve been family or something? No?Forget it.
“Anyways, what’d you wan’ talk about sweet pea?” That sprightly visage came back and it eased my nerves.
Okay. Here goes nothing.“Right, um. So I sort of overheard a conversation between you and Dex this morning…”
I glanced at her quickly, assuming anger would’ve been written on her face but she wore no sour expression, so I continued.
“I heard that you have a business that’s maybe not performing as well as you’d want it to…”
Again, she just sat there listening to me attentively, so I let out an exhale.
“Okay, I’m just going to come out and ask. Do you need any help at all with advertising? I have a degree in marketing and back in New York I was in line to get a promotion so I think I’m pretty good at what I do and I just wanted to repay you for –”
Her sweet laugh filled the air as she placed a soft hand over my fingertips, joy in her face. “Marley you talk a mile a minute, don’t ya?”
Marley. I liked that. I liked the way she said my name and addressed me like I had one to begin with. Unlike the men of the family who probably erased my name from their memory the second they heard it.
“Sorry, I just don’t want you to think I have zero credentials or I’m not qualified. I am, I promise. I can really help you grow your business if that’s what you’re looking for.”
Payton furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, a glint of amusement in her features. “This ain’t –” she laughed, “oh hun, this ain’t no interview, you got nothin’ to prove to me. I just, I guess I just wan’ know why you’re offerin’?”
That was the biggest question of the hour, wasn’t it? Why was I so hell bent on helping Payton out when I barely knew her. Why did I feel such a strong connection to this house, this family, when I should be driving three thousand miles in the opposite direction of this place.
“I don’t…”Are you really going to admit this, Marley?”“I don’t have anything else.”Shit, I guess you are.
She scooted her chair closer to me upon admission and squeezed my fingers.
“I’m going to be honest, Payton, I really messed up my life. I… I had a lot going for me in New York, but I threw it all away for some guy, upped and left everything behind to move here and screwed around for a year until I figured out he was cheating on me.
