Page 57 of 2204 Hunter Lane
My eyes peeped to my white Malibu that was completely invisible, buried beneath the sheath of snow.Shit.
“Marley,” Payton let out. “You got a bed downstairs, yah?”
“Um, well I guess –”
“Hunter!” Payton yelled, whipping her body around to find him standing a few feet away.
“Blow my ears out more, will ya? Christ.” He scoffed, crossing his arms.
She paid no mind to his comment. “Bring some blankets down for Marley. There’s a few in the laundry room.”
He saluted a wave and led me away from everyone, snagging a dark blue blanket and some sheets.
“I don’t know if Payton made the bed so just throw these aside if you don’t need ‘em.”
I followed him down the basement stairs as the echoed voices of commotion slowly tuned out.
Hunter dropped the blanket and sheets on a fully made spread then proceeded to stalk straight to the fireplace.
The familiarity of this room made me reflect on the last couple months I’d spent in this small little town. So much happened, so much changed.
It felt like just yesterday that my entire life turned around, and I spent the night crying in this very room about Todd, my family, my lack of direction, everything under the sun.
Dex almost blew my head off with a shotgun, Payton fed me cinnamon rolls and Hunter well… Hunter hated my guts back then. Crazy how things play out when you have no expectations.
“Fireplace ain’t workin’.” Hunter released, rubbing the stubble on his jaw. “I’ll go get you an extra blanket.”
Before I could get a word out, he was already up and down the stairs within a minute, carrying a grey throw.
He laid it out on top of the duvet and set aside the clean sheets, rolling the blue blanket into a makeshift sausage pillow.
“You think you’ll be warm enough?”
I walked over to the bookshelf that held Hunter’s boat figurines and analyzed the craftsmanship of each one.
It was an odd hobby, not in the sense that it was weird but knowing Hunter’s personality, I never expected him to enjoy such a…calming, task.
My pointer finger carefully grazed the little American flag glued to one of the ships as I joked in response.
“Are you offering to be my furnace?”
I didn’t even realize how long it took him to respond before he grumbled out, “trust me, sweetheart. I’ve thought about it.”
My head zipped around so fast I could’ve gotten whiplash. I found Hunter laying on the bed,mybed, with his head propped up against one of the pillows.
Heat scorched my cheeks as I turned my back to him, forcing my attention to the boats.
I counted about six mini ships, all painted in different colours and designs but the biggest ship in the center was the most complex.
Intricate carvings were engraved on the bottom of the boat, like angel wings that swirled off into tumbleweed. The sails on the boat were a rich yellow, dark blue glitter framing the outskirts.This is freaking beautiful.
“How long did this take you?” I asked, afraid to even stare at it in fear that it’d break.
I moved to the side to show Hunter what I was talking about, but he didn’t even look, knowing exactly which one I was referring to.
“Bout seven months I’d say. Needed to get it right.”
My feet carried me away from the bookshelf of ships because frankly, I didn’t trust myself any longer being around such fragile objects. I wasn’t clumsy, but I definitely wasn’t born with surgical hands.
