With Regret by Rebecca Quincy

Author:Rebecca Quincy [Quincy, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Constellation Publishing LLC
Published: 2023-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

Hunter

NOVEMBER 1

Hunter stumbled into the hall, wanting to chase after her, but he had no idea which way to go. He didn’t even know what kind of car she drove, so even if he raced down to the street and tried to flag her down, he wouldn’t know what he was looking for. He gave up with a sigh and trudged back inside. Even though facing Celia and Christian for another screaming match sounded about as fun as a baseball bat to the eye.

Well, nothing he could do about that. He emerged from the short foyer hall back into the dining room. Celia was slumped in a chair, her elbows propped onto the table and her forehead resting on her steepled fingers. Christian stood beside her, rubbing her shoulder.

Hunter went around the table to the chair he’d been sitting in before, the one opposite where Celia was, and dropped into it wearily. “Well, that was a real kick in the nuts, wouldn’t you say?”

Christian gave him the ghost of a smile for his joke. Celia didn’t react at all.

Hunter sighed and reached for his wine glass, taking a long sip. Annika’s abandoned glass was beside it, a faint print of her plum-colored lipstick staining the rim. He stared at that smudge, at the press of where her lips had been. His chest felt tight.

He’d thought, or hoped, that tonight might be the night where she didn’t run away. Christian had told him that she’d be coming tonight—it was why he’d made the long drive and taken the time off to spend the weekend down south, although he was grateful to have a weekend with the rest of his family too. But with every mile he’d driven down the 101, he’d imagined Annika, imagined those full lips and the way they’d smile when she saw him again. Imagined sneaking another kiss from her. Imagined a lot more than a kiss.

But she hadn’t smiled to see him. She’d panicked. And then she’d run. Again.

He let the wine slide down his throat, then shook himself out of his painful thoughts. “So,” he asked, his tone more serious this time. “What now?”

“I don’t know,” Celia said into her hands.

Christian sat beside his wife, looking like he’d aged ten years in ten minutes. That stabbed Hunter deeper than any of Celia’s yelling had done. “I still don’t think I understand what happened. Either one of you want to explain? Calmly?” The last word was directed at Celia, who had dropped her hands and narrowed her eyes at Hunter as she drew a breath to respond.

She took the hint, letting the air out in a silent, joyless laugh and gesturing at Hunter to go first.

“I think we covered the gist of it,” he said, twirling the stem of the wine glass between his fingers and watching the slosh of the liquid inside. It was easier to do that than watch their faces as he said this. “I was hurt. I was angry. I wanted you to be hurt and angry too.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.