He nodded. “Okay. We don’t have to talk about it tonight. I just wanted to come here and…”
“Kiss me?”
He smiled. “Yes. I hoped you wouldn’t slam the door in my face when I did it.”
“I kissed you back. When have I ever slammed the door in your face?” Her mind raced back ten years. “Never mind. Don’t answer that.”
He sighed. “I deserved it that day. That was the day you saw me using.”
“I don’t want to ruin this talking about the past. We were both wrong.”
They were still standing at the doorway with the door open. Mosquitos and moths were flying around the porch light. One very large moth took the open door as an invitation to fly into the apartment.
“It’s okay,” he said. “You don’t have to invite me in.”
“You can come in. It’s just…”
“I said it was okay,” he said quietly. “Let’s just leave it like this for tonight. We can talk about all the rest another time. Does that sound good?”
She nodded. “Goodnight, Hunter.”
He smiled as he turned away and started down the stairs. “Personally, I think you don’t want me to come in because you want me to think it’s your brother that is the slob when it’s really you.”
She chuckled. “What?”
“I remember what your bedroom looked like, Julie Samuel. You were a mess too.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You never minded it back then.”
“I still don’t.”
She watched him walk to his truck and climb inside. The door was still wide open. She didn’t care about the moths or the mosquitos even though she knew they’d feast on her in the apartment all night. She didn’t want to take her eyes off Hunter.
When she finally shut the door and locked it, she put her hand to her lips. She’d missed him too.
Oh, good God, she was in trouble.
* * *
Julie spent the next day thinking of nothing but Hunter. She still had a few more days off before she had to start work again. She hadn’t talked to Hunter about what came after. After the kiss.
Of course, they’d done so much more than kiss in the past and those memories were burned in her memory. But that was a long time ago. Some people believed that time healed all wounds. Julie wasn’t exactly sure that she believed that. People grew and learned to move on and accepted the mistakes of the past.
She wasn’t exactly sure where that left her today. Or if there was any future to move on for her and Hunter without ripping a Band-Aid off a wound she’d fought long and hard to cover up.
But the feelings she’d been feeling for Hunter were real. It wasn’t just memories. She loved him. There was no doubt in her mind that she’d always love him. She’d tried so hard to force her feelings into a box and she knew she had failed. Hunter Williams had always been in her heart. She wasn’t sure if anyone else would ever have a chance to take the place that he alone claimed. That much was evident the night when he’d kissed her on the porch.
Hunter had been busy working. He’d called and told her he wanted to see her but that he had a full day of shoeing to get through. She’d been invited over to see the chapel house that night, but Julie had little to do but wander around town until then. Caleb was at work. Katie had already moved into the chapel and was busy setting up house.
Julie had to admit that she was excited to see the progress that had been made. She still couldn’t imagine what Katie and Caleb had managed to transform that old dilapidated chapel into. She remembered it from high school, as many of the kids in the area did. But tonight she would have an opportunity to go over and see what had her brother so excited.
She needed a housewarming gift. Julie couldn’t go over for dinner and not have something to give as a gift. So she drove down Main Street and found a little novelty shop across from the hardware store called Sweet Sensations.
She walked through the door and pulled off her sunglasses so she could get a better look at everything the store had to offer.
“Welcome,” the young girl behind the bakery counter said. Julie wasn’t sure if she had ever been that young. Obviously she had been. But she couldn’t remember ever being that bubbly. The girl looked to be about eight or ten years younger than Julie was. “Are you looking for something special?”
Julie continued to look around as she walked toward the bakery counter. “I need a housewarming gift.”
“Then you came to the right place. I’m Dixie,” the girl said with a wide smile. “We have a lot of nice things for the house. What kind of mood is the house?”
“Excuse me? Mood?”
“Yes. Décor? Mood? Theme? I’m not as good at putting things together. Tara really has that eye for decorating. She’s in the back in the office. I can get her for you if you’d like some help. I’m more of an… eclectic type of designer.”
Julie thought for a second. “To be honest, I don’t have a clue. It’s an old chapel that’s been renovated here in town. You might know which one I’m talking about.”
The girls eyes widened with excitement. “Yes, I do! It’s the one the police officer is working on with his girlfriend up on Lookout Ridge.”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
“Now I know I need to get Tara for this. She knows the place.”
“Tara?”
“Yeah, Tara Mitchell. Do you know her?” The girl rolled her eyes. Then added, “Of course you know her. Everyone knows Tara around here.”
The girl disappeared into the back of the room, and within a few seconds, a woman came breezing out of the back room into the showroom.
“Hi, I’m Tara. Dixie said you needed some help finding something for the chapel house?”
“I’m Julie Samuel. Caleb Samuel’s sister.”
Tara’s face grew brighter. “Love that
