I walked around the island and Candace slid off the stool. We hugged for what felt like an eternity.
When we stepped apart, she winked. “I can be deep when I want to.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “You are like the female version of Kyle, I swear.”
Her head dropped back as she let out a roar of laughter. “Oh shit. I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.”
“Trust me, it’s a compliment.”
The bell to the front door of the shop rang, and I felt the flutter of butterflies in my stomach.
“Go and enjoy yourself. I’m going to experiment with some pies and cobblers.”
“You’re sure this is how you want to spend your day off from the bookstore?”
She waved me off with her hand. “Please, there’s nothing more I’d rather do than bake and fiddle around in the kitchen. Well, sex…I’d rather be having sex, but that’s not going to happen when Eric is on shift for the next two days. It’ll be the old vibrator for me tonight.”
I snarled my lip as I mumbled, “Too much sharing, Candace.”
“Pffft. That’s tame for me.”
A knock sounded, and I turned to see Hunter step inside the small kitchen area of the store. “Am I interrupting anything?”
“No! No, not at all,” I said, grabbing my purse and jacket. Glancing back over my shoulder at Candace, I said, “Have fun playing in the kitchen.”
She shot me a wicked smile. “Have fun playing with—”
“Okay, bye, Candace!” I shouted, pushing Hunter out of the kitchen.
“In a hurry?” he asked with a chuckle.
“Candace started talking about her vibrator, so yes, I’m in a hurry.”
Hunter scrunched up his face in the most adorable way as I grabbed his hand and nearly dragged him out of the store. “Do I want to know what you two were talking about?” he asked while he held the door for me, then helped me up into his truck.
“No, you don’t.”
He reached in and kissed me softly on the lips. “I missed you.”
I reached up and ran my fingertip over his soft lips. “I missed you, too, even though I just saw you a few hours ago.”
Jack barked and poked his head up into the front seat, gave me a quick lick across the side of my face, then barked again.
Hunter rolled his eyes and shut the door while I gave Jack some attention. “Hello, my handsome boy. I missed you too.”
The driver’s side door opened, and Hunter slid into his seat. “Jack, in the back.”
The dog whimpered and then promptly took his position in the backseat. Hunter had a hammock-type thing back there for Jack, so he’d be more comfortable. I swore when he laid down, he sighed.
“What do you have planned for today?” I asked, buckling my seat belt.
“I thought we could go for a short drive. There’s something I want to show you.”
That flutter hit my stomach once again, and I had to force myself to draw my gaze away from Hunter. “Then I can’t wait to see it.”
Hunter drove down Althorpe Street and turned right on Main. I watched as we drove past Annie James, the Gristmill building, and Turning Pages. He turned on Chestnut Street and drove along the river for a bit before turning down a dirt road.
“I’m intrigued. Where are we going?”
Hunter looked at me and winked. “You’ll see.”
I couldn’t help the little bubble of excitement that was quickly building inside of me. I loved surprises, and I loved that Hunter remembered that.
Glancing around as we crossed over the river, I said, “I thought this was the road to the Wickerman farm.”
“It is…or it was.”
“What do you mean, was?”
Hunter gave me a quick look before he focused on the road. It looked as if someone had just plowed it, since we’d gotten snow recently.
“Jeff Wickerman lived here. Do you remember him? We all went to high school together.”
“Yeah, I remember him. Didn’t he move to LA and became a big-time movie producer?”
“He did. His folks decided they were over the winters in New Hampshire, and Jeff gave me a call a few years ago. I had mentioned to him back in high school how much I loved his folks’ property. He remembered…and asked if I wanted to buy it.”
I was positive my mouth fell open. “Their place was huge! They had cattle on it, didn’t they?”
“At one point they did. When Jeff’s folks got older and decided to retire, they sold off all the cattle.”
“Did you buy it?”
Hunter nodded. “I did. I thought it would be a good investment. The house is in great shape. Older, but the Wickermans really kept up with it. And I’ve made a few changes to it.”
“Why don’t you live there?” I asked, looking at the gate we drove up to.
Hunter shrugged. “I don’t know. The house is a lot bigger than the one I’m living in, and I just sorta thought I would move in when I was ready to…”