Page 14 of Meet Me at Sunset Cove (Jonathon Island #5)
Chapter Six
I f Jonathon Island’s charming setting or endearing locals hadn’t been enough to make Daisy fall in love, her new apartment certainly was.
Good Day Coffee had been closed by the time she’d gotten all her things from the inn and moved them to her new temporary home the following evening, but this morning, the café was awake and bustling, and Daisy had woken to the fresh scent of coffee and a view of the sun on the lake.
“Wow, thank you,” Daisy replied, taking the warm cup in her hands.
“Oh, no,” Jill called over the sound of the coffee grinder.
“That’s not from me.” She nodded again, this time across the room to where Hunter sat waiting.
His broad shoulders were clad in a well-worn leather jacket.
His dark eyes connected with hers beneath slightly furrowed brows.
His short, tousled brown hair softened his hard lines just slightly.
As he stood to greet her, Daisy couldn’t help but notice the way conversations around them faltered and the curious glances cast their way.
“Thank you,” Daisy said, suddenly shy beneath the eyes of so many onlookers. “For the coffee.”
“No problem,” he replied.
Hunter’s eyes darted over her head, as though noticing the commotion, the attention they’d drawn, for the first time.
His dark gaze returned to her, and, to her surprise, his hand came up to her lower back, pulling her in as he pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head.
The gesture was gentle, leaving Daisy with an unexpected flutter in her stomach. She jolted, nearly spilling her coffee.
Whoa, there. Give a fake fiancée some warning.
Hunter stepped back. “You ready to go?”
Daisy blinked up at him, all thought cleared from her mind, save the fading feel of his arm around her and his breath against her hair. “What?”
A self-satisfied smirk slid onto Hunter’s face. “Are you ready to head out?”
The fog lifted and Daisy cleared her throat as she tried to regain her composure. “Ready.”
His eyes crinkled, apparently finding her fluster very amusing. “Great.” He slipped an arm around her shoulder, his heat seeping through her flannel. “Let’s go, then.”
They stepped out of the coffee shop, leaving the crowd of unabashed gawkers behind, and Hunter immediately let his arm slip away, returning to the distance between them.
Talk about whiplash. This was going to be a whole lot more difficult than she’d thought.
“So…church?” she asked, glancing up at him expectantly.
Hunter’s eyes remained fixed ahead. “Yup,” he replied simply.
Great. Mr. Monosyllable was back.
He glanced down at her, and to her surprise, added, “Service doesn’t start until nine, but we need to get there early to beat the crowd.
Half the town is still back there in line for coffee.
” He jerked his thumb back toward the shop they’d just left.
“And Jill shuts down for the service in five minutes.”
It took a stunning fifteen-minute stroll up the boardwalk, the bright sun cutting through the chill, for the little church to come into view.
Daisy let out a gasp. “It’s so beautiful.”
The quaint building was easily a hundred years old, four walls of white and gray stone, with stunning arched stained-glass windows overlooking the lake.
The entrance wrapped around the side of the building, letting churchgoers enter at the center of the sanctuary.
Worn wooden pews lined the room, looking toward a wood-carved pulpit in front of another massive stained-glass window.
The light poured through it, painting the room in shades of blue and red and gold.
“You’re gawking,” Hunter said, giving her shoulder a nudge.
“Why aren’t you?” Daisy breathed.
Hunter smirked. “Probably because I’ve sat inside this church every week since I was born.”
“That’s…really nice.” Daisy gave Hunter a tight smile.
She hadn’t been to church in years. In her college years, she’d been a regular attendee at Hope Church in Chicago.
But once she moved to LA and her show took off, she hadn’t really had time in her schedule. A seed of guilt took root in her chest.
Hunter shrugged.
“Where is your family?” She asked, peering through the crowd for anyone with a family resemblance.
Hunter placed a hand on her back, heat seeping from his fingertips as he ushered her further inside. “You’ll meet them later. Waylen’s the only one who lives on island, but he’s never been much for church.”
“Don’t you think it’s odd to be flaunting our engagement when I haven’t even”—she dropped her voice into a whisper—“haven’t even met your family?”
Hunter paused, his brows knitting together.
“I hardly think it’s out of the realm of possibility that my long-distance celebrity fiancée hasn’t met my family,” he said low, dipping his head.
“Besides, Waylen spent the night at Jude and Evan’s place last night.
I doubt the news will spread all the way to the mainland before Pastor Arnie is done with his sermon.
Come on, we should sit before the coffee line catches up with us.
” Hunter gestured toward an open pew where a blonde and a brunette, both probably a few years younger than Daisy, scooted down, patting their empty seats.
Daisy shuffled into the pew, and the women both leaned forward, grinning.
“You must be the mysterious new woman in town,” the brunette whispered.
Hunter rolled his eyes. “Ladies, this is Daisy…my fiancée.” Both women let out an excited squeal that Hunter seemed to be trying his best to ignore as he continued introductions. “Daisy, this is Jordi Chamberlain”—the brunette—“and Holland White. Her brother, Jonah, is my oldest friend.”
The blonde, Holland, frowned. “Oh, is that all? All this time I thought we were friends.”
Hunter leaned toward Daisy, speaking exaggeratedly low. “She’s also a little dramatic?—”
“Hunter Barrett.” Holland smacked him on the arm before turning back to Daisy. “It’s really nice to meet you, Daisy.”
Daisy didn’t get a chance to respond before a horde of middle-aged church women bustled up, closing around them in the aisle and surrounding pews.
“Well, if it isn’t the happy couple!” the woman Hunter had pointed out as Martha Kelley exclaimed, her eyes not-so-subtly looking for a ring on Daisy’s finger.
“We’re all just dying to hear how this came about.
It’s so…unexpected.” Her eyes stopped scouring Daisy’s fingers long enough to meet her eyes. “I’m Martha, by the way.”
“Daisy,” she replied, extending a hand.
Another woman chimed in, taking over the handshake when Martha finally let go. “When’s the big day?”
Before Daisy could respond, a third woman leaned in, “And Hunter, why is this the first we are meeting her? Daisy, you are just beautiful.”
Daisy felt her cheeks flush. “Oh, thank you.”
“Now, now, ladies,” Martha interrupted, her smile predatory. “I’m sure they’ll make a lovely announcement when they’re ready. Though it does seem to be a little out of the blue. I don’t think Hunter’s been in a relationship since, well…”
Hunter tensed beside Daisy, his jaw clenching.
Just as Daisy was about to stammer out a response, a familiar voice cut through the chatter.
“All right, that’s enough interrogation,” Vera said firmly, appearing beside them. “Why don’t you all give these two some space? Service is about to start.”
The women reluctantly dispersed, throwing curious glances over their shoulders. Vera found her own seat as well, but not before leaning close to say, “Don’t think you’ll get out of telling me everything later,” with a wink.
Daisy let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding and glanced over at Holland, who was chuckling quietly to herself.
A hush fell over the church as a few members of the congregation stepped up onto the small stage and worship began. A few minutes after that, the pastor stepped up to the pulpit. Though his red hair made it difficult for Daisy to determine his age, he looked to be in his mid-fifties.
He gave the congregation a warm smile, his eyes stopping briefly on Daisy, then Hunter.
In the front row, the woman from the coffee shop, the one who’d made Hunter so tense, sat in the front row, and Daisy realized with a start that she must be the pastor’s wife. Daisy peeked over at Hunter to see if he’d noticed the woman, but his eyes were focused on the speaker.
“I don’t know about you all,” he began, his voice carrying easily through the church, “but I’ve got a laundry list of things to accomplish this week.”
He pulled out a small notebook from his pocket, flipping it open with exaggerated movements.
“Let’s see here…I need to mow the lawn, pick up groceries, finish that report for the church board, clear the gutters, help Holland with her Bible study prep, meet with the youth group, fix that leaky faucet in the kitchen… ”
As he continued, his list grew more elaborate, drawing chuckles from the congregation. “…repaint the garage, learn to speak fluent Italian, solve world hunger, and maybe, just maybe, find time to sleep.”
He closed the notebook with a snap and a wry grin. “Sound familiar to anyone?”
Daisy found herself nodding along with several others in the church. She could practically feel the weight of her own to-do list pressing down on her shoulders, everything she needed to do if she was going to get her YouTube channel off the ground.
“In today’s world, doesn’t it seem like it’s always go, go, go?
” The pastor continued, his tone becoming more serious.
“That we’re always pushing for more, always striving to do something big with our lives, to succeed.
It’s like we’re on this never-ending treadmill of achievement and productivity. ”