Page 9 of Meet Me at Sunset Cove (Jonathon Island #5)

Chapter Four

I ’ll marry you, Hunter Barrett.

Those were the words that had kept him awake all night, tossing and turning as his mind replayed them over and over again, until he’d started to wonder if he’d dreamed up the whole conversation.

When the first signs of sunlight warmed the sky, Hunter gave up on sleep.

Long shadows filled the living room as he crept through the open-concept kitchen/dining area/living room.

For all his attempts to be quiet, he couldn’t do anything about the loud snoring rumbling through the floor from his brother’s room.

Hunter shook his head. They were lucky the owners of the bakery downstairs hadn’t started fixing the place up yet.

They hadn’t had a chance to get tired of Waylen’s loud existence.

Hunter snatched his running shoes from the entryway, slipped them on quickly, and stepped outside.

He welcomed the brisk air, making his way down the second-story landing hidden in the narrow cross street that ran behind Main Street.

The streetlights were still glowing when he started jogging.

Hunter had always loved the escape that running offered.

He loved the familiar wooded paths worn into the island, the way wrinkles turn into smile lines.

He loved the smell of aspen and pine and the sight of driftwood on the beach.

It was there that he’d always found clarity in the past…

but today, he found himself turning not onto his usual path, but up the hill. On the road leading home.

He crested the hill and found the old house waiting for him, the front windows reflecting the glow of the horizon. Hunter slowed, paused, his breath coming out in shallow puffs as he stopped at the stonework wall edging the property.

The early morning was stark against the burnt orange that surrounded the house, and he thought of his mother’s early mornings spent sipping coffee on the steps of the porch as she sent his brothers and him off to school.

He made his way that direction, kicking up dew on his trek to the porch.

Finally, he settled onto the top step of the porch and looked out over the lake.

I’ll marry you.

What had she been thinking?

The moment flashed back to him.

“What?” he’d asked, his brows furrowed.

“I’ll…I’ll marry you,” she repeated, her face flushed, lips parted as she pulled in a nervous breath. “I mean, not for real,” she said hurriedly. “Just…like, until you get ownership of the house. Or change the trust. Or whatever you need to do to keep it.”

In that moment, she’d looked so sincere, so concerned with his hurt. The breeze tousled her hair, carrying her familiar scent—honey and coffee, and uniquely Daisy.

Hunter winced, remembering the only words he could think to say at the time before walking away. “I…don’t have time for this.”

He’d managed to think up a hundred better responses in the night, the most important of which was, why? Why would she do that?

A sliver of sunlight crested the horizon, throwing a blanket of gold over the frigid water. It reminded him of his brother’s sunrise kayaking outings. He could use Miles’s guidance right about now.

Hunter debated for a moment before slipping his phone from his pocket and opening his brother’s contact.

Miles answered on the first ring. “Morning, sunshine! What are you doing up this early?”

Hunter couldn’t help but smile. “I think I could ask you the same thing. Don’t you ever sleep?”

His brother scoffed, as if insulted by the insinuation that he needed rest. “Sleep? With all this beauty around? Nah, if the sun’s awake, I’m awake.”

“I knew you were a hippie.” Hunter chuckled.

He could imagine his brother, perched on the windowsill of his Chicago apartment, a lean arm draped over his knee as he peered out at Lake Michigan, his dark eyes soaking up the light.

It had been a while since he’d seen his Miles, but there were some things that just didn’t change.

Miles hooted a laugh that sent Hunter grinning, exhaustion leaking chuckles from him.

“All right, all right, you caught me,” his brother said, his voice settling down. “But that doesn’t explain what you are doing up this early. What’s going on?”

Hunter let out a deep breath and leaned his back against the stair railing. “I need someone to process with.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“All right,” Hunter started, running a hand over the back of his neck. “But what I’m about to tell you is strictly confidential.”

“Top secret, you got it.”

“I mean it, Miles. Waylen can’t keep a secret to save his life. Jude and Evan wouldn’t take it seriously. You cannot tell a soul.”

“You’re good, Hunt.” His voice turned serious. “I won’t tell anyone…But you are freaking me out a little bit. What’s going on?”

Hunter took a deep breath. “You remember Daisy.”

“Daisy…As in, the girl you used to talk about incessantly for four years after every single conference you attended? And then never mentioned again after you very suspiciously stopped attending said conferences?”

Hunter dragged a hand over his face. “Yeah. That one.”

“Never heard of her.”

“Miles.”

“Sorry. Yes, I remember her.”

“Well, there’s a little bit more to the story than that.” He braced himself for a snarky quip.

“Okay, so tell me about it,” his brother said, no quip. Huh.

Hunter’s eyes traced the horizon, watching the sun rise as he told the story of Daisy.

“So, you know we met at these Midwest construction and design conferences. I was trying to expand the business. She was building her design portfolio and running a YouTube channel with her partner, Logan.

“The first time we met, I swear, I knew she would wreck me. And I leaned right into it. I thought to myself ‘hey, we’ll probably never see each other again. What’s a little shameless flirting?

’ She was very charming while shutting me down.

Which is fortunate, because as it turns out, the Midwest construction world is pretty small. ”

“This is ringing a bell,” Miles joked.

Hunter ignored him, continuing the story.

He had to get it out. To lay out all the variables in the equation of why Daisy Decker would offer to help him.

The answer had to be there. “We started seeing each other at every convention.

She and Logan and me. And we all became friends.

We started looking forward to seeing each other at these events, swapping notes, sharing ideas.

And then Daisy and I started talking outside of them too.

“I always thought there was something between us, but I don’t think either of us wanted to mess up the good thing we had going. We were long distance, and there was Logan…”

Even now, Hunter felt the burn of humiliation at just how naive he’d been.

“Anyway, at the Chicago convention, there was a huge design contest. The winner would get to pitch a show idea to a couple of HGTV showrunners. Like usual, the three of us were inseparable. And there was this electricity in the air. Like the whole world was riding on this shot. So, Daisy and Logan suggested that we do a little brainstorming.”

He ran a hand over the back of his neck, mentally preparing himself for what came next.

“I already had my design in the bag, but I was happy to help them. We were friends, and they didn’t have anything sketched out. We all hung out in my hotel room. And then Logan decided to turn in early, and Daisy and I stayed up talking. And…”

The memory of that night filled his mind, Daisy’s easy smile as his gaze dropped to her lips, her cheeks turning the lightest shade of pink when he brushed a lock of hair away from her face and leaned in…Like he said. He’d always known she would wreck him.

“It felt like everything was finally falling into place, you know? But then the next day, when it came time to submit my design, it was gone. And then Daisy and Logan won the contest…with my design.”

He could almost feel his brother’s pitying expression, and it burned in his throat.

“Hunt…that’s…”

“Yeah, well…” Hunter replied, letting his brother off the hook from trying to make him feel better. “Daisy and I never spoke again. She got the show and it came out shortly after that she and Logan were dating…I realized Dad was right anyway. Those conventions were a waste of money.”

There was a long pause before Miles spoke. “So, what’s got you losing sleep over this now?”

“This is the part you can’t tell anyone,” he said, the words scraping his throat.

“Okay…?” Miles replied hesitantly.

“Dad wants to sell the house. And the rules of the trust say I can’t inherit it unless I’m engaged when my thirty-first birthday rolls around.”

“I’m sorry…I’m lost. What’s that got to do with Daisy?”

“She’s here.”

A beat. “On Jonathon Island?”

“Yes. On Jonathon Island.” Hunter’s gaze trailed the path she’d trampled in the overgrown grass the day before. That girl always left a mark.

Miles cut into his thoughts, pulling him back to the conversation. “I still don’t see how that’s…Hang on…” his voice trailed off as he made the connection. “Hunt. Tell me you didn’t propose to this girl.”

“Actually, she proposed to me.”

The house creaked under Miles’s heavy silence.

“She’s here looking for a new reno project,” Hunter went on. “And I let the details of the trust slip. I was upset. And then she offered to marry me?—”

“Marry you! Hunter?—”

“Fake engage me.”

“Not better.”

“A fake engagement, just long enough to help me keep the house until I can figure something out.” Even saying it out loud, he knew he was tiptoeing around the moral dilemma of the offer. It was fraud. Another good reason he was talking to Miles about this and not Waylen, the cop…

Miles was quiet for a long time, obviously having reached the same conclusion. “Listen, Hunt. I know you love that house, but…”

Hunter stilled, his jaw working as he stared out at the lake. “I won’t walk away from family, Miles. Not from the good parts, and not from the broken parts either.”

“The house isn’t our family, Hunt.”