Page 34

Chapter 34

Greedy

The light, perfumy fragrance of the first dogwood blooms of the season waft through the cracked windows of the car. It’s not really warm enough to be driving with the windows down, but the sun is shining bright, and the fresh air is unmatched.

“You two warm enough back there?” I turn the heat up one notch to fight the chill we’re willingly letting into the car.

“Hmm?”

I meet Hunter’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “The air, Tem. Are you warm enough?”

She waves a hand. “I’m fine. Levi gave me this.”

Levi snickers.

The this she’s referring to is his well-loved South Chapel Football hoodie from high school. Last time I checked, it was in my drawer back at the Crusade Mansion, but clearly, he reclaimed and reassigned it.

Joke’s on him. I have full access to all his clothing now that we live together. Which is one of the main reasons we’re making this trip today: none of us have enough to wear, and we really need to refresh our wardrobes now that spring has officially arrived in North Carolina.

I peer at them once more, needing a look to soothe my own nerves. Levi has his arm around Hunter’s shoulders, and he’s whispering in her ear. When he pulls back and kisses the top of her head, one side of her mouth twitches in an attempted half smile. Ultimately, it falls flat. She looks just as preoccupied now as she has all morning.

Despite the fresh spring air and the warmth of the sun on my face, I feel the same way.

We’re heading to my father’s house, the three of us, to grab fresh clothes and other items we want to reclaim. This visit is long overdue, but we decided to wait until things cooled down. Spence thought it best we wait until Magnolia was as weak as possible before being in the same space. The rest of us wholeheartedly agreed.

According to my dad, her health is rapidly declining. He told me last week that she doesn’t even get out of bed sometimes.

She’s no threat to the three of us now, just a nuisance.

She’s texted Hunter every day since the luncheon a month ago. Since Kabir tracks all of the woman’s correspondence, he knows when she contacts Hunter, what she says, and all about her manipulation tactics. She has used them all in her effort to convince her daughter to visit her, move back home, and invite her to a doctor’s appointment.

It weighs heavily on Hunter. It’s why I insisted we get this over with today.

Our saving grace in all of this is that Magnolia has no idea we’ve been staying at the Crusade Mansion. Her attempts to find us have grown desperate in the last week or two, which confirms just how clueless she really is. According to Hunter, her mother has never even met Joze, and because of how uninvolved she was with her daughter’s life when she was young, it’s highly unlikely she’d recognize Decker or the other guys from their high school days.

Today’s trip will be in and out. We’ll grab what we need and a few things we want, then get out of there once and for all.

Gripping the steering wheel, I turn onto the familiar street. This is where I grew up. It’s heartbreaking, how unwelcome I now feel in my childhood home. I glance back at Hunter and Levi again. Her head is resting on his shoulder and her arms are wrapped around his bicep.

She’s worth it. He’s worth it. We’re worth it.

Soon, this’ll all be over. That knowledge is what galvanizes me when negativity tries to take over.

Now is not forever. The situation is awful, but temporary.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve started making tentative summer plans. We’ve got a few months yet, but Spence has some business in London he’d like to personally tend to and doesn’t want to be away from the group. Sione jumped on the idea of an extended summer trip to Europe, insisting we visit his grandparents’ villa. Levi has an appointment at the post office to apply for passports next week.

Summer in Italy.

Visiting Lake Como.

Eating and drinking delicious food and wine all day. Skinny dipping at night.

It’s the visual of Hunter and Levi basking in the glow of the moon while they swim, naked, that I’m focused on when I pull into my dad’s driveway.

Which is why I do a double take when I see his car in its usual bay.

It’s a Friday afternoon. Why isn’t he at the hospital?

I park the car and unbuckle. Briefly, I entertain the idea of talking to my dad while I’m here. We had dinner together last week at the hospital. I went there with every intention of telling him about Hunter and me, but as he droned on about the clinical trial he’s looking into for Magnolia, I lost my appetite and my desire to get through to him.

I’ll always regret not telling him about the two of us when I found out he was with Magnolia, but I can’t go back and change that now. After so much time, the best I can do is ride this out, wait for Magnolia to perish, and hope like hell that afterward, there’s enough of him left to reclaim some semblance of a relationship.

Before I open the door, I shift in my seat. “All right. Grab what you need from your bedrooms. We’ll make a big pile by the staircase, then bring it down together.”

“Got it.” Levi throws the truck door open and climbs out, then extends his hand for Hunter.

He’s right.

We’ve got this.

In and out. Easy peasy.

We have nothing to worry about. I hope.