Page 70 of Luna

Hunter wanted to go with him, but instead, he took a seat at the table across from his parents. “How’s Jeff? And Grandmama?”

“They’re very well,” his father said in a tone that wasn’t warm or friendly. “You want to tell me what’s going on?”

Hunter couldn’t help it when both of his eyebrows shot upward. Apparently, he and Nik wouldn’t make it in a life of subterfuge or acting on stage.

“I, uh … it’s um … complicated.”

His father leaned forward, both arms braced on the table, his forehead furrowed with a frown. “Well, uncomplicate it.”

“We have no idea who sent it, but we received this letter a week ago.” Dacey took a slip of paper out of her skirt pocket and slid it across the table.

Dally needs her mother.

Hunter read the short missive. Turned over the paper, expecting there to be something more, but there wasn’t. No date. No name signed at the bottom. Nothing. The person who’d mailed the letter had block-printed the words so no one would be able to recognize the handwriting.

“The envelope didn’t have a return address, but it was postmarked Pendleton. Of course, we came as soon as we could,” Dacey said, leaning forward and taking Hunter’s hands in hers. “What has happened to your sister, and why are you and Nik working so hard to keep it from us?”

“Is she hurt, Hunter? Did a horse throw her? Is she bedridden?” Braxton asked, his voice so thick with emotion his southern drawl became prominent as it did anytime he was upset.

“No. It’s nothing like that. Dally does need you, but the reason why is something she needs to explain herself. Let’s go inside. I think Nik was going to attempt to convince her to come downstairs.”

His parents looked confused but followed him into the house. He led them to the sitting room, turned on the electric fan to stir the air, and wished he could race out to the barn, mount Wind, and ride off until the impending storm blew over.

“I’m too filthy to sit in here. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go change.”

Hunter didn’t wait for them to respond but hustled down the hall and up the back stairs. He could hear Nik and Dally arguing in their room. Although he couldn’t distinguish the words, the tones of anger were unmistakable. Before he got dragged any further into Dally’s deception, he grabbed a change of clothes and went into the bathroom. The bath he took was quick, but gave him time to wonder if Luna was struggling through her shift at Caterina’s. She had to be exhausted after all the work she’d put in at the ranch the past few days.

He wished, quite desperately, he’d had more time with her. Since he’d kissed her yesterday, he’d been hard pressed to think of anything else. In fact, that afternoon, he’d nearly driven the thresher into one of the other machines when he was daydreaming about Luna’s smile.

Memories of the day he’d taken her to his place filled his thoughts. He’d gone to check on his hired men and returned to find her sitting with the sunshine behind her, creating a halo of light around the mass of her dark hair that she’d turned free from its usual confines. She blew weed seeds into the breeze, looking young and enchanting, like a woodland fairy come to life.

The truth had slammed into him then. He wanted Luna for his wife. He wanted to build the land he’d bought into a legacy for the children they’d raise together. He wanted to wake up every morning beside her and fall asleep with her hair spilling across his pillow.

Still, he wasn’t ready to share any of that with her, even if the passionate kisses they’d shared yesterday had left him so befuddled he’d nearly blurted his feelings on the way out the door.

By the time he dried off, drained the tub, and dressed, he could hear raised voices down the hall.

After rolling his dirty clothes inside his damp towel and leaving them in the hamper he kept in his room, he walked to Nik and Dally’s door and knocked.

The voices quieted, and Nik swung open the door, his face a mask of anger nearly matching Dally’s disgruntled appearance as she sat in a chair by the window.

“I could hear you fighting down the hall. Mama and Dad have already figured out something is amiss. The sooner you go downstairs and face them, Dal, the sooner you can get this all over with. You aren’t arguing with Nik because you’re upset with him, you just want someone to tell you it’s okay to continue to hide from Mama. Well, it’s not. You should have shared the news with her like a normal person to begin with, and before you unleash that sharp tongue on me, just reel it back in.”

Hunter looked at Nik, and his brother-in-law nodded once. It was all the approval Hunter needed to march into the room, pull Dally to her feet, and tug her toward the door. “I’ve never once known you to be a coward, Dahlia Douglas Nash. I would think motherhood would make you stronger, not prod you to act like someone painted your spine yellow.”

As he’d known they would, his words brought her up straight. She whirled on him with fury in her eyes and her hand clenched into a fist at her side. “I’m not a coward.”

“Prove it,” Hunter taunted and stepped aside, offering a grand, sweeping gesture toward the door.

“I will!” she shouted, grabbed Nik’s hand, and hastened into the hall and down the stairs.

Hunter trailed behind them and watched the look on his mother’s face when Dally marched into the room.

The voluminous apron she’d worn all day was gone, and despite her loose shirtwaist, her condition couldn’t be hidden.

Dacey hopped to her feet, practically flew across the room, and embraced Dally in a suffocating hug. Braxton rose slowly to his feet, as though he couldn’t quite bring himself to comprehend the fact that he would soon be a grandfather.

Hunter studied his father for a moment, seeing him in a new light. Not as the hero he’d always looked up to, but as a husband, a father, a man who worked hard for his family and wanted the best for them. The revelation threw Hunter as he watched his father walk across the room, then engulf both Dacey and Dally in a tight embrace.

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