Page 7 of Meet Me in Paris

I chided myself for even thinking about him. Hunter had been forced to choose between me and Paris, and he’d chosen Paris. In the meantime, Grandpa wanted the Travell sisters to reconcile or at least attempt to mend the rift between us. With only a few days in each city, there wouldn’t be much opportunity for romance, and I preferred it that way. Hunter could live his life how he wanted without ever knowing I was here.

Alexis rolled over onto the pillows and closed her eyes. “I’ll see you in about twelve hours.”

Time to pull the big sister card. “Make that two. One of the most important lessons of traveling—adjust to the local time as quickly as possible. We have tickets for the Eiffel Tower this afternoon, and then there’s this famous restaurant I wanted us to hit on the way home.”

“The Eiffel Tower?” Jillian said, frowning. “That’s the biggest part of the entire trip. I hoped we’d see that when we were more rested.”

I shrugged. “It’s busier on weekends, so I thought today would be better.”

“Youthought,” Alexis muttered and settled into the bed, pulling a pillow over her head. At least the bed looked soft and comfortable.

“It’s okay. Two hours it is.” Jillian closed the curtains on the view and slipped her shoes off. But before she climbed into bed, she paused, her hesitant expression instantly worrying me. “I have to tell you something. I got a text from Hunter.”

“What?” I hissed. Since when did she and Hunter talk like old buddies? “When?”

“I saw it after we landed. He must have texted while we were in the air.”

“What did it say?”

She pursed her lips. “He wants to meet up.”

I wanted to curse. “How did he know we were coming?”

“We live in a small town, remember? Word travels fast.”

My heart did a little flip, and I scolded it before calming myself. This news most definitely did not make me happy. “I didn’t tell anyone. Did you?”

Jillian flushed. “Imayhave mentioned Paris in the video I made at the airport. If he follows me, he would have seen it.”

Did Hunter follow my younger sister’s social media accounts? It wouldn’t be all that weird considering he’d grown up next door. We were all in our twenties now, adults in every sense of the word. But considering his situation, I would have thought he’d moved on by now.

Time to accept it. Hunter knew we were here, and there would be no getting around that.

“I know things are weird between you two,” Jillian said. “But even if you don’t want to see him, I do. It’s been four years since he left.”

Three years and 251 days.Not that I was counting. It wasn’t like I’d spent nearly four years thinking about his last words to me, which still reverberated through my mind.

When you change your mind, meet me in Paris.

Well, besides our text conversation when Mom died a year later, but I refused to think about that at all.

“Did he say when he wanted to meet?” My voice felttight, and my brain struggled to form thoughts, but I had to figure this out. Hunter didn’t reach out to me first. Why?

It didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure that out. Our last exchange didn’t go well. But he still had Jillian’s phone number. Why? And what about Collette? So many questions.

I swallowed hard and wished I’d bought a water bottle from the desk downstairs. It felt stifling in here.

“Don’t answer,” I told Jillian. “If we run into him, then fine. But let’s not encourage him. Hunter will only complicate things.”

Jillian rolled her eyes. “You were best friends most of your lives. He grew up right next door. You’re being a little dramatic, wouldn’t you say?”

“No. He left to get a fresh start, and I think we should let him have it.”If he wanted anything to do with us, he would have come home when I begged him to.

My sister sighed. “Look, it’s been years since whatever happened that you won’t talk about. Surely you can be friends now.” She took a deep breath. “And if you can’t, at least remember that he’s my neighbor too.”

I stared at my sister, trying to figure out what she meant by that. But she didn’t meet my gaze as she climbed into bed next to Alexis, leaving the edge for me. My kindhearted sister would know I wanted to stay as far from Alexis as possible, even in sleep. She was sweet like that.

But when it came to Hunter . . . I felt sick to my stomach. Could I see him again? Why was he texting my sister? Could I pretend he hadn’t shredded my heart into tiny ribbons resembling uncooked hash browns?

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