Page 138 of Mistaken Intention

“Less than five minutes.”

I nod my head, wondering about the place I live and what it will be like, when a thought occurs… “How are we gonna get inside?”

“I’ve got your keys,” Hunter says. “I’ve had them since the accident.”

“Oh. I see.”

It appears he’s taken care of everything, which doesn’t surprise me, and I sit back, looking over at Josie and wishing she’d turn my way.

She doesn’t, but within just a few minutes, Hunter pulls into an underground parking garage. It’s fairly well lit, and he drives around, parking in a bay on the far side before getting out. I join him and run around to Josie’s side to help her. She accepts my hand and, once she’s out of the car, I keep a hold of her. I’m not letting her go again… not now… not ever.

“This way,” Hunter says, locking the car, and he leads us over to the elevators in the corner. There are two, but the one on the right opens first and we all climb in, Hunter pushing the button for the fifth floor.

“You mean I don’t live in the penthouse?” I say, looking at him with a smile.

Hunter laughs. “No. That’s more my style.”

“So, you live in this building, too?”

He shakes his head. “No. I live in a different part of town. You bought this place before we inherited from Dad, and youchose it because it’s close to your studio, which is why you haven’t moved. You could’ve done, if you’d wanted, but you don’t spend that much time here… or you didn’t.”

“I see.”

The elevator doors open and Hunter steps out first. It makes sense, as he’s the only one who knows the way. Josie and I follow, letting him lead us to the right, along a hall to the third door, which is numbered 512.

Pulling a key from his pocket, Hunter lets us inside. It feels warm, the air a little stifling and stale.

I stand, taking in my surroundings, trying to remember… but nothing’s coming to me.

The space is quite impersonal. It’s just a small lobby, with a dark wood floor and a couple of landscape photographs hanging on the white walls. I’m guessing I took them, although I have no recollection of the subject matter. The door to the left appears to lead to a bathroom, and there’s a bedroom to our right. I glance inside, noting the vast bed, dressed with white bedding, the pale wood nightstands and closet, and the black and white photographs. Mine again, I guess.

“Is this my bedroom?” I ask, and Hunter turns.

“No. That’s here.” He nods to a door beyond the bathroom, and I step forward, still keeping hold of Josie, and look inside.

This room is quite similar to the other one, except there are signs of someone actually living here… a book beside the bed, a pair of shoes next to the dresser.

Hunter leads the way further into the apartment, to an open-plan living area.

“I thought you said this place was small,” Josie says, looking around.

“He did?”

“Yes.” She looks up at me.

“I don’t remember…”

“It wasn’t today,” Hunter says. “It was when you were still in the hospital. We were trying to decide where it would be best for you to go while you recuperated, and I said that coming here would be impractical because it’s not very big.”

I glance around at the high ceilings, the enormous windows, the expansive living area, with dark blue furnishings, and I turn and frown at him.

“It’s not?”

He smiles. “Okay, it’s not that small, but there’s only one bathroom here, and I knew that if you were both staying here, it could be inconvenient.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” I glance at Josie. She blushes, and I wish I’d kept quiet now.

“Well… I wasn’t to know how things were gonna develop between you,” Hunter says. “Or that there was any history. But in the past, whenever Ella’s stayed here, you used to make a point of staying away as much as you could.”

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