Faith sat in the back of Hunter’s truck with her foot propped up on his toolbox and Xena on her lap, watching as Drew secured Gabrielle with handcuffs. Abby and Noel stood next to her, both of them silent. Yvette, Wanda, and Hunter were still containing the fire, while Hanna and a few other water witches were doing their best to douse the flames.
“What did she do wrong?” Zoey asked. She was perched on the back of Hunter’s truck next to Faith as Gerry Whipple bandaged a minor burn on her arm.
“She made a mistake, sweetie,” Faith said. “One that put all of us in danger and caused a lot of damage.”
A fat tear rolled down Zoey’s face, and her lower lip trembled. “Am I going to be arrested?”
“What?” Faith reached out and took Zoey’s uninjured hand in hers. “Why would you think that?”
“I made a mistake, too. I was supposed to stay in the truck. But I saw Xena run out of the woods and went after her. After I got her, I was trying to get back into the truck, but she got away from me and we ended up back in the woods and then the house. She could’ve been hurt.” She stared at the dog, more tears streaming down her face.
“Oh, honey, no. You were a hero. You saved her. It’s not your fault she ran into danger,” Faith reassured her. Now was not the time to remind her she should not have run into a burning building. That could come later, though who was Faith kidding? She would’ve done the same thing to save Xena from the fire.
“I don’t want to be arrested,” Zoey said haltingly as a sob got caught in her throat.
Noel moved to sit next to her and wrapped her arms around the little girl. “No one is going to arrest you, baby. You’re safe now. We’re all safe now.”
Faith gulped, trying to swallow her emotion. She’d learned that when Gabrielle alerted Yvette to the fire, Yvette had called Hunter immediately. He was the fire witch who lived closest to Faith, and he’d been first on the scene. The only problem was he’d had Zoey, and Vivian had already moved to Eureka. There hadn’t been time for him to find someone to watch her, so he’d brought her along and had given her strict orders to stay in the truck. She’d only been trying to save Xena.
“Come on, sweetheart,” Gerry Whipple said to Zoey. “Let’s get you some water. I might even have something sweet for you to suck on.” The healer led the little girl over to her car where her supplies were stashed, leaving the sisters alone.
The three of them watched Drew put their mother in the back of his SUV.
“What’s going to happen to her?” Abby asked.
Noel shrugged. “Does it matter?”
Both Faith and Abby turned to stare at their sister.
“What? She tried to roast a whole unopened bag of marshmallows on Faith’s gas stove and ended up setting her house on fire. The woman almost got our baby sister and her dog killed. Am I really supposed to feel sorry for her because she might go to jail?”
“No,” Abby said. “But it sure seems like treatment would be better than confinement.”
“She could’ve gone to treatment at any time in the last twenty years,” Noel said. “She chose not to.”
“Noel is right,” their dad said, walking up to them and sliding an arm around Faith’s shoulders. “I would’ve helped her if she’d just asked.”
She glanced up and reached out to hug him, a sob getting caught in her throat. They held on to each other for a long time until they heard the sirens. The firetrucks from Eureka had arrived and took over the firefighting. Drew took off to deliver Gabrielle to the county jail, and after what seemed like forever, Hunter finally strode over, looking for his daughter.
“Zoey? Where is she?” he asked.
“With Gerry Whipple.” Faith pointed to the healer’s car where the two were waiting for Hunter.
He nodded and strode off.
Faith sighed wistfully as she watched him scoop his daughter up in his arms and hug her as if he wasn’t ever going to let go.
“You love him,” Abby said quietly.
Faith just nodded. She didn’t have the energy to fight it anymore. What was the point? After a night of watching her life go up in flames, everything else just seemed trivial.
“Then do yourself a favor and don’t push him away anymore.” Abby leaned over and kissed her sister on the head just as Hunter returned with Zoey in his arms. “Ready, Faith?”
“Where are we going?” she asked as she watched her house continue to burn.
“Hospital. We need to get that ankle fixed up.”
“But my house…” Gerry had supplied her with a potion that had numbed the pain, and in her shock, she’d almost forgotten she’d more than likely broken the damn thing.
“It’s gone, love,” he said gently. “No sense in torturing yourself by watching it turn to rubble. Come on. Let me take you to Eureka.”
An ambulance had arrived with the firetrucks, but she was in no hurry to take a ride in one. Better to let them stay and be available for the firefighters if they needed it. “Okay.”
“Wait here.” He carried Zoey to the cab of the truck, got her settled, and then returned for Faith and Xena. “Ready?”
She nodded.
“Hold on to Xena.” Then he reached over and picked her up with ease. A minute later, they were all piled in the truck, headed to the hospital with Faith’s foot resting on the dashboard and Zoey clutching the puppy she’d saved.
Exhaustion settled in Hunter’s bones as he carried his sleeping daughter into his small cottage. After settling her in the new bed he’d just gotten for her, he made his way back out to the living room where Faith was balancing on crutches, her little dog sitting calmly at her feet.
He gave her a tired smile. “I thought you said your dog was a holy terror.”
“She is. I think she’s just exhausted like the rest of us.”
“She looks more like she’s keeping an eye on you,” he said as he took the crutches from her.
“Hey! How am I going to get around?” she asked, reaching for them.
“You’re not. You’re going to bed and elevating that foot like the healer ordered.”
“But—”
He once again scooped her up, and even as she protested, he carried her into his bedroom and laid her on the giant king-size bed. Then he reached for Xena, who’d followed them, and placed her on the bed, too. The shih tzu turned around three times and then snuggled up next to Faith, resting her head on her mistress’s belly.
If Faith hadn’t known his aesthetic due to his help with the spa, she might have guessed he’d hired a decorator. The room was masculine but with just enough soft touches to make it elegant. His bedroom set was painted black, while his bedding was black and gray with plenty of pillows and a turquoise throw blanket folded at the end. There was a black, gray, and turquoise splatter painting on the wall that went perfectly with his turquoise lamps on both nightstands. It was just enough color so that the space didn’t feel cold.
Hunter grabbed a couple of the decorative pillows and gently lifted her leg, placing the soft props beneath her foot. “How’s this?”
“Fine, but you’re not going to make me sleep in my clothes, are you?” Her lips twitched with amusement.
He raised one eyebrow. “Thinking of sleeping in the nude? I wouldn’t mind, but—”
“Not tonight.” She gestured to her foot. “No strenuous activity for a while, remember?”
“Unfortunately.” He grinned at her and then rummaged around in his dresser until he found two sets of sweats and T-shirts. He handed one pair to Faith. “For you to sleep in. Do you need help, or do you think you can manage?”
“I just need help getting into the bathroom.” She nodded to her broken foot that was now set in a cast. “Someone took my crutches.”
“Not a problem.” He carefully carried her into the bathroom and set her on the counter. “I’ll be right back with your crutches.” A minute later, he handed her the crutches and said, “There’s an extra toothbrush in the drawer to the left.”
“Thanks,” she said.
“No problem at all.” He closed the door, grabbed his clothes, and went to get ready for bed in the second bathroom.
When he returned, he found her already under the covers, her casted foot poking out from under the blankets. He helped get her foot repositioned on the pillows and then sat down gingerly and brushed her hair back. “Are you doing okay? Is this comfortable?”
“Yes, but you know I could’ve just gone to my dad’s house. There’s plenty of room there.”
He sucked in a breath and let it out slowly as he shook his head. “No, Faith, I couldn’t have let you go there tonight. Do you know what it did to me when I learned you were in that burning house?” His eyes misted as he added, “When I got the call that your house was on fire and no one was there to help you?”
Her own eyes stung with unshed tears. “I guess I can imagine.”
“My heart was in my throat, and I was dying inside, going insane to get to you. And then when I ran inside and found the flames had already trapped you in that living room, I nearly lost my goddamned mind. The idea of being away from you for even a minute is impossible. If I’d taken you to your father’s house, he’d have two more extra guests because I wouldn’t have been able to bring myself to leave.”
She reached up and ran her fingertips over his stubbled jaw. “It would’ve been fine for you and Zoey to stay there.”
“Perhaps. But here I can hold you all night long and not feel guilty about it.” He grinned down at her.
“You seem awfully sure of yourself,” she said. “Aren’t you afraid of taking advantage of a vulnerable woman?” She’d meant the words to be playful, but instead they sounded serious, like she was questioning his motives.
His smile vanished, and suddenly his heart was thundering in his chest. “Faith, I…” He pressed a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was looking at her as if he was searching her soul. “I know you think I should be trying to have a relationship with Vivian, but—”
“I don’t. Not anymore,” she said, cutting him off. “That was my stupid insecurity talking. You were right. You can’t force something you don’t feel, and you shouldn’t try.”
He blinked, surprised by her one-eighty turnaround. “When did you decide this?”
She let out a short laugh. “Tonight. I had a date with Brian and—”
“You were on a date?” Jealousy snaked through him, and his stomach soured at the thought of her in another man’s arms.
“Yes, and we were at Woodlines. I saw you and Zoey having such a good time… and I don’t know. I was sad that I wasn’t part of it. My date, Brian… he noticed and told me it wasn’t fair to lead him on when I was in love with someone else.”
Hunter’s heart was caught in his throat again. Had he heard her right? “And you said?”
“I told him he was right. It wasn’t fair.” Her expression softened as she gazed up at him. “I realized then that I was out with the wrong man and that I pushed you away because I was scared. I’m sorry, Hunter. I was angry at my mother and took a lot of it out on you. I shouldn’t have done that.”
His heart melted when he saw the vulnerability swimming in her gorgeous blue eyes. “It’s okay. I have big shoulders, and if you need me to carry your burdens sometimes, I can do that. I’d be happy to in fact.”
“It’s not your job to do that,” she said, shaking her head.
“What if I want it to be?” He bent his head and kissed her softly on the lips. “What if I want to help carry your load for the rest of our lives?”
Her breath hitched as tears rolled down her temples. “Why would you want to do that? You have your own demons to wrestle with.”
“Our demons are the same, sweetheart. Don’t you see that? Both of us lost a lot when we were just kids. I’ve mostly come to terms with my situation. But you… you’re still working through it. Working through how you’re going to handle Gia—Gabrielle. I’d like to be here for you to lean on if you’ll have me.”
“I’ll definitely have you. But I have to warn you, I think I’m going to be a mess for a while when it comes to my mother. She…” Faith squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. When she opened them, there was raw pain radiating back at him. “She came back, acting as if she was trying to put her life right. But the first thing she did was get high and burn my house down. How do I deal with that? I have no idea.”
He ached for her and knew it would be a long time before she came to terms with who her mother had turned into. He knew Gia as a tender-hearted woman who was also selfish. She didn’t love herself enough to seek treatment. And no matter how much someone wanted to help an addict, if they didn’t want the help, there was nothing anyone could do. “Well, for starters, you and Xena can stay here while I rebuild your house. Your insurance money should be enough to cover the materials, and the advantage of being my girl is that it means I’m free labor. Or we can build a bigger one with more bedrooms.”
“More bedrooms?” she asked, blinking at him.
He chuckled. “You know, just in case somewhere down the road we want to fill them with more kids.”
She laughed. “You’re getting way ahead of yourself, buddy.”
“Perhaps, but I like to be prepared.” He was certain he was saying way too much way too soon, but after the night’s events, he just couldn’t manage to hold back. And he didn’t want to. “Faith, I think you must know by now, but in case you don’t… I love you. I’ve never told a woman that before, but I’m saying it to you. And I’ll love you for the rest of your life if you’ll let me.”
“Woah,” she said softly.
Fear started to creep into his gut as he waited for her to say something else. But he didn’t regret laying it all out there. Not after the night they’d had. After his parents died, he’d spent way too many years guarding his heart. He was done with that now.
“You know what?” Faith asked, a slow smile claiming her lips.
“No, what?”
“You’re a little crazy.” Her eyes glittered with amusement.
“Maybe, but I’m guessing anyone who has three older sisters and a devil dog might be a little crazy, too.”
Faith glanced down at Xena, who was snoring lightly. “She looks pretty tame to me.”
“So do you on most days,” he teased.
Still smiling, she reached up and placed her hand on the back of his neck, pulling him down so that his lips were so close he could feel her breath on them. “I love you, too, Hunter McCormick. Now kiss me.”
He didn’t hesitate. He closed the distance and kissed her tenderly, all of his love pouring out of him. She was everything he’d ever wanted and everything he’d never known he needed. And in that moment, he knew that whatever came their way, he’d be right by her side until the very end. When he pulled away, silent tears were rolling down her temples again. “Hey,” he said softly. “What’s wrong, love?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m just overwhelmed. Happy and overwhelmed.”
“Aww, Faith.” He crawled onto the bed, stretched out next to her, and gathered her in his arms, spooning her with her back pressed to his chest. They lay together like that, with Hunter soothingly running his fingers over her arm, until they heard the pitter pat of feet on his wood floors.
“Daddy?” Zoey said, her voice cracking.
He sat straight up. “What is it, Zoey? Are you okay, baby?”
“Can I sleep in here?”
“Of course.” He scooted away from Faith, leaving enough room for Zoey to crawl between them. She settled in right next to Faith, sharing her pillow. Faith didn’t hesitate to wrap an arm around her and cuddle Zoey to her.
Hunter felt like his heart was going to explode with all the love pouring from him.
Faith glanced up at him. “Ready to turn out the light?”
“Definitely.” He reached over, flipped the switch, and then cuddled his two best girls until the sun came up.