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Hunter had accepted an invititation to the bonfire at Living River Ranch for himself and Daisy. They would keep a small group together to help see if that might help Daisy get over more of her fear of people. Trista, Stormi, Greyson, Belle, Jake, Phoebe, and Emma were all that were sitting quietly around the fire. He was coaxing Daisy down from his lap, with encouraging eye contact from Belle. Phoebe and Emma came close to try to talk her into a game of soccer. They were playing a short distance away. Finally, after a significant amount of work, she went with them, glancing back at him as if to ensure he wouldn’t leave.
“Good,” Belle said, glancing across at him, but her eyes strayed to Trista.
Her face was an odd mask as she sat watching the girls.
“You okay,” he asked, reaching out to squeeze her hand. She jumped and looked directly at him, and the anguish in her eyes nearly caused him to crumble. “Trista, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she whispered, immediately plastering a look on her face.
Hunter glanced about as the group got quiet. He watched Trista glance about, and suddenly, her face broke into a grin. “This is as much for me as Daisy?” She said, looking directly at Belle.
“She didn’t tell us why, but thought maybe having the girls around would help,” Greyson chimed in.
Trista nodded. Squaring her shoulders, she exhaled. “I had a twin sister,” she said. Hunter could tell how difficult that statement was. She appeared to want to throw up.
“What was her name?” Jake asked after a long moment.
“Treena, and she was younger than me by six minutes. I always was the more strong-willed, but she had this adventurous spirit that could not be stopped,” Trista said as she got this faraway look in her eyes.
“Phoebe and Emma remind you of the two of you?” Stormi asked.
“Yeah, I love how Emma is so happy to be around Phoebe. It was like that for Treena with me, and I took care of her,” Trista said, exhaling. “Until that one horrible night, I failed her in the worst way possible.”
“Can you tell us what happened?”
“We had a bad school shooting,” Trista said, swallowing hard.
Hunter felt himself reach out to grab her hand and squeeze. “If it’s too hard,” he said lightly, giving her permission to stop if she needed.
“I think it’s way past time to talk about it,” she said, gazing at him. “Thank you, though.”
“There was a school shooting, and several of our friends were involved. Our parents did all the right things. They got us therapy. They let us guide how we lived for a while and were there every second. I thought things were finally getting better,” she said, and as Hunter watched, her chin hit her chest. “We woke up one morning, and she was gone. She had ended her pain in the worst way possible. My mom went off the rails depressed, my dad decided it was time for a fresh start, and in the middle, I took off one day. Intending to just take a brief break from it all, but days turned to weeks, and one city turned to the next. Soon it was easier just to avoid and try to make do.”
“Look, Trista,” Daisy said, hold up a dandelion she had picked up off the ground.
“Thank you, sweetie,” she said, taking the flower. Daisy ran back to rejoining Phoebe and Emma.
“I just recently realized how much I missed, thanks to Belle, Living River Ranch, and all of you,” she said, glancing about and finally landing on Hunter. “I think it’s time to mend a lot of fences figuratively and build up a future for myself.”
“I think that is a fabulous idea,” Belle said.
“Here here,” Stormi grinned and held up her glass.
“Couldn’t agree more,” Hunter nodded as he spoke.
Trista let out a deep breath, “I think that is enough storytelling for one night,” she said with an odd chuckle.
“Speaking of stories,” Greyson broke in. “I hear you are writing a novel about Living River and some residents, guests, and happenings here?”
“I am,” Trista said, glancing toward Hunter with a huge grin. “I have called it A Season for Everything.”
“I love it,” Amy added from Trista’s right side.
“Thanks. I figure the seasons of the year I can play with, but also seasons of people's lives,” she finished. “I already have so many onboard. I just want to do justice to everyone.”
“Hunter has been bragging about you every night,” Ray added. “With him as your biggest cheerleader, how can you fail?” He said, winking at her and giving Hunter a quizzical look.
“Thanks for selling me out,” Hunter groused before turning to Trista. “I told him about the first chapter you let me read and all your help with Daisy. I honestly may be your biggest fan.”
“You know, if maybe you and your biggest fan were to want a night out say to see a movie and have dinner, we can help watch Daisy,” Stormi added.
Hunter waited with bated breath to see how Trista would react. She turned his direction, and he threw her a questioning look. “I’m game if you are?”
“I’m game,” she responded, causing his stupid grin on the face to grow even more significant.
“We will call you with dates,” he said to Stormi loving this latest turn of events. He was a bigger fan of Trista’s than he had intended to let her know, but since someone else put it out there, he wasn’t going to back down. And that bet had just paid off big time!
