Chapter 120

Waking up in Hunter’s arms felt right. I hadn’t slept as well in months. Hunter grumbled about the early morning. Then he locked eyes with me and smiled.

“Morning sweetness,” he said and kissed me.

“Good morning,” I replied. “Sorry about the early alarm. But I have to go to the bakery and get things started.”

“It’s okay,” he told me.

“If you want you can stay and take your time,” I said as I sat up in bed.

“No. I think I’m going to come along to the bakery with you. Is Mary going to be there? I would like to apologise better and explain myself,” he said.

“She will be there, I have rented her the apartment above the bakery,” I told him. “And that is sweet of you.”

“And I can give you a ride,” he offered.

“That is sweet of you. But I got my own car.”

“Your own car?” he asked.

“Yeah. It feels safer with the times I move around the city, and I take the leftover baked goods to the homeless shelter.”

“I can come by and take you to do that,” he offered. I smiled.

“Okay,” I agreed.

“Really?”

“Really. Now do you want us to shower together or should we take separate ones?” I asked. Hunter was out of bed and scooped me up. I giggled.

“That’s a stupid question. Any time I get to spend with you naked will be the top choice.”

We arrived at the bakery and parked behind it, next to Mary’s car. Hunter had questioned me about her, and I had told him what I was comfortable sharing without breaking her trust in me. He offered to do a background check on her for me, but I told him to leave it to Jason. He gave me a curious look, but agreed. As we walked into the kitchen I greeted Mary that had started to prepare for the morning bake.

“Mary, you met Hunter yesterday,” I said as he followed me.

“Yes, hello,” she said and I could see she was standoffish toward him.

“Hi. I need to apologise again for how I acted yesterday. I was desperate to find Hana and I took it out on you. It wasn’t my intention. I apologise for how I talked to you yesterday and that I made you feel unsafe. As part of making amends, I have brought you tea. It would have been coffee, but as you know, Hana can’t stand the smell,” he told her and put a big travelling mug on the counter.

“Thank you. For the tea and for the apology. It’s okay. Jason explained things to me after you left,” Mary told us.

“He did?” Hunter asked.

“Yes.” He looked at me. I just smiled and got started with taking out the dough that had been proofing from the day before. There was a knock on the back door and Jason walked in. He looked between the three of us.

“Hello, Jason,” I said.

“Um, hello,” he said. “I was just checking in on Mary to make sure she was okay after yesterday. I brought you some tea. It would have been coffee, but Hana can’t stand the smell,” he told Mary, placing a big travelling cup on the counter. He spotted the one Hunter had brought. “Oh, you already have some?” he asked.

“I brought her some tea to say I was sorry and to show I’m not usually such a dick,” Hunter told him.

“Oh. Right,” Jason said.

“Thank you Jason. And sorry that I called and bothered you yesterday,” Mary said, picking up the tea he had brought and sipping it.

“Not at all. You can call anytime. Especially if it’s this old sack of potatoes,” Jason told her.

“Hey,” Hunter objected and they started their usual bickering. I walked up to Mary.

“You are really okay?” I asked her.

“I am. Jason made sure I knew what was happening. So that is the father?” she asked.

“It is. I know yesterday portrayed him in a less than good light, and today…” I stopped and looked at him and Jason, bickering like school boys. Mary observed them as well and we both giggled. “All that set aside. He’s a good man.”

“So you have forgiven him?”

“I have. I know how powerful fear can be. But don’t tell him just yet. I like when he tries to make things up to me. I will tell him soon,” I told her. She smiled and nodded.

“We need to get to work. Have a lovely day ladies. Hana, send me a text when you are ready to be picked up,” Hunter told me and walked over to me to give me a kiss. I didn’t miss the satisfied grin Jason had as he watched his friend.

“Wait, I just got here,” Jason then objected as Hunter’s words sunk in.

“Get here earlier next time,” Hunter told him and pushed him out the door.

“So… Jason?” I asked Mary when we were alone. To my delight, she blushed.

“He is nice,” she told me.

“He is. More so than most people give him credit for. And he is reliable,” I added. She nodded. “He’s a good candidate for getting back on the horse,” I said. Mary’s blush deepened.

“I-I don’t know what you mean.”

“Sure. Take your time. I’m just saying that he is smitten with you and I have never seen him smitten with anything that wasn't baked or fried. Just saying. Do what you want with this information.” We got started on the baking and then on putting the bakery in order. I was happy that despite not being open for long, we had our regulars that stopped by on their way to work, or on their way back from lunch. The day started to wind down and I had sent Mary to get dried cranberries as I had an idea for a new cupcake I wanted to bake tomorrow. My phone rang, it was an unknown number. I answered and a robotic voice let me know an inmate was wanting to call me. Would I accept the call? I hung up and stared at the phone. Why was Simon reaching out to me? Had he somehow found out about the baby? Did he want something? What would I tell Hunter? Mary came back as the fourth call rang on my phone from the unknown number. I ignored it.

“Telemarketer,” I told her.

“I hate those. But it was my next choice if I hadn’t got this job,” she told me with a shiver. I nodded. Money was money.

An hour later, I sent a text to Hunter to let him know I would soon be ready to go home.

H: On my way

I smiled. It felt good to have him back in my life. I had proven I could do it on my own. But I had also learnt it didn’t mean I had to do it alone. It was okay to have help. I had almost forgotten the calls and was in a good mood as my phone rang again. It was Mandy. I declined the call and blocked her number. Only reason I hadn’t done it before was because she would never sink so low as to contact me. Apparently something had changed. I was sitting down as a day in the bakery drained me and I was thinking as Hunter walked into the bakery.

“Hi,” he said. He walked over and kissed me. I felt better at once. He was like an energy injection. “You don’t look so good, sweetness. Are you working too hard?” he asked.

“No. Mary is a god sent. But today has been a less than optimal day,” I confessed.

“Tell me.”

“I will. But not here. It’s time to get out of here so Mary can relax,” I told him. He nodded and held up a to-go cup.

“Since you are into milk nowadays, I took a wild shot and got you a vanilla milkshake. I guessed you would be tired and hungry. This will keep you going until we get home,” he said. To my immense horror, tears rolled down my cheeks as I took the first sip. It tasted amazing and it was just what I needed. “Sweetness?” he asked, worried.

“This is amazing. Thank you,” I said and stood up so I could kiss him.

“Then why are you crying? I hate when you cry,” he said, gently wiping away my tears.

“I’m going to blame hormones and fatigue,” I said and smiled. We said goodbye to Mary, made sure things were locked and then got in the car. The first part of the drive was made in silence. Hunter was holding one of my hands, I had the milkshake in the other and was happily sipping at it. My phone rang and it was an unknown number again. I declined it with a sigh.

“Is that the reason for how tired you look?” Hunter asked.

“It is. Well, I’m tired in general these days, my doctor said it would most likely pass after the first trimester. But the calls are making it worse.”

“Are you going to tell me who’s making them? It’s not Tom is it?” Hunter asked.

“Tom? Oh, Mr Smith. No, why would he?”

“Jason mentioned something about him being a regular and that I needed to keep an eye on that.” I giggled.

“He’s a sweet man, but you have nothing to worry about. I’m not interested in him,” I told Hunter. He hummed.

“Does he know it?”

“He does.”

“So he has asked you out?” I blushed slightly.

“He has. Once. But I told him no.” Hunter picked my hand up and placed a kiss on my palm.

“Thank you for that. It’s terrifying to know how close I was to losing you,” he told me. I squeezed his hand.

“Don’t be dramatic. I wasn’t tempted.”

“If it’s not Tom, then who is calling you?” he asked again.

“Before I tell you I need you to know that I’m tired and a little hungry. I am looking forward to going home and heating up some of Chef’s food and I would like you to join me,” I said.

“I was planning to. It must be bad if you think I would leave you alone knowing how much I have to make up for.”

“You don’t need to make up for things, Hunter. I don’t want you to feel like that. I just want you to relax and enjoy this. But yes, it’s bad. Earlier today I got a call from an unknown number. It turned out to be Simon trying to call me from prison. I declined, but the unknown number kept calling and Mandy called as well. I blocked her number so I don’t know if she has tried again.” I turned to look at Hunter. His jaw was clenched shut and I could see the muscles moving under the beard. “Hunter, it’s okay. I will just ignore it. It’s not a big deal,” I told him.