‘Didn’t you worry about getting caught?’
‘I was always getting caught. I had endless arguments with my parents and the teachers…’
‘Did they suspend you?’
‘Hell, no. I was their top student. They didn’t want to blot their academic record by bumping me off to another school—they knew I’d come in the top one per cent of the state when I took my finals. So I had them by the balls and I knew it!’ He actually laughed, a deep, low laugh that was as rare as it was infectious, and Lily found herself grinning as he carried on talking. ‘I told them that when they had something interesting to teach me or something I didn’t already know I’d turn up, which I did, but I certainly didn’t need someone guiding me through a textbook.’
‘So it’s always been easy for you?’
‘Believe me,’ Hunter said darkly, and something in his tone caused a shiver to run through her, the easygoing conversation ending abruptly as the tension in the car rocketed, ‘it wasn’t easy.’ He frowned at the road ahead and Lily gave a small swallow as they drove in silence.
‘Sorry, I just—’
‘Assumed,’ Hunter finished for her, the harsh edge to his voice breaking the closeness they’d created, relegating her to the rest of a world he clearly thought didn’t understand him. ‘It’s a common enough assumption—people make it all the time.’ Lily turned, taking in his tense features, realising then how painful it must have just been for him to talk about his parents after such a huge loss.
‘You must miss them.’
‘Who?’
‘Your parents!’ Of course! Lily thought, but didn’t add it.
‘Why?’ He glanced over at her shocked expression. ‘You know the saying—you can’t choose your family.’
‘I guess…’
His face was grim—his hand so tight on the steering-wheel his knuckles were white. Lily’s mind raced for something to say, to fill this impossible abyss. Clearly he didn’t want to talk about it, but in a surprising move it was Hunter who filled the strained silence, Hunter who actually revealed just a little bit more of himself.
‘My father had MS—multiple sclerosis,’ he explained. ‘From the day he was diagnosed he just gave up. He actually wasn’t that bad, well, not compared to some, but instead of fighting it, instead of dealing with it, he immersed himself in his own misery and tried to take everyone down with him. He made my mother’s life a living hell. I can still hear his stick banging on the bedroom floor when he wanted something—still see my mother running up the stairs to reach him before he banged again. I don’t know why she didn’t leave him.’
‘Maybe she—’
‘Loved him,’ Hunter broke in. ‘We’ve already established there’s no such thing. I asked her why she didn’t just go, why she didn’t just leave him to wallow in his own misery.’
‘You actually asked her?’ Lily reeled at his boldness.
‘Yep. She pointed out that we had a beautiful home, her children went to the best schools, that even though he was sick he was still earning good money—he invested in real estate,’ Hunter added. ‘She also pointed out that without her help he wouldn’t be able to work, that all the luxuries would disappear—she said it was her duty to stay.’ He let out a low mirthless laugh. ‘She never understood that I’d have lived in a bloody tent to get away from it all.’ He didn’t elaborate further, just stared fixedly at the road ahead, locked in his hellish memories for a moment. Sensing he’d said enough, after a rather more amicable silence, it was Lily who steered the subject back to the original, rephrased the question that had annoyed him in the first place.
‘So…’ Lily said slowly, watching his hands tighten further on the steering-wheel as she spoke, ‘were you always this arrogant and confident?’
For a moment he didn’t answer, but finally he turned briefly and gave her a very nice smile that promptly melted not just the black atmosphere but another little piece of her heart. ‘Always.’
Leaving behind the last dregs of civilization as they delved further into the wilderness, the winding road bathed in cool green light as the trees canopied overhead, Lily felt a surge of excitement as they neared the house. Hunter turned the car into the overgrown driveway and she turned her head to him and watched his reaction. Watched that haughty, impassive face actually soften as he glimpsed it for the first time.
‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’ Lily took in the view and as always it was even more beautiful than the last time she’d seen it, a huge rambling white weatherboard home, smothered in wisteria, tall trees behind and to the side, wrapping protective arms around the building, while in front the lush grass gently rolled downwards, drawing the eye to the endless views below.