Liddy's POV
Thankfully, I was able to get a flight out last night to Virginia. It cost me a fortune, but I don't really care. I just had to get away. There were so many memories of Hunter in my apartment from this past weekend. It was just too painful to hang around.
If I had stayed I know I would have been tempted to knock on Hunter's door and throw myself into his arms and pretend that we could make this work somehow. That we could find a way where everyone would be happy, but in my head I know there isn't a chance of that. So before I did something stupid like tell him about the baby instead of letting Kelly do that, I ran home for a few days to re group and hopefully gain some inner strength.
"So what would you like to do today?" My dad asks from behind the morning paper.
"Uhm, I'm not sure, maybe visits some high school friends. Do you know if Shelly Parker is still around?"
"She is." Jan says as she flips the omelet she is making me. "She met a guy right out of college and moved in with him for a while, but I guess it didn't work out. I ran into her mother the other day at the grocery store and she told me Shelly is working for one of the lawyers downtown."
"We lost track of each other when she went to college in Mass and I headed to Nashville. I would really like to see if I could get together with her. It would be great to catch up."
"Why don't you call her parent's house later. I am sure they can give you a number to contact Shelly." Jan suggests.
"I think I may do that."
"If you do connect with Shelly you be sure to bring her over to visit." My dad says. "She was always a spitfire. She could make me laugh like no one else."
"I will do that." I smile.
"Liddy, do you have any plans for lunch?" Jan asks.
"No."
"Great, I was hoping we could go shopping then grab lunch somewhere after."
"Yeah, we can do that. When would you like to leave?" I ask.
"As soon as you are ready."
"Okay. Just let me finish my omelet then I'll go take a quick shower. We can leave in about an hour."
"Perfect." Jan says.
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Hunter's POV
"Thanks for stopping by mom." I say as I hand her a cup of coffee.
"I could tell from your voice, something is up. What is it?"
"It's Liddy. She's gone."
"What do you mean she's gone! Gone where?" I can hear the concern in her voice.
"Yesterday afternoon she came over and asked if she could have time off to go visit her parents."
"Is one of them ill?"
"Not that I know of. All she said was that she wanted to surprise them." I say as I rub the back of my neck. "Something's up, mom. She was acting strange the whole time she was talking to me about it. She avoided looking at me. She couldn't commit to an exact date as to when she would return other than to say it would be before we left on Jan 3rd for the tour."
"That isn't like her at all. Especially, the not looking at you, part. When we were here on Christmas afternoon you two couldn't keep your eyes off each other."
"Yeah, tell me about it. We had such a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas day together, even with Harper sick. I was planning on telling her I love her on New Year's Eve and then this happens." I sigh.
"What do you think happened?" She asks as she reaches over to hold my hand.
"I wish I knew!" I say as I get up and start pacing the room. "I don't know if she's trying to push me away, because she's scared to get hurt or ..."
"Or if there's someone else." My mom completes my thought.
"Yeah, I'm petrified to even think about it, but I'm wondering if Ryan and she talked and she realized she cares more for him than me."
"Oh Hunter, I hope that isn't the case."
"Well, it's one of the only things that can halfway explain why she left so quickly."
"If it makes you feel any better. I really do believe she loves you. Maybe she's scared and if Ryan talked with her, she might have gotten confused and just needed time away from both of you to figure out her true feelings."
"God, I hope you're right, mom. I don't know what I will do if I loose her. I love her so much." I say as a single tear rolls down my cheek.
My mom stands and gives me a hug. "I know you do, honey. I know you do."
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Liddy's POV
"What are you going to order?" Jan asks.
"I think I'm going to get a buffalo chicken salad with extra blue cheese. What about you?"
I'm going to order the soup and sandwich combo with French onion soup and Roast Beef and Swiss on Rye bread."
"That sounds good."
Once the waitress takes our orders, I notice that Jan is looking at me very intently.
"Liddy, how are things with Hunter?" She asks.
I try to avoid her eyes. "Uhm, okay. We had a nice Christmas together."
"That's great to hear. Now please share what happened to make you come here so suddenly?"
"You invited me?"
"Yes, I did and I'm very glad you are here, but I know there is something wrong. You can't lie worth beans. Now, tell me what's going on, maybe I can help."
Just them the waitress comes with our drinks. Once she is gone. I take a deep breath and begin to fill Jan in on what's been happening with Hunter and I for the last few months.
"So let me make sure I have this right. You realized you were in love with Hunter around Thanksgiving. You thought he felt the same way until hi ex girl friend told you they were back together. After hearing that you tried very hard to be just Harper's nanny even though you still had feelings for him. Eventually, you met Ryan and became friends with him, but nothing developed because you still love Hunter. At his parent's Christmas party you assumed Hunter and Kelly broke up by the way he was acting towards you, so you started hanging out with him again, all through Christmas. Then yesterday, Kelly told you she was pregnant with Hunter's child and is desperate to get back with him
"You are correct."
"So you came here because you need time and space to figure out what to do?"
"I'm not here to figure out what to do. I already know that. I just needed some time to get over the shock and to try and accept that all my dreams I had with Hunter are over." I say as my voice starts to crack.
"I'm so sorry, honey. I can't believe you've been through so much over the last few months. I know how much you love Hunter, this must be killing you." She says as she grabs a hold of both my hands.
"It is Jan."
"Can I ask you a few questions?"
"Sure." I say as I wipe a tear from my cheek.
"Did you ever talk to Hunter about Kelly?"
"No, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm too proud. If he wanted her instead of me, I'm not going to ask him to explain why."
"I can understand that. I just can't shake the feeling that something is off."
"What do you mean?"
"There's something about Hunter's actions that don't seem right. If he's the great guy that you and your sister say he is then how could he go from one girl to the next?"
"I doubt he did. I just think I read more into things than I should have because I love him so much. I wanted him to love me back. Pretty pathetic, huh?"
"Maybe, or maybe Kelly was exaggerating how good things were between her and Hunter. I would not put it past her to have intentionally gotten pregnant. Especially, if she suspected he had feelings for someone else."
I start to cry even more. "God, I hope not. The only thing that is giving me the strength to walk away is knowing that Hunter will finally be able to have the big family he's always wanted. If what you are saying about Kelly is true then he might not be happy."
"You really need to talk to him. Have you ever told him you love him?"
"No, and I don't ever plan to. What good will it do? Will it make Kelly any less pregnant?"
"Of course it won't but..."
I cut her off. "Please, I know you're trying to help, but I can't ever tell him how I feel. I just want to get through the next few months. Once the tour is over in March, I will hopefully, have a new job lined up so I can quit and move on with my life. I got over Craig. I will get over Hunter and with God's help I will find my Mr. Right."
"Are you sure you want to do this?" She asks.
I force myself to laugh. "No, I don't want to do this, but I will because I know it's the best thing for Hunter and his unborn child."
For the remainder of the meal, Jan and I talked about their visit to Seattle, to see Linc and Sue. It sounds like they had a great time. When my phone chimes. I check my messages. It's from Hunter. As I read it. I tear up again.
H: Just wanted to make sure you made it to VA safely and to let you know that Harper went to Renee's this morning, but she insisted on taking the dollhouse you gave her.
"What is it?" Jan asks.
"It's a text from Hunter. He wants to know if I made it here safely."
"That's very sweet of him."
"Yeah, it is. That's the problem. Hunter is a super sweet guy. How am I going to ever get over him, Jan?" I ask as the tears start to fall again.
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Another sad chapter, sorry. I promise things will be better within the next 5 chapters.
I simply love how much you care for Huddy. It makes me smile to read how protective you are of them.
Please keep voting and COMMENTING. It's what helps motivated me to continue to write!