A Forever Masterpiece (The Masterpiece Trilogy Book 3) (3 page)

"What if it's hopeless? Hunter's spending so much money on this, and he won't let me cover any of it. We keep hitting dead ends. Vince and my- the Langes won't tell me anything. Sylvia's a dead-end, because she's nowhere to be found. We're sitting in the town this happened in. Any single person around here could be my family, and I'd never know it!"

Her words were much louder and harsher than she'd intended. She covered her mouth with her hand. Becca couldn't believe she'd said all this to Joe. Even though he was Hunter's family friend, she still sat on the fence with how she felt about Joe. He'd been the one to orchestrate the whole damn thing about her taking the place of a dead child! Every time she looked at him, she was reminded of what she didn't know.

Hunter looked her way with curiosity. Did he hear part of what she said?

Ten minutes later, the game ended. Hunter's team won. The few spectators sitting in the stands with Becca and Joe ran down to the court, throwing high fives and fist bumps.

Becca made her way over, followed by Joe. Hunter stood by Alan, and she overheard their conversation.

"That was awesome. You still know how to kill it!"

"I had a blast!" Hunter's voice was full of enthusiasm. Then he flicked his gaze to Becca, a smile lighting up his face even more. He held his arms wide open, ran toward her, and scooped her up in his arms.

"You were fantastic!" Becca squealed. He really had been.

"Thanks for gently pushing me to do it. You of all people know why I hesitated, but I'm so glad I played." Hunter kissed her before setting her back down. He wiped his sweaty brow with the back of his hand, still grinning.

"Good game, man," Alan said again. "Hey, all three of you come on home with me for lunch. We'd love to have you."

Hunter wrapped his arm around Becca's waist. "What do you two say?"

"I'd love to." She wasn't about to object to Hunter spending time with a childhood friend.

Joe gave his response of yes as well.

"Awesome. We walked up here, and it's not a long way to the house."

"We walked here from the old house, too," Hunter said.

"Dad, I want Hunter on my team next time!" The younger of the two boys bounced the ball.

"Hey!" Alan shot back. "Are you saying he's a better player than your old man?"

Everyone laughed by then.

"Well, he helped me win." Becca tried to remember his name.

"Man, you're winning over my kids already!" Alan threw his hands up in the air in jest. "You always were the king. Guess some things haven't changed. Becca, how do you keep your future husband in line?"

She laughed, knowing how much fun she could have with this. As they walked away, Hunter reached for her hand and curled his fingers over hers. "I can't reveal my secrets," she teased.

"I like her." Alan nudged Hunter. "How did you two meet?"

Becca decided she wasn't going to answer this one. She'd never thought about how they'd explain this to anyone who asked. Hunter did so much better with words.

Hunter squeezed her hand, but hesitated before answering. "Childhood sweethearts. Becca and I met not too long after I left here."

This was the first time someone outside of their close circle of people asked about their meeting, and at Hunter's hesitation, Becca wondered if it would always be this way. Most couples had a happy explanation of how they met. A chance encounter, or an embarrassing moment that led to a lifetime of love.

Their meeting had been surrounded by tragedy, which seemed to follow them in life, always keeping them rooted in the past. Maybe it was time to let go and move on. It wouldn't change their past and the way they met, but Becca wondered if always looking for answers would do either of them any good. Hunter got a piece of his life back in good memories, but she'd never get that chance. At least, at this point, that was what she believed. For the first time, Becca wanted to quit. Quit looking for answers that they weren't any closer to finding.

Chapter Two

"Then we finished the game in the pouring rain!" Alan sat at the head of the table and told another childhood memory he had of Hunter. Things he'd tucked away in the deepest part of his mind now resurfaced.

"That sounds like something I would do." Hunter chuckled, glancing at Becca. She'd been quiet, but would pipe up here and there with her own thoughts about him in the present.

"Now I know why you've always done crazy things in a thunderstorm," she teased. She had a smile on her face, but Hunter knew deep down, something bugged her.

"I remember a time Hunter's father and I made a big fort in the yard with a bunch of boxes. He was about five. Hunter spent all day in it. A big storm came out of nowhere, and we didn't have time to get all the boxes out of the rain. Hunter was so upset, he ran back out in the rain trying to cover his new clubhouse with blankets. Got soaking wet, but this boy was determined to cover the fort even though the boxes were already ruined." Joe chuckled.

Aww hell. All these stories. Hunter didn't remember every single one, but hearing them took him back to the days of innocence and frivolous fun. No wonder he longed for that kind of attitude and did a lot of things spontaneously.

"Box forts are cool!" Alan's youngest son said, setting down his cup of juice.

"Any kind of fort is cool," Hunter admitted. He'd built one out of pillows and blankets with Sienna the other night, and she loved it so much, she wanted both Hunter and Becca to sleep under it with her. That's exactly what they did. "My daughter enjoys them, too."

"Alan and the boys are always building forts," Alan's wife Lori commented.

"Mom, can we be excused?" the boys asked. They'd cleaned off their plates.

"Absolutely. Just put your dishes in the dishwasher."

The kids scrambled off, shoving each other, then laughing about it after.

"So what do you do, Hunter?" Alan asked.

"I'm a pilot." Or at least, was a pilot.

"Really? Even after-?"

"That's what pushed me to do it. I wanted to get over the fear." So the conversation was going to go that way now. The crash. They'd been having such a good time with memories. He should have figured it would come up eventually.

"Did you fly out here then?"

"No. I'm not flying right now until..." Hell, he didn't want to bring up the PTSD, either. But he'd already started to.

Two pairs of curious eyes watched his every move. Becca shifted in her seat and caressed his hand. "I have PTSD," Hunter said quietly. There, he'd said it. Those two pairs of curious eyes changed to sympathy and apologetic.

"Because of the crash?" Alan finally broke the silence.

"That's part of it." Hunter looked away and ran a hand through his hair. How much did he really want to say about the crazy events of the past few months? Alan had been his best friend in childhood years, but conversations like these weren't casual. Did this always have to come up with people? Would he and Becca comment for years down the line about the tragic events that led to their friendship, then the way their romantic relationship started as well?

Hunter didn't expect today to turn out the way it did, reuniting with his childhood best friend. It was another name and face he'd forgotten about. His family was wonderful. Joe, Becca, and Hunter left late that evening and decided to stay at a hotel one more night before heading home tomorrow. Becca had been quiet all day. Now that they were alone, since Joe went next door to his own room, Hunter hoped she'd talk.

He found her in the bathroom. She swept her hair up in a loose ponytail. "Hey," he said casually.

Becca turned to him with a smile. Oh, that smile. So beautiful. He was lucky. "Hi."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Always."

"Come here." He held out his hand. If he had to guess, being here today was hard on her. This was where things happened, and they weren't close to knowing who she was. Hunter should have paid better attention today. He'd reveled in the fact that he had a part of his past back. He got to see his house and found an old friend he wasn't expecting to.

And Becca still struggled.

She put her hand in his. Her eyes were full of curiosity. Hunter led her to sit down on the large bed and pulled her close.

"Bec, I noticed you crying when you were watching the game from the bleachers. You tried to hide it, but I know better. You've been quiet all day. What are you thinking?"

She immediately turned away. Hunter slid a finger under her chin and guided her to look at him. Sadness reflected in her eyes. "You're going to get upset with me."

Why would she think that? "We've been really good lately about telling each other everything we feel, no matter what. So let's not fall back in our old ways. What's going on, angel?"

She toyed with the edge of the blanket. "I-." Becca shook her head.

Okay, whatever it was really bothered her. "Tell me," he pleaded.

"You lost your childhood because of me!" She exploded, then her hands flew over her mouth again the way she did when she said things she didn't like.

Hunter reeled back, trying to understand where this thought of hers came from. "What do you mean? I didn't lose anything because of you." If anything, he gained so much more than he ever imagined because of her. "I don't understand this."

Becca sniffled, and a tear slid down her cheek. Hunter wiped it away and waited for her to continue.

"You were so happy today, playing basketball with your best friend on your old stomping grounds. You had so much going for you."

He didn't like where this was going. He knew exactly what she'd say next. Pain squeezed his heart like a wet sponge.

"Then-" Becca jumped up and paced the room.

Hunter followed, hoping to coax her back into his arms to give her comfort.

"Because of me-"

She couldn't say it, no matter how she tried. But Hunter knew. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he whispered, "Look at me."

She did, her eyes so full of pain it killed him inside.

"I thought we were learning not to hold on to guilt that we don't need to carry."

"I know," she whispered, her voice teary.

Sometimes knowing and doing were two different things. He understood that all too well. "I'm going to go out on a limb and venture a guess as to what you want to say, since you can't seem to say it."

Becca just nodded.

"You think I had my old life ripped out from under me because of you, because we went to help the Langes keep the secret about you. Am I right?" It hurt him just saying it. Why? Why would Becca have that kind of guilt? She'd done nothing wrong.

"Yeah." Becca wrangled away from his hold and faced the window.

"Sweetheart, let me hold you." Hunter moved to stand beside her. He wanted to be close to her. Becca's face was wet from her tears when she looked at him. "Listen to me." He wrapped his arms around her, surrounding her with all of his love. Before he continued, he pressed a kiss on her temple. "
You
didn't cause me to lose anything. Whatever happened isn't because of you. There were years of choices and decisions that led to the crash and our loss, but don't you ever,
ever
take the blame." He cradled her close to him as her body wracked with sobs. Hunter did the only thing he could, hold her until she calmed down. He knew her breakdown would come eventually. She'd been dealing with the information about how she came to be Rebecca Lange from Joe fairly well, but never did she seem to fully process it. Of course coming to the state where things happened would send her into this feeling. He just hadn't expected the guilt. He had a feeling this was only the beginning of her breakdown. He'd have to get her through it somehow. Short of giving her answers, he had no idea what else to do to ease the pain.

"I knew you'd get upset." Her voice was muffled against his chest.

"I'm not upset, angel. I'm stunned. How can you think-?" Hunter shook his head. "Never mind. I don't have room to talk, but you've got to know how much this breaks me inside. I wish I could give you what I got today. I wish it so much that it physically hurts that I can't. You're partly right."

She stiffened in his hold.

"You're right because I was happy today. Not that I'm not happy other days, because I am. Every morning I get to wake up next to you and get another day closer to marrying you brings so much joy to my heart. But today, I got to revisit a part of my old life I'd forgotten about. It's like a floodgate of memories. I tapped in to an old love of playing basketball. But even without those things, I still get to lay my head down next to the most amazing woman at night."

"I'm sorry. I know I'm being such a-"

No, he didn't want her to do that either! He stopped her from apologizing with a kiss. "Don't be sorry for your feelings, Bec. I just wish you weren't feeling this way."

She finally pulled away and wiped her eyes. "I'm so mad at myself. The whole time we were out there, I wished someone would recognize me the way they did you! It's like ... like I had a streak of jealousy, and I don't do that stuff! I don't want to be that person!"

Hunter pressed his thumb against her cheek before he kissed her. "You long for the same thing I do. Peace. A chance to understand. Closure. Okay, you're a little envious. So what? It doesn't make you a bad person. Wanna know something I don't think I told you before?"

"What?" Her voice held a tinge of curiosity.

"When I first heard you had a family after we were found, I was jealous. You had a place to go, and I was left empty-handed. When I realized what I felt, I wanted to kick myself in the ass. I didn't want to be jealous that you had somewhere to go. Me, a twelve year old boy, being jealous of an eight year old girl who went through hell. It's a normal feeling, Bec, no matter how much we do or don't want to feel it."

"Somehow, twenty years later, you got the better end of the deal," she said with a bitter edge.

"I guess looking back, I did. Who knew the Langes were such cold people? We didn't have a clue back then what we do now. But that's not the point. What I'm trying to say is, it's a little natural you're feeling envious. I'm not upset. It only makes me want to give you what I can't even more."