Bury the Hatchet

Chapter Six - Bury the Hatchet

TALLIE

"Shouldn't we be getting back soon?" I asked. I hated bringing it up, because I was really enjoying spending some time with Hunter without having to put on a show for anyone else. It was just the two of us getting to know each other, which was something we definitely needed to do if we were going to spend the next year together as husband and wife, whether it was a real marriage or not.

We'd already been here for hours, though, and Hunter still needed to have his final fitting before his parents arrived. Not only that, but I was sure there were a thousand things that Lance expected of me in that time span. He was probably blowing up my phone even now, asking where I was and demanding I come home immediately so he could put me through something else in preparation for tomorrow. I didn't know that for sure, though, because I'd intentionally left my phone in Hunter's car so I wouldn't have to deal with it. I needed a break from it all, and Hunter was giving me one.

After leaving my parents' house, the two of us had gone to the bank so he could officially close on the house, and after we left there, we'd picked up some takeout food—fried chicken and a bunch of other stuff that Lance would have an absolute conniption fit if he knew about—and we'd gone to the new place to eat. Hunter had brought in a couple of grocery bags full of pantry items, too, so that the cabinets wouldn't be entirely bare.

Right now, we were lying on the empty hardwood floors of the living room while the afternoon sun shone down on us through the massive picture windows along the back wall of the house.

It was a brand new house in the Southern Hills district, right across the street from the country club and golf course. Mama had always wanted to live in this part of town, but that was one thing Daddy had put his foot down over. He didn't want the commute. Hunter's new house was almost as far away from Mama and Daddy's downtown river-view home as he could get without leaving the Tulsa city limits. It was the complete opposite of theirs in every way, with light colors on the walls, open spaces, and tons of natural light.

Even though it was in Southern Hills, Mama would hate it. She loved traditional Southern design, with bold colors, rich woods, lots of crown molding, elaborate chandeliers in every room, and so many gold accents they would blind you if you weren't careful. Even the furniture looked like it had come out of another century.

I loved Hunter's house, though, which was further proof of how different I was, not only from Mama but from what she wanted me to be. I hadn't encouraged him one way or the other when we'd been house hunting, telling him I'd be fine with whatever he thought was best and encouraging him to choose the house that he wanted without worrying about my thoughts on the matter, but there was a part of me that would be glad to have some distance. Maybe even a big part of me. Mama and Lance could be smothering at the best of times, and having them across town could only help me figure out what I wanted to do with my life after this year ended. Whether they liked it or not, I'd decided that was going to be my focus for the time I spent as Hunter's wife. I was going to use it to make my own decisions about where I wanted to go from here.

Hunter rolled to his side, facing me, and propped his head up on one hand. He shrugged. "I'm sure Lance thinks we should have been back hours ago, but I honestly don't give a rat's ass what he wants."

I couldn't hide the smile that curved up my lips. There had never been anyone in my life who'd put his foot down where Lance was concerned. Not even Daddy. My father had done his best to allow me to lead a normal life, but Mama and Lance had never listened to him as far as anything to do with pageants was concerned. Not at all. And to hear them talk about it, every single aspect of my life was related to pageants. Lance had been overseeing everything since before I could remember, from extracurricular activities to my diet, to how many hours I spent in the gym, to what colors I should wear and when, and even to who would be in charge of my hair and makeup. If he knew I'd just eaten fried chicken...