“Come on, they will love you, you’ll see.”
“Do you think Barbi is here yet?”
“No, she’ll be here tonight.”
“Oh, okay.” I tried to disguise the disappointment in my voice and as much as I hated to admit it, I kind of wished that Barbi was already there because if she were, I would know at least one person besides Jonathan and his parents.
We stepped inside the house and immediately several people that I did not recognize came rushing toward us.
“Jonny! You made it!” A stunning, elegant woman in her mid-twenties with long blonde hair walked toward us and she was so pretty that it was hard for me to stop staring at her. She had a huge smile on her face, wrapped her arms around him in a big bear hug and must have kissed his cheek 10 times. His face was beet red as he tried to pull away.
“Claire, you’re embarrassing me!”
His sister was more beautiful than he had described.
“I know, but I miss you!” She gave him a once over. “You look thin. Are you eating enough?”
He rolled his eyes. “Oh my gosh, yes mom. Okay, okay enough about me, I want you to meet someone.”
Claire turned to me with a huge smile on her face. “I know who this is, Skylar it’s so nice to meet you.” She gave me a big hug and I was instantly put at ease.
“It’s nice to meet you too Claire, Jonathan has told me so much about you and your sister. It must be pretty amazing to be able to dance professionally all over the world.”
“I have to admit it’s not bad!”
We both giggled and I felt an immediate connection to her, she seemed really nice.
“There he is!” A gorgeous clone of Jonathan’s father gave him a huge hug and then smiled at me. “And I think I know who this lovely young lady is.”
“Hi uncle Jake, this is my girlfriend Skylar.” Jonathan was beaming as he introduced me.
I mean, talk about good looks running in the family, his uncle was beautiful!
“It is nice to meet you Skylar, I hope you will excuse the craziness of this weekend. My family can be a bit goofy at times but we’re harmless.” He gave me a quick wink and I could feel my cheeks getting warm. These Hunter men have that sexy, masculine thing down to a science!
We were having a good chuckle when a beautiful older woman joined us. She smiled at me and gave me a hug.
“You must be Skylar, you are simply gorgeous! Jonathan, you described her perfectly.”
I looked over at him and he winked at me as I smiled back at him.
“Sky, this is my aunt Lauren.”
“It’s so nice to meet you Mrs. Hunter.”
“Oh please, call me Lauren.”
“Um, okay.”
Jonathan chimed in next to me. “My uncle Jake and aunt Lauren are super laid back, you’ll see as the weekend progresses.”
“That’s true Skylar, my brother is the much more stuffy one of the two of us, but don’t tell anyone I told you that!”
“What was that I just heard? One of my sons disparaging the other?” A regal, elderly woman slowly walked into the room shaking her fist at him and Jake looked like he reverted to a little boy before my eyes.
“I was just joking mother!” He laughed.
She walked over to us and you could see the love in her eyes as she looked at Jonathan. She reached out and wrapped her arms around him and gave him as big a hug as she could muster.
“Jonathan, it’s good to see you sweetheart.”
“It’s good to see you too Nana Bunny. I’d like for you to meet my girlfriend Skylar Miller.”
She looked at me and immediately smiled at me and then hugged me. “Hello dear, it’s lovely to meet you. Please call me Bunny, okay? Jonathan has told me so much about you and it’s nice to finally meet the girl who has captured my grandson’s heart. I hope you enjoy yourself this weekend, we know it must be difficult to be away from home so we want you to feel at home here.”
“Thank you Bunny, that means a lot to me, and it’s nice to meet you as well.”
I finally started to relax because everyone was so nice to me and didn’t make me feel out of place at all. I was chatting with Jonathan and his aunt Lauren who told me that her kids were coming the next day, when I heard a vaguely familiar male voice echo across the room.
“Abigail, this discussion is over, do you hear me? You are forbidden to see that man again, is that clear?!”
Mr. Hunter’s deep voice boomed at the younger woman who was walking behind him with a full on pout on her face. Jonathan’s mom followed them into the room and I saw her roll her eyes in disgust and glance at Jonathan’s uncle Jake and aunt Lauren. They both had a look of concern on their faces and they walked over to Mrs. Hunter and began speaking in a low voice, but they were so close to where I was standing I could clearly hear their conversation.
“Sarah, what happened?” Lauren sounded very worried.
“They got into a fight and he left her at the side of the road, can you believe that? Anything could have happened to her!”
“I thought Joshua told her to break it off?” Jake sounded just as concerned.
“He did, but she claims that she loves him and can’t live without him. Ugh, I wish he would just go away, he is nothing but trouble!”
“I know, but look at the bright side, at least she’s not pregnant.”
“Bite your tongue!”
Mrs. Hunter’s voice was full volume when she said that and everyone turned to look at her, including me. Her eyes met mine and she instantly smiled and rushed over to hug me.
“Skylar, I’m so happy you made it! Please forgive the rude display a few minutes ago, we had a small emergency to deal with.” She pulled Jonathan into a big hug and kissed his cheek. “Hi darling, I’m glad you made it safely.”
She glanced around the room and I could tell that she was looking for someone. “Speaking of rude display, where is Abigail?” Her question was posed to no one in particular but Mr. Hunter walked over to us to answer her.
“She went to her room to change her clothes and freshen up, she’ll be down in a few minutes.” He gave Jonathan a hug and he turned to look at me and smiled. “Skylar, it’s nice to see you again. Was your flight okay?”