Almost Midnight (15 page)

Her defiant gaze slowly lifted to his face. “I’m not your responsibility. I don’t know how I let you talk me into coming here in the first place. And I can’t believe you called my mother as if I were ten-years-old!”

“I’m sorry if I overstepped my bounds, but I thought she should know. And I didn’t want to bother you this morning.”

“You are not my keeper, Mr. Clearbrook. I don’t even know why I told you my life’s story.”

Like a chameleon he changed his colors. In one quick move, he swiped the tray off her lap and ceremoniously placed it on the dresser beside her.

She stopped breathing when he bent toward her and flashed that irresistible dimpled smile. “You don’t know. Well, honey, maybe I should refresh your memory.” His silvery gaze slid over her face in silent expectation.

She pushed her head further into her pillow and closed her eyes. “Okay, I remember. Now, you can get back to work or whatever you need to do.”

“Oh, you remember, do you? Look at me, Hannah.”

A loud thump at the door jolted Tanner from the bed. Jeremy rushed into the room. “Hannah, I thought you could read some books with me today.” The boy held his dinosaur beneath his good arm and sent his father a wary gaze. “What are you doing here, Dad?” 

Hannah saw the stillness in Tanner’s body.

“Morning, partner. I came to bring Hannah her breakfast.” Tanner knelt down to inspect his son’s arm. “How are you feeling today?”

“It hurts a little,” the boy mumbled, pulling away. “But gosh, Dad, Hannah’s watching.”

Tanner smiled. “You watch over her today, okay?”

Jeremy smiled. “Right.”

“If there’s anything else you need,” Tanner said, glancing over his shoulder before he left, “I’m sure Jeremy can be your little helper today. Right, Jeremy?”

Jeremy groaned. “I’m not little.”

“Right, Jeremy?” 

Jeremy gave an uneasy shrug. “Yeah, I guess so.”

As soon as Tanner left, Jeremy scooted next to Hannah.

“I don’t want you to die, Hannah. I know that ammonia can make you die.”

She brushed her hand through Jeremy’s hair and smiled. “Pneumonia might be real bad sometimes, but I’m not going to die. I know you’re thinking about your mother, but I’m not as sick as she was. Sometimes we don’t know why people die, but they do.” 

He looked up at her, frowning. “But your mom almost died. Grandpa said so.”

“Yes, my mom almost died, but the doctors got her the right medicine and we were very lucky. But she had cancer, not pneumonia”

Jeremy sat beside her with such trust in his eyes, she wanted to weep. “I know my dad didn’t know Mama was sick. He wasn’t there when she died. We talked about it before, but sometimes it just sticks in my mind.”

“You just have to keep telling yourself that your father didn’t know your mom was going to die or he would have been there. And I don’t think anyone could have done anything for your mother. Things just happen, pumpkin.”

“Yeah, I know.” He shrugged. “You know, me and Dad get along better since you came.”

A pain squeezed Hanna’s heart, and she touched the purple cast. “How’s that arm doing?”

“It hurts just a little. But the cast is the best, isn’t it? Uncle Rafe said so.” Gray eyes lit with delight.

Hannah laughed, wishing she could spring back to health as fast as Jeremy had . “I’d say that’s the best cast I’ve ever seen.”

The boy wiggled on the edge of the bed, trying not to fall off. “Did you have anything ever die on you, Hannah? Like a hamster or something?”

For a second, Hannah’s blood froze.

“Have you? I mean, something really living, not just a flower. But maybe even a dog or something?”

Maybe even a dog or something?

Hannah’s breath stuck in her throat. “I...had a husband once.”

The boy’s eyes grew wide. “A husband? Gosh. Did he have ammonia like Mama?”

“No, he died in a car accident.”

“Did the guy who hit him die too?”

Hannah’s hold of her sheets tightened. “No. It was no one’s fault. He didn’t mean to get in an accident.” 

It was no one’s fault.
Her grip on the sheets suddenly loosened. Saying the words seemed to set something free inside her.

“Gosh, I never knew you were married. Did you have any babies?” 

Hannah smiled. It didn’t seem like a painful question coming from this innocent child. Maybe her healing had more to do with her soul than her body. “No, I didn’t have a child. I always wanted one though.”

While Jeremy asked her questions, she glanced at the delicate rose sitting on her tray and realized life was like this delicate flower. A person’s life was too precious and too short not to enjoy it to the fullest.

She finished her last piece of bacon when Jeremy started for the door and turned around, his gray eyes shimmering with excitement. “You know what, Hannah?”

“What?”

“I was thinking, maybe you can have a baby and I can make him my brother. What about that?”

Hannah choked and reached for her glass of juice. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

He hugged his dinosaur with his good arm. “I think you have to be married first. I’m not sure. But Grandpa and I have that all figured out. He said everything would work out if you married my dad, then I can have as many sisters and brothers as I want. Wouldn’t that be great?” 

His crooked smile pierced her heart. Fritz was a dead man!

“Yep, pumpkin. Great.” Great, but a dream all the same.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Tanner hoped to leave for his Denver office within the hour, but a few phone calls had put him behind schedule. There was another medical company for sale and another real estate deal he had his eye on. But in the back of his mind, his thoughts lingered on the green-eyed enchantress resting in his guestroom.

Hannah had been recuperating at his house for the past week. She had been slowly improving each day, and he had to fight to keep his distance. He was becoming obsessed with the woman.

She wasn’t his, and he had better remember that. He wasn’t ready to make a commitment, not yet. She had enough heartache in her life. She didn’t need him adding to it.    

He grabbed his briefcase, ready to head out the door when Jeremy flew down the stairs like a crazed bronco. They had come to an understanding about Julie’s death and were closer than ever before.

“Going somewhere?” he asked as Jeremy skidded to a halt.

“Gotta tell Grandpa something. It’s really important.” He gave Tanner an innocent look, then bolted toward the kitchen.

Tanner gazed up the staircase and frowned. He wondered if really important had anything to do with Hannah. He shook his head. No, he didn’t want to know. He already was having a hard enough time focusing on his business.

A minute later, he pressed the garage door opener, hopped into his car and threw his Jaguar in reverse. He wondered if he could persuade Hannah to stay another week until her mother returned from Maine. He had deliberately stayed away from her ever since he’d brought her the breakfast tray a week ago.

The day they had been hiking on that mountain had stirred too many emotions, and the surge of protectiveness had overwhelmed him. She could have died. The pain would have been too great to bear.

He was a coward. His father had pegged him right.

His engine roared to life as he pulled onto the long red brick drive. Swinging his Jaguar past his house, he chanced a glance in his rearview mirror. He hit the brakes, and his car screeched to a halt. “What the—”

He narrowed his eyes on two people walking up his drive — one female and one male, or should he say one female and one gorilla with biceps the size of Jeremy’s waist!

How had he missed them?

Tanner scowled. The couple didn’t seem to hear the gunning of his engine. Obviously, Alex Richards had other things on his mind.

Fury almost choked Tanner as he watched Jeremy let the couple into the house. He ground his teeth as he high-tailed it back up his driveway. He struck the steering wheel with the palm of his hand. Hannah Elliot was in his blood, and no muscled city boy was going to move in on him now. There, he admitted it to himself.

“Hey,” Fritz said, sipping his herbal tea as Tanner stomped into the kitchen.

Eyes twinkling, Fritz tilted his head toward the street. “Thought you went to work already. If you want more food, you’ll have to fix it for yourself. Mable’s upstairs making the beds.” 

Tanner swung his briefcase onto the kitchen table and shot an icy glare toward Fritz. Muttering about interfering fathers, he turned and jerked open the refrigerator door, tightening his fingers around the neck of a bottle of juice. “I’ve decided to work at home today.”

“Hey, don’t go choking the life out of that bottle, boy,” Fritz chuckled. “I like cranberry juice.”

Tanner knocked the refrigerator closed with the heel of his shoe and grabbed a glass from the cupboard. He turned at the sound of the sardonic snort behind him and leaned against the counter, glaring at his father. “Don’t push me, Dad. I’m not in the mood.”

“Did you come home just for cranberry juice, huh?”

“Is there a problem with me being home?”

Fritz put up his hands. “Nope, no problem at all. But might as well warn ya, we have visitors.”

Tanner tugged off his tie, throwing it next to his briefcase. He was sure his father knew the reason he was back. But Tanner would play the game. He would be calm and cool. His father wouldn’t be able to ruffle a single feather.

“And?” he finally said in exasperation.

Fritz chewed on a piece of bacon. “And you better be on your best behavior. Hannah’s cute little friend and that body builder of a brother are here. You missed Candy when she brought over the clothes for Hannah, didn’t ya, son?”

Tanner lost all composure and shot his father a cold look. “I know Candy, but who the hell invited him?” He grabbed a piece of bacon off Fritz’s plate and stuffed it into his mouth.

“Watch your language, we got women and children present.”

Tanner chomped on the bacon strip, his mind distinctly recalling how gorilla-man Richards had wrapped his hands around Hannah’s body in the library. “Don’t like the man. Thought the guy lived in Chicago or something.”

Fritz rose and deposited his plate in the sink. “Yep, well, he’s visiting his sister again, and the two of them came to cheer Hannah up. I told them to help themselves to the pool.”

Tanner’s eyes bulged out of his head. “Y-you what?”

Fritz swung his head around. “What’s the matter with you, boy? You sick or something? I told them to help themselves to the pool. If Hannah’s fever was down, Rafe said it would be good for the gal to sit outside in the shade for a few minutes. She ain’t contagious, you know.”

Tanner grabbed another piece of bacon. “What the hell does Rafe know about anything? He’s just a doctor. Hannah’s supposed to be resting. Anyway, she better not plan to wear a swimsuit. It’s too cold for her.” The thought of Hannah half-naked in front of the gorilla sent his pulse pounding.

“She ain’t got a swimsuit here, you numskull.”

Tanner ignored the jibe and stuffed another piece of bacon into his mouth and then another. The fat wasn’t doing his stomach any good. He’d been having an ache in his belly ever since Hannah showed up.

“She’s supposed to be in her bed, or resting, but not out by the pool.” Chomp. Chomp. “And not with some stranger.” Chomp.

Fritz smiled as he took a cinnamon orange tea bag from a box in the cupboard near Tanner’s head. “Oh, they’re not strangers. Candy is Hannah’s friend and her brother—” 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Alex is Candy’s brother.” Tanner pushed away from the counter and pulled off his suit coat.

“You, uh, know Alex?” Fritz asked innocently.

“Met him at the library.”

Fritz pulled his mug of hot water out of the microwave and dipped in the teabag. A swirl of steam rose into the air.

“Right, right,” Fritz said, as if barely remembering the library scene, but Tanner knew better. “Seeing as most of Jeremy’s friends are on vacation this month, and you know, that boy has made a lot of friends in the few weeks Hannah has watched over him. Play groups, you know. Well, anyway, I thought it’d be nice if the boy could play in the pool with Alex.”

“Play in the pool with Alex?” Tanner snapped. “Jeremy can’t swim with a broken arm.”

Fritz shrugged and stirred a dollop of honey into his tea. “I like my tea real sweet like that little gal upstairs,” he paused and looked toward the hall, “or is she upstairs anymore? Thought I heard her voice a few minutes ago. Must be outside by now. But dang it, what does an old geezer like me know.”

Tanner ground his teeth. “I’ll bet you know more than you’re telling me. And you are not an old geezer, so stop trying to play the part.”

Fritz chuckled. “Well, all I know is that Jeremy can swing his legs in the pool. His arm ain’t hurting much and he needs some entertainment.” The older man gave Tanner a quick glance and lifted the steaming tea to his lips. “Seems Alex could provide that.”

The last comment made Tanner’s blood boil. He immediately realized these plans were not spur of the moment. “I seemed to have been left out of the loop for some odd reason. When did all this come about?”

Fritz blinked, took his tea to the table, and opened the morning paper, not saying a word.

Tanner shifted his gaze outside where he caught sight of a black BMW sitting on the street. Rented, he thought. He had no doubt it belonged to the gorilla. He had missed seeing the car before because he had been so incensed when he’d caught sight of the gorilla entering his house. But the thought of Richards giving Hannah a ride in that car burned the inside of his stomach like a fiery torch.

Stretching his neck, he unbuttoned the top of his white shirt and drew in a calming breath. Richards was a pretty boy, if women liked that sort of man. But surely Hannah knew what part of the male species Richards came from, the no-brainer-bicep-in-your-face kind of guy.

Tanner assured himself that she wouldn’t even look at the man twice.