Chapter 11
Tanner
“H ow did it go with Hannah?” Devon asked the next morning.
Kaleb and Devon were in my office in Billings.
We’d just finished going over some possible acquisitions.
This Monday morning meeting had become habit for all of us. It helped us center on our goals for the week.
For some reason, we changed up whose office the meeting took place in every week, even though all our offices were similar.
Hannah had left my house soon after we’d cleaned up last night, using the excuse that she usually met her mom early for coffee in the morning before Sweet Mornings opened.
“She tolerated me yesterday. We rode the trails, and we had dinner at my place,” I said, my mind still going over the way she’d rejected my offer to help her reach her career goals here in Montana.
I knew that her saying that she’d think about it was her way of politely telling me to fuck off.
“You obviously don’t think she’s forgiven you,” Kaleb said drily.
“She’s not going to forgive him that quickly,” Devon mused. “She needs to learn to trust him first. Trust takes time.”
“She doesn’t trust me,” I said unhappily.
Rationally, I knew I couldn’t regain Hannah’s trust overnight, but I fucking hated the way she looked at me sometimes like she couldn’t figure out my motives.
At one time, Hannah had looked at me like I’d hung the moon and stars just for her.
Now, she looked at me like she wasn’t sure that she trusted a single word I said.
Maybe it was unreasonable to want anything different, but I did.
“I know you’re trying to clear up the misunderstanding in town,” Kaleb said. “I get that. It’s the fair thing to do since Hannah needs to live here, too, but it feels like you’re taking this personally.”
“How can I not take it personally coming from her,” I said irritably. “We were together for years, and we were engaged. I loved her.”
“Years ago,” Devon reminded me. “Are you sure you ever got over that breakup?”
“It has been years, and you’ve never dated another woman,” Kaleb observed, eying me like he was trying to figure me out.
I stared him down. “Obviously, I moved on. We’ve made this company into one of the most successful holding companies in the world. Maybe I’ve just never met someone I wanted to be with.”
“That was an expert evasion of that question,” Devon observed. “Hannah is pretty special. I think she’d be a hard woman to get over.”
I sent my little brother an annoyed glance. “Even if I wasn’t over the breakup, she’s already put me in her rearview mirror. I hurt her, and I can’t take that back.”
“Be straight with us, Tanner,” Kaleb said solemnly. “You’ve never really talked much about what happened with Hannah, not even to us. I knew you were hurting, but I didn’t want to force you to discuss it if talking about her made it harder for you.”
I took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to talk about her. I didn’t want to think about her. Especially if I had to picture her with another guy. I wanted to bury the entire relationship.”
“How did that work out for you?” Devon asked in a serious tone.
“It worked out fine,” I lied. “Until I saw her again and realized that I’d lost her because I was an idiot. Hannah was my everything. I knew that soon after we met. I think my anger about her leaving me for another guy made me irrational, which is why I didn’t go after her. I wasn’t listening to her, so it was the only explanation that made sense at the time.”
“Honestly, it didn’t make sense to me,” Devon mused. “Don’t get me wrong, I believed you, but it never made sense. Hannah was crazy about you. And I never took her for the kind of woman who would just up and leave you for another man. But my judgement when it comes to females has always sucked.”
“Truthfully, it didn’t make sense to me, either,” Kaleb admitted. “Hannah was like family, and her devotion to you was obvious. Like Devon, I believed your theory. But I was caught in the same obsession over KTD that you were at the time, so in my mind, it was the only explanation that seemed plausible. Looking back, I’m glad I wasn’t in a relationship at the time. I don’t think I could have balanced a relationship and the demands of our company at the same time.”
“She was really supportive of KTD. She had a lot of patience,” Devon said thoughtfully. “But I think she must have felt like she wasn’t important to you anymore. Everything we did revolved around this company at the time.”
“I made her feel like she wasn’t important,” I said hoarsely. “I didn’t listen to her. I was so distracted that I didn’t keep any of the promises I made to her.”
And I hated myself for that now.
“And you regret that now,” Kaleb stated. “But you can’t go back and change that, Tanner. We all acted like idiots back then. The only difference is that Devon and I weren’t in a committed relationship at the time, but I have some regrets over not paying attention to the important things in life, too. I get it. What do you want from Hannah now?”
“She doesn’t owe me anything,” I said in a graveled voice. “And I can’t expect anything from her. I want her to trust me again. I want to help her reach her own goals since I didn’t do shit for her when she needed me.”
“Then support her goals now,” Devon suggested. “What’s stopping you?”
“Her,” I replied, frustrated. “She doesn’t want my help, and she doesn’t need my support. She doesn’t need me . She’s been successful, and she can do it again on her own. Hell, all I want is to make it easier for her to achieve that goal.”
I explained to my brothers about what Hannah’s plans were for her business, and about my offer to help finance it, which was flatly refused.
“It might be a little soon to make her an offer like that,” Kaleb advised. “You two need to get to know each other again. Luckily, none of us are the idiots we were when you two broke up.”
“I plan on getting to know her,” I rumbled. “But I’m not so sure she has the same intentions.”
“You’re the most persistent guy I know,” Devon informed me. “Wear her down.”
“This isn’t a business transaction, Devon,” I said in a disgusted voice.
“No,” Kaleb argued. “He’s right. If this is important to you, make it happen. Just go a little slower.”
Devon snickered as he looked at Kaleb. “Like you should be talking about going slow? You don’t think your relationship with Anna happened at warp speed after you figured out that the two of you were supposed to be together?”
Kaleb shrugged. “I knew what I wanted once I pulled my head out of my ass. Tanner just wants to right some wrongs. His romantic relationship with Hannah is over, but I get why he wants to make things right.”
Devon eyed me with a knowing look. “Is it really over?” he asked, the question hanging in the air ominously.
When Kaleb’s questioning gaze landed on me, too, I started to feel a little cornered.
I was a man who always liked to be in control.
But my brothers knew exactly how to put me on the spot.
They’d been doing it since we were born.
“What do you want me to say?” I asked impatiently. “Hannah was done with me a long time ago.”
“But are you done with her?” Devon probed.
“I can’t rewind what happened,” I growled. “Hell, I wish I could, but I can’t.”
“Mistakes can be forgiven,” Kaleb disagreed. “It might take time and patience, but none us are the same men that we were when we were building this business like it was the only thing that mattered. You just need to prove to her that you’re still the same guy she fell for years ago. She’s not married or involved with someone else, so you have a shot. I guess you’re the only person who can decide if all that work is worth it to you. If you still have feelings for Hannah and she doesn’t end up feeling the same way, it might be hell on you.”
“She’s worth it,” I answered without hesitation, my voice raw with emotion. “She was always worth it.”
“Then be a pain in her ass until she forgives you,” Devon suggested. “You’re pretty good at that.”
“It might not work out,” Kaleb warned. “It’s been seven years. You might find out that your feelings have changed or that her feelings have changed. But if I was in this situation with Anna, I’d have to know there was zero chance of us getting back together before I gave up.”
“I don’t plan on giving up,” I told my brothers. “But I can’t jump ahead of myself and think about anything else but regaining her trust right now.”
“That should be your first priority,” Kaleb agreed.
“She can be stubborn when she wants to be,” Devon said. “I still think you’re going to have to wear her down. If she basically told you to screw off about the partnership, then you’ll have to be charming and persistent.”
“I’m not a charming guy,” I grumbled.
“But you definitely know how to be persistent,” he said with a grin. “And she must have thought you were charming at one time. She was crazy about you.”
“I was lucky,” I answered grumpily. “My college education was the only thing I had going for me when we first met. I wasn’t wealthy, and I definitely wasn’t charming. Persistence was the only thing I had.”
Devon was the Remington who could charm women easily.
I’d been serious, goal oriented, and introverted, even as a much younger man.
It probably wasn’t surprising that I’d gravitated toward someone who was my complete opposite.
Hannah had fascinated me from the very beginning.
She always worked extremely hard, but she’d known when it was time to quit and pay attention to what was important to her.
Most of the time, I’d been what was important to her.
I’d soaked in her sweetness and attention like a damn sponge.
And I’d fallen for her so fast and so hard that it had made my head spin.
“She never cared that you weren’t rich,” Kaleb answered. “She cared about you.”
“She also thought you were the hottest guy on the planet, which I personally never understood,” Devon joked. “But you could use that to your advantage if you decide you want a romantic relationship with her.”
I couldn’t be pissed off at Devon for that comment because I’d never understood it, either, but I’d always felt like the luckiest asshole on the planet because Hannah had felt that way.
I’d always stayed in shape physically, but I wasn’t as pretty as Devon, or conventionally handsome like Kaleb.
I was a normal guy with average looks and a visible scar over my eyebrow from a hard fall off a horse when I was younger.
I was the middle Remington brother who people didn’t really notice most of the time.
And I was okay with that since I usually didn’t want to draw attention to myself.
Hannah was a stunning woman with her dark hair and mesmerizing dark eyes, and a curvy body that would make guys look twice…or several times.
She probably could have picked a better man than me in New York City to fall for, but like I’d just told my brothers, I was lucky.
She had loved me , and she’d proven that over and over during the years we were together.
I just hadn’t been smart enough to keep appreciating her when my life spiraled out of control.
“I’ll just have to take things one step at a time,” I informed my brothers before they got up to go to their offices.
I planned on taking things slow, even though I wasn’t always a patient man when it involved something I really wanted.
But a little persistence wouldn’t hurt, as long as that persistence didn’t scare her away.