Chapter Fifteen
“Mama! Mama!”
Julie squirmed in Jo’s arms, finally succeeding in wiggling enough that Jo set her on her feet. She toddled over to where Ethan and Hannah stood in the doorway of Jamie’s restaurant, Lemon and Thyme.
“Hey, Jujube.”
Ethan scooped his granddaughter up and pressed a kiss to her pudgy cheek, sending her into a fit of giggles.
“Mama,”
she said with a toothy grin, tugging on his beard.
“Mama?”
Hannah’s lips twitched as though she were trying very hard not to laugh.
“Everyone’s mama. It’s her only word.”
“No!”
Julie shouted. At Ethan’s startled expression she giggled again, and repeated “No!”
“Not her only word after all,”
Hannah said.
“Jujube, this is my friend, Hannah,”
Ethan said. The little girl’s face scrunched up to match the seriousness of Ethan’s tone. “Hannah, this is my granddaughter, Julie.”
“Hannah!”
Kyla waved to her from across the empty restaurant. “I was just telling Jo and Molly about your dress. Come show them the picture.”
Hannah glanced at Ethan, and he smiled, tilting his head towards the gathered women. “Don’t believe anything Jo tells you.”
“And what would she tell me?”
Hannah asked.
“She likes to joke about my being a hot grandpa.”
“Oh, well, can’t say I disagree with her there.”
Ethan leaned close and nipped at her ear.
“No!”
Julie shouted again.
Ethan and Hannah jumped at the interjection, breaking apart with a laugh before Hannah joined Kyla and the others at the bar. Ethan watched her go, following the sway of her hips in the little sundress she wore. It was too cold for a sundress, but he wasn’t about to tell her that, not when it swished around her thighs and perfectly highlighted her ass and breasts. He’d had to fight the urge to protest when she layered on a cardigan before they left the house, but then he reminded himself he’d get to peel it off her later and his objections died in his throat.
Julie tugged on his beard—hard—and he shook himself from his thoughts. “Let’s go find your daddy,”
he said, bouncing her in his arms as he pushed through the double doors into the kitchen where he knew Jamie, Gavin, and Baz would be congregating.
“Hey, Dad.”
Tessa left the circle of Jamie’s arms to greet her father. “Is Hannah here?”
“With Kyla and the others.”
Julie swan dove out of his arms towards her mother, but Ethan was used to his granddaughter’s antics. He held her firmly around the waist until Tessa gathered her in her arms. “Let’s go, baby. We’ll leave the boys to talk.”
Tessa placed a kiss on Ethan’s cheek as she went past, the double doors swinging closed behind her.
Jamie stood in the center of the kitchen, chopping herbs at one of the stainless steel counters and swatting Gavin’s hand away every time he tried to steal slivers of shredded cheese from the pile at the edge of his cutting board. Baz stood off to the side, always just far enough away from the food to ensure nothing could splatter on his suit.
“What’re we having?”
Ethan asked, swiping some cheese.
“Chicken parm.”
Jamie glanced at Ethan. “Your mom’s recipe.”
Ever since Jamie and Tessa had gotten together, they’d revived Ethan’s mother’s tradition of a regular ‘family dinner.’ While his mom had hosted those dinners every week, Ethan and his friends had settled into a rhythm of once a month dinners, and Jamie always cooked something from the family recipe box Ethan’s mom had gifted to Jamie when he started the restaurant.
“I hear Hannah made you dinner the other night,”
Gavin said, grinning.
“You and your wife gossip too much,”
Ethan said.
“It’s not gossip when it’s between a married couple.”
“Keep me out of your pillow talk,”
Ethan said.
“Are you having your own pillow talk?”
Gavin teased.
When he didn’t answer immediately, Baz chuckled, shaking his head. “That didn’t take long.”
Jamie glanced up from his cutting board, grabbing a large heirloom tomato and began slicing it. “So you talked it out? The Jackson Hayes of it all?”
Ethan cleared this throat, unsure how much he could tell the guys without betraying Hannah’s confidence. “Yeah. I didn’t have all the information before.”
“See? I knew you two could work it out,”
Gavin said. “About time you had a real relationship.”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say we’re in a relationship.”
“Why not?”
Jamie asked.
Ethan scrubbed his hand over his face as the ease of the last twenty-four hours disappeared beneath the onslaught of his friends’ interrogation. “We haven’t put a label on anything.”
“What, are we fifteen?”
Baz asked. “You’re either together or you’re not.”
“I mean, we’re more together than not…I think,”
Ethan said.
“You think?”
Jamie asked.
“But you’re sleeping together,”
Gavin said, his forehead furrowed.
“We’re… I’m not talking about this at family dinner,”
Ethan said, grabbing another small handful of cheese.
Jamie swatted at his hand. “There won’t be a dinner if you don’t stop stealing my cheese.”
“I don’t understand,”
Gavin said. “I thought you wanted something real with Hannah.”
“I did. I do. But I don’t know what she wants. I don’t think she even knows.”
“I heard you were spotted kissing outside of Plot Twist,”
Jamie said between layering slices of tomato and cheese on top of perfectly fried chicken breasts.
“I heard it was outside The Silver Spoon,” Baz said.
“From who?”
Ethan demanded.
“Mrs. Blumenthal told my mom when they saw each other in the grocery store,”
Gavin said with a shrug.
“Mrs. Greene asked Tessa about it when she stopped by the bakery to pick up the pastries for tomorrow’s church coffee hour.”
Jamie slid the sheet pan of prepared chicken into the oven.
“I heard about it from Mac when he came to confession.”
Ethan turned at the sound of the newcomer as Gavin’s brother, Caleb entered the kitchen, his pristine white priest’s collar in stark contrast to the black shirt and pants he always wore. Ever since Caleb had returned to Aster Bay to take over as the priest at St. Anthony’s, he’d become a fixture at their monthly family dinners, falling right back into his role as the big brother who teased all of Gavin’s friends.
“I thought you weren’t supposed to tell anyone what someone says in confession,”
Gavin said.
“He didn’t say it in confession. He was talking about it with Mrs. Greene in the narthex.”
Caleb held his hand out to Ethan, pulling him in for a quick handshake and hug. “How’s your dad doing?”
“Are we going to skip over the fact my love life is apparently fodder for the St. Anthony’s gossip mill?”
Ethan groaned.
“Don’t you know by now that any PDA is fair game for the grandma gang’s gossiping?”
Baz asked.
“So, who’s the girl?”
Caleb asked.
“No one,”
Ethan grumbled.
“Not no one,”
Gavin protested. “Her name’s Hannah. She’s staying with Ethan for a little while.”
“Living with a woman out of wedlock?”
Caleb shook his head in a mock admonishment. “That’ll be five Hail Marys.”
“Fuck off.”
Ethan shoved Caleb’s shoulder. The priest laughed.
“Catch me up. She your girlfriend?”
Caleb asked.
“She might as well be,” Baz said.
“They’re sleeping together,”
Gavin told his brother.
“Shut up. We’re not talking about this while you’re wearing that.”
Ethan waved a finger in the direction of Caleb’s priest collar.
“I’m still a priest, even if I take the collar off, you know,” he said.
“Why don’t you just talk to her?”
Jamie asked as he finished wiping down his prep station.
“I tried.”
“Did you, though? Or did you just kiss her and expect her to figure out what it meant on her own?”
Caleb asked.
“Oooh, you’re good at this,”
Gavin said.
Caleb shrugged, reaching for some of the leftover cheese. “Part of the job.”
Ethan scowled. As much as he hated to admit it, Caleb had a point. He hadn’t actually told Hannah he was interested in something more serious with her—at least, not since their last weekend in Boston, and even then he hadn't exactly been clear about how he felt about her.
The swinging doors opened again. This time Jo poked her head through. “Are you guys done gossiping or what?”
Her eyes fell on Caleb and she grinned like she knew a secret. “Hey, Father West. It might as well be a silver fox convention in here.”
Caleb rolled his eyes as Jo swung her gaze around the room.
“We’ll be right out,”
Jamie said. Jo winked and disappeared back into the dining room as Jamie skewered Ethan with a serious look. “Talk to Hannah.”
Simple. Talk to her. He could do that.
“And if she’s not interested?”
Jamie clapped him on the shoulder, guiding him towards the doors. “Then at least you’ll know. And when she goes home next week, you can move on.”
∞∞∞
“No, I never officially met any of the other guys,”
Hannah said as she reached for another slice of bread from the basket in the center of the table. “Though Beckett and Nico did come to opening night.”
“Can we stop talking about Midnight Storm like we’re a bunch of teenage girls?”
Ethan grumbled. He dropped his arm over the back of Hannah’s chair, not quite touching her, but close enough that she could feel him.
“I assure you, teenage girls have no idea who Midnight Storm is,”
Molly, Jo’s roommate, said. “They haven’t had a hit in almost a decade.”
“I loved Midnight Storm,”
Jo said. “I was a Beckett girlie.”
“Of course you were.”
Kyla rolled her eyes.
“What? Tall, dark, and tatted. What’s not to like?”
Jo said with a shimmy of her shoulders.
“You guys suck at not talking about things,”
Ethan said.
“How long are you in town for, Hannah?”
Caleb asked.
“Just another week. I need to be back in New York for the premiere of the pro shot.”
“What’s a pro shot?”
Gavin asked.
“It’s a film of a stage production. In our case, they filmed the closing week of Bridget Jones’ Musical and it’ll have a limited release in movie theaters across the country.”
“That means you’re not just a Broadway star. You’re a movie star,”
Sabrina said.
“Hardly,”
Hannah demurred.
“When’s the premiere?”
Jamie asked.
“Next Friday.”
Ethan stiffened beside her.
“Oh. You’ll miss Dad’s birthday.”
Tessa glanced between the two of them as she absent-mindedly bounced Julie on her lap.
“It’s your birthday next week?”
Hannah turned towards him, their knees brushing. He leaned into the contact.
“Next Saturday,”
he answered tightly.
“He’s turning forty-five,”
Gavin offered.
“Oh, it’s a big birthday,”
Hannah said. She felt like she should have known somehow.
“No birthday’s a big birthday after twenty-one,”
Ethan said.
“You should come with me to New York.”
The words were out of her mouth before she could think better of it, but now that she’d said them, they felt right. Hannah twisted to face him fully, setting her hand on his knee. “You could be my date to the premiere, and we can spend your birthday celebrating in the City.”
“I don’t know.”
“I’ll take you to all the best spots,”
she continued, suddenly feeling it was incredibly important that she convince him to go with her. “Central Park and the Met and the Highline.”
“What about the paparazzi?”
Sabrina asked gently.
Hannah’s cheeks heated. For a minute there, she’d forgotten all about the paparazzi. “I’m sure it’ll be fine,”
she bluffed. “After the premiere, they’ll have no more interest in little ol’ me.”
“You should go, Dad. I’ll help you find a suit if you want,”
Tessa offered.
“I have suits.”
Ethan’s eyes darted between Hannah’s and she held her breath as he considered her proposal. “You really want me to come?”
“Yeah. I really want you to come.”
He nodded slowly, sliding his hand over hers where it rested on his knee and lacing their fingers together. When he smiled, his eyes crinkled at the corners and her heart fluttered. “Alright, city girl. Let’s go to New York.”
Warmth gathered in Hannah’s chest, a glowing ball of heat that felt an awful lot like happiness. She squeezed his hand and tried to memorize the moment, the way his hand felt in hers, the soft denim of his jeans, the pleasantly full feeling of having thoroughly enjoyed a meal without concern for how many calories were in each bite, the laughter of new friends around the table as the conversation moved on without them. She wanted to remember it all, to freeze it in amber and keep it forever.
To keep him.
The thought rioted through her, sweeping cobwebs off the corners of her heart, shining a light on places she’d kept closed down for so many years, the parts that hadn’t felt safe to share. Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to share them with Ethan.
“I bet Hannah could help.”
Kyla’s voice interrupted Hannah’s revelations.
“Help with what?”
Hannah asked, reluctantly turning her attention away from the man at her side and towards the women across the table.
“I teach at St. Anthony’s High School and the theatre teacher left right before Christmas break. Military spouse,”
Molly said. “They won’t rehire until the next school year—”
“Not won’t. Can’t,”
Caleb said as though they’d had this argument a thousand times before.
“—and somehow I wound up directing the spring musical.”
“It’s because you’re an English teacher,”
Caleb said. “The principal assumed that since you can teach Shakespeare, you must be able to run a theater program.”
“He assumed incorrectly,”
Molly said.
“You’re underestimating yourself.”
Caleb’s voice was sterner than Hannah had heard it before, and color rose in the apples of Molly’s cheeks.
“I’m sure you’re doing fine,”
Sabrina said.
“What show are you working on?”
Hannah asked.
“Little Shop of Horrors.”
“Oh, I love Little Shop! I always loved the role of Audrey,”
Hannah said.
“Did you ever play her?”
Ethan asked.
“No. I never really looked the part,”
Hannah said, brushing it aside.
“If you’re not busy this week, maybe you could come to a few of our rehearsals? I know the kids would love having a real Broadway actress coaching them for a bit instead of their English teacher,”
Molly said with a self-deprecating laugh.
“Sure, I could do that. I don’t exactly have a packed schedule while I’m in town,”
Hannah said.
“You better watch out or Molly’ll try to get you to apply for the position,”
Sabrina said. “I did one play in high school and she tried to talk me into applying.”
“Hey, one play is more than I did,”
Molly said.
“If she doesn’t try to convince you, I will,”
Caleb said, breaking off another piece of bread and dragging it through the sauce on his plate.
“Too bad you’re not in town long term,”
Jamie said, glancing at Ethan.
“Please, I bet she can’t wait to get back to the City.”
Jo turned towards Hannah, oblivious to the way Ethan had tensed, his hold on Hannah’s hand tightening. “Manhattan has to beat Aster Bay. The Thai food alone.”
“Thai-d Up has some very decent Tom Yum soup,”
Jamie said.
“Very decent by Aster Bay standards might as well be cafeteria food compared to New York City,”
Jo scoffed. “I walked in a fashion show in the City once a few years back and I never wanted to leave.”
“And yet, here you are,”
Gavin teased.
“It’s not always all that amazing,”
Hannah hedged.
“Manhattan on its worst day is still ten times more exciting than Aster Bay,”
Jo said as she refilled her wine glass. She held out the bottle to ask if anyone else needed a top up, leaning over to fill Gavin’s glass when he lifted it towards her.
“Exciting isn’t always better,”
Hannah said. “The City is wonderful and alive. The food and the people and the theater.”
“The museums,”
Sabrina offered.
Hannah nodded. “All of it. But it’s also loud and crowded and it’s easy to go days on end without ever seeing someone you know. Times Square smells like urine and it’s too hot in the summer and you can never get a taxi when you want one—”
“Then why stay?”
Ethan asked. “If it’s so awful, why stay?”
“It’s not awful. It’s different. There are as many good things as there are bad. And my friends are there. My work.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed, the muscle in his jaw ticking. “The same work that judges you by the way you look and sends hoards of photographers to stalk you?”
“It’s part of the job,”
Hannah said. Was he honestly upset with her for liking the City?
“It’s a shitty job.”
She pulled her hand out of his, his words landing like a papercut across her heart. “I like my job.”
“Do you?”
he challenged.
“Who’s ready for dessert?”
Tessa asked, handing Julie off to Jamie as she got to her feet.
Around them, the conversation moved on—to the new exhibit at the university art museum and the teenager who fell asleep in the middle of Caleb’s homily last week—but Hannah felt frozen, rooted to the spot by Ethan’s glower. She wanted to rewind, go back to only a few moments before when she’d felt warm and fizzy with happiness. How had they gone from that, from Ethan accepting her invitation to join her at the premiere and celebrate his birthday in New York, to this coldness? How had the City she called home been an asset one moment and a strike against her the next?
And why did she care so much? They hadn’t discussed the future, but with each passing day, this was feeling less and less like a fling and more like something real. The thought should terrify her but, she was startled to find, the thing that scared her the most was the idea of leaving Aster Bay and never again feeling the way she felt when she was with him.
But if he really thought so little of her home, of her career, how could they possibly work?