Chapter 25
25
H anna introduced Quinn to her parents. "Quinn, this is my mother, Allison. Mom, this is Quinn Kurtz. This is my father, Lance." They shook hands. "Quinn says he's met you in passing, but never formally, so consider yourselves introduced.
Quinn handed her mom the bottle of wine and the flowers. "It's very nice to meet both of you. You have an incredible daughter."
Hanna's cheeks warmed slightly. She wasn't used to being complimented in front of her parents by a man. It was certainly a new experience, and one she rather liked.
Her father chuckled. "Well, come on in. Let's get us some drinks. What are you drinking, Quinn?"
Quinn laughed. "Beer is just fine with me, sir."
"I haven't been sir for a long time. How about Lance?"
Quinn nodded and smiled. "Lance it is."
Hanna looked over at her mother who stood staring. Was her mouth open? Oh my god, she was gaping at him like she'd never seen a handsome man before. Hanna nudged her mom. “Should we go put these flowers in some water, Mom?”
Her mom tittered a little. "Oh yes. Oh, gosh, yes of course. Yes, thank you, Quinn. Oh, they're so beautiful. I just can't believe how sweet you are.”
Hanna looked at Quinn and grinned, then she slipped her arm under her mom's arm and led her to the kitchen. "Oh my god, Mom. Seriously, get yourself together."
"Oh, but he's even dreamier up close. I had no idea, honey."
Hanna groaned. Well, her mom wasn't wrong, but oh my god, she wasn't expecting this reaction and it was a little embarrassing. She pulled the vase out of the cupboard and began cutting the stems of the flowers, while her mom set the bottle of wine on the counter.
"Oh, so thoughtful that he bought the red, white, and blue carnations. I mean with summer here and everything that is really just so patriotic and nice."
Hanna chuckled. "Well, he's a veteran, so of course he'd be patriotic, and he just thought they were bright and colorful. I guess the ladies at the flower shop are very enamored with him today for buying two bouquets."
"Two? He bought two bouquets?"
"Yes, he brought one to me earlier today at the bakery. Sunflowers. They're beautiful. Stop in and see them tomorrow if you like."
"Oh, oh maybe I'll do that. Oh, he's so nice, he's just so sweet.
Hanna chuckled. "Oh my gosh, Mom, get yourself together."
They arranged the flowers and her mom happily put them in the center of the dining room table when Jalyn walked in. "Hey, everybody I'm here. "
Hanna rushed out to the living room and hugged her friend then turned around and introduced her to Quinn. "Quinn this is my best friend Jalyn. Jalyn meet Quinn."
She leaned in closer and whispered, "And don't make a fool of yourself. My mom has been tittering and tottering.
Jalyn chuckled. "Of course, she is."
"Hi, Quinn, nice to meet you." She held out her hand and shook his vigorously, then she looked at Hanna. "Are we drinking beer tonight?"
"Aren't you on call?"
"Not tonight. I asked for the night off so I'm primed and ready to have a couple beers, a good dinner, and meet this man that you've been spending so much time with that you don't even have time to call me."
"Jalyn, we've talked about this already."
"I know, I know, I know. I could call you, too, but well…."
"Good Lord." Hanna sighed quietly, so she didn't offend anyone, but she was a little perplexed at how this evening had already started.
Quinn chuckled, then had a conversation with her dad about business, which she thought was kind of cute, and then he told her parents and Jalyn about the barracks project and what they were doing there. They were all excited about what he was planning to do, and all agreed that the property needed some sprucing up, so this was going to be a good thing for the town.
Her dad said, "All right I'm going to get the steaks on the grill.
Quinn stood up with him, "I'll help you."
The two men in her life walked out of the room together, and she thought it was rather sweet .
Her phone rang, and she pulled it from her pocket and saw Isaac's number. She closed her eyes as Jalyn looked over and saw who was on the phone. "Don't answer that."
Not wanting to speak to Isaac anyway, she tapped the phone and hung up the call. It wasn't even a minute later, and the phone rang again. Isaac again. She stood and walked out of the room. "I might as well answer it, or he'll just keep calling." She answered her phone, "Yes, Isaac, how can I help you today?"
She shouldn't have offered to help him at all. He'd take advantage of that if he could.
"Can we... can we talk? Can I, can I, can we meet together and talk?"
"No."
"No? You won't talk to me?"
"I don't want to talk to you, Isaac. I would think the divorce would have been a pretty good sign of that."
"But I'm in town now, and I just want to meet you for a little while. I just want to apologize."
"You can apologize on the phone and then that's it. I'm at Mom and Dad's tonight and I don't want to have this conversation with you, like ever."
“Hanna, please just let me meet you in person and talk to you. I just want to say I'm sorry and I just want to see your face so that you believe me."
"Isaac, I don't believe I will ever believe you again. I don't want to have this conversation with you now, or ever, and I don't need your apology. I'm over it. I'm over it all. Please don't call again."
"But,Hanna, please."
She hung up the phone, took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. After a moment, she sauntered back into the living room where Jalyn and her mom sat waiting for her .
"He's in town apparently and wanted to talk to me. He wanted to apologize. I told him he could apologize on the phone. He didn't want to do that. He begged. I said no that's the end of it. I'm not meeting with him. I'm not talking to him. I don't want to have anything to do with him, to be honest with you. So, hopefully, that's the last I will hear from him tonight."
"Well, let's hope so," her mom said. "Besides, it doesn't look good when you're taking calls from your ex-husband when you're here with your new boyfriend."
"I've already told Quinn all about Isaac, and all the crap he's pulled, and his recent shenanigans. He's aware of what kind of person Isaac is. But I tend to agree with you. I don't want Isaac intruding on any of my time with Quinn. Actually, I don't want Isaac intruding on any of my time, period, so I won't be taking any more of his calls."
Her father and Quinn walked back into the house with a plate of delicious-smelling steaks.
"Steaks are ready."
Her mom jumped up. "Okay, let's go. It's time to eat."
Her mom hustled about, refreshing everyone's drinks. Then, they sat down and had a nice meal.
Dinner conversation centered around the new stage the Sandbar was building. The new flower pots the business league purchased for each Main Street business so there was a cohesive look to the street. And the upcoming election and the two mayoral candidates.
Quinn made it very easy for her parents to talk to him about anything. He was engaging, open, and honest.
And happily, they were all on the same page politically, so she could breathe a sigh of relief. Quinn asked Jalyn about being the first female firefighter. And he asked her questions about Hanna, which she was a bit uncomfortable with, but they laughed. Jalyn had a couple cute stories which Quinn seemed to enjoy. Then her phone rang.
Her mother sat up straight. Hanna looked over at her phone to see who it was, but it wasn't a number she recognized.
She moved away from the table. Her mom had a strict 'no phones at the table' policy. As she moved into the living room, she tapped the green icon on her phone. "Hello."
No one was there. "Hello?" A few seconds more and she said, "Hello?" Shrugging her shoulders she ended the call and thought that was the end of it, but it rang again. This time, it was a different number. "Hello? Hello? Hello?"
She ended the call and sat at the table once more. She was seated at a right angle to Quinn and next to Jalyn. "I don't know why someone's calling and not talking to me. It was a different number both times."
Her mom leaned forward. "Honey, are you sure it's not Isaac trying to call again?"
Quinn turned his head to her. "Isaac called?"
"Yes, while you and Dad were grilling. He wanted to talk. I told him no, and not to call me anymore. Apparently, he's in town."
"Okay, and you're sure those calls aren't from him?"
"They're not his number."
"Okay, well we'll see what happens with it." He reached across the corner of the table and placed his hand over hers.
Her phone rang again, and she jumped.
This time, Quinn leaned over. "May I?"
She handed him the phone. "Have at it. "
He answered the phone. "Hello, this is Quinn." He listened. He didn't say anything further. He finally said, "Rather than this cowardly act why don't you act like a man? If you have something to say, say it. If not, this harassment is illegal as hell on a phone according to the FCC. Keep it up; you'll find out." The call ended. He turned off her phone and handed it back to her. “How do you feel about just keeping it off for the rest of the night so we can enjoy ourselves?”
"I'm fine with that." She put it in her back pocket and tried to relax. Her shoulders had stiffened up through all this nonsense, but maybe she and Quinn would have a way of working those out later. Her cheeks heated when she thought of that, and Jalyn leaned over and asked why she was blushing.
"It's nothing."
"I'll bet it's nothing," Jalyn teased.
"Stop it."
"Oh, I can't wait to hear why just sitting here next to Quinn makes you blush."
"Stop it."
Quinn chuckled. He nudged her foot under the table and she looked up at him. The grin on his face made her cheeks heat up even further. Her mom tittered across the table and she couldn't wait for this night to be over. My god it was as if her mom was possessed by another creature.
Her mom stood. "How about if we have dessert in the living room? I made a blueberry pie."
"That sounds great, Mom."
She and Jalyn got up and began clearing the dishes. Quinn carried his plate and some extra dishes into the kitchen and her mom looked at him, batted her eyelashes, and said, "Oh, that is so nice."
Hanna scoffed, "Oh my god, Mom. Quinn, go into the other room so she can't see you. Good lord."
He chuckled. Then he surprised the hell out of her by leaning down and kissing her lips. If her cheeks hadn't been red from before they sure were red now. Not only her cheeks, but the tips of her ears burned, and her chest was hot.
Jalyn had a Cheshire cat grin on her face.
Hanna wanted this part of the evening to be over. She was too tense from all this teasing, and the nonsense from her mom acting like a teenager. And why wasn't her father a bit irritated at that? It was like she didn't know any of these people anymore.