Chapter 26
26
A fter dessert, they sat outside in the Florida room for an after-dinner drink. Lance made the best homemade Irish Cream. Maybe one day he’ll try to make that. He'd never felt all that domestic, always looking for a reason to be away from home. But now he found himself thinking about making homemade Irish Cream, and perhaps he'd actually learn to cook a few dishes to help out. He grinned as they drove toward Hanna's place.
"What are you grinning about?" Hanna asked.
He chuckled. "I'd like to learn how to make Irish Cream."
"Dad does do a good job with that, doesn't he?"
"He certainly does."
Looking into the rearview mirror, he noticed a car coming up quickly behind him. He began watching in his rearview mirror regularly.
Turning right and taking an alternate route home, he watched as the vehicle continued to follow them .
Driving down First Street, he went past the Canning Ranch and pointed to it. "Does that look familiar to you?"
Hanna grinned. "It does. It actually looks the same."
He chuckled. "It does. They've done a lot of building further into the ranch, but from here it does look largely the same."
Finally getting a good view of the driver behind them, he recognized his ex. His jaw clenched when she turned to follow behind them. He sped up just a little bit and so did she. He'd deal with her later.
Hanna turned to look out the windows, then behind them to see the black Lexis. "Are they following us?"
"It sure feels like it."
He turned into Hanna's driveway, but before they got out, his ex slowed down and then sped up and took off.
Hanna said, "Who was that?"
He let out a deep sigh. "That was my ex. She followed us from your parents’ place."
Hanna swallowed and her brows furrowed slightly. He hated seeing the worry on her face.
"Do you think it would have been her that called?"
"I don't know. Those numbers didn't seem like anything that I'd ever seen before. And, when I answered your phone, that should have jolted her to say something. Whoever was on the phone just breathed heavily and didn't say anything."
"Okay." Hanna turned to look out the back window. "Is she dangerous?"
"My ex? No, she's devious. She's manipulative, but I don't think she's dangerous."
"You don't think? I mean, could it bother her that she knows that we're dating? I mean, clearly, she knows now that we're dating. I mean, Jared probably said something, not to be mean, but he knows."
"Right. Well, I don't think she's dangerous and I will have a chat with her about following me, and to see if she's actually the person who was on the phone."
"Okay, but..." Hanna took a deep breath. Her fingers twisted together in her lap. Her voice was soft when she asked, "Will you stay with me tonight? I mean, I'm nervous. I'm a little creeped out here. Between Isaac and your ex and people calling and not saying anything and hanging up, I guess I'm a little rattled."
He twisted slightly in his seat and took her hand in his.
"Hanna, I'm sorry this is all happening right now. And if it's Tisha that's been calling you, and just trying to be generally a pain, I'll make that stop."
Hanna's eyes shot to his and held. Her mouth opened. Her brows shot up into her hairline. "Tisha? Tisha Barkley? Tisha is your ex-wife?"
"Tisha, yes. Tisha Barkley is my ex-wife. Do you know her?"
"I met her at the thrift store when I was looking to buy my bathroom vanity. And she was there to drop one off. And she gave it to me. She gave me her bathroom vanity."
"No kidding. I had no idea. And for the record, that's normally not like her. The giving spirit doesn't reside in her body."
"Well, I can't..." She swallowed again. "I can't say anything about that because she's been nice to me. She gave me some flooring. She gave me a table. I don't know if she thinks I'm a charity case or what. I suppose I looked pretty pathetic when I was trying to buy a thirty-five-dollar bathroom vanity and I couldn't. I didn't have enough money in my bank account because Isaac had drained my account. So she probably thinks I'm pitiful.
"And then she called and wanted to have lunch and that's when she gave me the table and the flooring, and…oh my god." She stopped and stared deeply into his eyes. "Oh, Quinn, I'm so sorry."
"What are you sorry for?"
"It was me. I'm the one who told her…oh no." She ran her hands down her cheeks. "I'm the one who told her I had a friend who got divorced, and her husband owned a business, and she took him back to court and got a percentage of his business in perpetuity. I'm so sorry. It's my fault. It's my fault she's taking you back to court."
Quinn swallowed as his heart hammered in his chest. He wasn't sure if Tisha was using Hanna or if it had been a happenstance thing. But something was definitely weird about this whole situation.
He reached his right hand up and cupped the side of her face. He smoothed his thumb over her cheekbone softly.
"Hanna, don't worry about it. It's not like you were trying to harm me in any way. You were just trying to help someone you thought was your friend. It's okay. It's all going to be just fine. However, it works out is how it works out. I'll deal with that, and you don't need to worry about it."
He took a deep breath and huffed it out. "In the meantime, how about this? How about if we go to my house for the night and stay there? I have security. No one can get onto the premises. Hopefully, you'll be able to sleep a little bit better knowing that you're safe there. Would that be alright with you? "
"Her eyes welled with tears and she sniffed daintily. "Are you sure? I wouldn't blame you if you were upset."
He shook his head. "I'm not upset."
"I would feel more comfortable at your place if you're sure."
"Honey, that's it. No more sorrys. It's okay. I know you weren't trying to harm me. You were just trying to help somebody. And that's fine. The bottom line is this. If I owe her money, I owe her money, and I'll pay it. But I don't want you worrying about it anymore. But know this. If you want to remain friends with Tisha, feel free to do that. But know that she's very manipulative. She's very conniving."
"Do you think she knew when she invited me over for lunch a few days ago that you and I were seeing each other? I mean, we had already had a date. She could have found out."
"I'm not sure about that. But don't worry about it. We'll find all that out in due time. For right now, do you need to go in and pack a bag?"
"Um, yeah." She let out a breath. "Yeah. If you don't mind, come in with me, please."
"I will, honey."
They entered the house and he could tell she was a little freaked out. He said, "Just stay right here. Let me check the house out."
He walked through the house to make sure there was no one in it. It was a small little bungalow so didn't take long. As he checked the bathroom, he noticed his former bathroom vanity was put in place. He just shook his head. What a weird set of situations this was.
He moved back to the living room. "All is fine, hon. Why don't you go ahead and pack your bag? I'll just wait out here for you. "
Hanna moved down the hall. He watched her until she disappeared into the bedroom. Then he looked around at the items lying on the floor. He recognized the flooring, which he had ordered for Tisha's house. It wasn't much and would likely be enough to finish Hanna's living room and hallway.
He checked out the windows in the living room and didn't notice anyone driving by or sitting outside. That was a good thing. And, not for one minute did he think Tisha would make those calls. He wasn't sure why she followed them tonight or how she knew where he was. But he would find out.