Chapter Six
Hanna watched him leave. One part of her wanted to run, knowing if she got to know him, she’d end up regretting it when he turned on her. The other part wanted to take this time with him because she would never return after leaving town for the last time.
“What are you thinking about?”
Her head jerked toward the stall door. “Going home.” She saw the tick that started in his jaw and knew that it hadn’t made him happy.
“Where do you live?”
“Austin.”
He seemed surprised. “I never took you for a city girl.”
“Maybe because I’m not. I got a fantastic offer from this huge company before graduating and couldn’t turn it down.”
“I can understand that. Are you still happy there?”
“I like the company I work for, but hate living in the city.”
“Have you ever thought about moving to the country?”
She nodded. “Yes, Lucas and I talked about it several times.”
“Who’s Lucas?”
“My husband.”
She flinched at the black fury that darkened his face.
“You’re fucking married,” he bellowed, turned, and walked off.
“Wait,” she yelled as she tried to get out from under the calf. She grabbed her shoes and hastily closed the stall door before she raced after him, not even bothering to put her shoes on. She looked right and left. She saw a few men who stared at her, but Blake was nowhere to be found.
Hanna sighed and walked to her SUV, not even noticing the hard gravel biting into her tender feet. She slid in and moved the seat forward when she noticed her keys were missing. She hit the steering wheel and then lay her head down on it while her hands gripped it until her knuckles turned white.
Jesus, now what was she going to do? She was exhausted and just wanted to leave him and go home.
She jerked upright at the knock on the window.
Blake held her keys up. “Are these what you’re looking for?”
She nodded. She tried not to flinch when he yanked open the door.
“Where the fuck is he?” he growled.
She sighed when she tried to reach for the keys, only to have him keep them out of her reach. “I’ll tell you if you give me my keys.”
He narrowed his eyes on her. “I wouldn’t push me right now, baby.”
She held out her hand and waited.
He grunted and set them in her hand, but didn’t release them either.
“Tell me,” he demanded.
She gripped the keys harder, but he still wouldn’t relinquish them. “He’s dead. A drunk driver hit him on his way home from work. Now give me my keys.”
She almost teared up at the emotions crossing his face—relief, embarrassment, concern, and contentment.
“Blake, give me my keys. I’m tired, and I want to go home.”
He snatched them back and pressed his fingers into his temple. “I fucked up again.”
She nodded slowly.
“I’m sorry. I really am. The thought of you being out of my reach infuriated me since I’ve been waiting for you for years.”
She stared at him and then shook her head. She didn’t believe him. She sighed when he pocketed her keys and pulled her out of the SUV.
“Ouch,” she whimpered.
He looked down. “Where the hell are your shoes?”
She pointed to the passenger seat behind her.
He leaned in and grabbed them before he crouched in front of her. He took one of her feet and used his hand to wipe the bottom off before slipping her shoe on. He did the same thing to the other foot before he stood and grabbed her hand.
She thought it was sweet that he was taking care of her. It was something she hadn't felt in a long time.
“Wait, Blake, what are you doing?”
“We’re going inside.”
“I don’t want to. I’ve got a lot to do, and I’m exhausted.
” She’d been up with her mother the last week she’d been alive.
She sat in a chair beside her and would jerk awake every time her mother moaned.
She gave her as much morphine as possible to keep her comfortable.
She hadn’t gotten a good night's sleep since she’d been home.
All she wanted was to fall into bed, pull the blanket over her head, and sleep for twenty-four hours straight.
He pulled her in the front door of the huge ranch house.
It was two stories of dark wood and a wraparound porch.
She glanced at what looked like a formal living room to the right before he pulled her down the hallway to the left and into what looked like a solarium.
When she looked further, she saw the indoor pool. Holy cow. It looked like paradise.
They got to a room she guessed was a TV or family room. He closed and locked the door before towing her over to the sofa and setting her down.
“What are you doing?”
“We're going to talk.”
She sighed in frustration. “Why waste time? Nothing matters anymore.”
He sat down next to her. “It’s not a waste of time.”
“It is for me. Once everything is sold, I’m leaving, and I’ll never be back.”
“Don’t say that,” he snapped.
“Why? It’s the truth. There is nothing for me here but bad memories except for my mom, and now she’s gone.”
“Are you hungry?” he asked suddenly.
The change in the topic threw her for a moment. She thought about it for a moment and then shook her head. She couldn’t remember the last time she ate, but her stomach wouldn’t let anything stay down at the moment.
“Okay, then, let’s relax and talk.”
She sighed in frustration and turned to him. “Okay, Blake, what do you want to talk about?” She knew he wouldn’t let her go without talking, and she just wanted to get home and sleep.
She watched him struggle with something for a moment before he finally spoke.
“I was a senior when you moved up a grade from being a junior, and that’s why I hadn’t noticed you before.
The first time I saw you, I was sitting in my first English class of the school year with a few friends, and you walked in.
It seemed the whole world stopped for me at that moment.
You had your hair in a ponytail, but it still went down to the middle of your back.
You wore a faded blue t-shirt that was too big for you and jeans with holes in the knees.
You looked so out of place for some reason. ”
She was shocked. How did he remember what she wore after this long? “It’s because I never fit in.”
“That’s just it. It wasn’t you. We were the same age, but you seemed years more mature than the rest of us.
I vaguely remember you from school the previous year, but I saw you as a child then because you were a grade behind me.
You walked into the room, and it threw me for a moment until I found out you skipped a grade because you were so smart and wanted to graduate early.
But you still stood out as more mature than the rest of us. ”
“It’s because I had to fight for everything.”
“I heard about your father and his drinking.”
She could feel her face heat with a blush. It never failed to embarrass her.
“Was he abusive?”
She stared at him. She wanted to refuse to talk about it, but she couldn’t because she knew with the determined look on his face, he wouldn’t let her. The thought of talking about it made her stomach tighten.
She cleared her throat. “Yes.”
“He hurt you?”
Her hands clenched in her lap. She didn’t want to think about that time in her life. “Yes.”
“How?”
“Usually beatings.”
He flinched. “Why didn’t the sheriff stop him?”
“Although my mother was a good person, she would never press charges against him. Her father was a strict reverend, and she took her vows seriously.”
“But he was hurting you.”
She nodded. “And her.”
“Why didn’t she say something to the sheriff to protect you?”
“She did everything she could. She always tried to get in between us.”
“What about Shasha?”
“Not so much. She was too much like him, and he took pride in it.”
“How bad were the beatings?”
God, did she really have to talk about this, especially to him?
She sighed. “The days I missed school, I was recuperating from his abuse.”
“I thought you were sick?”
She shook her head. “I was never sick.” She saw disbelief, anger, and remorse cross his face.