A Hard Choice for Hanna [Hardwick Bay 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Morgan Henry

  “Well, sorry the timing is bad. I do wish you all the best. Bye, Simon.” Hanna waited until she heard Simon say good-bye and hung up.

  Oh, this was very bad. How could she go from a veritable drought of dates to the hot brothers and Simon? And how was she going to explain to her mom that she wasn’t interested in Linda’s choice of suitable dating material but was heading down the road of sin with two sexy engineers?

  This was all too much. She needed some garden therapy. Hanna skipped dinner and headed out to the peaceful solitude of the plants in the backyard.

  * * * *

  “So then I said good-bye and hung up, basically.” Hanna finished describing the phone call from Simon to Karen.

  It was the first time the two friends had been able to get together for dinner in a couple of weeks. Karen had been plagued with various issues with her store and cancelled a couple of times. Things seemed to be a bit smoother for her this week, though.

  They had ordered pizza and were lounging in the living room in Karen’s apartment. They had both had a couple of glasses of wine at this point. Hanna was planning on sleeping on the couch.

  “What’s that stupid saying, ‘it never rains but it pours’?” Karen replied, and Hanna could hear the laughter in her voice. “It’s pouring men on you. At least you’re interested in two of them.”

  “True. It’s just going to complicate my life when Mom finds out that the two are a package deal.”

  “You don’t think she’ll be impressed?” Karen noted sarcastically.

  “I’m hanging on to the hope that she’ll come around as long as she sees me happy. After all, I’ve grown up with the mantra that family always loves and supports one another. I have to admit I’m worried about what will happen with her and the church, though. I don’t get the sense that her church will be anywhere near accepting of a ménage. Even one that is loving and respectful.”

  “So what are you going to do? Break it off with Kent and Carter?”

  “No, I don’t want that. I really like them. We certainly have a great chemistry, but we just haven’t been together long enough to say where this is really going. I think I could fall in love with them, though.”

  “Seems like it’s going down the road to coupleville. Or is that trioville?” Karen smirked at Hanna.

  “Don’t you smirk at me. Rumor has it Allan and Zander want to make trioville with you,” Hanna responded tartly.

  “I’m not going there, and we’re talking about you and your mommy issues.”

  Hanna gasped in mock horror, “You did not just say I have mommy issues! And don’t dodge me about Allan and Zander.”

  “Well, the rumor mill is wrong. I’m not seeing them. And really, you don’t think your mom is going to disown you or anything, so why get so bent out of shape about Kent and Carter?” Karen was always good at talking Hanna down.

  “All right.” Hanna dropped the subject of the two men that were interested in Karen. “I guess I can’t see Mom really doing anything drastic when both my parents spent my youth drilling respect for others into me. But that doesn’t mean I’m inviting them all over for a get-together next week. If this doesn’t wind up going anywhere, I don’t want Mom to get all wound up for nothing.”

  “Well that’s practical,” Karen agreed. “But I think you’re more than halfway to being in love with the two of them, and you know it.”

  Hanna sighed. Karen was right, but it was still too soon for her practical side to admit it. She changed the subject instead. “So you’re playing on this softball team, too, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, Lisa roped me into it. She begged and I caved.” Karen grimaced. “I can’t play ball, I despise team sports, and I don’t really like beer. What the hell am I on the team for?”

  “It seems they need women since the team is ménage heavy.” Hanna gave Karen the excuse Kent and Carter had given her. She suspected Lisa had ulterior motives, though, ones that involved Allan and Zander.

  “Well, I hope they’re serious about not being a competitive bunch, because I’ll bring down the batting average, or whatever measure they use to keep score.”

  Hanna hid a smile. “Why don’t you come over to Kent and Carter’s one afternoon and practice with us? They’ve helped me out so I won’t humiliate myself.”

  “Actually, that sounds like a good idea.” Karen sounded surprised. “I don’t actually want to be the biggest loser on the team.”

  “You won’t. We’ll help you out,” Hanna soothed. “So what heinous chick flick are we watching tonight?”

  Hanna and Karen had a great time drinking wine and tearing apart chick flicks once a month. Neither of them had a fondness for the genre, so they would watch one and rip it to shreds, then enjoy an action or horror flick afterward.

  “We are in for a treat tonight,” Karen said as she cued up the selection. They both oohed at the cheesy title. Hanna poured more wine as they settled in for the night, softball and mommy issues forgotten.

  Chapter 9

  Kent and Carter were away for two weeks in June at a training seminar for their job. They had asked Hanna to look in on their house while they were away and to take care of the chemical maintenance on the hot tub. Of course, they told her to make sure to use it while they were gone, too. So, on the Saturday night in the middle of their trip, Hanna was having a lengthy soak.

  She had worked at the clinic in the morning and then attacked the weeds in the vegetable garden in the afternoon. It was supposed to rain all day Sunday, so Hanna wanted to get that chore done before the moisture helped the weeds more than her veggies.

  The hot water and jets felt good on her muscles, but she remembered Kent’s massage as doing an even better job. She shivered a little at the memory of his strong hands on her shoulders. She also remembered how his hand had felt when he spanked her backside, and how Carter’s hands had played with her nipples, and the enthusiasm of him eating her pussy in the hot tub. It was amazing how they could get her hot and bothered without even being present. Her hand strayed between her legs and she massaged her pussy a little.

  She looked around the yard a bit guiltily. She’d decided to be brave and had forgone the bathing suit. Dusk was approaching, and the house was isolated, so she firmly told herself not to worry that someone would see her. The deer that came around the house occasionally didn’t count.

  She leaned back against the side of the tub and braced one foot on the opposite side. Her legs opened and she started to masturbate as she thought of Kent and Carter. She could feel her pussy slicken with both the mental and manual stimulation.

  She thought of their cocks as she used one hand to part her folds and the other to rub her clit. Their dicks were huge. She remembered that she could barely fit her mouth around them. She thought about how they would stretch her pussy when they entered her. Kent’s cock was longer than Carter’s, but Carter was just a bit thicker than Kent. Both were impressive specimens, regardless. They would fill her pussy like nothing ever had before.

  That thought made her moan a little, and she slipped two fingers inside. She began to thrust them in and out of her cunt while she rubbed her clit harder. The water sloshed in the tub as her movements became more vigorous. Would they fuck her slow and loving or would they be fast and hard? She wanted to try both ways and every speed in between. She was close to orgasm thinking about all the wonderful things her men would do to her when she heard gravel crunching in the driveway as a car drew up.

  “Holy shit!” she exclaimed as she literally leapt out of the tub. She raced inside, toweling as she went, and threw her clothes on, struggling because she was still a bit damp.

  “Hello?” A woman’s voice called from upstairs.

  A woman’s voice? What other woman had a key to Kent and Carter’s house? Could it be that Carolyn person? Hanna was a little surprised at her anger and possessiveness. She really resented any other woman being in this house, resented anyone else thinking they had a claim on her men. Did that mean she loved the
m?

  Hanna stomped upstairs. “Who are…” She trailed off. Before her was a smiling woman with gracefully graying, sandy hair. She had the same pale blue eyes as Kent and the same smile as both men. She was dressed in jeans and a pink blouse, and had a bag from the hardware store in her hands.

  “Hello, dear,” the woman, who was obviously Kent and Carter’s mother, said warmly. “You must be Hanna. The boys said you would be looking after the place. I’m delighted to finally meet you. I’m Mary, Kent and Carter’s mom.”

  “Ah, I, uh,” Hanna stuttered, trying to recover some equilibrium. She was blushing furiously. “So nice to meet you, too. I wasn’t expecting anyone.”

  Mary laughed good-naturedly. “I’ll bet you weren’t. I didn’t mean to interrupt your hot tub time. I just had to drop off this package for the boys. They asked me to pick up this tool their dad wanted for Father’s Day when it was on sale. I thought I’d better leave it here so Cliff didn’t find it at home.”

  “Oh, that’s okay, I was about done anyway.” Hanna was sure she was still blushing. Yeah, just about done, but not quite.

  “It’s so nice to relax in the water and look at the sky and the trees, isn’t it?” Mary grimaced a little. “They really need some gardens out there, though, don’t they?”

  Hanna smiled. She could certainly agree with that. “Yes, they do. It’s pretty bare.”

  “How about a coffee?” Mary asked. “The boys have been promising to bring you by, but there just hasn’t been the opportunity. Since we’re both here, why don’t we sit and chat for a few minutes?”

  “Sure,” Hanna agreed happily. Mary genuinely seemed delighted to see her and she exuded warmth and welcome. She moved to get the cups out, but Mary was closer and beat her to it.

  They took their beverages into the living room and relaxed in the comfortable furniture.

  “I’m glad my sons finally found someone who is willing to consider being with both of them,” Mary started.

  Hanna choked on her coffee. She hadn’t really thought about what Kent and Carter had told their parents about their desire for a ménage.

  Mary gave a little laugh. “Did you think we didn’t know?”

  “To be honest, I hadn’t thought about it. I guess I’ve been trying to wrap my own head around how this would work. I hadn’t thought about how you and Mr. VanLindt felt. I’m sorry, I guess that’s a bit self-centered of me,” Hanna responded.

  “Perfectly understandable, I think,” was Mary’s reply. “It took a bit for Cliff and I to come around. There were a couple of ménage families around here when we were younger and there was some stigma attached to them and their children. We were worried about Kent and Carter having to face that.”

  “This town is so liberal, I can’t imagine there was a problem.”

  “That was liberal for thirty years ago. At least they weren’t driven out at gunpoint,” Mary noted wryly. “It’s much better now. This place is almost a little haven for those who like life a little less, vanilla, shall we say.”

  “I kind of like it. The people are really interesting and even when they don’t get along they still at least tolerate each other.” Hanna thought of some of the clinic’s clients who clearly had clashing lifestyles but still chose to stick by the adage, live and let live.

  “Well, for the most part anyway,” Mary temporized. “So, how do your parents feel about this?”

  Hanna hung her head. “I haven’t told them yet. My mom—” She stopped.

  “She’ll be upset?”

  “I think so. But you don’t have to worry about that. She’ll come around.” Hanna felt like she was trying to convince herself more than Mary. She put her mom out of her mind and changed the subject. She gestured to the windows, “What do you think the boys should do to landscape the backyard?”

  Mary smiled understandingly. The two women spent the next twenty minutes talking about gardens, and Mary also told Hanna a few tales from Kent and Carter’s past that had Hanna doubled over in laughter.

  When they finally closed up the house to head back to their respective homes, Hanna felt as though she was closer to the VanLindt men than ever. Mary was such a warm, genuine person and her sons were the same way. Hanna could easily see Mary as a great mother-in-law and that both comforted and scared her a little. She wondered what Cliff and their sister would be like.

  Chapter 10

  The weeks that Kent and Carter were away felt lonely to Hanna. Even though they didn’t see each other every day when they were in Hardwick Bay, she felt a connection to them. While they were away, the connection seemed stretched, more tenuous. She was looking forward to their return.

  They were due back really late on Saturday. Then next day was Father’s Day. Hanna was having her parents over for lunch, and Kent and Carter were going to Cliff and Mary’s with their sister for lunch as well. They planned to meet for a late dinner and Hanna was bringing an overnight bag this time.

  Linda and Harry were heading over after Linda’s church service was done. It was a beautiful day and Hanna had the table out on the patio set up for lunch. It looked great—she had decorated in Harry’s favorite colors of green and orange. Her dad loved the produce from her garden, so she had some of the lettuce and radishes for the salad, and there were just enough early strawberries for shortcakes for dessert.

  They arrived around one o’clock. Hanna knew her dad would be hungry. She ushered them to the patio and removed the cover from the appetizers she had laid out. Harry immediately attacked the olives, breadsticks, and cheese.

  “I’m so glad you were able to come today,” she said as they sat down together.

  “So am I,” replied her dad. “I love this little place of yours. You were lucky to find it.”

  “It is a nice house. I just wish the neighbors were a little more upstanding,” added Linda.

  “Not today, Mom,” warned Hanna. “We’re here to celebrate Dad and enjoy some family time, not argue the merits of lifestyles.”

  Her mother’s mouth turned down and she made a disapproving noise.

  “I agree,” approved Harry, frowning at her mother a little as he filled the glasses with the sparkling water that was on the table. “Let’s celebrate me,” he added in a mock pretentious tone, his eyes twinkling, and lifted his glass.

  Hanna responded to the toast, happy that her dad could keep her mom in check. “So, what’s on your list of favorite Dad things to do for the rest of the day?” she asked.

  “Spending time with my girl was the number one thing on my list,” he responded, smiling at Hanna. She was a little surprised that he didn’t say “girls.” “After that we’re heading to the bookstore on the main street in town then I’m going to watch Foyle’s War.” He winked at her.

  Hanna laughed. “You’re terrible,” she said, handing him the gift bag that contained DVDs of the next couple of seasons of the British drama. “Or maybe I’m too predictable.”

  “You just know what your dad likes,” he said, taking the bag and peeking inside. “Ah, I can’t wait. Even your mother doesn’t mind this show.”

  “It is pretty good,” her mom added. “Do you need any help with lunch?”

  “I’ve got it all made. I just need a hand carrying it out,” Hanna responded. She got up and went inside to get the dishes of food. She and her mom served up the lunch of salad and her dad’s favorite chicken cannelloni.

  They chatted casually through lunch and dessert. Hanna and her dad kept the conversation focused on non-contentious topics of their mutual friends, the previous season of Foyle’s War, and Hanna’s garden. Harry particularly liked Hanna’s vegetables and fruit. Linda and Harry’s own backyard was fairly small and too shady to accommodate a substantial vegetable garden, so he often mooched off Hanna.

  They were relaxing after lunch and drinking coffee, enjoying the peace of the afternoon, when Sasha and Stephanie came out of their home. The two houses were quite close together, so it was only natural that the two women came over
to greet their neighbor. Sasha had her arm around Stephanie’s waist as they strolled over to Hanna’s patio.

  “Hi, Hanna, it’s a lovely day to eat outside.” Stephanie spoke warmly as always. “It’s nice to see you two as well,” she addressed Linda and Harry. She was wearing a flirty spring dress in pale pink and had a couple of packages in her hand.

  Sasha smiled at the trio and added her greetings as well. She was dressed more conservatively in slacks and a cream blouse.

  “Hello, you two.” Harry spoke as Linda smiled frostily. “What are you up to on this beautiful day?”

  “We’re heading to see my dad at the retirement home then we’re taking Stephanie’s parents out to dinner,” responded Sasha.

  “That sounds lovely, where are you going?” Hanna asked.

  “We’re going to that place with the big cow head in the sign, I can’t remember its name,” answered Stephanie.

  “Oh, I know where you mean! The food’s really good, but I can’t remember the name either.” Hanna could picture the place in her head, but not the name on the sign.

  “I’ve never been, but I’m sure it will be nice. We always have a good time with your parents. Your dad cracks me up,” Sasha added. She smiled at Stephanie with obvious affection.

  “You two have the same sense of humor,” Stephanie responded with the same fondness. “The rest of us don’t get it, though.”

  “So, what did you get for Father’s Day?” Sasha asked Harry, gesturing to the gift bag beside the table.

  “DVDs, a British series that Hanna knows I love,” Harry answered. He rubbed his hands together. “I almost can’t wait to get home.”

  They all chuckled, except for Linda. “Well, we should get going. I want to have a nice long visit with Dad,” Sasha said, glancing at Linda.

  “It was great to see you two,” Harry said. “Have a great time.”

  “Yeah, have fun. I’ll see you around,” Hanna added.