by Judy Baer
Hannah interpreted that to mean this boy needs a father figure. She couldn’t have agreed more.
“It’s not really Danny that’s been the problem, it’s been me.” She looked at him steadily. “I saw that you put extra money in my account.” Hannah dropped her head. “I’m ashamed to admit it, but for a moment I actually considered using it to pay my bills. But that wouldn’t have been right. I’ll write you a check to pay you back. You can give it to me next month—after I’ve earned it.”
The look he gave her was unexpected—amazement, disbelief, even incredulity. “You didn’t spend it to pay your bills? That’s what I put it there for!”
Now it was Hannah’s turn to be surprised. “But why? How did you even know I was in trouble?”
Ty raked his fingers through his dark hair, leaving it ruffled and appealing. “Because I overheard you and your sister talking while I was sitting out on the porch at your place. The windows were open so it was difficult not to hear your conversation. I heard Trisha admit she’d run up other bills and didn’t have the money. I doubted she could make enough no matter how many part-time jobs she took on, so I put the money in your account to help you out.”
Ty pushed himself away from the desk. “I wanted you to use it to get caught up. Consider it an advance or even a loan if you must, but just use it.”
Hannah’s world suddenly shifted and a verse in Isaiah came to mind. Fear not, for I am with you... I will help you. God had been helping her all the time. Her worry had blinded her. She should have trusted Him—and Ty—from the beginning.
As Ty rose, Hannah jumped to her feet. Full of gratitude and not thinking straight, she barreled into him and gave him a hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
The feel of his hard, broad chest and the warmth of his body drew her even closer. She clung to him fiercely.
She felt his lips on her forehead, her cheek, her lips and she willingly responded with a kiss of her own and was lost in Ty’s embrace.
Later, after Ty had left to find Danny, Hannah sat dazedly on a leather chair in Ty’s office. She lifted her fingers to her lips. She could still feel the warmth of him there. He’d made her head swim with that single kiss and suddenly her world felt more topsy-turvy than ever.
* * *
If he’d ever seen a child more miserable, Ty thought, he couldn’t remember it. Danny was squirming uncomfortably on the living room couch.
He might as well cut to the chase, Ty thought. “Where’d you get the shiner, Danny?”
The boy looked dismayed. “On the bus.”
“From who?”
“A kid.”
“Which kid? And why’d he do it?”
“Kevin. He lives down the street.”
Ty knew the boy well. Kevin was an unpleasant child at best, a spoiled brat at worst. More than once Ty had found him skulking outside the house looking in the windows. His parents were notorious snoops in the neighborhood, and apparently the kid had inherited the gene.
“We got in a fight because he said something bad about my mom.” Danny brightened for a second. “I think the black eye I gave him is bigger.”
Ty suppressed a smile.
“He said she was a ‘squatter’ and that she took this job so she could get close to you. He said his mother told him so.” Danny’s eyes grew wide. “What’s a squatter?”
The mother again. That woman had caused more neighborhood squabbles over the years than...what was it that Lily always said? Oh, yes, more squabbles than Carter’s has liver pills.
“A squatter is someone who is living on someone else’s property and hasn’t been invited to live there.”
“But we were invited, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“And why would my mom try to get close to you? She can stand by you anytime she wants!”
Ty loved the innocence of childhood. Little did Danny know that the neighbor woman in question was dying to catch Tyler in some embarrassing act. Ty had once discovered her husband turning back the odometer on a car they were about to sell and chastised him for it. She’d hated him ever since, and now her son was taking it out on Danny. Ty almost felt sorry for Kevin, being raised by a woman like that.
“Danny, your mom was not only invited to come here, she was hired to be here and to be in touch with me about my grandmother’s health and well-being. She wouldn’t be doing her job if we weren’t in conversation about that. Not only is what that little boy said false, it’s hurtful.”
“So it was okay that I took a swing at him?” For the first time, Danny looked hopeful.
It must have been a heavy burden to carry, Ty thought, fighting for his mother’s honor and then not being able to tell her about it. Poor kid.
“It wasn’t okay to take a swing, no. But I understand why you did it. I think you should tell your mother what happened, Danny.”
Danny sighed and stood up. “Okay, but what if I get punished?”
“You won’t.”
Danny slunk out of the room, feet dragging and shoulders drooping.
It occurred to Ty that he felt unduly satisfied with himself. It was a good feeling to help guide a child, to point a boy in the direction he should go. It felt...fatherly.
That thought hit Ty like a blow. How had he gone from being a man who avoided women to one who liked to help Hannah and her son?
God had slipped something in his life when he wasn’t looking, that was for sure.
Within fifteen minutes, Hannah was in Ty’s office, her eyes brimming with tears. “Thank you. Danny just told me what happened. Poor baby, keeping all that to himself. I can’t thank you enough.” She leaned forward, her expression so earnest and so grateful that it tugged at his heartstrings.
“Anytime,” Ty said, realizing how completely he meant it. That impulsive kiss had shaken him to his core. Hannah St. James and her little boy had wormed their way into his heart.
Chapter Nineteen
Hannah caught Ty in the hallway as he was about to enter Lily’s room. She silently crooked her finger and beckoned him to the other end of the hallway.
“What’s up?” he asked.
Hannah felt her face redden. She was acting like a lovesick teenager and told herself to snap out of it. She couldn’t come apart at the seams every time she was near Ty. She’d be a blathering mess. “I’d like to talk about the situation with Clara.”
He gestured her toward an arrangement of chairs and a small table by the window at the end of the hall. “Let’s sit down and you can tell me.”
Hannah glanced toward Lily’s room. “Maybe we should go to your office. Just in case. I don’t want Lily to overhear us.”
“Good idea.”
He put his hand at the small of Hannah’s back as she opened the door to his office, and stepped inside after her.
His touch made her skin grow warm.
She sank into a big leather chair and he sat across from her. Here they were again, holed up together in this dark, intimate room.
“I think Lily is correct. We need to help Clara. From what Lily says, things are deteriorating over there. Clara could have a much better quality of life.”
“What do you suggest?”
He was clenching and unclenching his fists, Hannah noticed, a sure sign that what had been an academic question in his mind was becoming a very personal one.
“Before we do anything else, I think it would be lovely if we took Lily and Clara out for lunch. It would be good for both of them. It would also give us an opportunity to talk to her away from her sister’s place.”
“I guess we have to start somewhere. Where do you suggest we take them?”
“I think they’d both love a visit to The Farmhouse. How about you?”
“Perfect.” Ty appeared pleased by the idea. “We can take Danny with us. Maybe we can get in a game of miniature golf.”
Hannah felt happiness surge through her, grateful that Tyler had thought of Danny.
“Great idea. I think Clara
will enjoy him, too. A small boy always brings life to a gathering. Not always the right kind, of course.”
“He’s a great kid, Hannah. Lily loves him. I’m already dreading when the time comes for you and Danny to move back home.”
You and me both, Hannah thought to herself.
* * *
Both Clara and Lily had dressed up for their outing. Clara had worked hard on her silver hair, smoothing it into a flattering chignon. Lily’s cheeks were bright with blush.
Ty suppressed a smile. His fondness for his grandmother’s friend was growing. Lily had been so independent and vibrant until she broke her foot that Ty had never considered her old. Now it was on his mind all the time.
Ironically, he’d begun thinking of his own age, too. Who would he have to grow old with? That idea hadn’t even occurred to him until recently. He knew now that he didn’t want to grow old alone.
When Hannah turned to smile at him, it took Ty aback just to look at her. She was beautiful today, casual in jeans and a pink shirt that shouldn’t have gone well with her rusty-red hair, but it did. She was free of makeup and he could see the light freckles on the bridge of her nose. He liked a woman comfortable with herself. Her hair was pulled into a high, wild ponytail and bounced when she moved her head.
“There’s as much squealing and laughing back there,” Ty tipped his head to the back of the vehicle where the ladies and Danny were, “as a bunch of teenagers at a slumber party.”
“They’re happy to be out and to be together.”
Ty, in a low voice, asked the question that had been eating at him. “What are we going to do, Hannah? It devastates Lily to know Clara isn’t well cared for.”
Hannah didn’t have time to answer, however. By then they had arrived at The Farmhouse.
* * *
“Tyler,” Lily said imperiously as the ladies were waiting for tea after their lunch, “Clara and I will sit here and visit while you take this boy outside and play golf. He’s been an angel and deserves a treat. You know how much you loved that as a child.”
“Is that an order, Gram?”
“Yes. And if we get bored, we’ll ask for help to get to the gift shop.”
“No doubt,” Ty said wearily. Lily could talk feathers off a duck. It would be easy for her to find assistance. “How about it, Danny?”
The little boy jumped to his feet.
“And take Hannah with you. We’ll be fine without her.” With that, Lily turned back to her friend.
As they walked outside, with Danny dancing along beside them, Hannah said, “I’ve become dispensable, I see.”
She actually sounded hurt at the idea.
“Don’t worry. When she’s exhausted and needs to get to bed tonight, you’ll be essential again. Take it from one who knows.”
* * *
Hannah had a difficult time concentrating. Ty didn’t look like the other men on the mini-golf course. They and their children, vacationers, no doubt, were in jeans and brightly colored T-shirts. Ty wore a suit and tie more appropriate for a conference room than a children’s playground. In a crisp charcoal-colored suit and tie and a shirt that was so pale a pink that it looked almost white, he was, frankly, gorgeous. The smooth, athletic way he moved was sinuous and strong. Plus, he managed to make putting a golf ball into a fake mouse hole on the course look elegant.
In fact, more than once Danny had to say to her, “Mom, pay attention! It’s your turn.”
Hannah hoped Ty hadn’t noticed her dreamy, adolescent behavior. She’d never been this way, even as a teenager. Ty had awakened these feelings in her.
Danny trounced them at golf. Of course, Hannah knew she and Ty hadn’t exactly been paying attention. Every time their eyes met, it affected their play.
The ladies were waiting for them on the porch of The Farmhouse when they were finished playing. It was remarkable how happy they looked.
Clara couldn’t stop thanking them on the way home. She had tears in her eyes. It hurt Hannah to leave her behind.
Lily, too, was appreciative.
“This is the best day I’ve had since I tripped over that dog and broke my foot,” she proclaimed.
Hannah turned around to ask her, “Are you tired, Lily?”
But the older woman was already asleep.
Chapter Twenty
Lily and Danny were up to something, Hannah realized, but she had no idea what.
She could hear them giggling in Lily’s bedroom, but they grew silent every time Hannah entered. She’d even tried eavesdropping from her own room by listening through the door to the adjoining bath, but she guessed they were holding a bath towel to the door to muffle the sound.
The very thought of them conspiring made her uneasy. Those two quick minds could hatch plans that could have her tearing her hair out.
Irene seemed to know they were up to something, but her lips were sealed. When Hannah asked her what was going on, Irene, eyes twinkling, had made as if to zip her lips with her thumb and forefinger.
Reluctantly, Hannah made her way to Ty’s office.
He was working at home today and didn’t like to be disturbed, but she had strict instructions to keep him apprised of what Lily was doing. She stood before the vast wooden door to the office and knocked.
She thought once again of how this house with its ten-foot coffered ceilings, eight-foot-tall windows, vast stretches of hardwood and Oriental rugs that probably cost a year of her mortgage payments each differed from her own modest dwelling. With every passing day, she found herself caring less and less about her house. There was immense freedom in that, she’d discovered. She’d placed far too much importance on it in the past.
It also helped that she and Danny had no extra living expenses. Food was provided, as was gas for her car, and Ty had even paid for her license tabs because she was living under his roof when they came due. She wished she could buy better clothing, but because of her small size, she did fairly well at the sale racks of discount stores.
Only last week, Tyler had complimented her on a sleek emerald dress that Hannah had found discarded and wadded in a lump in the dressing room of a store. The final sale price had been fifty percent off fifteen dollars. After laundering and restitching the hem, it had turned into a perfectly nice dress that highlighted her red-gold hair.
Those thoughts only reminded her that she needed to talk to Trisha again, to see if she was keeping up with the bills. She knew her sister was working hard. Trisha’s roommate Jane had assured Hannah that her new boyfriend, Jason, who Hannah had finally met, wasn’t contributing to the problem. Apparently, he had more than one job himself, besides school, and would get on Trisha’s case if she tried to slack off. That was the kind of man her sister needed, Hannah thought grimly—one who didn’t let her slip back into her immature habits.
“Come in,” Ty called.
When she entered, he was standing, sorting through a four-drawer file cabinet. He wore casual trousers and a blue cotton shirt. When he turned to look at her she saw that the blue of his shirt made the color of his eyes even brighter and more piercing. Those baby blues alone were enough to make a woman weak in the knees.
“Yes?”
She slumped into a chair. By now, they’d had enough of these heart-to-hearts about Lily, Danny, Clara and Trisha and her finances that she was no longer intimidated by the vastness of the room and its furniture.
“I think we have trouble, but I don’t know what it is.”
Ty scowled. “Lily was so tired after her day out that I thought she was laying low. What is she up to?”
“What are they up to, you mean. She and Danny have been terribly secretive. Every time I walk in the room they both get very quiet and look delighted when I leave again. When you were a boy, did she include you in the schemes she hatched?”
Ty thought about it, walked to his desk and dropped into the chair across from her. “Always.” He rested his forehead on his hand as if he’d gotten a sudden headache.
“I can�
��t wait until she’s back on her own two feet and living in her own house again.”
Hannah’s spirits sank a little. She understood what he was saying, but that would mean she’d no longer be needed here. Even if they did decide to keep her on in some capacity, it would be in Lily’s home, not Ty’s. She felt an empty spot within just thinking about it. She’d come to look forward to her time with Ty.
“Is there any particular reason for stirring the pot?”
“No, nothing. It’s a very ordinary week.” She cocked her head and thought about it. “Except it is my birthday tomorrow. Maybe she and Danny are planning a cake and candles.” Her frown cleared. “I could handle that.”
“Your birthday?” Ty asked. “Do you have plans to celebrate?”
“I thought I might put a candle in my oatmeal in the morning.”
“Very funny.”
“My husband always used to make a big deal of that day. I haven’t done anything special in years. Less sad, I suppose.”
“That’s why you should have a celebration. He wanted it for you when he was alive. I’m sure he’d want it for you now.”
“Maybe you’re right. Steve always wanted me happy. And he loved birthdays.”
“You loved him a lot, didn’t you?” Ty said softly.
He was so compassionate that Hannah was touched. “With all my heart.”
Sometimes when he looked at her she felt as though he were seeing her soul. Hannah twiddled with the chain she wore around her neck. “You know, I’ve been a widow almost three times as long as I was married.” She felt a flush flood her cheeks.
“How do you feel about that?”
His question startled her. No one had ever asked her that. She realized she’d never even asked herself that.
“I...I’m not sure. It sounds like a long time, doesn’t it?” She chewed her lip thoughtfully. “Sometimes I feel like I’ve been alone forever.”
