A Little Ray of Sunshine_A Christian Romance

by Kimberly Rae Jordan

  “Oh! That’s so wonderful.” Emily got up and circled the table to give both Bennett and Grace a hug. “Another baby to love.”

  Hannah listened to the congratulations being offered. That was the way a baby should be welcomed. With excitement and love. Not the way Jason had come into the world. When she’d told her captors that she thought she was pregnant, there had been no mistaking that they were upset with the news. With the realization that they’d have yet another mouth to feed. And when Jason had been born, he hadn’t been welcomed with hugs and kisses. Even from her.

  Guilt snaked through her as she bent her head and stared down at Jason, blinking rapidly to keep the tears from falling. He deserved so much better than the way his life had begun, but she was going to make it up to him as best she could. To love him the way he deserved to be loved.

  After the excitement over the pregnancy announcement settled down, a dessert of chocolate cake and ice cream was brought out. Already feeling full, Hannah took only the smallest of pieces. At one time she wouldn’t have turned down dessert, but right then she had no room left to eat the size of piece that she might have taken once upon a time.

  “Will you be up to some red tape stuff soon, Hannah?” Ryan asked.

  “Red tape stuff?” Hannah turned to face him.

  “Yeah. Things like your driver’s license and a birth certificate for the baby.” He paused for a second before asking, “Do you think you’ll stay here?”

  “I…uh…don’t really know. I mean, I don’t have anywhere else to go, so here is as good a place as any, I suppose.”

  “Max has some people who will help you through the process.” Ryan glanced to where the man sat at the other end of the table.

  “He seems to have a person for every situation,” Hannah remarked.

  “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, but I’m so grateful for that.”

  Jason let out a squawk, drawing Hannah’s attention to him. “I think he might be ready for another bottle.”

  “Here. Give him to me,” Ryan said, holding out his arms.

  Hannah only hesitated a moment before leaning forward to give Jason to him. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  “No rush. We’re fine, aren’t we, little man?”

  “Are you hoping for a boy this time around?” Hannah heard Ryan ask Bennett and Grace as she left the dining room.

  In the kitchen, she found a bottle in the fridge and put it in the warmer. While she waited, a young woman came in carrying a stack of plates. She smiled when she spotted Hannah.

  “Hi. I don’t think we’ve officially met yet. I’m Danica.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Hannah said, watching as the young woman began to load the dishes into the dishwasher.

  “How are you settling in? Are we driving you nuts yet?” The woman grinned. “I know we’re a lot to take in.”

  “It must be nice to have such a large family,” Hannah said.

  “Most the time it is. Sometimes…not so much.” A teen about the same age as Danica came in with more dishes. “It’s especially not a lot of fun when it comes to doing the dishes. Right, Dalton?”

  “Yeah,” the young man said. “We should have extra help when everyone shows up.”

  “Hey! I’m extra help,” another teen said as she joined them, a stack of plates in her hands. “Don’t I count?”

  “Course you do, Sierra,” Danica said, as she bumped shoulders with the other girl. “You just spend more time joking around with Dalton than you do actually cleaning up.”

  “Can I give you a hand?” Hannah offered.

  Danica waved her offer away with a smile. “You’re still company. Ask me again in a few weeks when you’ve been completely absorbed into the family.”

  As she returned to the table with the bottle, Hannah wondered if she wanted to be absorbed into the family. Her experience with family hadn’t been great. As she watched the members of this family interact, she wasn’t sure if it was real or too good to be true. She was pretty sure that even if her dad had lived, they wouldn’t have had a family like this.

  Oh, her dad had tried to give her a stable life, to shower her with the love and affection she wasn’t getting from her mother, but his efforts would still have never resulted in anything like what she was experiencing with the Callaghans and McFaddens. And it wasn’t likely she could give Jason a family like that either.

  “I’ll take him now,” Hannah said. “Thank you for holding him.”

  “Never took you for a baby type of guy,” Bennett said as Ryan handed Jason back to Hannah.

  “I never took you for one either,” Ryan shot back. “Until Olivia.”

  “Babies change everything,” Bennett remarked.

  “I can’t wait to see how you’re going to do with two of them,” Gabe said. “You’ll no longer have the upper hand. It’ll be two against two.”

  “We’ll figure it out,” Grace said. “After all, your folks did it. Ten to two? Those odds were definitely not in their favor.”

  Steve chuckled. “It took a bit, but we managed to make it work, and most the time, we kept the upper hand.”

  Once Jason had finished his bottle, Hannah lifted him to her shoulder to burp him. Again, she could feel the energy seeping out of her body, and she hated it. She wondered how long it would be until the test results were back so the doctor could let her know if she needed supplements to help rebuild her strength.

  “Do you think you two will be up to attending church with us this weekend?” Steve asked out of the blue.

  Ryan sighed then shook his head. “I think it would probably be best if we stayed home. Well, I suppose Hannah can answer for herself, but I’m not interested in having to deal with people staring at me or asking me a lot of questions. I just need a little more time to regroup.”

  Hannah nodded, having not even thought about going to church. It had been so long since she’d last been to a formal church service. But Ryan was right, she didn’t want to be the focus of people’s attention. Not now, and quite possibly, not ever.

  The night nurse showed up a short time later, so Hannah said goodnight to Ryan and the others and went upstairs with Jason. After she was certain that Jason was settled, Hannah went to the bathroom between the nursery and her bedroom. Though the large bathtub looked inviting, Hannah decided to just take a quick shower.

  Once she was done, she pulled on the T-shirt she’d been using to sleep in. As she rummaged through the bag, she realized she needed to see about getting a few more clothes, or she’d have to ask if she could do a load of laundry. She glanced at the boxes in the corner of the room, knowing that sooner or later, she needed to go through them. Unfortunately, the clothes they held wouldn’t do her any good.

  As she lay in bed a short time later, her thoughts went to Ryan—as they seemed to do with alarming frequency. She wondered if they might have been friends if they’d met under different circumstances. Or something more. Seeing him with Jason put thoughts in her mind that weren’t welcome, but it seemed that now that they were there, she couldn’t escape them.

  She’d gone from never having a crush on a guy to feeling like Ryan had captured her heart. The feelings were all so foreign to her, like her perception of her body, and she didn’t know what to do with them. Though she wished that she could sort her feelings out and determine how to deal with them, all she could really do was try her hardest to keep them from showing. To keep anyone from guessing what was going on in her heart.

  Hannah didn’t need anyone gently telling her that she wasn’t good enough for Ryan. She’d figured that out all by herself.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  With most of his family off work for the weekend, Ryan didn’t see much of Hannah, since his siblings had wanted to spend some time with him, and then he’d gone with the guys to a hockey game Saturday night.

  Even though she had had opportunity to leave the house, Hannah had stuck close to home. When all of his family had gathered there over the weekend, she ha
d stayed on the periphery, usually escaping upstairs long before the rest of them had left. Which meant that she hadn’t been around Ryan as much as usual.

  He’d seen her talking with his mom, Sammi, and Maya throughout the weekend, but Ryan found that he missed his own interactions with Hannah. Particularly because his concerns for her hadn’t lessened since arriving home. Even from a distance, he could see that the dark circles under her eyes weren’t disappearing as quickly as his had. He’d hoped to see more rapid improvement in Hannah’s health now that they were safely home, and it worried him that he wasn’t.

  As he lay in bed on Sunday night, Ryan resolved to spend more time with Hannah. Not that it would be a hardship. He just wanted to see her happy and flourishing, and so far, that didn’t seem to be happening.

  Monday morning, after the exodus of those going to work and school, Hannah once again disappeared upstairs while Ryan remained in the kitchen with his folks. He’d hoped that Hannah would hang around downstairs, but she’d seemed anxious to take Jason back up to the nursery for a nap—though Ryan was pretty sure it wasn’t naptime just yet.

  Something had changed, but Ryan couldn’t quite put his finger on it. The easy friendship they’d developed in that dark cell had slipped away. Ryan wondered if he’d made a mistake in dropping her right into the middle of his chaotic—although loving—family. Was the environment that he’d hoped would help Hannah, actually harming her in some way?

  Ryan couldn’t bear to think that might be the case. In the past, the open arms of his loving family had brought healing and comfort. They’d become a family to those who had none—like Ethan and Sierra. Or to those who had family but welcomed more—like Maya and her parents.

  His parents had felt blessed to find love together, and as their two smaller families had blended into one large one, their love was something they’d passed on to each of their kids. After finding out that Hannah had no friends or family to speak of, all Ryan could think about was sharing his family with her. But maybe that wasn’t what she wanted.

  When Max arrived a short time after everyone else had left for their day, he had an intense look on his face.

  “Is Hannah around?” he asked when he joined Ryan and his folks in the kitchen. “I need to talk to her about a couple of things.”

  “She’s upstairs with the baby.” He pushed back from the breakfast nook where they were seated. “I can go get her, if you’d like.”

  “That would be great, thanks,” Max said as he sat down at the table, giving Ryan’s mom a smile as she handed him a cup of coffee.

  Ryan rapped on Hannah’s door, hoping she wasn’t asleep. The door opened almost immediately, and Hannah stood there with Jason in her arms. Though she smiled at him, there was a reservation in her gaze that didn’t sit well with Ryan.

  “Hey.” Ryan returned her smile, hoping to put her at ease. “Max is downstairs, and he’d like to talk to you.”

  “Sure,” Hannah said as she stepped out of the room. “Do you know what he wants?”

  They walked side by side down the stairs. “No, he didn’t say.”

  Back at the table, Emily took Jason from Hannah. “How about you hang with Grandma Em for a bit.”

  When his mom left the room, his dad followed after her. Ryan thought about going with them, but something made him stay there with Hannah. He wanted to make sure that if she needed him, he was nearby.

  “Is there something wrong?” Hannah asked as she sank down onto a chair at the table across from Max while Ryan sat at the end of the table so that he could see them both.

  “My assistant got a call this morning from Neil Anderson,” Max said.

  Ryan saw Hannah’s nose wrinkle briefly before she gave a quick nod. “What did he want?”

  “He mentioned that he’d sent you a few emails but that you hadn’t responded to him yet.”

  “Yeah.” Hannah sighed. “They’re in my inbox, but I haven’t read them. I’ll do that this afternoon.”

  “No,” Max said as he held up his hand. “I’m not here to get you to respond to him. I’m here to see if you would like me to handle Mr. Anderson.”

  “What does he want?” Ryan asked, still not entirely sure who the man was.

  “I suspect he wants Hannah to make some public appearances to tell her story,” Max said as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “To gain publicity for their organization,” Ryan stated.

  Max nodded. “I suspect that’s the case. It will help them raise money.”

  “I’m not going to do that,” Hannah said abruptly. “I have no interest in being in the public eye like that.”

  “There is significant interest in your story,” Max said. “Have you been watching any of the news reports about your release?”

  Hannah shook her head. Ryan was aware of some of the reports, but he hadn’t watched anything. They hadn’t been free long, and in that time, he’d had more important things to do. Like reconnecting with his family and making sure that Hannah was settled. And it wasn’t like the media would be saying anything he didn’t already know. After all, he’d lived it.

  No doubt the curiosity about their release was high. He’d seen coverage of other hostage releases, so he knew what was likely happening with the media. It was only Max’s money and connections that had managed to shield them from the media circus so far. At some point, someone would get past the shield, but hopefully it would be when he and Hannah were both stronger and more able to deal with them. It was probably too much to hope that they’d just forget about them.

  “People want to know your stories. Especially Hannah’s,” Max said with a frown.

  “Do they know about Jason?” Hannah asked, her gaze going to the entrance to the kitchen.

  “So far there’s been no mention of him in the reports.” Max rubbed a hand across his jaw. “We’re doing what we can to keep a lid on that information. So far, the only people who know about the baby are people I trust completely. Who finds out about him from this point on will be up to you.”

  “I would prefer that, for now, people don’t know about him,” Hannah said, crossing her arms over her waist. “I realize that at some point, people will figure it out, but for now…”

  Max gave a nod of his head. “I’ll let the mission know that you’re not interested in doing any sort of interviews. I’ll also instruct them to stop emailing you. If you’re interested in speaking with them, you can contact them yourself.” He hesitated then said, “I don’t want you to think I’m trying to control all of this. If at any point you want me to back off, just say the word.”

  Hannah looked at Ryan briefly before turning back to Max with a nod. “Right now, I’m very thankful that you’re able to run interference for me. I’ve never had to deal with this type of focus on my life before. It’s a bit disconcerting, to say the least.”

  “I’m used to it, but then, I chose to step into the spotlight,” Max said. “The same couldn’t be said for Maya, which is why I’ve always done my best to shield her from the attention.”

  “So no one knows she’s your daughter?” Hannah asked.

  “Well, I wouldn’t say no one, but those who do know are people close to us. I don’t hold the secret as tightly now. The media’s interest in me has waned some in recent years. They like to go after younger, better-looking rich men,” Max said with a grin. “Also, people who give them more interesting things to report on than I do.”

  “So they don’t know that you’ve been part of our rescue?” Ryan asked. “Because I would guess that would be something fairly interesting to report.”

  “You’re right, it would be, but I was very careful to keep people between me and whoever we were dealing with.”

  “Neil doesn’t know you were the one who helped us?” Hannah asked.

  “No. He’s been dealing with my assistant’s assistant.”

  Ryan chuckled. “Your assistant has an assistant?”

  Max grinned. “Actuall
y, my assistant has several assistants. There are a few lines of people between me and you, and me and Neil.” His grin slid away. “Sooner or later, it’s quite likely that someone with enough interest will piece together our connection, but we’ll deal with that when it happens.”

  His mom came back into the kitchen with his dad right behind her, a fussing Jason in his arms. “Sorry. Just need to grab a bottle.”

  Hannah made a move to get up, but Ryan’s dad waved her back as he walked to the table and sat down. “He’s fine, just a little cranky because he’s hungry. Kind of like me.”

  A smile swept across Hannah’s face before disappearing. “Thanks for watching him.”

  “Would any of you like some coffee or something to eat?” his mom asked.

  Without waiting for a response, she opened the coffee maker and dropped a filter inside. Before long, she’d added the ground coffee and water and had moved on to pulling cookies out of the jar next to the coffee maker.

  Once the baby’s bottle was ready, she brought it to the table. His dad took it, and with the ease of someone who had had plenty of practice, he got Jason situated on his lap and gave him the bottle.

  When his dad looked up and found Ryan watching, he smiled. “Having grandkids has helped to resurrect old skills.”

  When they’d first met Steve and his boys, Ryan had thought he was a great man. He took good care of his sons, and in Ryan’s young mind, it was because he had to. After all, they hadn’t had a mom. It wasn’t until their families had blended that he’d realized that Steve loved being a dad. Ryan had seen that in the way he’d embraced that role even for the four children who didn’t carry any of his blood.

  Now he had a whole new generation to share his love with, and just like with the four children he’d chosen to make his own, from the look of things, he was claiming another unrelated child as his grandchild. Ryan’s heart was so full of love for his dad at that moment. He hoped that Hannah could see that her and Jason’s presence in their home—in their lives—wasn’t an inconvenience. And maybe then she’d also see their family as something she wanted as part of her own life.