by Jaci Burton
“Really?” Hannah asked.
“In my defense, it was a long shift the day before and I hadn’t gotten any sleep. I was really tired.”
“He has been known to be talking one minute, asleep the next,” Kal said.
“I’ve never known anyone who could fall asleep mid-sentence,” Hannah said.
Becks held her hands out toward Jackson. “And now you do.”
“Whereas my brother here will just disappear in the middle of a party and go to bed.” Jackson shot a wry grin at Kal.
“Not true. I threw up first. Then I went to bed. That was one wild party.”
“You were the first to leave.”
“You kept feeding me shots of Fireball followed by tequila shooters.”
Hannah looked over at Becks, who shrugged. “Clearly before my time. And mixing those two sounds awful.”
“It was,” Kal said. “Group of firefighters went out one night, and we all decided to do shots.”
“Only the rest of us were smart enough not to mix our alcohol.”
Kal glared at Jackson. “Hey. I was the youngest in the group.”
“And the dumbest,” Jackson added. “When we came back to our house, we kept drinking. Only the rest of us switched to beer. Not my brother, though.”
Kal shrugged. “I was wasted by then. What did I know?”
Hannah grasped his arm. “Fireball and tequila, Kal?”
“Let’s just say it was a painful lesson learned, and one I never repeated.”
Hannah’s stomach rolled just thinking about it.
“I only overindulged once,” Becks said. “Up all night sick was enough for me. I’ve never done it again.”
“Same,” Hannah said. “There’s nothing like waking up in the morning, sick and still drunk, to cure you of ever wanting to do it again.”
Becks’s eyes widened and she nodded. “Right? It’s such an awful feeling.”
Suddenly, Hannah wasn’t in the mood to drink wine any longer. Maybe it was the memory of overindulging, or maybe the way the weather had warmed up today. Either way, she finished her glass, then went to get herself some water, along with some for Oliver and Jeff.
When the boys finished playing, they headed over to the pumpkin patch, wandered around in there, then each boy chose a pumpkin to take home.
“Do you want to come over for dinner?” Becks asked. “I think we’re going to toss some skewers of chicken on the grill, along with some veggies.”
That did sound good. “I have to take Oliver and Jeff home, and I’m not sure if my mom is back yet. Let me check with her.”
“Sure.”
She texted her mother, who was home and fixing dinner. Hannah asked if it would be all right if she dropped Oliver with her and went out for dinner. Her mother said it was fine with her.
“What would you like us to pick up?” Hannah asked as they made their way to the parking lot.
“I think we have everything we need at the house already, Hannah, but thanks.”
Hannah thought this would just be a one-off at the festival with the kids, but now her day with Kal was going to go longer.
She had to admit, she was excited about that, because now she’d get some more time with him.
Alone. Without kids. And that sounded fun.
CHAPTER 18
They said their goodbyes, and Kal drove Hannah and the boys home. She thought maybe Oliver would be upset about not being able to go with her to Kal’s house, but he said goodbye to Jeff outside, then dashed into the house with his pumpkin and started talking all about his day to Hannah’s mom.
“When can we decorate the pumpkin, Momma?” Oliver asked.
“We’ll do that tomorrow after school. Right now you need to go wash your hands because they’re filthy.”
“I got dirty today, Grandma,” he said with a wide grin.
“You definitely did.”
“We’ll be leaving, but I’ll be back later,” Hannah said.
Oliver waved as he headed down the hall. “Bye, Momma. Bye, Kal. Today was so much fun! Thanks!”
“See ya, buddy,” Kal said.
Her mother looked at her and Kal. “Seems like he had a good time.”
“He did. Are you sure you don’t mind watching him?”
“He lives here, Hannah, so get over it and quit worrying about asking me to watch him. He’s my grandson. I love every minute I spend with him.”
“Okay. Thanks, Mom.” She started to turn away, then stopped. “Oh. How was brunch today?”
Her mother gave her a half smile. “Brunch was very good.”
Hannah waited for more details, but it was obvious her mom wasn’t going to divulge information about the mystery man.
So disappointing. “You’re not going to tell me anything?”
“Nothing to tell . . . yet. It was nice. Now go have dinner with your boyfriend.”
She cringed at the word boyfriend, but Kal laughed and slipped his arm around her waist, so it obviously didn’t bother him.
“Thanks, Paige,” Kal said. “See you later.”
“Bye, Mom.”
Once in the truck on the way to Kal’s house, he asked, “So she won’t divulge the goods on the mystery date, huh?”
Hannah shook her head. “Nope. Not a word.”
“Huh.” He turned onto the highway and sped up to merge with traffic. “Maybe it’s new so she doesn’t want to say any more about him in case it doesn’t work out.”
“That could be. She hasn’t dated much since my dad died. She’s never had a serious relationship since my dad, as far as I know.”
“She loved your dad. I imagine it’s been hard for her to meet people.”
“For her it has been.”
“But she is getting out there now, so it’s a good thing, right?”
She looked over at him. “It’s a very good thing. I’ve been encouraging her to have a relationship for years. She just hasn’t seemed interested.”
“Or maybe the right man hadn’t come along yet.”
“Maybe.” She wanted her mom to be happy. If that meant she was alone, that was fine. But alone was lonely. Hannah knew that since her divorce.
Of course, Hannah didn’t need a man in her life. She had her friends, her family, her work and Oliver. She was plenty busy. Fulfilled. More or less.
But now, being with Kal made her realize how much she’d missed dating. Just hanging out and having fun and sharing her life with someone.
And sex. The sex part was definitely a good time. She wanted a lot more of that, especially with Kal.
“Hey, can we stop at the grocery store before we go to your place?” Hannah asked.
“Sure. What do you need?”
“I know Becks said not to bring anything, but I want to make a watermelon salsa.”
“Okay, now I’m hungry.”
She grinned.
After she picked up what she needed at the store, they headed to the house. When they walked into the kitchen, Becks saw the bag Kal was carrying.
“I told you we had everything covered.”
“Hannah’s making a watermelon salsa,” Kal said.
Becks smiled. “Then by all means, carry on.”
Hannah washed her hands and, with Kal’s help, sliced up watermelon, mango, cucumber, jalapeno, onion and basil, then added lime juice, a little sugar, some garlic and salt. She scooped a bit onto a spoon and slid the spoon between Kal’s lips for a taste test.
“I’m about to go run out the front door with this bowl and eat all of it by myself.”
“No, we’ll share.”
“Why? I don’t even like my brother.”
“Yes, you do. And you like Becks, too.”
“Glad you added me in there,” Becks said.
He sig
hed. “Fine. Sharing sucks, though.”
She laughed and tucked the bowl into the fridge to cool.
“Anything I can do to help you?” she asked Becks.
“Nope. Everything is on the skewers and ready for Jackson to grill.”
The kabobs looked great, with chicken, pineapple and green peppers all strung along in neat rows. After the guys went outside to grill, Becks poured wine for Hannah and herself.
“It was a good day. And your son is adorable, Hannah.”
“Thank you. He’s a good kid. I’m very lucky.”
Becks took a sip of wine. “I’d say a lot of that has to do with having a good mother.”
“It’s been a rough ride for both of us. Deciding to divorce and then relocate wasn’t easy on either of us. But Oliver is a smart kid. And he wasn’t happy living with his dad any more than I was. Landon liked to pull disappearing acts, or didn’t show up for important occasions. Reliability isn’t his strong suit.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I got used to it. Much harder for a child to accept. It was easier to remove Oliver from Landon’s presence than to have his heart broken all the time. And once I sat down with Landon and explained to him that he couldn’t keep shirking his duties as a dad, and how much he was hurting Oliver, he agreed. He really does love his son. He’s just not father material.”
Becks shrugged. “Some men aren’t. At least your ex realized that. He gets props for that and for letting go of Oliver without a fight.”
“I give him huge points for that. Oliver misses him—theoretically, I think. He doesn’t miss being hurt by him. He has more stability in his life now than he had before, and that’s more important than having a father who wasn’t around half the time.”
“Agree. My parents were . . . well, let’s just say they weren’t the best role models. Trust me when I tell you that having no parents at all is better than bad parents.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“I turned out okay. I ended up with some great foster parents, and they loved me. I had security and stability and got to see what it was like to have a family. And now I have love and a family who means the world to me. And someday I’ll have kids, and they’ll know what it’s like to feel safe and loved every day of their lives.”
“That’s pretty awesome, Becks. A lot of people don’t come through what you experienced without scars.”
She shrugged. “You can either take it with you or you can leave it behind. I faced all my demons a long time ago and left them in the past. I refuse to continue to relive it when I have so much awesomeness ahead of me.”
“That’s a good philosophy. I should probably work on doing the same thing.”
Becks studied her, then asked, “Still leery about relationships?”
“You could say that. I mean, I get that not every guy is going to be like my ex. But I have Oliver to think about. The last thing he needs is for some man I decide I’m in love with to suddenly not be there for him. It would break his heart.”
“And yet you’ve let Kal into Oliver’s life.”
Hannah’s gaze drifted toward the back door where Kal and Jackson were talking and laughing. “Yes, I know.”
“Regrets about that?”
She returned her attention to Becks. “I don’t know. I guess I’m letting things happen organically. I can’t control everything that happens.”
“And maybe you can’t protect Oliver from everything that happens, either.” Becks took a sip of wine and laid the glass on the kitchen island. “Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen with the two of you. I don’t know where you are in your relationship. I know the two of you have a past that I know nothing about, and that’s not my business. But I can tell you that Kal’s a good guy. He cares about children. He wouldn’t intentionally hurt Oliver.”
Hannah nodded. “I know that. I see that and I feel it whenever he’s with Oliver.”
Becks reached out and laid her hand over Hannah’s. “None of us can predict the future. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut. And maybe a little bit of your heart.”
Hannah drew in a deep breath, realizing that what Becks had said made a lot of sense. “You’re right.”
Then again, logic had never failed her. That’s how she had gotten out of her marriage. She’d been rational, had thought it all out and had made a sensible decision. She’d done her best to keep emotion out of the equation and had done what was best for both her and Oliver.
It was whenever she’d let emotion in that things became messy.
But she also liked spending time with Kal, and logic had nothing to do with that.
The door opened, and Kal came in bearing a plate full of delicious-smelling food. And speaking of delicious, she realized that whenever she caught sight of him, her entire body nearly vibrated.
That was a physical response, so she couldn’t even call that emotion.
She sighed.
See? Complicated.
But not all bad, either.
After Kal washed his hands, he came over and threaded his arms around her waist, pressing a kiss to the side of her neck. Sensation traveled down her body like a slow-moving river, giving her goose bumps and endorphins and making her smile.
“Wait ’til you taste these.”
She tilted her head back to look at him. “You were taste testing outside?”
“Someone had to make sure the chicken was done.”
She reached up to smooth her hand over his square jaw, drinking in the way his gaze caught and held hers, as if he was looking inside of her, could see all her secrets, could feel how she felt.
That part was definitely emotion, and she needed to brush it away, so instead, she said, “Good of you to take one for the team.”
“That’s me, babe. Always one to sacrifice.”
“Okay, you two,” Becks said. “Enough with the romance. Time to set the table, because I’m hungry.”
They grabbed the food and plates and placed everything up on the table, then they sat and dived into the food. From the utter silence and groans of pleasure, it appeared that everyone must have been hungry.
“This is so good,” Hannah finally managed in between bites of food and sips of water.
“This watermelon salsa is to die for,” Becks said.
The guys didn’t speak. They were too busy shoveling food into their mouths. Which, Hannah supposed, was complimentary to the food.
“How’s things at the TRT?” Jackson asked Kal.
Kal shrugged. “About the same.”
“Those guys still giving you shit?”
“Yeah. I tried talking to them again.” He took a swallow of his beer.
“And?” Jackson asked.
“They seem to think that Dad had a part in giving me a leg up in getting my spot on the TRT.”
Jackson frowned. “That’s bullshit. The department never lets nepotism favor one candidate over another. It would be a violation of standards. You got in on merit and nothing else, same as when you got the job at Station 6. Dad was excluded in making the decision on your hire. Your assignment was the captain’s decision. Even Rafe and I weren’t included in that.”
“I know. We were all just lucky to be assigned to the same station.”
Hannah hadn’t heard any of this. “Someone on your team is giving you a hard time?”
Kal nodded. “Two guys have been riding me since I first started there. They criticize everything I do and think I don’t deserve to be on the TRT.”
“But his lieutenant thinks he’s doing a good job,” Jackson said, dipping a chip into the salsa and shoving it into his mouth. After he swallowed, he said, “So as long as his superior is okay with his performance . . .”
Hannah looked at him. “Then those guys have it out for you for other rea
sons. Jealousy, maybe?”
Kal shrugged. “I guess. I don’t really know. I’ve given up trying to figure it out.”
“Do you get along with the other members of your squad?” she asked.
“Yeah. We all get along great.”
“Then screw those guys,” she said, rubbing her hand along his forearm. “You’re good at your job, your boss knows you do it well and you have coworkers who think you do it well. No one else matters.”
He smiled at her, but she could tell it bothered him. “Thanks.”
She wished she could do or say something to take his pain away, but she knew better than anyone that conflicts with coworkers could only be solved with either time or replacement of said coworkers. And since that appeared unlikely to happen, all she could do was offer moral support.
She knew how hard Kal worked, knew how much he loved his job. It pissed her off that some people were making it harder for him to do the job he cared so much about.
After dinner they cleaned the dishes and the kitchen. Jackson and Becks were going to a late movie, so they said their goodbyes.
Hannah hugged Becks. “Thanks for the invite to dinner. I had fun.”
Becks squeezed her. “I’m so glad you came over. Let’s do this again.”
After they left, Hannah took Kal’s hand. “I’m sorry you’re having conflict at work.”
“Hey, don’t be. It’s not all the time. And I can handle it.”
“You shouldn’t have to. Those guys are dicks and need to get punched in the face.”
He laughed and pulled her against his warm body. “Yeah? And do you think you could take them?”
“They’d never see it coming. I’d lay them flat.”
“Okay,” he said, stepping back. “Show me what you’ve got.”
She arched a brow. “You don’t wanna mess with me. I really do know how to knock you on your ass.”
He gave her a benign, patronizing smile. That did it. She had planned to lie back, but now she was going to show him just what she could do.
“Come at me,” she said, turning her back to him.
“You sure about that?”
“I’m waiting.”
She tensed, waiting for him to strike. When he put his arms around her she stomped on his foot, the least amount of damage she could do.
