Especially since their field of workers was rapidly narrowing down. Luke, Reese, Gabby and Hannah walked around, surveying the mess. Dylan had made a phone call, but now he hurried in behind them. “I can help some while I’m here,” he said. “Corbin’s off-and-on busy at the university, so I’ll have a little time if you need me.”
Hannah didn’t know what to wish for. Would it be more awkward to work with both Luke and Dylan, or just Luke? She was thankful for Reese and Gabby, who would buffer any weirdness between them all.
Hannah wasn’t sure why it felt awkward. Probably because of that bizarre lead-in to her date with Dylan, in which Luke had loomed like a protective father and she’d had to practically shove him out the door.
Luke was still being mostly quiet—they all were—so when Reese’s phone pinged it was audible to all of them. He looked at it. “Showtime,” he said to the rest of them. “It’s Aunt Catherine here to meet with me. I should be able to get more details on what they’re looking for.” He hurried out of the barn, talking into his phone.
“Looks like the main thing is going to be hauling stuff out of here,” Luke said.
“And sorting,” Gabby said. “We should get a dumpster for trash, but we’ll be able to donate some of the equipment to local farmers. And some of the Rescue Haven stuff...well, Reese has been talking about building a shed that’s just for our supplies. Maybe this is the time for that.”
“That might be the first step,” Luke said. “I can work on that. But, meanwhile, we can haul out some of the bigger stuff. Then we’ll be able to see what we’re dealing with.”
“Maybe we could sell some things, even have an auction,” Hannah suggested.
“Good idea.” Luke gave her a brief smile that shot warmth all through her.
They worked together lifting an old dresser that might be an antique, underneath all the dust. Behind it, steel pilings lined one section of the floor. Hannah took a shot at lifting one and decided to leave the heavy items to the men.
Hannah walked over to some things Gabby was looking at. “Nana will have to decide about some of this,” Gabby said. “Pretty sure she’s never going to have a parrot again, not since we have Biff.”
“True.” Biff was their big, lovable dog who was forever chasing Nana’s sour old cat, Mr. Pickles. “I’ll carry out the cages, then,” Hannah said.
Gabby tagged along. “It’s so weird not being able to help,” she fretted. “I feel kind of useless.”
Hannah smiled over at her. “You’re doing the most important work of all. You’re growing a baby.”
Gabby rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t this coddled the first time, when I had Izzy, believe me.”
Hannah knew Gabby had struggled, mostly alone, during her first pregnancy. “Enjoy Reese’s protecting you. You deserve it.”
“I guess. I think I’ll make a list of what’s here to show Nana.” They walked back inside and Hannah picked up a second big birdcage and carried it out. Across the barn, Luke and Dylan were carrying an ancient-looking hay baler.
She slowed down, watching them. Two good men. She’d had a great time on her date with Dylan...once they’d both confessed that they were terminally awkward with the opposite sex, hated dates set up by someone else and probably weren’t destined to be anything but friends.
She set down the second cage and headed inside for another load.
Why couldn’t she have romantic feelings for Dylan? He was as muscular as Luke, which was obvious as they lifted and hauled. He was smart and kind.
Luke, on the other hand...well, he was muscular, smart and... Was he kind? Yes, as evidenced by the way he’d helped her during the kitten incident way back when. But there was an edge to him. Maybe it was just the fact that he’d been a popular bad boy in his teenage years.
Even if she’d been able to attract the interest of a popular guy like Luke, which was about as likely as winning a luxury cruise to the Canary Islands, she could never get into a relationship with him. Not given the secret she was hiding about the twins.
“Nice scenery, huh?” Gabby said.
Jolted out of her staring reverie, Hannah felt her face heat. “Hey, you’re married, you shouldn’t be looking,” she joked, kind of meaning it.
“Oh, neither one of them is even close to as handsome as my husband,” Gabby said, smiling. “But there’s nothing wrong with admiring strong, good-looking men.”
Was that true? It was something Hannah had always stifled in herself. Maybe it was time to get past that outdated reaction if even happily married Gabby felt comfortable taking a look.
Gabby pulled out her phone. “Uh-oh. I almost forgot I need to go to the doctor with Nana,” she said. “See you later. Don’t forget to enjoy the view.”
Hannah watched her go, still feeling uncomfortably warm. Would she ever be as content and relaxed as her friend?
“Hey, Hannah,” Dylan called. “Can you give Luke a hand with this? I have a video meeting at ten and I need to do a little prep.”
“Trying to get out of work, are you?” she teased as she walked over to him. Her heart was beating a little faster, and it wasn’t because of Dylan.
“You know from Friday night, that’s my tendency,” he replied with a smile. Which was definitely a joke; he’d told Hannah about his own workaholism, which was something they had in common.
Luke stood waiting for her to take the other end of the wooden bench they were moving. He observed their interaction impassively, arms crossed. It was an awkward moment as they both watched Dylan exit the barn.
The doors creaked as he closed them. Great. Now it was just her and Luke.
* * *
Luke took his end of the bench and carried it out with Hannah holding the other end.
He tried to focus on the buckets and electrical cords and galvanized-steel cans of feed, but Hannah’s flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes kept drawing his attention.
They set down the bench and walked back in together.
He should say something, to show he was a grown-up and not jealous of Dylan. “How was your date?” was what came out.
He was an idiot. He needed to overcome that primal urge to fight with another man over a potential mate. “Sorry, not my business,” he said.
“No, it’s okay.” Hannah forked her fingers through her hair. “It was great, actually.”
Of course, it had been great. Dylan was everything Luke wasn’t. “You have a lot in common,” he said, forcing himself to be agreeable.
“Yeah, we do.” She knelt down beside an old tractor. “I wonder if this thing could be started up and driven out? Because it’s going to be real hard to haul it.”
He studied the tractor’s compression-release valve. If she could be businesslike and professional, so could he. He wasn’t going to look at those long eyelashes. Lots of women had long eyelashes.
Well, not as long as Hannah’s, but long.
“We’re both awkward as all get out with the opposite sex,” Hannah said. “And too blunt. Me and Dylan,” she clarified.
“Huh?” Luke wasn’t sure what she was talking about. “What do you mean?”
“You wouldn’t understand.” She rocked back on her heels. “You were always so smooth with girls, to hear Marnie tell it. Whereas me... I get nervous and say the wrong thing.”
“I wasn’t smooth,” he protested. “Or at least, not in a good way.” He knew he’d hurt some girls’ feelings in his early days of dating. He’d been way too full of himself.
“You had gazillions of girlfriends,” she went on.
“I’m not proud of that.” He climbed up into the seat of the tractor to look at the gearshift and clutch, both levers orange with rust. “I’m trying to be different now that I’ve...grown up.” What he meant was, now that he’d come to Christ, but he wasn’t quite comfortable saying that yet.
“Ok
ay,” she said, peering behind the tractor, “but you can turn on the charm if you want to get a date. I don’t have it to turn on. And neither does Dylan.”
Dylan. Luke repressed a snort. “Sounds like it worked just fine for you two without that.”
“Sounds like what?” She came back out from behind the tractor just as he climbed off it. “Oh, no, we admitted right away that we aren’t attracted to each other. I guess in that way, it’s good we’re both the blunt type.”
Luke couldn’t answer because of the relief that was rising up in him. Instead, he pulled out a rag and began polishing the old tractor, just for something to do.
“We could carry this out,” she said, indicating a tall sideboard, so they did. Luke tried to keep from smiling, but it was impossible.
Dylan and Hannah weren’t attracted to each other. They weren’t going to get involved.
After setting down the sideboard, Luke and Hannah turned back toward the barn. “I just don’t know how to do it,” she said. “I don’t know how to turn it on, to flirt. But I feel like I should, for the twins’ sake.”
“You mean if a man does this you don’t know how to respond?” He moved a little closer as they walked side by side and put a hand on the small of her back.
She cringed and moved away.
He dropped his hand and took a giant step to the side, his face heating. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. That’s just something a man does, sometimes, kind of to try things out, see if there’s interest.” He shook his head. “I didn’t mean to be creepy. I’m sorry.”
He was a jerk. And he was even more of a jerk because he’d liked the way it felt to touch her spine, to feel the ridge of muscles on either side of it, at least during the nanosecond before her horrified reaction.
“No, it’s me.” She waved a hand, her face flushing pink. “See, I don’t get it. I don’t know how to act if a guy does something like that, something totally innocent.”
Something about her tone gave Luke a bad feeling. “Did something happen?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but a shout from Reese stopped their conversation.
He wondered what she’d been going to say. What had made Hannah wary, so that she tensed up around men?
Reese looked around the barn. “So it’s down to you two, is it? I hope you’re both okay with spending a lot of time together.”
Luke gulped. He was very okay and not okay at all with it.
“What do you mean?” Hannah asked, her voice uneasy.
“Mr. Romano and Aunt Catherine are throwing out their usual challenge.”
“A trial with a deadline?” Hannah asked.
“Uh-huh. And there’s another side to it, too. They got an estimate of what a facility like that would cost from a couple of different sources, and they want us to build one on half of that. Bricks without straw.”
Luke surprised himself by catching the bible reference. “Why are they playing Pharaoh?”
Reese ran his hands through his hair. “They think this will help make Rescue Haven self-sustaining. I tried to argue, but then they started talking about how they were going to die, and they wanted the programs they started to live on.”
Two lines etched between Hannah’s eyebrows. “Wow.”
“I didn’t know what to say. Except, okay, sure, we can do that.”
“What’s the deadline?” Luke asked.
Reese looked from Luke to Hannah and back again. “Month and a half. They want a state-of-the-art facility for dog training by the end of the year,” he said. “And from the looks of things, from our staffing and all our other projects, the work is going to fall on the two of you.”
Hannah sucked in a breath, her face going pale.
“Big job.” Luke looked back at the barn. “Though once it’s cleared out, the bones are solid, and that’ll help. Right?” He looked at Hannah.
“Yes. But we’ll need new flooring, and some of the walls will have to be repaired. Plus, we’ll need to install all the equipment.”
“The good news for both of you,” Reese said, “is that if we can accomplish what they want, there will be two permanent job openings, full-time, with benefits. One for a dog trainer, and one for a property manager.”
“I’ll do it,” Hannah said immediately. “I have to. It’s a way to support the twins.”
“Luke?” Reese asked.
He blew out a breath. “I... Sure, I’ll work on it,” he said. “No need to get ahead of ourselves about the permanent-job thing, though.”
Because if working closely with Hannah for a month and a half was going to be hard, working with her permanently would be even harder.
Chapter Five
Tuesday evening after dinner, Hannah opened the door to Luke and felt a flutter in her chest.
He was such a man compared to guys her age, with his heavy beard stubble, the slight creases at the corners of his eyes and the confidence of his smile.
Oh, he was a charmer, she thought as he held her gaze a little too long. Or was it she who’d looked too long at him?
“Come on in,” she said, and turned so he wouldn’t see her flushed face. “We can work in the kitchen, but I’m warning you, things are a little chaotic.” Working in the same room with Mom, Addie and Emmy wasn’t ideal, but it was a way they could get started. Mom had agreed to put the twins to bed after she got a few things done, so that Luke and Hannah could work together.
If they wanted to accomplish their goal of planning and renovating the new dog-training facility by the end of the year, they couldn’t wait until after Thanksgiving; they had to get started right away.
In the kitchen, Mom was helping Emmy stack blocks while Addie looked on with that telltale grin that said she wanted to knock them down. When Luke came in, Mom stood and gave him a spontaneous hug. “It’s good to see you, honey,” she said, friendly and unselfconscious with him in a way that Hannah envied. “I’m glad you could be here for your dad. How’s he doing?”
Luke shrugged and gave a lopsided grin. “About what you’d expect. He’s scared, and he hates being restricted on what he can do, so he’s not in the best mood. But we’re hoping the surgery will solve his problems and that everything’s benign.”
“When is his surgery?” Mom asked.
“Right after the holiday weekend. Monday, sometime in the morning. The hospital will call with the schedule the day before.”
“I’ll keep him in my prayers,” Mom said. “And you, too. Being a caregiver isn’t easy.”
“That’s for sure,” Luke said with a sigh that said he meant it.
Addie pushed herself to her feet and toddled over to Hannah, holding up her arms. Hannah swung her up. “You’re such a big girl!” she said, kissing Addie’s cheek and then settling her on her hip.
Emmy watched, and her face scrunched a little.
“Oh, honey, you need some attention, too, don’t you?” Mom hurried over and knelt beside her. “I’d pick you up, but my back hurts.” She pulled Emmy into her lap and cuddled her close.
“What are you cooking?” Luke stepped toward the stove and turned down the gas burner. “It’s boiling pretty hard.”
“Oh, my word.” Mom shifted Emmy back to the floor, stood and hurried to the stove. “Thank you. It’s a white sauce for mac and cheese. And I’ve got cranberries cooking and a pie in the oven.”
“Smells great,” Luke said, smiling.
Hannah opened her mouth to ask Luke and his father to Thanksgiving dinner and then closed it again. She and Mom always invited people who didn’t have a place to go or didn’t like to cook, but with Luke, she hesitated.
Emmy got to her feet and toddled toward them.
“Your turn?” Hannah shifted Addie on her hip. Holding both girls at once was a challenge, but she’d try.
Emmy had other ideas. She reached up b
oth hands to Luke.
His face lit up. “Come to Uncle Luke,” he said as he leaned down and lifted her into his arms.
Hannah froze. Did he know something?
But he was tickling Emmy under her chin, making her giggle. Watching them together crashed a new problem into Hannah’s consciousness. Something she should have thought of, but hadn’t had the bandwidth.
What would happen when the twins were older, old enough to ask about their daddy? Was it right to keep them from the only parent they had left, and to keep the truth about him a secret, as well?
And even if it was—because Bobby wasn’t ever going to be father of the year—what about their uncle? Now that she’d gotten closer to Luke, she realized that for the twins, not knowing their connection to him would be a loss.
Mom pulled the pie out of the oven and then turned their way. A smile creased her flushed face. “See, they need a man in their lives.”
Luke glanced over at her. “Hannah said their father isn’t involved. Is that permanent?”
Hannah held her breath. When she’d suggested they meet here, she’d had no idea of how difficult and awkward it would be.
Mom shook her head. “Marnie would never talk about him. I’ve speculated and thought back on what little I know about her life in Indianapolis...” Her voice went high and tight and she turned away, her eyes shiny.
“I’m sorry to bring up a painful subject.” Luke patted her awkwardly on the back.
Hannah set down Addie and pulled out her favorite toy, a big plastic bowl and a wooden spoon. She put the bowl upside down and handed the spoon to Addie, who immediately started beating on the bowl. Emmy struggled in Luke’s arms, and he set her down beside her twin. Quickly, Hannah handed her a set of measuring spoons on a ring and some nested measuring cups, and she started jingling the spoons, holding them close to her ear.
“It’s noisy,” Hannah said to Luke, above the din, “but it’s the best way to keep them happy while we work.” She gestured to a seat at the table, then pulled out her own chair kitty-corner from him. She turned on her laptop. “How’s Goldie’s training coming along?”
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