A Place to Call Home (23 page)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Snuggled against Mac in the comfort of his air-conditioned parlor, Hannah couldn’t remember a time when she had felt more relaxed…or more at home. Hadn’t it been easy over the past week for her to fall into a surprisingly easy routine at the MacDevin house? Life moved along. While Mac wouldn’t let her cook dinner every night since he said she couldn’t slave over them, she at least had been elected to cook breakfast every morning. He made sure she had the supplies she needed, so she didn’t need to steal his truck. God, she’d never live that down.

The sultry Friday night had been ideal to stay in with Mac and relax after the long week of renovations. They had settled in to watch a movie with Luke while they waited for Aidan and Ryan to get home from hanging with their friends. Luke had fallen asleep after a gallant effort to keep his eyes open, but Hannah didn’t want Mac to put him to bed yet. With his soft snores and sleeping cradled against her, she had enjoyed the closeness, the feeling of being needed by someone.

“It was nice of you to forgive the boys’ groundings, Mac. They have tried to be good,” Hannah said after standing to take a long stretch when the movie ended, while Luke remained asleep on the couch.

Mac also stood, placing the remote on the television. “Yeah, well, they better get home on time tonight, or they’ll be grounded again.” His words held no heat.

 “Well, I know I could never punish anyone. I’d give in too easily.” She smiled, knowing she would be a big pushover.

His laugh surprised her. “Are you kidding me? You don’t have a problem punishing me.”

Her mouth opened in shock. “I don’t punish you.”

“Like hell, brat. You argue with me every chance you get. You use canned goods as weapons. You let that temper explode on a whim. You curse me up and down, although that has gotten better.” A slow grin edged across his lips. “Meant to tell you that.”

“So why did you open your home to me?”

His head bent, and his lips roamed over hers, kissing her sinfully when she opened her mouth to his exploration. After he ended, he didn’t move far away.

“Because you are the most interesting, amazing, beautiful, woman I’ve ever known. One thing’s for sure, there’s never a dull moment with you around.”

“Oh, and speaking of that—”

“Now why does that scare me?” he said, cutting her off. He leaned back and stared.

She swatted his chest. “Shush. Tomorrow night I’m cooking dinner. We’re having company.”

“We’re having what?”

“For Aidan’s birthday. Remember you said I could make him a cake. So I plan to and we need to eat so I’m cooking dinner.”

“And who’s the company?”

“Your family.”

He smiled. “You’re busting my balls, right?”

“Nope. They’re coming for dinner and cake,” she said with a poke to his chest. “And it’s a surprise for Aidan so don’t blow it.”

He laughed. “You’re giving my seventeen-year-old-man-in-the-making a birthday dinner?”

She raised a brow. Uh oh. Did he want to change his mind? “Why? Is there a problem?”

“Oh, hell no. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” His arms circled her, embracing her in a solid hug. “Make sure you have a camera. I’ve got to capture Aidan’s face for this one.”

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From across the room, Mac watched his newly seventeen-year-old eldest son squirm when he arrived for his surprise birthday party. Now it could’ve been the fancy dinner leading to his embarrassment. Or maybe the frilly chocolate cake taking center stage on the dining room table. Or the wild atmosphere created whenever the MacDevin clan got together. Yeah, any of those things could’ve put that wide-eyed expression on Aidan’s face. But Mac didn’t think so. In fact, Mac would bet any amount of money that what had really surprised Aidan had been to find
both
his girlfriends in the same room at the same time, here to celebrate
him
.

Oh, Hannah was slipping off that pedestal of hers and fast.

Mac noted Catherine clung to Aidan’s arm and Cheryl had turned red. The three of them were in the corner of the parlor with Aidan, evidently speechless while the two girls shouted at each other. Mac searched around for Hannah, caught her stare and laughed. She hurried over to him.

“Oh, Mac. I didn’t know Catherine wasn’t supposed to know about Cheryl and vice versa. Oh, what a mess I’ve made. Aidan’s going to hate me.”

Now Mac would’ve liked to seen how his son got himself out of the mess he’d gotten himself into by two-timing two girls, but Hannah’s haunted face convinced him he had to intervene. Her sad eyes cut straight through to his heart.

“Aidan only has himself to blame for this one, darling. Those kids all go to school together. If his escapade wasn’t exposed tonight then it would’ve been on the first day of school. Frankly, I’d rather deal with it here than at school.” He kissed her forehead and shuffled toward the trio of screaming kids.

“Catherine and Cheryl,” Mac said in a gentle tone. “I couldn’t help but overhear my son has not been acting like a gentleman where you ladies are concerned.”

“He’s been acting like a loser,” Cheryl yelled. “You told me you broke up.”

“Did you sleep with her, too, Aidan?” Catherine asked, tears in her eyes.

“He slept with you?” Cheryl yelled. “Aidan, you said you didn’t. You said I was special.”

“I said you were hot, Cheryl,” Aidan said.

 Mac cringed. The kid certainly didn’t help himself except to dig his hole deeper.

“So you did sleep with her,” Catherine screamed.

“Okay. Enough. There are children around. The three of you outside now,” Mac growled. “Hannah? Would you please join me?”

“What?” she said, surprise ringing in her voice. “Why me?”

But he didn’t give her an answer, just led the trio outside. Hannah followed him into the humid night air. Mac looked at her then to his son.

“Aidan, I don’t expect an apology will help this matter, but I better hear one from you to these young ladies right now. And it better be more than two words.” Mac towered over all of them, standing still, his arms crossed.

Aidan stared at the ground for a few seconds then at Cheryl. “I never meant for us to get involved, Cheryl. But you can’t just blame me for it. You kissed me and when I said no, well, you didn’t believe me. So things happened. I couldn’t help myself.”

“Couldn’t help—?”

“Catherine,” Mac said, interrupting her. “I promise you’ll have your say, but please let Aidan speak now.”

She folded her arms and shot Aidan killer looks.

“Catherine, I told you I didn’t want to go steady. I told you I was too young to be with one girl. Christ, I just started getting laid and you want me to pledge my undying love to you, but I can’t and you knew that. I told you to date others, too, but you wouldn’t. So I had to sneak around and I hated that. So I’m glad this is out in the open. Because I’m going to continue to date both of you if you want me to. If not then I’ll just find someone else.”

Mac sighed. “Ladies, what I think my son is trying to say and didn’t say quite with the tactfulness he should’ve is that you’re all way too young to be in a serious relationship. You can spend special time together but you’re all going to be seniors in high school. That’s too young to be stuck in a serious relationship.”

“Yeah, that’s what I meant. I like both of you,” Aidan confirmed.

“Well, you can forget about me,” Cheryl told him. “I have other guys who like me and won’t use me.”

“I didn’t use you, Cheryl,” Aidan said with some heat.

“He’s not like that, Cheryl,” Catherine said, calming down. “He may be a jerk for not telling us about the other one but he’s right. He never agreed to go steady with me.” She faced Aidan. “I just like you a lot, Aidan, and didn’t want to share you.”

“You can have him. I’m leaving,” Cheryl said, and stomped off but not before throwing some F-bombs back to Aidan.

Mac glanced at Hannah. “See how it sounds when a pretty woman has a mouth like that?”

Hannah glared.

“What a bitch,” Catherine said. Then looked at Mac. “Sorry.”

Mac smiled. “I think you of all people are allowed at least one curse word tonight, sweetheart.”

“What did you ever see in her?” Catherine asked when Cheryl peeled out of the driveway.

Aidan turned to her. “Nothing, really. She was just hot.” He cursed under his breath. “I’m sorry if I hurt you, Catherine. Believe me I never meant to. I do like you a lot but, well,” he stopped and glimpsed Mac and Hannah watching them. “Dad, could we have some privacy, please?”

“Sure,” he said and grabbed Hannah’s elbow to hurry inside.

“Why’d you want me out there, Mac?” Hannah asked stepping onto the porch.

“As backup. I never liked getting between two women brawling. It’s suicidal.”

Hannah laughed.

“You think I’m kidding,” Mac said, stepping into the kitchen. “I learned my lesson trying to break up KelliAnn and another girl when she was a teenager. KelliAnn ended up grounded and I ended up with the black eye and sore privates.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Hannah, that is the most delicious dinner I’ve had in a long time,” Mac’s dad, Jim, said. “No wonder my boy, Mac, is so smitten with you.”

Hannah blushed. “Thank you. But I really do love cooking. I think of it as creating masterpieces.”

“That lasagna was a hell of a masterpiece,” Jim confirmed. “You know, Hannah, I haven’t seen this house so full of life for as long as I can remember. You sure have made a home for yourself here.”

Hannah almost dropped the pan she carried to the sink.
What did he say? A home for herself? No. No. That’s all wrong. I’m not here forever.

“Dad, stop bothering Hannah. Mac’ll get jealous,” Josh teased, walking over to them. He placed a hand at Hannah’s back and bent to kiss her cheek. “You’ll find out we’re a hugging, kissing, can’t-mind-our-own-business kind of family, honey. Truce?” He offered her his hand.

She laughed. “Of course. Truce,” she said, shaking his hand.

“Boy, you give her a ticket?” Jim asked menacingly.

Josh raised palms up. “No, sir.” He turned and winked at Hannah. “Just helped welcome her into town with some directions.”

Jim grunted at his answer and left them alone to go join his wife.

“Thanks for not ratting me out. Dad would chew my head off if he ever found out I almost gave you a ticket.”

“You were just doing your job. Josh, do you want any more to eat? There’s plenty here.”

Josh rubbed his flat belly. “No, ma’am. I’m stuffed. But I can say I can’t wait for your restaurant to open. I think I’ll live there.” He laughed, reminding her of a younger version of Mac.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.”

“That I am but not as much as my big brother is by playing house again. It’s good to see a female around here. You’ve got the four of them hooked, Hannah,” Josh confirmed. He lifted her hand and kissed it quickly. “And I must say, they have great taste.”

“Hands off, little bro,” Mac said from behind him. “You have your own.”

“Who is probably still discussing wedding plans with Mom and KelliAnn. I swear if I hear one more thing about flowers, or invitations, or the other million wedding items, I’ll scream,” Josh said.

“That’s what you get when you pop the question.” Mac said walking away with Josh.

Hannah panicked. Oh God, what had she gotten herself into here? Did his family think they were in a serious relationship? She couldn’t stay in Charleston. When she moved, she left her problems behind. Started fresh somewhere else. A place where no one really knew her. She couldn’t stay in one place.

Could she?

The festivities drew her away from her alarming thoughts. The present time wouldn’t be suitable to wallow in her worries, not when everyone smiled and celebrated Mac’s oldest son. The family gathered around Aidan and sang Happy Birthday, watched him blow out his candles, and clapped like fools. Hannah couldn’t help but smile. It had turned out to be a decent night after all. Hannah leaned forward to cut the cake but stopped when Aidan stood in front of her, placing his hand on her shoulder.

“Thank you, Hannah, for tonight.”

When he gathered her into a hug, surprise filled her but she hugged back, the odd embrace so tender it touched her heart. Over Aidan’s shoulder, Hannah caught Mac’s gaze as he stood with Ryan and Luke, and tears threatened to fill her eyes. Crying was useless since it solved nothing. She’d learned that many years earlier the hard way.

But the tears swimming in her eyes reached her soul and awakened a vulnerability she didn’t want.

“Dad’s cakes are never this good,” Aidan whispered in her ear. “But don’t tell him I said that.”

When he released her, she shook but did her best to put on a smile. “I won’t.”

Trying to steady her hands, she took the knife and sliced into the cake. “Okay. First piece goes to the birthday boy.”

“Oh, man, no fair,” Ryan complained.

“When it’s your birthday then you’ll get the first piece,” she said.

“So you going to make me a cake for my birthday too?” Ryan asked.

“Sure,” she agreed without hesitation. “When is it?” She continued to cut cake and pass it out.

“Not for seven months.”

Hannah froze. “Oh, but I won’t be here in seven months,” she said softly, not wanting to admit it even to herself.

“How long will you be here for?” Luke asked when she handed him cake and kept slicing.

“Just as long as it takes to get the restaurant up and running. Probably three more months tops.” She handed cake out around the table and smiled when Shelby skipped the spoon and used her fingers.

“If we speed up the schedule, your restaurant can be open in less than two months,” Mac said, picking up a piece of cake and staring into her eyes, his brow furrowed. “That way you can hurry up and be on your way.”

She didn’t miss the sarcastic tone but refused to get sucked into an argument when the entire MacDevin clan studied them.

“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day,” she said with a forced smile, her hand tightening on the knife’s handle. The nerve of him using that tone with her when he’d known all along she wouldn’t be staying.

“I think you should live here,” Luke said.

 “Now, Luke,” Mac said but kept his gaze locked on Hannah. “She has a lot of places to go and people to meet. That’s what she does. That’s her job. Ain’t that right, Hannah?”

She pretended not to hear him. She finished serving the cake and while she didn’t feel like eating, she took a piece for Aidan’s sake.

“Hannah, don’t you ever get lonely?” Luke asked still eating his cake. His big blue eyes filled with innocence, focused solely on her like he expected her to agree. A small smudge of frosting dotted the corner of his mouth, and his little face beamed while he licked his fork. God, she hated to disappoint him.

She glanced from Luke to Mac who smirked. Then she gave Luke her attention, shrugging her shoulders. “Sometimes. But I keep myself busy.”

“That’s her job too,” Mac said, his clipped tone too obvious to go unnoticed.

What the hell was his problem? Hadn’t she made the evening a success? All right, she’d had enough. She put on a big smile and turned to Mac. “Seems I need something at the store. Care to drive me, Austin?”

“No.”

“It wasn’t a question,” she said, her voice firm. She grabbed his arm and tugged him with her out the door.

“Maybe I should’ve mentioned earlier in this affair that I don’t take lightly to being dragged out of my own house to have a pissing contest,” Mac said, his voice thundering over the night air. He slammed the door behind him.

She turned. “What? Would you rather have it in there with all your family present?”

“You invited them, not me.”

“For your son’s birthday party. Was that so friggin’ bad?”

“What got your panties in a bunch, brat?”

“You know damn well what did.” She pointed her finger at him. “And now you can deal with my temper.”

“Trying to scare me, Hannah?” He grinned, raising his eyebrow, the arrogant stance pissing her off even more.

She balled her fists beside her thighs. She didn’t need to stand for this. Without further thought, she whirled and stomped into the darkness then stopped. No, she couldn’t run from her problems this time. After all, she’d be in town until he completed the project. They had to find a way to get along and keep their arrangement working. She marched back to where he remained standing with his arms crossed.

“And what the hell do you mean by affair?”

“Well, it can’t really be a one-night stand, darling, because we’ve fucked every night for weeks. So what would you call that? A one-month stand?” Sarcasm dripped from him like Spanish moss.

Oh how she wanted to smack that evil grin from his face. But she kept her hands glued to her sides. No way she could match him physically. And since he was in a fine temper himself, he probably would not look lightly at getting slapped. Oh, but she would be so very satisfied.

“Wow. Nothing to say, brat? That’s a first.”

“Go to hell.”

“Maybe someday, but for now I think I’ll just continue to enjoy fucking you until you run out of town. If I haven’t said it yet, Hannah, darling, you are one hell of a lay.”

That did it.

She raised her hand and swung hard, catching him flat against the cheek with a loud smack, his head snapping sideways. Pulling her hand back she clutched it, the palm and fingers hot. She stood paralyzed in front of him, her anger reverberating throughout her body causing her to tremble. Her heartbeat sped up, and visions of Mac returning the slap brought back memories of her childhood when she lived with her father’s unmerciful ways.

Mac turned to look at her again, the dangerous gleam in his eyes pinning her in place. And even though he’d never been capable of hurting her, deep inside her head a little voice told her to run. But her stupid feet wouldn’t listen and remained planted firmly in front of him.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her gaze searching his face for some kind of understanding. She inched forward but didn’t touch him.

“Really?” he growled and with one quick movement he hauled her by the arms and held her against his chest, her feet barely touching the ground.

Surrounded by darkness and the sultry night air, Hannah stared up into Mac’s hard eyes.

Then his lips landed on hers for a kiss that stunned her more than pleasured her. Her breath hitched, her mouth froze against his. What did he think he was doing? As he crushed her lips, his tongue explored her mouth. Just when she thought she’d lose her breath, he ended the kiss, and stared down into her eyes.

“Austin. You’re hurting my arms.”

He eased his vise grip on her but he kept her in front of him. At least her feet at least rested on the ground once again.

“You shouldn’t have done that, Hannah.”

“You shouldn’t have said what you said. You were mean.”

“I know.”

She stared. Now how did he expect her to respond to that? She wanted to continue arguing—at least then she could hide her feelings with her temper. She didn’t like the way her heart ached with all of these emotions swirling through her and not knowing what to do about the situation.

“But you slapped me before I could apologize for letting those words out.”

“Letting them out?” Christ, why didn’t he just shove a dagger through her heart? It’d save her the humiliation of facing his pity. “So you meant them but didn’t want to say them? That’s no better, Austin.”

“Just thought I should emphasize I’m taking this affair as lightly as you are. No hard feelings when you bolt from town, right?”

“You knew I wasn’t staying. This is exactly why I said me staying at your house was a bad idea.”

“Well, I said it was a good idea and meant it. I’ve had great sex and great food so I can’t complain.”

Her voice shook. Disappointment consumed her. Sex and food, that’s all he could think of, huh? “Really? Because it sounded like you were complaining a few minutes ago.”

 “Well, don’t look for me to complain in the future,” he said in an all-too-reasonable voice. “I’ll just concentrate on keeping the schedule in line so you can leave town soon for your next adventure.”

She leaned up on her toes, closer to his face. “Fine.”

She wanted to tell him where to shove his damn schedule, but if he insisted on acting like an ass then she had better ways to spend her time than dealing with the likes of him.

He glowered down at her. “Fine.”

She struggled to get free from his grasp with no success. “And after all the teasing you gave me about making a cake for Aidan I find out you do give your men-to-be-sons birthday cakes.”

“Of course, what kind of father would I be if I didn’t?”