All for This (19 page)

“I’ll take a coffee. Thanks.” She pours me a cup, and we both do our best to pretend this isn’t as awkward as hell when she passes it across the counter. “How’s the hunt for new employees going?”

“It’s frustrating. I’ve found a couple of part-timers, which is great, but I really need a manager who can take care of the front of the house while I do the baking, and I need a second baker to take over for a few weeks when the babies are born. Drew is good, but she can’t put in the hours I’ll need.”

Nate Crane pushes out of the kitchen, and the sight of him hits me like a punch in the gut. She said she wasn’t leaving me for him, and he hasn’t been around, so I was starting to believe it was true. Until I found them on the balcony at Asher’s last weekend.

“Hey,” he says, locking his gaze with mine.

I lift my chin as we appraise each other. He looks at Hanna, and I want to pull her into my arms and hold her tight, to keep her close until he leaves. But I don’t have that right, and Nate’s not going anywhere. I can tell by the way he looks at her—all that unveiled love and longing. I know the face of a man who would slay dragons for Hanna Thompson, because I see it every time I look in the mirror.

“Do you have any more boxes stashed in the back?” Nate asks.

Hanna shifts awkwardly and shoots me a look. “No, but Liz is bringing some any minute now.” She points behind her and edges toward the door. “I have cookies that need my attention.”

Then she’s gone, leaving Nate and me staring at each other. He opens his mouth like he’s about to tell me something, but then he shakes his head and goes back to the kitchen.

I need to follow Hanna and find out what she knows about the offer. Hell, I should have saved myself the trouble and asked Nate. Buying me out would be nothing for him.

But I’m a fucking coward and I’m afraid to go through that door. Will he be kissing her? Touching her? Hanna’s probably baking cookies—nothing more—but what I saw at Maggie and Asher’s has tormented me for days. A repeat performance might destroy me.

“Hello?”

I turn to the door and find a customer. The petite brunette looks familiar, but I can’t place her. Did we go to high school together? Or maybe college? High school’s a better bet. Over half of my graduating class left New Hope for college and never came back.

She frowns at me and rises onto her tiptoes to peek over my shoulder. “I’m looking for Hanna. Will she be back soon? I could just wait.”

I lift a brow. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” Forgetting people always makes me feel like an ass.

“Oops! I’m Elle.” She smiles, and again I feel that sense of recognition, but I just can’t place her. “Janelle Crane. Nate Crane’s sister.”

“Oh.” Nate’s sister. And a famous actress—thus the recognition. “Nice to meet you.”

The bell over the door rings as Sam and Liz come in, their arms full of collapsed boxes.

“I stole Sam so he could help me with these,” Liz says from behind him. “I promise I’ll get him back in time to open the club.”

Sam stops in his tracks two steps in the door, and Liz runs right into his back. “Ho. Lee. Shit,” Sam manages.

“Walk much?” Liz says, skirting around him. “Geez.” She turns to Janelle. “Have you been helped?”

“Yeah. This guy here is helping me. I’m so rude.” She shakes her head and gives me an apologetic smile. “What was your name?”

I fold my arms and watch her as I say, “Max Hallowell.”

Her brows shoot up and her jaw unhinges. Suddenly she looks just like her character from
Roommates
. “Oooh,” she whispers. “Holy crap. And you’re here. Are you…? Did Hanna…? Oh, shit. Wow. Well, who can blame her for ditching my dorky-ass brother? You are a fucking
fox
. Look at those shoulders. Damn. How much can you bench-press?”

I don’t answer or correct her. I’m not sure what she knows or when she last talked to Hanna. Sam’s still gawking, and Lizzy is scowling.

“Who are
you
?” Liz asks Janelle.

“Elle,” she says, offering Liz her hand. “Nate’s sister, Hanna’s friend. You’re Lizzy, aren’t you? I’ve heard so much about you.”

Lizzy’s eyes go wide and she stares at the woman’s hand. “
Janelle Crane
,” she says, putting it together. “Janelle Crane knows who I am.”

“Janelle fucking Crane,” Sam mutters. “Holy hell. You’re even more gorgeous in person, which, for the record, I wouldn’t have thought was possible. Damn.”

Lizzy elbows Sam in the side—hard, judging from the way he doubles over—then drops the boxes and takes Elle’s hand. “Have you talked to Hanna since the accident?”

Elle shakes her head. “No, but Nate told me briefly about it when he came to see me in India. Does she remember me?”

“I don’t know. Probably. She has most of her memory back.”

Sam gathers Lizzy’s boxes with hers and stacks them in the corner. “What are all these for, anyway?”

“Hanna’s moving,” Liz says. Then she shoots me a look and winces—no doubt my surprise is all over my face. “And she probably wanted to be the one to tell you.”

“Where’s she moving?” I ask. “Someplace without stairs, I hope.”

“No kidding,” Liz mutters. “There are stairs, but she won’t need to use them. I’ll let her fill you in on the details.”

“Is she in the back?” Janelle asks. “I have to talk to her.” Without waiting for an answer or, you know, permission, she pushes through the swinging kitchen door.

Liz and I exchange a worried look before I follow Janelle.

The sounds of squealing women greet my ears as I come through the door. Nate’s nowhere to be seen, and the women are hugging like old friends. I’m reminded of those months of Hanna’s life that I missed. While we were only pretending to be a couple, she was forming new friendships, falling in love with another man…and getting pregnant.

“I am so glad to see you,” Janelle says. “And you remember me, so obviously the
important
parts of your memory are back.”

Hanna shrugs. “Most of it, but there are still missing pieces.”

“Do you know what caused the accident?”

Hanna shakes her head. “Nix said I probably never will remember that day, unfortunately. What are you doing here? How long are you staying?”

“I had to come see the bakery I’ve heard so much about—and see my idiot brother—but I came here first. Did the lawyers contact you with the news yet?”

“What news?”

“I’m going to buy out your silent partner. Well, assuming he takes my offer, but it was way generous, so I’m sure he will.”

Hanna’s eyes connect with mine over Janelle’s shoulder. The offer didn’t come from Nate. It came from Nate’s sister, a sister who thinks Hanna dumped Nate for me.

“Actually,” Hanna says, “Max is the silent partner.” She nods toward me, and Janelle spins around, her eyes wide.

“Oh. My. God. How romantic is that? Did you know that when you decided to marry him? And I owe you an apology! You know when I called and asked you to go check on Nate, I had no idea about the accident and that you had freaking
amnesia.
Nate was more interested in tequila than filling me in on the pertinent details, but he told me when he came to the retreat in India.” She shakes her head. “And I’m sorry I had to ask you to do that. Considering the decisions you’d just made, you were probably a terrible person to ask, but I couldn’t think of anyone else he’d listen to.”

Hanna smiles, but it’s forced. “Do you know about my decisions, then?”

“Nothing was official, but you were pretty determined about your choice.”

Hanna’s eyes flick to mine and then back to Janelle. “My choice to marry Max?”

“Of course. Where’s your ring, anyway? Did you set a date yet?” She flashes me a grin over her shoulder then lowers her voice. “He’s so gorgeous, I can’t even. And is that why you’re moving? Are you going to live together?”

“She’s going to live with me.”

The girls turn toward Nate’s voice at the back door, but I don’t turn. Any kernel of hope Janelle’s rambling gave me is crushed. Hanna’s moving in with Nate.

M
AX LOOKS
to me, Janelle, and finally to Nate. Then he turns on his heel and heads out the door to the front of the bakery. I hear the front bell ring as he exits to the street.

Crap. That’s not how I wanted that to go.

I don’t know how long Nate’s been there, but judging from the look on his face, I’d say it’s fair to say he heard his twin going on about my choice to marry Max.

I hate the idea of hurting either of them, and I’m killing them both.

“I’m not moving in with you.” I stalk toward Nate and prop my hands on my hips. “That was never part of the deal.”

Nate raises a brow. “You really think I’m going to buy a house in this town and then bunk with the newlyweds when I visit?”

“What’s going on?” Janelle asks behind me. “Hanna, I thought you were marrying Max.”

Nate snaps his mouth shut at those words and his jaw ticks.

“I called it off,” I whisper. “Excuse me. I need to go tell Liz to stop packing my stuff.”

I leave, but I don’t go to the front, where I can hear Liz talking to Sam. I climb the stairs to my apartment, shut the door behind me, and sink to the floor.

“She’s moving in with me.”

If only he meant that as it sounded. If only he meant we could be together, a family who lives in the same house in the same town. But he’s committed to another family, and I’m plagued by these questions about a decision I can’t remember making.