Almost Midnight (10 page)

Tanner sank into his leather chair, smiling. “What? Me?”

“Dang it, if you don’t work faster than I do. You’ll be married in no time.”

Tanner groaned. So much for getting in the last word. “It’s not what you think. Jeremy needs someone with him all day.”

Two white brows narrowed in suspicion. “You saying I’m not good enough?”

The implication caught Tanner off guard. He never meant to hurt his father. “No, it’s not that. It’s just that Jeremy needs a woman in his life.”

“Well, why didn’t you say that in the first place?” 

Fritz made a sudden movement, tilting his ear toward the hallway. “Ah, here comes your little woman right now. Can hear the taxi coming up the driveway. Town bus doesn’t run this early.”

Tanner shot from his seat. “She’s not my woman.” 

Still, he wondered if Hannah was going to come this morning, especially after last night.

Yet she came through the front door, looking as fresh and cool as a mountain spring, acting as if nothing had happened between the two of them.

Moreover, Miss Hannah Elliot showed up every morning after that for the next week without the slightest hint they had ever kissed. Her car was fixed in a day and she was driving the dilapidated piece of junk every morning to work. But Tanner’s frustration over his roller-coaster feelings for her kept him at a distance.

He came home from the office every afternoon for lunch, telling himself it was only Jeremy he wanted to see. He acknowledged Hannah with a friendly hello or a nod as he passed her in the hall, sensing a certain wariness in her gaze. Sometimes they exchanged words about Jeremy’s progress or even the weather, and that was all.

Nevertheless, Tanner realized that his relationship with his son was improving every day, a direct result of Hannah’s influence. Her progress with the boy was amazing. By the end of two weeks Tanner made certain the woman knew her full day position extended for the entire summer, and she readily accepted.

“Hey, look !” Fritz pointed out the window one morning, bolting into the hall as Hannah came up the driveway. “She’s got some more of that gingerbread of hers with that scrumptious lemon sauce. You might want to try some of it this time, Tanner. Maybe today would be a good day to do that hiking too. Jeremy’s all ready.” 

To Tanner’s annoyance, his father, as he’d done every morning since Hannah’s appearance, hastened across the floor like a twelve-year-old and whipped open the front door for the lady.

“Hello, Fritz.” 

Tanner walked out from behind his desk, listening to their conversation. Hannah’s husky voice never failed to stir his blood.

“You got some of that lemon sauce, honeybunch?” Fritz asked with a hopeful tone in his voice.

Honeybunch? Tanner cringed as he leaned against the door jamb. He watched in silence as Hannah’s golden halo of hair came into view. He smothered a groan at the way her hips swayed innocently back and forth while she hitched her purse onto her shoulder.

Her wholesome good looks only made her more attractive. But it was the painful secrets that lurked in those green-jeweled eyes that intrigued him the most. What was she hiding?  

“Hey, Hannah.” Jeremy burst out of the kitchen with his right gym shoe on, the left one dangling in his hand. “We got a trip planned today. My Dad said so. Educational, you know, all that stuff.”

Shocked at his son’s comment, Tanner pushed off the wall and walked toward them.

“He did, did he?” Hannah asked.

Jeremy took a whiff of the gingerbread and smiled. “Yep, and you know what?”

“What, pumpkin?”

“Dad said that we can hike up into the mountains.”

Tanner’s forehead wrinkled into a frown. He never said one word to Jeremy about hiking. “What did I say, partner?”

Jeremy’s eyes grew wide with guilt, his head tilting warily in Fritz’s direction. “Well...uh...Grandpa said you said that.” 

Fritz snapped his stick against Tanner’s shoe. “Course you said that Tanner. All three of you were going to hike in the mountains today. Don’t you remember anything, boy?”

Tanner cocked a warning brow toward his father. “I remember.” Nothing of the sort.

“We’re all going.” Jeremy smiled at Hannah. “See, Dad said so.”

Hannah coughed, eyeing Tanner skeptically as he walked toward her.

“Is that what you said?” she asked, a serious expression flitting across her face.

“Seems so,” he said, feeling a ripple of mirth at the insane situation. He shrugged, sniffing the gingerbread. Why not go hiking and enjoy himself? He’d been working too hard lately. “It’ll be educational, a nature walk so to speak.”

He looked up, his gaze locking with a pair of eyes the color of an emerald sea, eyes that had haunted his dreams ever since the lady appeared on Main Street.

His pulse quickened. She smelled of roses, lavender, and gingerbread, a lethal recipe of womanly charm made him want to kiss her right there, without any rational thought to who was watching. He had tried to keep his distance, but who the hell was he kidding? Educational? Nature walk? He wanted to be with Hannah, and this was the easy way out.

“Maybe I should go home and change,” Hannah said, acutely aware of Tanner’s intense gaze upon her. In fact, she found his behavior more than perturbing.

She felt herself blush as she recalled that kiss in his car weeks ago. He hadn’t said a thing about it. What game was this handsome millionaire playing? She couldn’t say no to Jeremy, and being in Tanner’s full employ, she couldn’t say no to him either.

When she woke up this morning, her throat hurt, and she knew, without a doubt, her nagging cough had settled in her chest. Bronchitis probably. The cold had been going on for weeks now. She felt hot and probably had a fever. She was hoping to have an easy day of it, but now she was stuck. She needed to keep this job until autumn. Her mother depended on her.

Fritz took a quick look at her and smiled. “You’re dressed fine, honeybunch. Jeans and gym shoes will do just fine, won’t they son?”

Tanner tilted his brow her way, his pale gray eyes lighting with amusement as they traveled across her person. “Fine,
honeybunch
. Everything looks just fine.” 

His slow, amusing drawl made Hannah narrow her gaze in suspicion. The man’s scrutinizing attention was unnerving, but it was that devastating, dimpled smile that made her look away.

“See, Hannah. Even Dad says you’re fine.” Jeremy tugged at her hand. “I promise we can even practice some of my math when we go hiking. But first, I want some gingerbread, okay?”

 “Okay, pumpkin, let’s have some gingerbread.” 

 “Save me some for later,” Fritz said as he walked out the front door. “I have a few calls to make.” Then he was gone.

Hannah started for the kitchen with Jeremy in tow. “We’ll be a few minutes, if you don’t mind,” she called to Tanner over her shoulder. “You just get ready and do whatever.” 

She needed time to think. A full day with Tanner and that smile? He was becoming as adorable as his son and that was too dangerous by far. He seemed to be softening toward her.

In fact, she was glad they had one of those fancy kitchens with a swinging door and a half wall that had a set of shutters that could close the entire kitchen from the other parts of the house. Sometimes the housekeeper kept the kitchen totally closed when she was cooking, or the kitchen was closed off for parties too.

Hannah pushed open the swinging door. Luckily for her, the kitchen was still closed off from some business party Tanner had that week. At least in the kitchen, she could block out Tanner completely.

Every time she saw him, her heart had thumped at his nearness. A full day by his side would surely kill her. Her heart couldn’t afford another crack if she wanted to survive the summer.   

“I’d like to get a taste of your famous gingerbread, too, if you don’t mind.” 

The silky voice held a certain challenge that startled Hannah. She glanced over her shoulder only to find Tanner following on her heels. Twinkling gray eyes disarmed her, and she stumbled over Jeremy’s foot.

“You don’t even like gingerbread,” Jeremy complained.

Hannah jumped on that fact. “He’s right. If I remember correctly, you don’t even like gingerbread, Mr. Clearbrook.” 

When his lips thinned, she managed a small smile. Two could play at this game.

“Hannah, Hannah, Hannah.” His expression quickly changed as he took hold of her arm and leaned forward, sniffing the gingerbread.

His touch sent her emotions swirling. She swallowed past the lump in her throat, taking in the tantalizing smell of soap that lingered from his morning shower.

He looked up beneath hooded eyes, casting her another one of those irresistible smile. “Hmmm. Do believe I’ve changed my mind,
honeybunch
. Smells delicious. Think I’m beginning to like gingerbread after all.”

The double meaning of his words was clear. His kiss that evening outside the library had planted a small seed in her mind, and now, to her utter confusion, that seed began to sprout. The realization she could truly fall in love with this man shattered her entire sense of well-being.

She had already fallen for his son. But that was different. Jeremy wouldn’t hurt her like her husband Nick had, however, Tanner Clearbrook very well could.

The admission left her confused and scared.

Get out, Hannah. Get out now while you still can.  

“Everybody likes Hannah’s gingerbread,” Jeremy said.

Hannah was relieved to have the boy standing beside her. As they stood in the kitchen, she became increasingly uneasy under Tanner’s scrutinizing gaze. A sensual power radiated from the man. There was no doubt in her mind why women thought John Tanner Clearbrook appealing. For the most part, it had nothing to do with his money.

She hurried across the room and placed the gingerbread on the counter.

Jeremy turned his back on the adults and took two plates from the cupboard. “I want lots and lots of lemon sauce, okay?”  

“I want lots of lemon sauce, too.” Hannah jumped when she felt Tanner’s breath slither down her neck. “Lots of lemon sauce, honeybunch. Lots.” 

Her control was slipping like a sled on ice. The protective shield she had built around her heart had begun to crack and there wasn’t a darn thing she could do about it. “Okay, boys. You asked for it. Lots of lemon sauce.” 

She smiled calmly, revealing none of her misgivings as she lopped handfuls of lemon sauce onto the gingerbread and inwardly sighed as Tanner took a step back.

A quick tremor shot through her when she took the knife to the pan.

Tanner Clearbrook, you’re going to slice my heart in two.

And he could do that very thing, if she let him.

But he wouldn’t, not if she could hold out for the summer and take the job at Reach Medicals. She would miss Jeremy, but he wasn’t her child. She had to remember that, and Tanner Clearbrook wasn’t her husband. Her real husband had died. And so had her feelings for having another controlling man in her life, attraction or not.

Tanner and Jeremy were not her family, but the least she could do was help the boy accept his mother’s death and bring him closer to his father.

Yes, she assured herself, that’s the least she could do.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Tanner threw the backpacks into his Dodge Ram 4x4 and gazed up at the sky. There were a few low hanging clouds, but it was nothing to worry about, and if the weather changed, they would head right back home. A slight breeze ruffled his hair, bringing him the scent of fresh pines and newly mowed grass. All in all, it was a beautiful day to go hiking.

“She always thinks I’m too wild and that I’m going to hurt myself,” Jeremy said to his father as they waited for Hannah.  

Tanner leaned against the back of the truck. “Yeah, well, women are like that sometimes.” 

Jeremy mimicked his father’s stance against the truck and folded his arms across his chest. “Why?”

“I don’t know. They’re made different than boys.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s the way God made them, I guess.”

“How do you know about God? You don’t even go to church with Grandpa and me.”

Tanner pursed his lips. How long had it been since he had brought his son to church? Since Julie had died? Next Sunday he would make a point of going.

“You think Mom can hear me in heaven?”

Tanner cleared his throat. “Sure she can.”

“Then you think she knows I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” Concerned, Tanner knelt before his son. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t had conversations about Jeremy’s mother, but Jeremy barely talked about Julie.

Tanner knew that if the boy had brought up this conversation now, without prodding, it was a milestone for Jeremy and their relationship. “Sorry for what, partner?”

Jeremy worried his bottom lip. “I yelled at her when she was in the hospital. I told her I wouldn’t love her if she died.”

Tanner’s chest tightened. He had never heard this confession from his son, and he felt a bit guilty as a father. “And then she died, huh?”

Jeremy nodded, his eyes filling with tears. “I think she died of a broken heart. Billy Green, the guy that sits next to me at school, said that sometimes people die like that. Their hearts just break.” 

“Your mom loved you, partner.” Tanner pulled Jeremy into his arms. “Sometimes we say things and do things we don’t mean.” 

“Yeah, I guess so. Like me being mad at you because you weren’t there.”

Tanner’s throat began to close. “I didn’t know she was going to die, Jeremy. You have to believe me. I loved your mother and that never changed, and your mother loved you. That’s what counts. You have to always remember that.”

“Yeah, that’s what Hannah told me, too.” Jeremy wiped a hand across his face. “She said sometimes there are things you can’t control, like you not being able to be with Mama when...well, you know...”

Tanner felt the fragile little shoulders beneath his hands shake, and he closed his eyes, grateful for the son he was given. “Yeah...I know, partner.”