Southern Exposure (Southern Desires Series Book 2) (11 page)

Hannah laughed, but he knew it wasn’t genuine. “You think? I mean every time I turn around you are telling me more bad news.”

“What did Don tell you?”

“He told me about the old pipe that broke last night.”

Good job. Not true, but believable.

“We got that fixed quickly.”

“Obviously, not quick enough.”

“Why?”

“You don’t know?”

I know more than you think, but not about whatever it is you know.
Mark shook his head. “No.”

“The water last night started leaking through my bathroom ceiling, and we didn’t know until this morning.”

Shit, I should’ve thought about that before I decided to break that pipe.
“We can fix that easily. Give us an hour and you’ll never notice a thing.”

“You might want to take a look in there yourself before you talk anymore.”

Mark knew a gallon of paint, and it would be even better than before. But the expression on her face said he better do as she said. Getting up from the couch, he walked to the bathroom. The door normally opened to the inside, but when he turned the knob and pushed, it only went a quarter of the way. He stuck his head inside to see what was blocking it.
What the fuck!?
The entire ceiling was on the floor, and he could also see the porcelain toilet broken in two.
This entire fiasco was my doing. I’m trying to make her life better. Instead, I ruin the only nice bathroom in the place. And worse, when she has a friend visiting. Damn. I understand why Don blamed it on old plumbing just giving way. It was better than the truth; this was no accident. But now she hates this place when she really should hate me.

Mark closed the door and went back to Hannah.

“Is it as bad as Don made it out to be?”

Hasn’t she even seen it yet? Damn, Don. You’re not making this any easier on me, buddy.
Nodding, Mark said, “Most likely worse. Don’s a good guy, and he doesn’t like to hurt anyone.”

Hannah met his eyes as she asked, “Unlike you?”

“Unlike me.”
So unlike me. Don was likeable. I was someone men followed and that was about it. And Hannah can see clearly the difference.
Still, he didn’t like the sorrow in her eyes, and he needed to fix that.

He got up and said before he left, “Don and I can fix that real cheap. Your bathroom will look even better when we’re done. But for now, it looks like you ladies will need to share ours across the hall.”

“That one is disgusting and barely works.”

“Which is a step above yours. I can build you an outhouse if you’d rather, but the options are very limited at the moment.”

She was quiet for a minute as though weighing her options. “Okay, but I have one request.”

He’d give her the world if she asked. “What is it?”

“We ladies would appreciate it very much if you please put the toilet seat down when you’re done.”

Sweet Hannah. You won’t let life keep you down, will you?
“We’ll do our best, but no promises.”

The story of his life.

Never promise.

M
ark and Don were arguing about how they’d keep the remodeling of her bathroom a secret. It’s not like before when the supplies magically appeared while she was at work.

“You’re going to have to tell her something. So why not try the truth?” Don asked while they hauled out the last bits of trash from the bathroom.

“The truth? Have you ever heard me tell anyone that?” Mark asked, but knew Don couldn’t really answer. He always said something close to the truth, but unless he was being debriefed after a mission, he said his version of the truth only. Facts were not as important as telling the tale.

“Good thing we’ve been friends so long that I can see your bullshit story coming a mile away. But you better think of something, because we can’t fix this without her noticing a major difference.”

“I want you to call the hardware store again. I want you to tell your contact to say he has a tub shower unit and a toilet that got delivered to them by mistake, and the company won’t take them back. They gave it to him at cost, and they want to know if Hannah is interested in taking it off their hands. Make up something like not enough room in the showroom or something. I know you, Don, you dish the bullshit just as good as me. I have faith you’ll think of something.”

“Brilliant. Yeah I know. I have to do all the labor, and come up with the plan. You’re really not making this easy on me. This is a small town. People are bound to start talking.”

“Let them talk. We’ll be long gone before it makes it here.”

“And if it slips out before then?”

“Stop worrying about what might happen and get the stuff. I have to be out of here before the end of next week.”

Don looked at him puzzled, “Heading overseas?”

Mark shook his head. “Nope. Casey is getting married.”

“Hell, no. Who approved this? No way our baby girl is getting married unless I give my okay.”

Mark laughed. He’d had Don watch out for her anytime he wasn’t able to. Came in very handy to know he could trust him to treat her like a baby sister and not some girl he was trying to hook up with. If he had, their friendship would’ve ended very quickly.

“I looked into him. Good guy. And he seems to be madly in love with her too.”

“I didn’t doubt for a minute that you
looked into him
. I would’ve been shocked if you hadn’t. I mean your poor sister could hardly date in school without you scaring the boys away.”

“I know what boys are like at fifteen. Do you think I wanted any of them around my sister? Just because my parents said she could date at that age, didn’t mean I wasn’t going to keep a very close eye.”
Casey may have thought I kept too close of an eye, but that’s the job of a big brother.

Don laughed. “You don’t have to explain it to me, but I’m not sure Casey appreciated it so much. The only time she had any fun was when you were deployed and left me in charge. If it weren’t for me, she probably wouldn’t have gotten her first kiss.”

“Don’t remind me, Don. When I heard you let her and that kid go to the drive-in by themselves, I was going to beat your ass.”

“Damn, you really do remember the details. I would’ve thought almost fifteen years later you’d forgotten that little incident.”

That’s the problem, Don. I don’t forget anything.
Even when I want to, I can’t.
He was no longer thinking of Casey. His mind was wondering back to Hannah and how gentle her voice was and how sweet her lips tasted . . .

“Mark, are you listening to me?”

The answer is no.
“Sorry. Got a lot on my mind.”

Don leaned up against the door jamb and asked, “Tenant or landlord?”

“Both.”

“Hannah has had a real rough time these past few years.”

Mark looked at Don puzzled. “What do you know?”

Don wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to mess with Mark. “Oh, does Mr. Researcher need my help gathering information about his girl?”

Mark didn’t find it amusing. He never mixed business with pleasure, well until now. Somehow they blended too closely, and it was becoming difficult to separate them.
Once I’m gone, this feeling will fade.

“Is there something you think I should know?” His patience was dwindling and for good reason.

“While you were comforting Hannah, I had to hear about my lack of couth for delivering bad news from Bailey.”

“I must be rubbing off on you.”

“Exactly. I’m usually considered the nice one. Somehow Bailey thinks you’re a nice guy, and I’m a jerk.”

He didn’t care what Bailey thought of him, but Mark found it humorous that she totally misread them both.
No one has ever mistaken me for nice.

“There goes your big teddy bear image you’ve been working on all these years,” Mark joked.

“It has to be this place, because, in a matter of days, I went from teddy bear to grizzly bear.”

Although Mark enjoyed watching his friend suffer from this new revelation, he didn’t see what this had to do with Hannah. “Was there a point you wanted to make about Hannah, or did you want me to listen to you whine a bit more?”

“Oh yeah, Hannah. I almost forgot. Bailey said I had no right breaking the news to Hannah like that because she’d been through hell and back the last three years. It’s not only about losing her father either. From what Bailey said, she is carrying the weight of everything on her shoulders. That includes not just the house, which is bad enough, but all her father’s medical expenses and funeral cost too.”

That explains why she took in a tenant. She’s desperate and now vulnerable. If that guy is what I think he is, he’s more dangerous to her than I thought.

“How does Bailey know?”

Don said, “Best friends talk to each other.”

He knew that was a dig at him for not sharing what was going on about the guy upstairs, but he didn’t care. Some things he was unable to talk about, and other things, he just didn’t want to.

“Didn’t he have medical insurance?”

Don shook his head. “I asked the same thing. Guess he was self-employed as a carpenter, which makes sense with all the tools in that shed. But no health or life insurance. Hannah was at some university with Bailey in Rhode Island when she got the call from her father’s doctor telling her how serious it was. From what Bailey said, they had extended family in Texas, but they only had each other in Savannah. So she left school, came home, and took care of him: financially, emotionally, and physically in this house until he died.”

Amazing woman. She gave up chasing her dream for someone she loved. I always say I’d lay down my life for someone I love, but I guess that’s the easy part. She has to live with what could’ve been but isn’t. And yet she still has the smile of an angel and the strength of a lion. People underestimate my sweet Hannah. I wonder if she underestimates herself as well?

“That explains the issues with the bank.”

“Exactly. Mark, that woman of yours spent every cent she had to give her father the best quality of life she could. Bailey said she wouldn’t accept assistance from anyone then and never will. I’m only telling you this because when she finds out what you’re doing, that woman is going to hate you.”

I know. But better Hannah hates me, and I know she has everything she needs for a good and happy future, than she loves me, and I leave her broken-hearted. Because, I will leave. There’s no doubt about that.

Her strength reminded him of his mother. Even though his father had ALS, she refused help in any way. Even from her children. He knew his mother didn’t want to be in some Third World country during his father’s last years, but she, like Hannah, was a selfless woman who cared more about others than her own needs. And, like Hannah, he worried about his mother, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t save them.
Some things aren’t in my power.

“I know the risk.”

“Bailey also said there is something else going on with Hannah, but she can’t figure it out. Hannah told Bailey she’s been suffering from recurring nightmares. When Bailey tried digging deeper, Hannah shut down.”

It could be the loss of her father or the pending loss of the house, but I don’t think that’s it.
What else is haunting you at night, my sweet Hannah? What is so troubling that you won’t confide in your best friend?
He was going to add that to his list of things to research, but for now, he wanted to address the major one at hand.
Her bathroom.

“Don, get everything set at the hardware store for another delivery. Just remember, Don, this is her bathroom; I want the best, but not over-the-top because she won’t use it.”

“Got it. Double-wide, double-deep with Jacuzzi jets. And if you’re lucky, Mark, you might even get a chance to try it with her,” Don said as he was leaving the room.

Never going to happen.
He couldn’t help but turn toward where the tub would be going.
Although I can imagine how fucking amazing it’d be, to be in there with her.

Mark slammed his hand against the wall and left the room. He didn’t allow himself to fantasize. Reality and the here and now was all that mattered. And now he needed to head back to the other apartment.

While Don had been attempting to rescue Hannah’s bathroom yesterday, he’d been with a member of his team, who’d dropped off some surveillance equipment. He was most interested in the listening devices. He knew he could have his team monitoring it twenty-four/seven, but that would raise a red flag. The guy freaked when he went inside the first time. Bringing in anyone new might spook him. It wasn’t as though they were in a place where people just stopped by. They were as far off the beaten path as they could get. It was almost an hour drive to town. Brilliant if you wanted privacy, but not great if you’re trying to blend into the crowd.
And let’s face it. The men in my team don’t blend into small-town USA.

Mark knew he was going to need to update Don on what was going on. Unfortunately, it meant also giving him his spare weapon. If anything went down unexpectedly, he needed someone to watch over Hannah and Bailey while he dealt with the issue head-on.
I hope that won’t be the case, but something is off. I don’t know what he’s doing upstairs, but I know he’s planning something. I can feel it. No one has a row of cell phones on one table and a few laptops on the next. I need to find out who he is before I make my move.

His cell phone rang. Pulling it out of his pocket, he shook his head before answering. “Casey, what’s up?”

“Hello to you too,” she teased.

If you’re giving me a hard time, I know everything is okay.
“I’m in the middle of something, can I call you back?”

He hated blowing her off, but wedding plans were the last thing on his mind.
I have all the information I need. She should call Mom if she wants to chat.

“This will only take a minute. Since you didn’t reply to my text message yesterday, I figured I better call you.”

He saw it, but that was right before he walked in on Hannah’s little meltdown. Getting back to her about when he was going to arrive for the wedding didn’t make his list of important items.

“I know the time, Casey. You know I’ll be there if I can.”

“Why can’t you come and stay a few days before the wedding? Kevin is going to be here, and so are Mom and Dad. I’d love us all to spend some time together.”

It’d been a long time since they all hung out together. Maybe a holiday or two over the last twenty years. Their schedules usually collided. This time, he wasn’t deployed, but he also didn’t want to leave Hannah alone with the guy upstairs.
If I’d been here when he looked at the apartment, he wouldn’t be a tenant. Just because you think you’re safe, Hannah, doesn’t mean you are. And nothing is going to happen to you on my watch. That I promise you.

Mark was shocked at himself even for thinking the word promise, but something in his gut said it wasn’t a slip, he meant it.

“I’ve got something I’m working on here, Casey. I can’t leave.”

“I thought you were doing construction for Sissie’s cousin, Hannah. Is she that difficult that she won’t let you go for a few days? I mean you don’t need the job, Mark. If you can’t stand her, then leave now and come here.”