The Kissing Season (7 page)

She ran down the middle of the beautifully manicured garden, way down the back, past the work shed her father made furniture in before the business had grown too big, and headed for her old playhouse, which now stood deserted among some fruit trees. Man, it was hot. She wiped the pooling sweat off her brow as she ducked to enter the little house, wishing for a drink of water. The furniture she’d had in here as a kid was long since gone and she knew her nephews sometimes used the place, pretending it was an army hideaway. The scruffy camo-style cushion on the floor most probably belonged to them, but it would be the perfect place to rest her butt for a few hours because right now she couldn’t imagine wanting to go back into the main house any time soon.

The look on her mother’s face and the acidic tone of her voice would be forever imprinted on Hannah’s mind. She’d anticipated the disappointment; it was why she hadn’t come clean straightaway and why she’d wanted to find the perfect time and way to tell her parents. She’d had time to gather excitement about this baby and she hoped, in time, they would see it as a blessing, not a curse.

Hannah jumped about a mile in the air, somehow stopping short of hitting her head on the low ceiling, as a knock sounded at the door. As a child she’d longed for someone to come knocking and play—her brothers always favored the fort their father had built—but now she just wanted to be alone.

“Can I come in?”

Matt
. Despite everything that had just happened her body tingled and zinged all over at the knowledge of how close he was. She didn’t know whether it was her mind or her libido that said, “Sure. Just push on the door.”

Less than seconds later, she saw the top of his head as he stooped in through the door. “I’m so sorry, Hannah.” He knelt down beside her, his face a vision of anguish and regret. “I thought everyone already knew. I saw the lady who makes the tie-dyed stuff in town the other day and I remembered how much you liked it. Oh, I’m a dick.”

She contemplated telling him she’d forgive him if he let her run her fingers through his thick black hair. If he kissed her as he’d done the other day. “It’s okay,” she said instead. “It’s totally my fault. I
should
have told them by now.”

“Why didn’t you?” he asked, leaning back against the wall. He brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around as if he were settling in for the long haul. With two grown adults, there wasn’t a lot of legroom in her tiny playhouse.

Hannah bit her lip. He was so damn successful he probably couldn’t understand what it felt like to be the black sheep of a family, the one who wasn’t driven or ambitious and constantly made crap decisions that led to stupid mistakes. But something made her try his listening ear on for size.

“I guess I was putting off the lecture. Out of all the Elliot kids, I’m the disappointment. Luke did a business degree and has massive plans to expand Elliot’s. Troy and Shaun are amazing craftsmen, eager to help Luke put Elliot’s on the map.” She shrugged one shoulder and let her own back soften into the wall. “I’m proud of the family business but I don’t want to work there forever. In fact, I’ve never really known what I wanted to do with my life besides get out there and see the world.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” he interjected.

“Mum disagrees. It’s been a sore point between us for years. She thinks I should be at university or barefoot and pregnant to some boring, respectable guy who fits right in with our family.”

Although the muscle at the side of Matt’s mouth twitched a little, Hannah continued. “And so far I’ve managed to fall in love with a zillion different men and none of them have made the cut. Probably why I married Larry before running him through the family test. He felt different from the rest and I didn’t want Mum and Dad to ruin that.”

“Larry?”

She tossed Matt a reproachful glare. “Come on, don’t tell me you’ve been in town a week and haven’t heard about my disastrous marriage to someone I’d known less than a week in Vegas.”

He stopped fighting his smile. “Did you really use an Elvis impersonator as celebrant?”

She hung her head in shame. “Yes. Mum and Dad were horrified. I’m surprised you didn’t hear them yelling all the way in Melbourne. But it was magic at the time. Larry worked with me in the casino and swept me off my feet with fun, smooth compliments and promises of eternal happiness. I thought I was in love and he was the one, but what did I know? Stupidly we never discussed having a family. Stupidly we never bothered with contraception.”

“Shit.”

Hannah had to laugh. “You’re not going to tell me what an idiot I am?”

“Hey, we all make mistakes.”

“Yes, some of us make more monumental ones than others.”

“This Larry,” Matt began, his voice carrying an edge, “what did he do when you found out you were having a baby?”

“He told me he knew the name of a fabulous doctor who could get rid of it real cheap.” She took a breath; the shocking memory of how cold and cutting he’d been threatened her tears to fall. “Apparently this wasn’t the first time he’d been in this predicament. Only he hadn’t married any of the others.”

“Bastard.”

“Yes, I’m good at picking them, but I won’t bore you with the other mistakes in my past. We’d still be here next week. I told Larry I was keeping the baby and he moved quickly to get our marriage annulled. Marriages are easy come and easy go in Vegas.”

“Shit, Hannah.” Matt inched closer and placed a hand on her shoulder in a show of support. “But surely your family will want to support you. They might be surprised at first, but it’s obvious they love you in their own way.”

She nodded. Despite their differences, there was no shortage of love in the Elliot household, but she just couldn’t bear to see the disappointment in her parents’ eyes again. “I planned to tell them after New Year’s. I didn’t want to ruin Christmas and besides, I have my three-month scan on New Year’s Eve. Three months—you’re not supposed to tell until then anyway, in case something happens.”

“You’re not going to your ultrasound alone?” Matt’s eyes widened in what looked to be horror and Hannah wasn’t sure if this was a question or a statement.

She nodded. “Bit hard to bring someone along to hold my hand when no one knows.”

“
I
know.”

Silence sat between them for a few long moments as she grappled to understand if those two words meant anything or if he was simply offering understanding. “And?” she said eventually.

“Well, I suppose your family knows now,” he continued matter-of-factly, “but I’m gathering you’d rather not have them there.” Before she could nod her reply, he added, “Still, this is a monumental milestone in your pregnancy and I’m sure it’ll be full of joy, but what if something isn’t quite right? You shouldn’t be alone at a time like that. I’ll come with you.”

His offer knocked her sideways and the shock must have been spread across her face because he rushed to add, “That’s if you do want someone with you. I don’t want to overstep the mark.”

Yes
. Of course she wanted someone with her. And the sensible thing now that her family knew would be to tell Laura and Jayne as well and get one of them to tag along.

“You’d do that?” she asked instead. “Aren’t you leaving straight after Christmas?” Just the thought of not seeing him for quite some time sparked a cramp in her heart.

He shook his head. “I’ve extended my stay by a week. I’d like to see Mum settled into the house and I can do my work from anywhere. One of the bonuses of my job.”

“Well...” She thought about the comfort of having someone like him along at her appointment. At least she wouldn’t stand out as being single and pregnant. As long as she didn’t start getting ideas about Matt being a permanent fixture in her and the baby’s life, it wouldn’t do any harm for people in the waiting room to jump to that conclusion. “Are you sure? My appointment’s in the morning, but I’m told there are sometimes delays.”

He shrugged. “So we’ll bring snacks and I’ll make sure my phone is loaded with games.”

She laughed. “I suppose it’ll be good practice for when you meet that special someone and have your own baby one day.”

“I suppose so.”

“How’s your mum doing this morning? First Christmas without Tony and all.”

A hardened expression appeared on his face. “She’ll be fine. She might not realize it, but she’s much better off without that loser.”

Hannah raised her eyebrows. “You really didn’t like him, did you?”

“He didn’t give me any reason to.” He rubbed the patch of skin on his elbows and didn’t look at her as he spoke. “He was nice enough when he first met Mum, and I think he tolerated me up until the girls were born, but after that he never let me feel as if I was part of the family.”

“What a jerk.” She placed a hand on her stomach, feeling suddenly protective of her own little bundle. “People who date or marry parents need to understand they are part of a package. If he wasn’t prepared to accept you, he shouldn’t have married your mother.”

“I guess so.” Matt sounded resigned. “But Tony was too selfish to think like that. Mum made him feel good about himself; she idolized him.”

And that made her a little angry with Sarah. “Didn’t she ever see what Tony was like?”

“He was very careful to make sure she never saw how he really felt about me. I guess that’s why I really couldn’t stand the man. If he’d obviously treated me differently, it would have been one thing, but his deception and lies meant I just had to escape. Although he was a loser and couldn’t save a scrap of money in his life, he loved Mum in his own strange way. I figured he might treat her better if I wasn’t around.”

Her heart broke for the teenage boy Matt would have been when he had to make that decision. She reached out and took his hand, ignoring the spark that ignited low in her belly, trying simply to offer sympathy and comfort. “And what about your real dad? Was he happy to have you?”

A smile returned to Matt’s handsome face. “Oh yeah. He was a total womanizer but loved having me around. His many girlfriends thought I was cute—” he shrugged “—go figure, and Dad treated me as a mate more than a son. But he was a great businessman and taught me to work hard for what I want. I shudder to think how I might have turned out if I didn’t go to live with him.”

“I still think you’d have turned out fine.” She squeezed his hand and their gazes met. For a moment she thought he was going to lean forward and kiss her again. Her belly wobbled in delight at the thought but he shook his head slightly, and lifted his hand to brush a few strands of hair out of her eyes. Her heart quaked at his almost intimate touch and she found herself falling into his arms, relishing the support he offered.

As much as she delighted in his type of warmth, it wasn’t safe to get so comfortable. She sighed. “I suppose we’d better go back inside soon. Face the music. Have some turkey and pavlova.”

“You can handle it?” He pulled back slightly and searched her eyes. “I’m happy to take off someplace else if you like.”

“What, and face the fury of Sarah?” A laugh slipped out as she contemplated the lecture he’d get later for following her out into the playhouse without a chaperone. Although maybe his mother wouldn’t worry so much now that she knew Hannah was pregnant, and thus probably not that desirable to a so-called womanizer.

He held his hands up in surrender. “I just bought the woman a house!”

His skeptical tone brought a smile to her lips. He had nice hands. And a very nice voice. His arms felt delicious wrapped around her. In fact, everything about him was just about perfect.

“Thanks for coming out here,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “Thanks for everything. I could
really
fall in love with you if I let myself.”

* * *

M
ATT
STILLED
. H
ANNAH
’
S
words went straight to his heart. Despite knowing he needed to put distance between them immediately, he held her even closer. No woman had ever fit so perfectly in his arms. Some sort of citrus scent wafted up from her hair and it took an effort not to take a deeper breath, not to kiss the top of her head.

The thing was, he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop at a quick chaste kiss. And anything more wouldn’t be fair to either of them.

Me too
,
Hannah
,
me too.
He’d never felt this way before. Ironic that now that he finally did, he couldn’t bring himself to embrace it.

“You’d regret it soon enough,” he said, trying to make a joke despite barely being able to push the breath through his lungs. “I’m a total slob to live with and I snore really badly. There’s more but I wouldn’t want to embarrass myself.”

She extracted herself from his arms and he fought the urge to pull her back, to ask her to go out with him again. He needed to remember she had another man’s baby in her belly and he would never risk putting another child through the pain Tony had bestowed on him. Even if he tried his best to love her baby, he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t feel the same kind of resentment in time.

“Come on.” She heaved herself off the ground and held out her hand to help him up. “Let’s head back inside before we roast in here, or worse, miss the turkey.”

His stomach rumbled as if hearing her words. “You’re brave, you know that, Hannah Elliot? And you’ll make an awesome mother.”

Her smile lit up her face. When they both stooped because of the low ceiling, she leaned forward slightly and pressed her lips against his cheek. “Thanks, Matteo.”

Not staying behind long enough to make a moment, she pushed the door of the tiny playhouse open and began her walk of shame toward the house. Matt slammed the door behind them and jogged to catch up, vowing to stay near her at all times that afternoon and protect her from her family.

When they arrived back at the house, the veranda was deserted. They found everyone already gathered around the Elliots’ long handcrafted Jarrah dining table, the carol music barely audible above loud chatter. The table was ornately decorated with folded red and green napkins, expensive Christmas crackers and a white linen tablecloth. The kids had already opened their crackers and wore brightly colored paper hats on their heads. The sight of two vacant seats side by side pleased Matt, as there was no one he’d rather sit next to than Hannah.