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I lower my hands and fold my arms self-protectively. “Why were you following me?”
“I want to talk to you.” A combination of wariness and desperation rises to his eyes, as if he already knows how confused, hurt, and angry I’ve been all these months. “Please.”
“What makes you think I want to talk to you?”
“I understand if you don’t, but all I’m asking is that you hear me out.” He steps toward me, hands outstretched. “Please, Hannah. Give me one hour. That’s it.”
“You need to talk to me for a full hour?”
“Ineedto talk to you for a lot longer than that, but right now, I’ll take an hour.” He flexes his hands, his shoulders tensing. “Just one. I’m begging you.”
Though I don’t know how I can be near him for even another second without touching him, his pleas are more than I can stand.
“Okay.” I nod sharply, keeping my arms crossed. “Your one hour starts now.”
He digs a set of keys out of his jeans pocket. “First, get in your car and follow me. I’ll be in the gray SUV.”
“Where are we going? Why can’t you talk here?”
“I promise, I’ll explain everything.” He strides over to the SUV, his long legs carrying him across the parking lot in seconds.
I get into my car, waiting for him to navigate the SUV out of the parking lot. I start the engine and push the gas pedal. Though part of me wants to drive in the opposite direction, I turn onto the same street as he does.
Because even now, even after all that happened and didn’t happen, I will follow this man anywhere.
ChapterTwenty-Two
Hannah
After a half-hour drivesouth of the city, Dane turns onto a road that winds through the hills and valleys of the Pacific coastline. The sunset enhances the pure majesty of the cypress trees, the rocky, rugged shores, and the glittering expanse of the ocean.
The small city of Crescent Bay populates the coastline. Agriculture fields share the landscape with the forested hills, and the downtown area hosts a handful of shops, cafés, and businesses.
Dane bypasses the main street and drives another couple of miles south to a rickety little harbor with a few boats bobbing in the water. A weather-beaten, wooden building on stilts hovers on a cliff above the water, looking as if it’s about to tip right into the ocean.
Dane pulls up beside it and jumps out of the SUV. I park behind him, aware of a faint curiosity flickering to life.
As I get out of the car, he retrieves a key from his key ring and walks to the front porch. The splintered and worn siding has peeling paint and salt-encrusted windows. Dane unlocks the front door and ushers me inside, turning on a light switch.
A single bulb illuminates a large space and low counter with a couple of broken chairs. Dust, dried leaves, and trash litter the floor, and a musty smell hangs in the air.
I walk to the banks of the wide windows overlooking the ocean. A warped side door leads to a porch that looks as if it might collapse with the slightest weight.
“What is this place?” I ask.
“It’s mine.”
My heart bumps. I turn to face him. “Yours?”
He nods, an unmistakable pride glimmering in his eyes. “I signed the final papers a couple of days ago. Obviously, it needs a lot of work, but it’s a perfect location for a seafood shack.”
I press a hand to my chest. “You did it. You’re going to open a restaura—seafood shack.”
“I’m going to start the process,” he amends, resting his hand on a splintered wooden pillar. “I have to do a lot of rebuilding, but I’ve contacted an architect and a structural engineer—a man whose son I brought in years ago—and I’m getting the permits filed. It’ll take a while.”
“But you’re doing it.” I blink back a sudden sting of tears. “That’s wonderful. I’m so proud of you.”
He smiles faintly, even as regret darkens his eyes. “I’ve missed you, Hannah. There’s no measure for just how much. I’ve felt like I’ve been walking around with this huge hole inside me…a hole where my heart was supposed to be.”
