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“It’s Hannah.” The little girl she’d tried so hard to forget returned at that moment.
He grimaced. “What do you want?”
The harshness of his words sliced into her like a sudden paper cut. Just like when she was a girl, she’d held out just a little bit of hope he’d be happy to see her. But she should have known better than to believe in fairytales.
As she looked down at her feet, she remembered Maggie’s advice and lifted her chin, looking him in the eye. “I heard you were sick.”
“You coming for my stuff?” he hissed.
She shouldn’t have been taken back by his manner. He had never been any different.
“No.” She squared her shoulders. “I plan to tell my daughter that her grandfather has cancer, and I wanted to know if you wanted to meet her, but only if you can be civil.”
It wasn’t exactly how she had prepared it in her head, but she got it out.
At first, he just stared at her. “You never told her who her grandfather was?”
For the first time in Hannah’s life, her father looked vulnerable. Weak. She noticed he was practically bald, and completely gray. The deep, dark crevices on his face made him look ancient.
“I didn’t know how to explain why he never wanted to meet her,” she said levelly.
“You were the one who never came back!” he huffed.
“You kicked me out when I was pregnant,” she growled, then shook her head. “This was a mistake.”
“You’re right about that!” he yelled.
She turned away, praying she hadn’t pushed him too far. She didn’t want him to come after her, like he always had with her mother. He had a thing about getting the last word. But instead, she heard a door slamming behind her, and saw that Maggie was out of the car and waiting for her, her arms wide.
“Joel Destin is beyond lucky to have a daughter like you,” she said, as she held Hannah.
“It’s fine.” She held her head up, pretending not to care. “I know now that I shouldn’t tell Emma anything, that’s all. He doesn’t want to meet her.”
Now she could let go. Yet, as she pulled away from her childhood home, it felt more like falling down than moving on.
Chapter 6
It would have been easy to say no to Olivia. She could have watched Mae while Olivia volunteered at the church’s annual spring lunch, but here she was, pulling casseroles out of the oven as the whole town of Prairie Valley streamed into the Fellowship Hall.
“The tradition started long before I came to town,” Pastor Phil said to Hannah as he pulled off the tinfoil. “Can I count you in for Sunday School classes this fall?”
“Sure, Pastor Phil.” Hannah was happy to help with Sunday school. At first, she’d worried that her history might make people not want their children learning about the Bible from her, the sinner, but no one had said anything. At least, not to her face.
Rosie tucked ladles into the dishes. “Mama, you made that tuna casseroleagain? Seriously?”
Hannah laughed.
“There are plenty of alternatives,” Maggie snapped back.
“There’s enough here to feed an army,” Annie said, pulling more dishes out of the oven.
“It started for the farmers,” Maggie said. “A way to bless the new spring planting.”
Hannah loved the idea, but worried that a certain someone who she had been successfully avoiding might come. She was embarrassed by her little tantrum in front of his girlfriend. Jake Malloy was just a nice guy. Why wouldn’t he offer to walk with her and her daughter? Why wouldn’t he tell his family about her situation? It made for a good story. He didn’t tell her much of anything about his life, so why would she expect him to tell her about his girlfriend?
She owed him an apology.
She should’ve passed on attending the church luncheon and stayed home, because apologizing in front of two hundred people wasn’t something she looked forward to. Everyone would be up in her business.
