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“Are you mad?” Hannah asked, after he told her about his mother’s visit.
He shook his head, pushing the porch swing back and forth as they listened to the crickets. “Nah, I guess I just got a taste of my own medicine.”
“I’m sorry. I should’ve stayed out of it.” Yet, when she saw the house, the yard, the view, she just couldn’t bite her tongue.
He shrugged. “It’s fine. Really.”
She thought back to when she first met Jake Malloy in the grocery store. She would never have believed she’d be sitting here with him, swinging on his front porch under the silver glow of moonlight. “I’m sorry for getting mad at you. That day we first met.”
He smiled, showing off his dimple. “I told you I wasn’t such a creep.”
“You were right.” She playfully pushed her shoulder into him. “But you were also right about Troy. I can see the signs so clearly now. The fear kind of blinded me to it all, if that makes any sense.”
He nodded and kept pushing his foot against the floor.
“I’m really sorry about how everything went with your stepdad,” she said. She could see his heart had been crushed with the loss of his job, soon the ranch, and maybe even the animals.
“I’m going to try to figure out how to get some land, find a place I can afford.” He settled his arm around her shoulders. “I’m going to find a place for all of us.”
Hannah so badly wanted to believe this was real. That Mr. Marine, the guy who stood up against Troy, was truly her knight in shining armor. But maybe he needed rescuing, too.
Chapter 16
“Come out with me!” Josh yelled through the screen door.
“I’m tired,” Jake said, piling plates into the sink.
“I heard you got in a fight with Dad again?”
Jake leaned against the counter with a sigh. He loved his baby brother, but Josh never understood how very different his life had been. He didn’t understand anything that Jake and their mother had gone through before he was born. How Jake had feared his own father, how he never really trusted men in general.
When he married Hannah, he’d do everything he could to be the best father for Emma. He’d make her feel welcome in his life, just as he had wanted to be included in Ted’s. He’d wanted the guy to prove he was trustworthy, was someone who would protect him, but Ted only saw him as a leech.
“I’m going to church with mom tomorrow,” he said, which was true, but he was mostly going because he wanted to be with Hannah. He was still pretty angry with his mom.
“It’s only 9:30. You can have one drink with your brother.”
“Not tonight.” He wished Josh would grow up and start settling down. Soon.
“Then I’m going to stay here and drink your whiskey.” Josh pushed through the door and headed straight to the cabinet.
Jake took in a deep breath. “Don’t be a donkey.”
“Come on.” He steepled his fingers. “You never come out anymore. Come have some drinks with me.”
“One. And I’ll drive myself,” Jake said. He was not getting stuck there.
“You better show up this time,” Josh muttered as he walked back to his own truck.
Jake groaned as he looked around the kitchen. He wanted to clean up, go to bed, and wake up to see the sunrise before heading to church. The drive to town took only ten minutes, but it dragged by, and all he wanted to do was swing a U-turn and head home.
The minute he stepped into Lumberjacks, he knew he should’ve stayed home. Allison was standing at the bar. She looked at the door as he walked in, just as though she had been waiting for him. Her eyes were hot with anger. This was the last thing he wanted to deal with. He turned around to leave, almost running into Josh coming in behind him.
“You made it!” Josh patted him on the back, pushing him further into the bar. “Billy, grab me two beers!”
The bartender nodded, grabbing the glasses.
