Hannah's Home

by Pamela Kelley

  “Hey! What are you up to?”

  “I’m at the market and I need your advice. Are you busy?” It was a little past four, kind of an in-between time for the restaurant.

  “Not yet. I’m just cutting fruit and getting ready for tonight.”

  “Okay, so I went fishing with Hannah today and she’s coming over tonight to eat what we caught. I’m planning to grill the fish. What else should I do?”

  “Hannah’s coming for dinner? That’s great. Hm, why don’t you grab a bag of those little new potatoes, slice them in half, toss with some olive oil, salt and pepper, wrap in tin foil and let them cook on the grill along with the fish. Do the same with some asparagus, just add a little lemon and parmesan.”

  “I think I can manage that. What about dessert?”

  “Go to the bakery and find something chocolatey. Every girl likes chocolate.”

  “Got it. Thanks, Mags.”

  “Anytime. Tell Hannah I said hi. And don’t worry. You’ve got this.”

  David smiled as he hung up the phone. He could always count on his sister. Maggie didn’t ask any uncomfortable questions, she just gave him the information he needed and wished him well. He loved that about her.

  He quickly found what he needed, and got everything prepped and ready to go so that when Hannah arrived, he could throw it all on the grill. He was surprised to find that he was a little nervous, too. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt like this around a girl. He knew that it was partly because he couldn’t get a good read on Hannah. She was pleasant enough and she seemed to have a good time out on the boat, but he couldn’t tell if she was interested in him, that way. He hoped that he’d find out soon.

  “Charlie, I need your expertise. What kind of wine would you recommend with grilled trout?”

  “Hmm, well the obvious choice would be a crisp Sauvignon Blanc, but I know you’re more of a red wine drinker. A light Pinot Noir would go nice, too, or a Beaujolais. Just go easy on the lemon.”

  “I was wondering if Pinot Noir might work. Thanks, Charlie.”

  “Did you catch this fish?” her brother asked.

  “No, mine was too small. David caught one that was big enough.”

  “And you’re cooking it?”

  “No, he is. I’m heading to his house soon and wanted to bring some wine.”

  “Interesting. Is there a love connection there?” he asked.

  “With David? I don’t think it’s like that. We’re just friends. I’m just glad we’re getting along, finally.”

  “Hm. Yeah, things were a little prickly with the two of you at the charity event. I’m glad that it’s better now. David’s a good guy.”

  “Thanks. I’ll see you at Mom’s tomorrow for brunch?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it.” Their mother often had them over on Sunday mornings to catch up.

  Hannah went to the local wine shop and chose a bottle of her favorite Pinot Noir, Belle Glos. When she got home, she took a long shower and dressed in a fresh pair of dark jeans and a soft cashmere v-neck sweater in a pretty peach shade. She curled her hair so that it fell in long, loose curls and added a touch of makeup—just a bit of mascara, blush and lip gloss.

  At a few minutes before six, she grabbed her purse, the bottle of wine and made her way to David’s house. He came to the door right after she knocked and showed her in. She handed him the bottle of wine and he set it on the kitchen counter. As she looked around, she saw that his house was about the same size as hers but had a decidedly masculine feel to it, with lots of dark wood and greens and blues. He noticed her looking around and smiled.

  “Do you want to see the rest of the place? The layout is actually pretty similar to yours. I think it was the same builder.” He showed her around and it was very similar. The only thing missing was the dock and view of the lake.

  When they came back to the kitchen, David found a wine opener and poured them each a glass of the wine that Hannah had brought. He had several tin foil packages on the counter and brought them out to the grill, which was already smoking.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” she offered.

  “Just keep me company while this cooks.” They sipped their wine and chatted on his back deck while everything cooked on the grill. After a while, David checked to see if it was done and after a few more minutes, he brought everything in and let it sit on the counter in the foil packets for a bit to rest. Hannah knew this meant the food would continue cooking, but also the resting period would distribute the juices back through the food as it cooled slightly.

  “I’m excited to try it. It doesn’t get much fresher than this.”

  “That’s very true.” David filled two plates with food and they ate at his dining room table. It was a sleek glass table on top of black wrought iron. It was still light out and there was a pretty view of his garden, which was a mix of flowers and vegetables.

  “What are you growing? Your garden is gorgeous. And this fish is delicious.” Everything was good. The vegetables had a smoky flavor from the grill and the fish was light and nicely seasoned. As Charlie had suggested, it went well with the wine.

  “I have a little of everything. Besides the flowers, I have zucchini, eggplant, green beans, rhubarb, cucumbers, tomatoes and blueberries. Do you like to garden?”

  Hannah smiled. “What is it called when everything dies? That’s me, the opposite of a green thumb. A black thumb, maybe? I forget to water and they die. It’s very sad.”

  David chuckled. “That sounds like Maggie, too. Oh, be sure to save some room for dessert.”

  Hannah perked up at the mention of dessert. “Oh, what do you have?”

  “Some kind of chocolate cake. The box said lava, though I’m not sure what that means. The girl behind the counter said it was her favorite.”

  “Molten lava cake is one of my favorite desserts. If we heat it in the microwave for a few seconds, it makes the middle all gooey and melty so when you cut into it, it oozes out.”

  “Like lava. That sounds…interesting.”

  “Just wait…if you haven’t had it before, I bet you’ll love it, too.”

  “I’m easy. I like all desserts.”

  When they finished, Hannah carried their plates into the kitchen while David got the cake, cut two slices and put them into the microwave for thirty seconds.

  “Do you want anything else to drink? I could make us some coffee,” he offered.

  Hannah shook her head. “No, thanks. I still have half a glass of wine and I know from experience that it goes well with chocolate cake.”

  “Oh, I might need to top mine off, then.” He added a splash to his empty glass and a little more to hers, too. They took their desserts and wine into the living room and sat side by side on his leather sofa. It was buttery soft and Hannah sank into it. When they were both settled, she took a bite of the cake. It was as good as she remembered.

  “What do you think?” she asked after she’d taken a few bites.

  “I didn’t like it at all,” David said and she laughed when she saw that his plate was completely empty. He set it on the coffee table next to his wine glass and leaned back, stretching his arm across the back of the sofa, behind her.

  She finished her cake and set the plate down next to his. When she leaned back against the soft leather, she turned toward David and he was smiling.

  “Thanks for spending today with me. It was a really great day.”

  “It was. I had so much fun. Thank you for teaching me how to fish.”

  “There’s something I’ve thought about doing all day.” David looked into her eyes and smiled slowly, and she felt the air shift between them.

  “What’s that?” Her voice came out breathy, which surprised her.

  David leaned in and she felt his arm on her shoulder, drawing her closer to him. His lips touched hers and it felt amazing. She kissed him back and they stayed like that for a while, slowly kissing until finally, David pulled back and brushed a long strand of hair off her face.<
br />
  “We need to do that again soon,” he said.

  “Fishing?”

  He laughed. “Sure, that too. But I meant this.” He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss.

  “Oh, that! I’d much rather do that than go fishing,” she said quickly and he laughed.

  “Well, as much as I enjoy fishing, I’d have to agree with you there.”

  Reluctantly, Hannah stood. It was getting dark out now and she didn’t want to be out too late, since she was going to her mother’s in the morning.

  “I should probably get going,” she said.

  David jumped up. “I’ll walk you back to your house.”

  “You don’t have to,” she protested.

  “I know, but I want to. It’s dark and there’s a streetlight out. I don’t want to worry about you getting home safely.”

  “All right, then.”

  He walked her the short distance to her house and Hannah was grateful for it. It was darker out than she’d realized. David gave her another quick kiss before she went inside, and waited until she was in and the door locked behind her before he turned to walk home.

  Chapter 12

  The next week went by in a whirl for Hannah. Things were going almost too well with David. They saw each other almost every day. He took her to his favorite restaurant, a small Italian place called Mamma Mia’s that was in the next town over, Riston. And he took her to River’s End ranch on Thursday night to play trivia. One of his best clients, Wade Weston, ran the ranch and some of his family and friends played trivia most weeks. It was a lot of fun and Hannah got a kick out of an older couple, Jaclyn and Simon, that David said always played with them.

  Jaclyn acted as though she already knew Hannah when David introduced her. She was sweet, though a little eccentric and muttered something about how the fairies were up to their shenanigans again. Everyone just nodded when Jaclyn said things like that and no one seemed to think anything of it. Especially when she knew the answer to the final trivia question which meant their team came in first place and won a gift certificate to use the following week.

  She gave Hannah a warm hug when they left and whispered softly, “I’m so pleased. The fairies told me that you’ll be back again and I’m looking forward to it.” It made little sense to Hannah, but she’d just smiled and told her that she hoped she’d play with them again soon.

  “Oh, I have no doubt that you will. The fairies know, my dear!”

  Hannah smiled as she remembered the evening. She’d enjoyed meeting Wade and his wife Maddie, and the rest of their group. This was exactly what she’d hoped for in moving to Quinn Valley, a tight knit community of family and friends.

  Maggie and Charlie seemed thrilled for both of them. They’d met them out Monday night, which was Maggie’s night off. They’d gone bowling and had pizza afterwards. Hannah hadn’t bowled in years and was surprised by how good Charlie and David were. She was glad that Maggie was as bad as she was. It was still fun, though, and they laughed for several hours as they threw one gutter ball after another.

  “My brother seems smitten,” Maggie said as they turned their bowling shoes in at the end of the night.

  “You think so? He’s a really great guy.”

  “I agree, he is. And yeah, I haven’t seen him like this in a very long time. I think you two could be really good for each other.”

  “I hope so. I’m beginning to think we might be,” Hannah admitted.

  “So, how is it going with Hannah? Seems like you guys are getting along pretty well,” Charlie said while Hannah and Maggie were at the shoe counter.

  “It’s going great. I didn’t expect this at all. Hannah has been a pretty wonderful surprise.”

  “I’m glad you’re just a few doors away. I feel safer knowing you are nearby,” Charlie said. The comment surprised David.

  “Quinn Valley is a pretty safe place.”

  “Oh, right. Yes, of course it is. I just meant that it’s nice in case she needs you for anything or if you need her, you guys are so close.”

  “Right. I have to admit it’s certainly convenient. And my boat is at her dock now. She was nice to offer that and of course I jumped on the opportunity. I don’t mind not having the house now that I have use of the dock.” He grinned.

  “Well, I think that benefits her, too. She was thinking of getting a small boat, but now maybe she’ll just use yours.”

  “I’m fine with that.”

  David was amazed by how well things seemed to be going with Hannah. She was so easy to be with and even easier to kiss. Kissing Hannah was one of his new favorite hobbies. He loved the softness of her lips and the feel of her long, silky hair and whatever the soap or lotion was that she used, the smell of it drove him crazy. It was sweet and slightly floral, and uniquely her.

  He was looking forward to the charity event for the kids’ center being over with, though. Even though she didn’t say anything, he could tell that Hannah was feeling somewhat stressed about it. Every time it was mentioned, he noticed a shift in her, a nervousness or apprehension. He wished that he could just tell her to forget about it, but the ticket sales had gone crazy. The money raised from the event would fund the kids’ center for a very long time.

  Once it was over, though, he looked forward to a more relaxed Hannah, one who could focus on her songwriting and spending time with him.

  Chapter 13

  The Wednesday before the event, Hannah woke to sun streaming through her window and the feeling that it was going to be a good day. Her nervousness about performing was starting to fade. She thought it might have something to do with the time she’d been spending with David and she knew that they were going to be raising a lot of money for the kids’ center.

  She was starting to feel her creative juices flowing, too, and was excited to start planning her songwriting workshops and class for the kids’ center. As she went to sleep the night before, it was to a new melody and she even had an idea of some lyrics to go with it. As soon as she got up, she made her coffee, then settled at her piano with her notebook and pen and tried to capture the music that she’d ‘heard’ the night before.

  It came right back. She played the chords and was pleased with how it sounded. When it was right, she felt something deep within her and every time she’d had the feeling, the song had gone on to be a huge hit. She stayed at the piano for hours, playing bits and pieces of the song and jotting down lyrics, discarding and trying new words until the fit was right.

  When she was finally done, her stomach was growling, reminding her that it was time for lunch, and her coffee was mostly untouched and ice cold. But she was happy with the work that she’d done. The song was just about finished. It needed a final fine tuning and she thought she might debut it at the show on Saturday to see how the crowd liked it.

  She stood and stretched out her muscles. She had a tendency to sit for too long when she was in the flow of a project. She heated up a can of soup and settled at her kitchen island with her laptop. She hadn’t checked her email in a few days and figured if there was anything earth-shattering, her assistant, Mary would have called or texted her. She picked up her phone and while there were no voice messages, she was surprised to see three urgent text messages from Mary, asking her to call ASAP.

  Before she did, Hannah opened her email and her jaw dropped when she saw several hundred messages, way more than usual. Before wading through them, she googled herself to see what came up. Sure enough, she was in the news. The Lewiston arena performance was in the headlines along with a rumor from an ‘inside source’ that Hannah had changed her mind and was putting together a new national tour. There was lots of speculation from multiple sources on what that would look like and she was amazed how so many were posting the information as if it was a fact, based on that one ‘inside source’.

  She picked up her phone and called Mary. She answered on the first ring.

  “Have you looked online?” Mary asked.

  “Yes, just now. It’s crazy. Where
do they come up with this stuff?”

  “I have no idea, but it’s ridiculous. I swear they just make it up to sell magazines. How many times has Jennifer Aniston supposedly been pregnant?”

  Hannah laughed. “Right, I know. What should we do about it, though? I don’t want people thinking I’m going back on tour and then disappointing them again.”

  “I’ll take care of it. I’ll put an announcement on the website that there is no upcoming tour and if that ever changes, it will be announced first on the website. And I’ll contact that magazine too and ask them to post a correction.”

  “Okay, that sounds good. Thanks, Mary.” Hannah sighed as she ended the call and brought her attention back to her emails. Most of them were junk, ads for various online stores. But a familiar email address made her pause. She really had thought that her stalker was just someone fooling around, not anything to be taken too seriously. The last email when David was over, had just been more of the same, warning her to stop touring. It had thrown her at first, and then she just forwarded it to Mary and tried not to worry about it. With a sense of dread, she clicked on the email with the subject line, “You didn’t listen.”

  It was a short email, but it gave her goose-bumps.

  “You said you were going to stop touring. And now you are selling out yet another arena. You lied. But, you are stupid, too. Because now I know where you live, Hannah. I know about your nice house on the lake and your dock with the boat. If you don’t stop touring, I’ll find a way to make you stop. I am watching your every move, Hannah. It would be a mistake to ignore me.”

  Hannah sighed and pressed her hands to her temples. She felt a stress headache coming on. She’d had a bad feeling ever since she agreed to do the show. There was no way she could back out now, though. They’d had to move to a bigger venue because of the demand to see Hannah Keane. There was too much at stake now, too much money raised for the kids’ center.