One thing about these walks though was they weren't great at providing distractions. They gave him far too much time to think, and it was a toss-up over which subject took up the greatest amount of mind space. Ed and the stalker…or Hannah Fletcher. Or more precisely, the last kiss he'd shared with her. The kiss that kept him awake at night, and haunted his dreams when he finally fell into a frustrated slumber.
When he'd first concocted the fake dating scheme, it had all seemed so simple. At most he figured they'd become friends, and he'd be okay with that. Friends were easy. You could care about them, even invest your heart a little, but there wasn't really any risk involved.
Now, though, he felt like he was walking on a balance beam, one that was getting narrower every day, like an arrow pointing directly at Hannah. Like Cupid's arrow, he thought wryly. He realized that it was an appropriate description since things had started to change – at least for him – on their Valentine's date. He refused to put a name to what he was feeling, but it had grown beyond friendship now. Far beyond friendship.
Boomer chose that moment to relieve himself on an oak tree, and Jon decided he'd had enough of his solitary thoughts for one day. He needed to get back to the house, check to see if the weather report had changed at all, and then put his back into some work. Hard work that should put a stop to the daydreams running rampant through his mind. Maybe if he stayed busy enough, they wouldn't taunt him as he lay on the sofa tonight. He ignored the voice reminding him that it hadn't worked so far. Every night for weeks, he fell asleep thinking about her.
~~~~~
When Jon called to let her know that they were calling off work the next day, Hannah was relieved. While Texas got its fair share of storms and slippery roads, it was nothing compared to some of the weather she'd experienced since moving to Michigan. And what was heading their way now was going to be something else.
The last thing she wanted to do was to be on the road in rush hour traffic if the storm arrived on schedule. The only bad thing was she hated that she wouldn't be at the house to help with the insulation like they'd planned. Mostly she didn't want to take a chance on not seeing Jon for seventy-two hours, so she offered to come out earlier, before everything got crazy.
At first, he said it could wait, but then gave in without much of an argument. She knew he wanted to finish the dining room again so he could move on to the rest of the house, and so they'd been holed up in there for most of the day, and by one o'clock, they were finished. He said he figured he could get a lot of the drywall up that evening, and finish it over the weekend since it would take the county most of the day to get to his road.
"Oh no," she said, her hand going to her chest when they walked into the living room. The dining room windows were covered with plastic to help keep the cold air out until the walls were finished, so they hadn't been paying much attention to what was going on outside.
"It's not five-o'clock," Jon said, surprise stopping him in his tracks when he got a gander at what she'd seen. And that was a wall of heavy, swirling white flakes.
"I guess Mother Nature can't tell time."
They both crossed the room to get a better look, their noses nearly pressing against the glass. It didn't help. She could barely see the tree between the house and the road, it was snowing that hard.
"Looks like you're staying here," Jon finally said, turning around and heading for the kitchen. Hannah followed right behind him.
"You don't have a room for company."
"What room do I need? I've got a sofa and blanket for you, and I've got a sleeping bag and the floor for me. Problem solved."
"Jon-"
"If you think I'm letting you go out in this mess, think again. And I'm not taking a chance on getting stuck in a ditch to take you home." She laughed at that.
Not that his old truck had been a piece of junk or anything, but he was extremely pleased with – and protective of – the new one. Big, and shiny, and red, she teased him a few days ago that he must have been spending a small fortune at the car wash. When he clamped his lips together and didn't answer, she knew he probably was stopping off there every day. No one else she knew kept their vehicle as clean as he was keeping his.
"What can I say? I like my truck. But…now that you're stuck here for the night," he said, opening the refrigerator, then cringing at the mostly bare shelves, "we need to figure out something for lunch. I have bacon and eggs, but we'll need them for morning. On the other hand, I have a boatload of frozen dinners. Enough to get us through the weekend if need be. And all the microwave popcorn you could ever want."
"If we don't lose power. I've never seen this much snow."
"Yeah, and lucky us that it showed up half a day earlier than the forecast said. Don't worry though. While we don’t usually get blizzards, we do get a lot of snow, so this is pretty normal."
"But what about the electricity? Will it go out?"
"I don't know. Probably not. But if it does, I have a generator. And I stocked up on enough gas to power the furnace, refrigerator, and stove for a couple of days. Just in case, we should get plastic up over the dining room doorway. It will help keep the cold air in there out of the rest of the house." While the siding and plywood had been replaced, and insulation was up now, the walls still hadn't been rebuilt and there was a bit of a breeze blowing across the floor from that room.
"Do you think it would last that long?" she asked. She'd thought he was joking before, but now she wasn't so sure. Jon glanced over his shoulder and chuckled.
"Is the idea of being stuck with me for two days that unpleasant?"
"No. Gosh, no. I just planned to spend the afternoon painting. When I left Lansing, the idea of being snowed in here never even occurred to me. If it had, I might have at least brought a change of clothes."
"I didn't even think about that. I can probably get you home before it gets worse if you want. You'd have to leave your car here though."
"Before it gets worse? You've got to be kidding me. Jon, you can't even see the road from the front window. Besides, I thought you didn't want to get stuck in a ditch."
"Yeah, I know. The thought of being out in this mess isn't high on the list of things I want to do today, but if you re set on going home, I can get you there."
"No. I would never ask you to go out in weather like this. It's too dangerous."
"Good. Then we'll have to see what I can come up with for you to wear for the night. Sweats and a tee shirt? We can wash your clothes so they're clean for tomorrow. Another problem solved. So what do you want for supper?" He closed the refrigerator door and opened the freezer. "Meatloaf, stuffed peppers, mac and cheese…or a three meat, self-rising pizza."
"Pizza works for me, if it sounds all right to you."
"Hey, I love pizza." He pulled a box out and dropped it on the counter. "We can even make a pot of hot cocoa."
"I didn’t see any milk in there."
"That's why I buy the instant stuff. And I don't mess around either." She laughed when he pulled out a huge round canister that he could have only found at food warehouse.
"I don't think I could use that up in two years."
"You don't supply food and drinks to a bunch of growing boys who help refurbish houses either," he pointed out. She laughed again.
"Growing boys. Yeah, right."
"Okay, hardworking boys then."
"That I'll buy."
It was only then that Hannah remembered the two men sitting in cars outside, and she nearly groaned in frustration. While she hadn't planned on spending more than a few hours here, she was actually looking forward to more time alone with him. If she opened her mouth now, the new, unexpected plans would come crashing to a halt. But if she didn't say anything… She closed her eyes and sighed.
"Hey, Jon?"
"What?" He was reaching into a lower cupboard for a pan.
"Do you think that pizza will stretch to feed four?"
"Four?" he asked, glancing
over her shoulder. The expression on his face when he realized what she meant was enough to make her laugh, but she bit her lip instead. "I have a few of them, so there's plenty. Hang on while I give my guy a call. He can haul yours in with him."
When Jon couldn't get the call to go through, they tried Ryan Campbell, the guard assigned to Hannah today, but apparently his phone wasn't working either. Hannah found that hard to believe, especially with them sitting within sight of the house, but Jon said it could just be the storm, that or they had lousy carriers.
"I'm going to put these in the oven, and then I guess I'm going to go out and extend a personal invitation. You up for getting skunked at a little euchre?"
"Yeah right," she said with an unladylike snort. Apparently he had a case of selective memory, though the grin he tried to hide indicated otherwise.
"Since we're going to have extra guests, we might as well play a few games. My guard and I against you and yours? He probably plays better than Dan."
"In your dreams," she said, as she pulled the drawer by the sink open to retrieve the deck of cards. "I'll deal."
"No stacking."
"If I'm dealing, I'm stacking."
"Cheater."
"Oh well. That's what you get for making me deal."
"Hey, you offered."
~~~~~
He knew she could stack the deck as well as he could, which wasn't at all, but the back-and-forth banter was fun. He'd never experienced this level of camaraderie with any other woman, not even the wives of his friends, and they were more like sisters. Not that he had any sisters, but that's what he imagined them to be like.
It was just too bad their afternoon was going to be spoiled with the guards. But he couldn't, in good conscience, let them freeze to death out there. And then there was the fact that they weren't all that good at their jobs on a good day. What could they possibly do in weather like this?
Hannah gave him a hard time when he slipped into his jacket, and pulled on thick gloves and a knit hat. She was afraid he'd get lost out there and they'd find him dead in the snow tomorrow morning, but he assured her that visibility wasn't exactly zero. He reminded her that they could see the big oak tree from the front window – barely – but they could see it. He'd be fine, he promised, but it did warm his heart to know that she'd be waiting anxiously at the door when he returned with the guys.
After they'd eaten, he actually teamed up with her for the card games, and the guards beat them seven games out of ten. Then, after they all worked to get plastic up over the dining room doorway, Jon decided they were done for the day. Thanks to the weather reports, everyone else had the day off, and he announced that they were just going to be lazy until bedtime.
He was surprised by the pleasure it gave him to think of her sleeping in his house. Even though she'd be on the sofa while he'd be on the floor, along with Martin and Ryan, she would still be here. He liked the thought, probably more than he should have, but he was past the point of caring what he should or shouldn't think or feel when it came to this woman.
~~~~~
In Hannah's opinion, this was turning into a perfect afternoon after all. Boomer lay on her left, his head in her lap. Jon was on her right, and they sat close, her head against his shoulder. Their guards had turned out to be very personable and nice men, and they were as comfortable as they could be on two metal folding chairs.
Hannah was completely engrossed in the superheroes movie Jon had put on to play an hour or so ago. If she'd had any idea that there were so many sexy hunks in one film, she'd have been parked in the theater when it came out in order to see them on the big screen. And she might have gone to see it more than once. One thing was sure, it was going on her list of 'must owns.'
She was vaguely aware of his phone chirping during one particularly intense action scene, and even heard him mutter something about interruptions, but she was jolted back to reality when she felt him stiffen, and then sit forward.
"What? Where?"
She looked up at him in alarm. Something was wrong and she hoped she could figure it out from his end of the conversation. With the weather being so bad, she hated to think what could happen if anyone she cared about was out on the road.
"No. No, thank you for calling. I'll go find him now." As he disconnected the call, he closed his eyes and scrubbed a hand over his face. She heard the chairs creaking as the guys came to their feet.
"Jon, what is it?" she asked, a knot forming in her stomach as she stared at his face. Someone was out there – but who?
"That was a guy who works at a country store ten or twelve miles from here. Someone stopped one of his customers on her way in and said he had a note from a guy in a ditch down the road. It's Ed. He's trapped out in this storm, and I need to go pick him up." He looked at his phone again, pressed a number, and listened. "Ed, it's Jon. If you get this message, call me. Just sit tight, I'm on my way."
"His voice mail?" she asked, then rolled her eyes. Of course it was his voice mail.
"Yeah. I need you to hunker down here," he said, getting to his feet. He looked at Martin. "You can come with me. Ryan, you stay here. And don't either of you even think about taking Boomer out on the leash. Just hook him on the lead and don't leave him out long. Hannah, let's trade phones. Reception out there can be kind of spotty. If he gets a signal, I might lose mine. This way we'll be sure he gets through to you." Before she could argue with him, Martin spoke up.
"Just stop. Give us a minute here, okay? Let me call Ed's guards. If they couldn't get him out of the ditch, they'd have taken him in their vehicle. He's not stuck in the storm, trust me." Realizing what he'd said, he asked, "Can I use your phone? They give us these cheap pieces of crap that don't work if someone sneezes wrong."
"What brand is it?" Ryan, a blond, stocky young man asked.
When they actually took a moment to compare phones, Hannah wanted to scream. Her father was out there in this mess and they were trying to see who had the better phone? Turns out they both had the same brand of phones, and she could only look at Jon and shake her head in disgust. She knew they were paying big bucks to hire these companies, and the owners couldn't even provide their employees and clients with decent cell service?
"I can't get through to either one of them," Martin said, scowling as he gave Jon's phone back. "I guess we're going out after him after all."
"I guess we are." Jon looked down punched a number on the keypad, waited for a moment then said, "Hey, Dan, it's me. We've got a problem."
Chapter 11
Jon didn't waste any time, slipping into warm, thick boots and rolling up his sleeping bag while he explained what was going on to Dan, who sounded every bit as worried as he was. Neither one of them liked the thought of Ed being stranded in this mess. And they couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't hitched a ride to the county store with the man who passed the message along. He couldn't be that protective over his SUV. Could he?
"Just let me tell Jess what's going on and I'll be on my way over to your place in five minutes," Dan said. Jon could tell by his tone that he was as scared as he was.
"Not a chance. I've got enough to worry about with Ed out there. Besides, Martin is going with me."
"Who's Martin?"
"The guard who was assigned to me today. But listen, Dan, visibility is next to nothing, and the roads are bad. I mean bad. Have you been listening to any of the news reports? My truck will get through it fine, but I'm not so sure about your Trail Blazer. You need to stay home with your wife and daughter. I'll let you know when I get him. You just keep trying him. If I leave now, I might be able to get us all back here before dark."
"I suppose you're right. Did the guy from the store say anything about Ed's bodyguards?"
"They're probably in their own ditch. If I see them while I'm out, I'll pick them up, too. But it's going to be hard enough to find Ed in this mess."
"Just be careful, Jon."
"I will." After a lengthy pau
se, Dan muttered,
"I love you guys, and I plan on you being around for a long, long time."
"You know we love you, too. And I have zero plans of kissing my life goodbye. Not for a lot of years. And we're not losing Ed either."
"I'm going with you," Hannah said when he ended the call. Martin and Ryan both started to protest, but Jon held up his hand to stop them and said,
"No you're not. It's dangerous out there."
"Well I'm not staying here. Ryan can take care of Boomer, so there's no reason I can't come along."
"Hannah, I don't have time for this."
"Good, then stop arguing with me. I'm going. And if you don't take me with you, I'll take my car."
"Oh for crying out loud!" He glared at her, wondering what he might say that would get her to change her mind. The last thing he needed was to have to worry about her, too.
"He's my dad, Jon. I need to see that he's all right."
~~~~~
Jon closed his eyes and sighed. One thing he'd learned about this woman over the past couple of months was that she could be the sweetest person on the planet. She could also be the most stubborn.
"Fine. Grab my thermos out from under the sink and fill it up with what's left of the cocoa. I'm going to go get a couple of flashlights and my sleeping bag. He'll probably be frozen solid by the time we find him."
He always kept an emergency stash in the toolbox in the bed of his truck in the winter. A few bags of cat litter to help in case he got stuck, another sleeping bag, matches, candles and empty coffee cans filled with a few inches of sand, and even a few snacks. He also kept a few flares year round, just in case. He thought hard about anything else they might need and, as an afterthought, grabbed a couple of blankets. Layers were always good, and if Ed was too cold, they would come in handy.
Her Best Friend Jon Page 14