Hannah felt a small shudder inside. Commotion was not something she figured she could get used to. “Well, anyway, I am not alone here. I have Sheila, my agent, who sends me about four emails a day, and I have people that I correspond with online, and I have all my characters who keep me company all day.”
“But they aren’t real.” His tone wasn’t mean, but it hurt just the same.
“To some people they are!” Hannah retorted, more strongly than she meant to. Then, more softly, “I write about characters that mean something to my readers.” She thought about her novel she had picked up in California and read from. “Ok, not all my novels have deep meaning, but I like to think that, someday, somebody is going to hear one of my stories and it is really going to make a difference for them. Either they will think that they aren’t the only one out there that feels a certain way or it will allow them to escape for a while from whatever pain or hurt they are in.”
“I’d like to read one of your stories.” There was a definite sincerity to his voice.
“You wouldn’t get them.” Hannah was still feeling somewhat defensive.
“Why not?”
“Because you’re a guy.”
“What, guys don’t need escape once in a while?” The smile he added to the comment melted Hannah’s disposition and she began to giggle.
“Fine, I will pick one of my sappiest romance novels and you can share it with your book club. Get back to me on how that one goes.”
“Deal! Now, can I pay my tab at this resort by making you breakfast?”
Hannah had prepared her cupboards in case she needed to make him anything. The truth was, she didn’t generally eat breakfast. Normally she grabbed her coffee and a powerbar or a smoothie or something else she could take with her to the porch to nibble on while she worked. In truth, most her meals were this way; a bowl of soup for lunch, some cereal for dinner. She didn’t remember the last time she had cooked. “You want to make ME breakfast?”
“Sure, your choice – pancakes, eggs, waffles, French toast, crepes. You name it I can make it. Or if you prefer, I can make some of each and invite you in to your own buffet.”
“Surprise me! But not too much, I really don’t need much.”
“Great. You can have some time out here to work, and I will let you know when it is ready.”
It was a nice gesture on his part. She really hadn’t worked in almost a week, it seemed, and was beginning to feel a little panicky. But somehow she couldn’t bring herself to focus on the words in front of her. Her mind was in the kitchen, listening to the sounds of the pots and pans being rattled around, the water from the sink turning on at times, and a quiet whistling from the amazing man who was in there.
They spent the day wandering around the little town Hannah barely spent time in. Somehow, though, with Daniel at her side she didn’t mind the people and even enjoyed looking in some of the shops she never would have ducked in to. Daniel found the tourist shop lined street enchanting.
“It’s like Disneyland’s Main Street” he commented, and it was in that light that Hannah began to see it. Mostly they just walked and talked and spent time together.
Hannah made dinner again for Daniel back at the house and afterward they snuggled on the glider that she had on the front porch, never tiring of watching the sun fade behind the tree line, the reddening sky or the stars popping out a few at a time. The crickets and the evening birds, along with the trickle of a stream nearby, was their background music. Hannah was proud of where she lived, and proud to share it with Daniel.
“It is incredible… I will give you that,” he murmured. “Now it is your turn to see where I live. Next weekend you come visit me.”
Hannah suddenly realized that this is what it would mean to have a relationship with him: weekends back and forth between the two parts of the country. It wasn’t the cost of the airfare that concerned her. Certainly, if there was anything good about the current economy it was that she could fly to see him for nearly the price of a date to the movies. She could get used to him coming to see her every weekend. But to have to fly to go see him, to deal with the trip to Denver and the chaos of D.I.A….? The panic must have shown in her eyes.
“Just try coming out once. I checked, and you can even fly out of the Copper Mountain airport for only about twenty dollars more round trip. That is near here, isn’t it?
In fact, it was closer, only down the mountainside from her. She really had no reason to say no. “Ok, that is only fair….” She still wasn’t convinced.
“Thank you, I can’t wait to show you where I live. You will love it there. It is different from here but it is beautiful as well. You will see.”
Hannah was ready for the subject to change. She didn’t need to have a panic attack at the moment in front of Daniel. As if he sensed her discomfort, Daniel pulled Hannah tighter into his arms, comforting and sensual all at once.
“I don’t want you to feel like we are moving this relationship too fast” he spoke quietly into her ear. “I have waited a long time to find you and I promise, I will wait as long as you need to feel comfortable with me.”
He then lifted her chin so that he could see into her eyes, and he kissed her tenderly on the lips. “You are beautiful. You are perfect.”
Hannah doubted both of these statements, but she kissed him again and got lost in the kiss. At the moment, this was all that mattered.
Hannah felt her sadness when she woke up Sunday morning. It surprised her how quickly she had let her guard down with Daniel and let him into her heart. And it scared her. After she had lost her parents, it seemed easier to never let anyone get close to her again. She couldn’t stand to go through the pain again. And here she was, falling hard for a man she barely knew.
Hannah’s chest began to tighten and she struggled to take breaths in. Her head began to swim. “Get a grip” she thought to herself and slipped from her bed, wanting the security of her routine to help her keep it together. While she was in the kitchen getting the coffee started; however, the door to the guest bedroom opened and there Daniel stood, looking like heaven in a pair of shorts and tee shirt.
“I thought I could join you this morning.”
“You want to go on a run?” Hannah was surprised.
“Well, perhaps not a run, but maybe we could walk. Where do you run to? Into town? ”
Hannah had to laugh. “No, I run on a trail up into the mountain. A lot of people use it, but if you go early enough it is pretty private.”
“You run up the mountain?” Daniel looked suspiciously out the window at the steep incline in front of him. “Ok, maybe a hike then.” Daniel smiled sheepishly.
“Ok.” Hannah struggled with her need for routine versus her need to be with Daniel every last second she could spend with him. His smile won out.
“I warn you though, it is pretty uphill.”
“Then coming back will be downhill right? I promise I won’t make you carry me.” That smile again.
So she took Daniel up her mountain. It was the first time she had ever willingly shared her trails with anyone. It felt weird walking, though it was obvious that Daniel wasn’t going to be able to run it.
“You run up this?” he gasped at one point. But he seemed to enjoy the smells and sounds and coolness of the forest as they wove their way up the path.
They turned around long before Hannah normally did. Walking was slower than running, and they would need to get Daniel back for his plane.
“I will see you in five days.” Daniel sounded confident as he pulled Hannah into one last embrace before getting into his rental car. “And I will call you every day.”
Hannah was pretty sure he meant this.
“Thank you.” was the last thing that he said, and he closed his car door and gave her a little wave before backing down the driveway.
Hannah waved back timidly. As she watched Daniel drive out of sight, she felt more alone than she had in years.
CHAPTER TEN
Danie
l kept his promise. He called Hannah every day. He even called her from DIA and they talked until his plane left. The five days until Friday flew by so that she barely felt any time had gone by at all. During the week she felt like she had gotten nothing done. She barely worked on her book, she hadn’t responded to any emails because the time she was on the computer she was generally IM’ing Daniel. They spoke for an hour on the phone every evening, and sometimes twice a day. It was wonderful and frustrating all at the same time.
Still, on Friday morning, as she was debating what she would pack into her suitcase, she was doing everything she could to keep the panic at bay. The last time she had flown to California it was for work. It was because she had to. That time, while she was packing, she had thought Sheila would be with her. This time, she was going willingly, by herself, to spend time with a man she tried to convince herself that she still barely knew. It seemed suddenly like a crazy idea, and more than once she nearly called to cancel. But each time, she thought of his smile, of the gentle way he held and kissed her, and of the tiny voice that said she didn’t really want to be alone.
Daniel picked her up at the airport. It was so much nicer than finding a stranger with a sign with her name on it. They hugged for a long time before moving away from the stream of passengers parting around them.
“How are you doing?” Daniel asked, almost knowingly, reaching down to get Hannah’s bags and taking her hand at the same time.
Honestly, Hannah felt okay. Daniel calmed her in a way that she wasn’t used to.
“I am good,” she answered simply.
“Are you hungry? I thought we could go out to lunch before going back to the house.”
They hadn’t bothered with the pretense of getting a hotel for Hannah. She didn’t know where she would be sleeping, but she didn’t care. As long as Daniel was nearby.
They headed for a restaurant near the bay. It was quaint and quiet, and Hannah and Daniel were seated toward the back of the patio near a fountain. “Tanya will be your waitress today” they were told.
“Great,” Daniel said quietly.
“What?”
“Tanya is my cousin. I am guessing she saw us come in and told the hostess to seat us here.”
And there was Tanya, arriving at their table, large smile and waters included.
“Hi, you must be Hannah. Daniel has told us a lot about you. Welcome to Palo Alto.”
She took their drink orders and left, leaving Daniel and Hannah for a moment.
“She seemed nice,” Hannah stammered, trying to calm her breathing and get rid of the tightening of her stomach.
“She is. My family is great. There are just a lot of them…..speaking of which…..”
Hannah’s gaze followed Daniel’s who was locked on to a young man in a chef’s outfit, making his way through the tables toward them.
“Hi Daniel.” then turning to Hannah, “You must be Hannah. It is great to meet you. I am Bobby.”
“Another cousin.” Daniel smiled apologetically.
Bobby stayed to chat for a moment and then with a “Well, I better get back to the kitchen.” He was gone.
“Any more cousins work here?” Hannah tried to keep the discomfort out of her voice by making a joke of it. Inside however, she felt like bolting for the door.
“No, just those two. Everyone is excited to meet you. I told you, I haven’t dated much.”
Not long after they ordered, Tanya brought their food. Luckily the restaurant was filling up and she didn’t have time to sit and talk with them, which is what Hannah feared she might do.
However, Daniel was mid-bite of his salad when he murmured, “Oh no!”
“What?” Hannah had no idea what was wrong.
“Well, Hannah, get ready to meet my family. I was hoping we could maybe save this for later in the weekend but apparently they were tipped off by the staff here.” With that Daniel rose from his seat and held out his hand to greet a tiny Vietnamese woman and an older gentleman: Daniel’s parents.
“Mom, Dad, this is Hannah.” Daniel presented Hannah with pride in his voice.
“It is so very nice to meet you.,” the woman said, pulling Hannah in for a hug.
For such a tiny woman, her grasp was strong. Hannah didn’t know what to do. Never mind her discomfort with strangers; she feared if she hugged back, though small herself, she would crush this little woman. She tried to hug Daniel’s mother an “appropriate” amount, enough to act like she meant it, but not so much as to be overwhelming. Then she was being turned toward Daniel’s father. She feared that he too would reach out to hug her, but luckily he put out his hand for a handshake. Hannah grasped his hand too firmly as it were. At the moment, she was trying to keep her head from spinning, trying to keep the bile down in her throat. She had come to visit Daniel, not his parents, who brought up many emotions in herself.
“And of course, you remember Linda and the kids,” Daniel continued as he saw them coming across the restaurant.
Hannah was glad to see Linda, a person whom she knew. The kids excitedly were calling to her “Hannah! Hannah!” and she knelt down naturally to talk with each of them for a moment. The tenderness of her voice when she talked with the Anastasia and Christopher was not lost on Daniel.
“So, are you guys randomly here to have lunch?” Daniel knew that his parents rarely ate out, especially not at lunch time.
“Sure, if you are inviting us to join you.” Hannah tried not to stiffen when she heard Daniel’s father’s voice.
“We are not going to interrupt their lunch.” Daniel’s mother saved them. “We just came to say hello and to make introductions. We hope you will join us sometime tomorrow.” His mother had turned to Hannah for this.
“We will mom, I promise.” Daniel saved Hannah from having to answer. He hugged his mom and waved goodbye to his father and sister. Christopher and Anastasia were complaining to their mother about why they couldn’t stay as Linda ushered them back out of the restaurant.
Daniel sat back down at the table looking quite guilty. “Sorry about that. It is the down side of a big family, news travels fast. If we are lucky we will make it through lunch without any more visitors. Tanya normally works the evening shift, I swear. The food here is just really good and it is always really quiet, well, usually anyway.” Daniel stared at the front door with dread.
Hannah believed Daniel when he said the food was good, but she had difficulty swallowing any of it through her tightened throat. “They meant well.” She kept thinking to herself about his family, but they had ruined any appetite that she might have.
Luckily, Daniel either didn’t notice or ignored the amount she had left on her plate, while telling her of all his favorite places in town they might visit. Hannah realized that she wasn’t going to be able to get away from people here, but, like in Disneyland, with Daniel by her side she felt safe.
It was a lovely town where Daniel lived, and late in the evening they drove to a quiet beach where the waves were too rough for swimmers or even most surfers. Hannah found herself staring out across the vast expanse of the ocean.
“You can look forever in that direction and see…..nothing!” Hannah pondered the immense distance she was looking at. “Where I live, everywhere you look there is something, trees, mountains, valleys. But here, all I can see is ocean and sky. It is beautiful though,” she added quickly. And it was in a very different way, but it overwhelmed her. She could almost feel herself being lost in the middle of that ocean.
“I love this view.” Daniel was standing quietly beside her. “I have seen this view my whole life.”
Daniel breathed in deeply and Hannah did the same, more tentatively. The sights, the smells, the sounds were all so very different than where she lived. Here the birds were gulls calling with loud long voices versus the twitter of the birds that lived in the pines near her. Here she heard the rhythmic crashing of the waves versus the never-ending chorus of the crickets in the evening. Even though it was so different, she could
understand the appeal.
As the sun went down, instead of the multitude of colors ever-changing in the sky, she squinted at a large fiery ball that changed to an ever deeper orange until it disappeared below the ocean waves.
In the dusk they walked back up the beach to Daniel’s car and drove to his house. Daniel lived in a gated community, in a large two story stucco house with columns in front and a perfectly manicured yard. So different from her cabin at the edge of the mountain side, wildflowers and pine trees for landscaping. Daniel pushed the back of his car’s visor and the garage door opened. He pulled into the center of the large garage and put the car into park, then leaned over and kissed Hannah’s lips.
“Welcome home,” Daniel said without a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Hannah let herself out of her seat and waited while Daniel grabbed her suitcase from the trunk and then followed him into the house. Tile floors filled the entry way and a large sweeping staircase rose to the left. To the right Hannah could see into what appeared to be an office, and in front of her was a large window that looked out onto the bay.
“Wow, what a view!” Hannah couldn’t help herself. It wasn’t her mountains, but it was just as peaceful and mesmerizing.
She had wandered toward it and then realized that she was standing in what must be the living room. To the right was an entrance way into a formal dining room. She felt Daniel come up behind her.
“Come on, I will put your things into your room and then give you a tour.”
That answered the question as to where Hannah would be sleeping. She hadn’t asked, but her own room still felt ok at the moment. Hannah followed Daniel up the stairs and across a loft area into a large and meticulously decorated guest room.
“My mom decorated for me, in case you were wondering. I have no sense of style whatsoever.”
Hannah doubted that, but she appreciated his mom’s taste none-the-less. There was a bathroom attached to her room with another door that connected to a smaller room that could have been another bedroom but was set up as a playroom.
On A Run Page 9