“Over my dead body.”
She smiled at his emphatic answer. “Don’t worry. Anyone you guys know would rather shoot themselves in the ass than make a move on me.” She pulled her feet up under her. “I know it’s hard. It’s hard for me too, but…I need to try, you know?” Nick didn’t answer, but she knew he got it, even if he didn’t like it. “You know, I don’t remember a time when you were just a big brother. What did you think when Mom told you she was pregnant?”
“Shit. I pretty much tried not to think about it. We all did. We were teenage boys and it was…shocking. The thought of Mom and Dad…I couldn’t look her in the eye for a week.”
She heard the smile in his voice and she was glad for it. He didn’t smile enough. They’d had great parents. Her brothers had loved them and missed them in a way she couldn’t.
Nick chuckled under his breath.
“What?”
“Just thinking how she used to make us change your diaper. Said it would make us better fathers. Dad said it would teach us to keep it in our pants. Damn, we had some good fights over who got stuck watching you.”
“Then you all got stuck.”
The steady motion of the swing hitched. “I didn’t mean it like that, Han. And I didn’t mind so much then. None of us did.”
“I know.” And she did. He’d never made her feel like a burden.
He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Plus, you were housebroken by then.”
“Remember how you all used to monster-proof my room? You were the dragon slayer.”
“Yep. Dallas was the cootie catcher. Luke was the laser.”
“And what was Zach?”
“The zapper.”
“Yeah. That’s right.” She rested her head against his shoulder. Her big, strong brothers, who she’d always known would protect her.
She hadn’t known back then that people were the worst monsters.
—
Hannah whistled and waited for Winnie to lope over to the pasture fence as the roar of Lexie’s motorcycle dwindled into the distance. Her last student had left hours ago, all chores were done. Winnie chuffed and snorted. Hannah dug in her pocket for a sugar cube and held out two closed fists beneath Winnie’s muzzle, playing their guess-which-hand game.
It had only been a few days since she’d seen Stephen, but still…it bothered her that she hadn’t talked to him. Of course he didn’t have her number, her own choice. But she couldn’t help wondering…would he have called her if he did have it? Did men call women after a date? If they were dating? How many dates meant you were dating?
He wasn’t a boy looking for a girlfriend. He was a man, looking for…she had no idea. “What do you think, Winnie? You’re a girl. What would a man like that be looking for?” Physically, she wasn’t even sure what she had to offer. She had no idea when she’d be ready. If she’d ever be ready. She’d just barely crossed the hurdle of dating, kissing. But she wanted to kiss him again.
Because she was ready or because it was Stephen?
She gave Winnie a few more minutes of love before returning to the barn office. With the calendar spread before her, she marked her new student’s first appointment for next Tuesday and her gaze landed on the day before it. D-Day. She’d received another official letter from the city, this one giving her a date and time to state her case.
She’d researched governments taking private land and found a lot on eminent domain. The way she understood it, they would have to prove that taking her land was necessary for the good of the state or community. She’d been instructed to bring any and all legal documents, but her name wasn’t actually on the deed. She figured they knew that. Even so, she’d gone through everything left in the house, pulled out and looked at every scrap of paper. There was nothing about a will. No mention of any lawyer. But she still had a case. She still had Mr. Bradley’s letter.
Absently, she circled the date five days out, around and around, making the black line of ink thicker. She still hadn’t told Lexie, and she sure as hell hadn’t told her brothers. There was a certain empowerment in handling it herself, mixed in with the doubt and fear. What she did here was important. She’d make them see that. More important than any road or whatever they wanted the property for.
Of course, if the worst happened she’d have to tell everyone because she’d be moving.
Even Stephen? Would she need to tell him?
The sound of a motorcycle had her smiling. Lexie always forgot something. Taking one last glance at the calendar, she stood and went to meet Lexie. “What’d you forget?” She stepped out of the office with a grin, and walked right into the wall that was Stephen’s chest.
Chapter 14
With a squeak of shock, Hannah’s hands flew up to grip his biceps, and he caught her around the waist. “You have a motorcycle?”
“I have a lot of things.”