Green Mountain Collection 1 by Marie Force (26)

The ride back to town was quiet, and Nolan appreciated the silence as he pondered whether Hannah would welcome his company again tonight. He’d never been so torn about how best to proceed, but nothing had ever been more important or more fraught with peril. She was hesitant about moving forward with someone else after what she’d been through in the last seven years. As Caleb’s close friend, he understood that hesitance better than most men would.

But after the night they’d spent together, Nolan didn’t know how he’d cope if she pulled back from him. A taste of her sweetness had him completely addicted and impatient for more. He had to curb that impatience until she was ready for more. That much he knew for sure.

“Looks like the father-in-law is waiting for you,” Skeeter said.

“Huh?”

“Look.”

Sure enough, Lincoln Abbott’s Range Rover was parked outside the garage. “Shit.”

“What’d you do?”

“Nothing.”

“Yet?”

“Shut up, Skeeter, and get busy fixing Mrs. Morrison’s dents, will you?”

Snickering to himself—because he was the only one who found this situation funny—Skeeter got out of the truck. “Sure thing, boss man. Good luck. Let me know if you need a wingman. I gotcha back.”

“Shut up, and go away. Far away.”

“I’m going, I’m going.”

As Nolan crossed the parking lot, he began to understand the way someone marching out to face a firing squad might feel. Even though he’d been close friends with Lincoln Abbott’s three oldest kids as well as his late son-in-law for decades, Nolan had never approached the man as someone who was romantically interested in his beloved eldest daughter.

“Mr. Abbott,” Nolan said, attempting to keep the panic out of his voice.

“Mr. Roberts.”

Oh Jesus. What was that about?

“Everything okay with the Rover?”

“Everything’s just fine. That’s not why I’m here, and you damned well know it. Get in.”

“Sir?”

Lincoln rolled his eyes. “Get in the car.”

“You’re not planning to take me out somewhere and shoot me, are you?”

“Do I have reason to do that?”

Nolan swallowed hard. “No. Sir.” Not yet anyway . . . Nolan wisely kept that thought to himself.

“Get in then. I won’t kill you or anything. Not this time.”

“Good to know.” Nolan climbed into the SUV, which smelled of leather and expensive cologne. Hannah’s dad was a fan of the finer things in life, an Anglophile of the highest order, and a die-hard Beatles fan. Nolan wasn’t at all surprised to hear “Let It Be” playing on the stereo. He wished he had the nerve to encourage Mr. Abbott to take the song’s advice to let it be, but he’d never say such a thing to Hannah’s father, especially not in his current mood.

Lincoln hit the gas, sending gravel flying on the way out of the garage parking lot.

Nolan caught Skeeter’s surprised gape as they passed the open door to the bay where he was working. Hopefully, Skeeter would hold down the fort at the garage, where it seemed like nothing productive was going to happen today—or send ransom if need be. “What do I smell?” Nolan asked of a scent making his mouth water, reminding him he’d skipped breakfast in his haste to get to work—for all the good that had done him.

“Lunch.”

“Oh.” He had other questions, but decided it was in his best interest to keep his mouth shut. He’d begun to actively sweat by the time Lincoln pulled up to the home of his father-in-law, Elmer Stillman.

“Elmer’s still on crutches, so I’ve got lunch duty today. Come on in.”

Hannah’s grandfather had sprained his ankle on a recent camping trip with Lincoln and Hannah’s brothers, and Nolan had been meaning to stop by to see how Elmer was getting along. But he hadn’t planned the visit to unfold quite this way. Did her grandfather know that Nolan had slept with her on the sofa last night? He hoped not, but he’d been around the Abbotts long enough to know there were few secrets in that family.

The firing squad feeling returned as he followed Lincoln into Elmer’s cluttered house.

Sans crutches, Elmer hobbled into the kitchen to meet them and didn’t seem one bit surprised to see Nolan. Great . . .

“I see you were able to convince Nolan to join us for lunch,” Elmer said to his son-in-law.

“Convince isn’t quite the word,” Nolan said. “I believe premeditated abduction might be a better way to describe it.”

Elmer’s delighted guffaw made his blue eyes sparkle with mirth. He was absolutely full of the devil, and Nolan had always loved him. That is until he’d teamed up with Lincoln on this abduction—and Nolan had no doubt the two of them were in on this together. Exhibit A: Elmer had clearly been expecting both of them.

“Abduction is such a strong word,” Elmer said. “It conjures images of criminals rather than a concerned father and grandfather.”

“Fair enough,” Nolan conceded as he took a seat at Elmer’s round kitchen table. His mouth watered at the sight of hot pastrami as Lincoln doled out three sandwiches, which Nolan recorded as Exhibit B of their premeditation. He eyed Hannah’s grandfather warily. “What do you know?”

“I was informed of where you slept last night,” Elmer said, pointing his crooked index finger at Nolan.

“Of course you were.”

“You, of all people, know how this family works,” Lincoln said, gesturing with a handful of pastrami.

“Yes, I do, which is why I shouldn’t be surprised that you two kidnapped me in the middle of a workday to put me under the hot lightbulb.”

The other two men exchanged slightly guilty glances.

“We’re sorry about interrupting your workday,” Elmer said.

“No, you’re not,” Nolan said, laughing as he reached for the soda Lincoln had put in front of him.

“He’s a tough one,” Elmer said.

“I take it you two have pulled this crap before?”

“We may have had a conversation or two about how we might . . . assist one of the kids in a romantic sense,” Lincoln said haltingly.

“You’re a couple of buttinskies,” Nolan concluded as another thought occurred to him. “You wouldn’t have had anything to do with Hannah’s nearly brand-new battery crapping out on a day when most of the family was conveniently out of town, would you?”

They took an immediate and intense interest in their sandwiches.

“You look like a couple of guilty little boys,” Nolan said, charmed by their machinations on his and Hannah’s behalf.

“We had to do something to help you out,” Lincoln said. “She danced with you at the Grange and then . . . nada.”

“How do you know that?”

“Wait, so are you saying that something did happen?” Elmer asked, leaning in to ensure he didn’t miss anything.

“I’m certainly not telling you guys. I wouldn’t want to encourage your bad behavior.”

“How is it bad behavior to help things along when it’s clear to everyone who knows you that you’re crazy about my little girl?” Lincoln asked.

“You do know your ‘little girl’ is thirty-five years old, right?”

“What the heck does that have to do with anything?”

Realizing they were talking in circles, Nolan decided it was time to cut the two matchmakers a break. “Listen, boys, you know me. You’ve known me all my life.”

“Why do you think you’re here?” Elmer asked. “Why do you think we messed with her battery rather than letting Myles know that Homer wasn’t doing all that great and could do with an extra house call or two?”

“What’s Myles got to do with anything?” Nolan asked, utterly confused.

“Ah,” Lincoln said smugly, “our young friend here has no earthly idea that he’s had some competition for Hannah’s affections.”

“Hannah and Myles?” The thought of the good-looking vet being interested in Hannah struck a note of fear in Nolan’s heart. “Since when?”

“Since he asked her out,” Lincoln said.

“She didn’t actually go out with him though.” If Hannah had gone out with Myles, Nolan would’ve heard about it—and the news would’ve killed him.

“She hasn’t gone out with him yet,” Elmer said. “I wouldn’t count him out. He’s tall, blond, buff . . . The ladies seem to like him.”

While he tried to wrap his head around Elmer’s use of the word buff, Nolan wished he had the nerve to tell them that Hannah never would’ve kissed him the way she had the night before if she were interested in someone else. However, he couldn’t play that card and protect their privacy, too, so he decided to meet smug with smug. “I’m not worried about Myles.”

“A wise man doesn’t underestimate his rivals,” Elmer said.

“Duly noted, but I don’t see him as a rival. If Hannah wanted to go out with him, she would have.” He glanced at Lincoln and was surprised to find steel in his normally amiable eyes. “What?”

“It sounds to me like you might have reason to be a bit overconfident where my daughter is concerned. Is that possible?”

“Now wait just a minute—”

“Hey, Gramps? Where are you?” Hannah’s melodic voice drifted through the house, and the three men froze.

The expressions on the faces of Hannah’s father and grandfather gave all-new meaning to the term deer in headlights and Nolan held back the overpowering urge to laugh at their discomfort.

Hannah came into the kitchen and stopped short, her sharp gaze taking in the scene at the table, and her mouth tightening with displeasure that seemed directed primarily at him. Great. That was just what he needed right as they were moving forward toward . . . something . . .

“What’s going on?” Hannah asked suspiciously.

“Nothing, honey.” Lincoln jumped up to kiss his daughter. “We’re just having lunch.”

“The three of you randomly decided to get together for lunch for the first time ever? And it just happens to be today?”

“It was the funniest thing,” Elmer said. “We ran into Nolan and happened to have an extra sandwich . . .”

Her gaze landed on Nolan, seeking an explanation. It wouldn’t do him any good to toss Lincoln and Elmer under the bus, but the vague sense of hurt and confusion coming from her made him want to spill the entire story to her. He would when he could, he decided. “They invited me. Can you join us?” Nolan held out a hand to her and tried not to panic when she gave his hand a long look, ignored it and slid into the fourth chair at the table.

“Have my other half,” Elmer said. “I’ll never be able to eat all this.” He pushed the sandwich across the table to her. “Nolan, get Hannah a 7-Up from the fridge. She knows I’ve always got a cold one for her.”

“Thanks, Gramps,” Hannah said with a warm smile for her grandfather. Apparently he’d been granted immunity.

Nolan got the soda, opened it and put it on the table in front of her.

“Thanks,” she said without looking at him.

This was definitely not good. Everything in him clamored to tell her how he’d ended up at Elmer Stillman’s table in the middle of the day, but the heat of her father’s glare had him biting his tongue—literally.

“I’m so sorry about Homer, honey,” Elmer said, covering Hannah’s hand with his much bigger one. “He was a good boy, and he lived a nice long life.”

“Yes, he did.”

“How’re you holding up?”

“I’ve had better days, but it helps to think of him reuniting with Caleb.”

“I’m sure they’re having one hell of a game of fetch up there in heaven.”

“I hope so.” She took a delicate bite of the oversized sandwich and a sip of her soda. “I’ve decided to have a funeral for Homer the way Caleb would’ve done.”

“That’s a fine idea,” Elmer said.

“I spoke with Myles this morning.”

Lincoln and Elmer both looked at Nolan meaningfully. He trained his face to show no emotion even though the mention of Myles’s name struck a note of fear around the area of his chest that housed his heart.

“He can keep Homer until we’re ready to bury him,” Hannah continued, speaking primarily to her grandfather. “I wondered if you might be able to make me a box or something to bury him in.”

“I’d be honored, honey. Truly.”

“Thank you.”

Nolan’s throat closed around the lump that settled there as her quiet strength got to him the way it always did.

She chatted with her father and grandfather about the plans for Homer’s funeral as she finished the sandwich and soda.

Nolan told himself it didn’t matter that she never looked his way, but it did matter. It mattered greatly. By the time she stood to leave, he was in full-on panic mode. The idea that the progress they’d made the night before might be undone by her overly involved father and grandfather was unfathomable to him. “Could I hitch a ride back to town with you, Hannah? I’ve got to get back to work.”

She still didn’t look at him. “Um, sure. I guess.”

Wow, this was worse than he’d thought. She was actually blaming him for the family powwow, as if he would’ve sought out the company of her father and grandfather on the same day her parents caught them sleeping together? Was she crazy? How could he fix this with her without digging a ditch for himself with Lincoln?

“Thanks for lunch,” he said to Lincoln and Elmer as he got up from the table. “I think.”

Lincoln gave him a pointed look that conveyed a world of expectations. “Our pleasure.”

His mind racing with thoughts about what he should say to her and what he could say to her, Nolan followed Hannah from the house and got into the passenger seat of her SUV. “How’s the car running?” he asked when they were buckled in and on their way.

“Fine.”

“Hannah, listen . . . I have no idea what you’re thinking right now, but I didn’t initiate that lunch. You have to know that after your parents caught us together this morning, my goal today would’ve been to stay as far away from the men in your family as I possibly could.” Was it his imagination or did her shoulders lose some of their tension?

“How did you end up there?”

“Um, well, you probably ought to ask your dad about that.”

She shot him an annoyed look. “I’m asking you.”

“Don’t make me tell you.”

“Man up, Nolan. You’re either loyal to me or you’re loyal to him. You can’t have it both ways.”

Nolan let out an unmanly whimper. “I can’t? Really?”

“Nolan . . .”

“Fine! He came to the garage and basically told me to get in the car. It wasn’t like I felt I had a choice or anything. He’s your dad, and I didn’t want to do anything to screw things up with your family when things between us are . . . you know . . .”

“What? How are things between us?”

Apparently, Hannah came by her torture skills naturally. “New and moving in the right direction, or so I thought.”

She killed him with her silence. What was she thinking? Did she disagree with what he’d said? What if she did? Where did that leave them? He’d long ago accepted his feelings for her were going to either make his life complete or be the death of him. At the moment, he couldn’t say which outcome was more likely.

Hannah pulled into the station and kept the car running as she stared straight ahead.

Nolan cleared his throat and tried to think of something he could say—anything to break the uneasy silence. “I owe you dinner at the Mexican place in Stowe. Want to go tonight?”

“I’ll have to let you know. I’m supposed to see Cameron at some point today about a project we’re working on. I don’t know yet when she’s available.”

He wanted to ask about the project. He wanted to know everything about her. But he decided to quit while he was ahead. “I’ll call you when I’m done here. It might be a bit late since I’ve had a few distractions today.”

“Okay.”

“Hannah?”

“Yes?”

“Will you look at me?”

She took her own sweet time complying with his request. The uncertainty he saw in her gaze was like a spike to his heart.

He couldn’t resist the need to touch her. His hand cupped her cheek, and he was filled with relief when she tipped her head toward his hand, her eyes closing on a sigh.

She licked her lips. “Nolan . . .”

“Hmm?” The slide of her tongue over her bottom lip made him hard.

Her eyes opened slowly and locked on his. “I’m a very private person.”

“I know that.”

“I wouldn’t appreciate you talking about what happens between us with anyone else.”

“I never would. Do you believe me?”

She nodded, and her gaze dropped to his mouth.

Goddamn, she was annihilating him with her eyes and lips as the desire to kiss her overtook him. “Hannah . . .”

“Not here.”

“Come inside. Just for a minute. Please?”

She held his gaze for the longest moment of his entire life before she raised her hand to the key and turned the engine off.