Green Mountain Collection 1 by Marie Force (40)

As Nolan drove home to Butler the next afternoon with the windows down to let in the warm spring air, Hannah turned her face into the sun, welcoming the warmth after the endless winter. “I was thinking,” she said.

“About?”

“Sunday dinner at my parents’ house.”

“You want me to drop you there?”

“I want you to come with me.” Nolan had been a frequent guest at Sunday dinner over the years, so no one would be surprised to see him there. Of course the context was different now, which was why he hesitated.

“Oh.”

“Do you want to?”

“It’s not about wanting to. It’s about whether your family is ready to see us together. Does everyone know?”

“I assume by now everyone knows, and I’m sure they all know where we’ve been this weekend. Well, not where, but that we were away together.”

“Right . . . That’s sort of the part that worries me. People I’ve known all my life looking at me differently because I’m with you now.”

“You’re going to have to face them sooner or later. Unless,” she added in a teasing tone, “you’re sick of me after this weekend.”

“I’m hardly sick of you,” he said, squeezing her hand, which he had laid flat on his thigh. “As you well know.”

“Then I guess there’s no time like the present to face the Abbott family as my new . . . What shall I call you? Boy toy? Lover boy?”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you? I feel like I’m going to puke, and you’re over there making fun of me.”

“I’d never do that.”

“Yes, you would.”

“I’ll protect you from the evil Abbotts. Don’t worry.”

“I’m very worried.”

“How about I use your phone—if we can get a signal—to call my mom so she can do some prep work on our behalf?”

“That’d be good.” He dug the phone out of his coat pocket and handed it to her.

Hannah punched in the familiar number and waited for the call to go through. After a few ominous-sounding clicks, the call finally connected and Molly answered.

“Hi, Mom, it’s Hannah.”

“I know that, silly. How was your time away?”

“Excellent. We’re on our way back now and were thinking about crashing dinner if that’s okay.”

“Absolutely okay. We’d love to have you both.”

“Um, the thing is . . . Nolan’s not really up for the Abbott inquisition, so if you could run some interference for us, we’d both appreciate it.”

“I’m on it. Don’t worry.”

“Great, thank you. We’ll see you soon.”

“See you then—and Hannah? I’m so glad to hear your time away was excellent. I’ve been thinking about you.”

“Thanks, Mom,” she said softly before she ended the call. “We’re good to go,” she said to Nolan.

“Can I wear this or should I go home and change first?” He was wearing faded jeans with a black thermal shirt.

“As much as I’d love to see where you live, you look fine. You should see what my brothers wear sometimes. Well, except Hunter who puts them all to shame.”

“About going to my house . . . It’s not that I don’t want to take you there. You know that, right?”

“I guess.”

He gripped the wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white from the strain. “It’s just sometimes . . . Occasionally, there’s drama. Family drama. I don’t want you anywhere near that.”

“Nolan, I have nine siblings. Do you think I don’t know about family drama?”

“Not this kind you don’t,” he said with a bitter edge to his voice.

“I’ve shared a lot with you, things I haven’t shared with anyone else. I wish you’d feel safe doing the same. It would hurt me if you didn’t feel safe to share your troubles with me.”

“God, Hannah . . . Don’t put it like that. You know I’d never hurt you.”

“Then don’t. Share your worries with me. Tell me what puts that pained look on your face whenever we talk about your home or your family.”

His jaw pulsed with tension as he stared at the road. “You wouldn’t understand coming from what you come from. What with your Sunday dinners and your coat hooks in the front hall with your names on them and your parents who always do and say the right things. You wouldn’t get it.”

Stung by the sharpness of his words as much as the agony she heard behind them, Hannah held her silence for many miles, deciding to let it go for now. But she hoped that someday he’d trust her enough to share his pain with her.

“After dinner, I’d like to go see Gavin.”

Nolan visibly relaxed when he realized she’d changed the subject. “That’s fine.”

“Your lips are swollen,” Charley whispered to Hannah as they helped to clean up after dinner.

“Shut up. They are not.”

“Yes, they are,” Ella said. “So how was it?”

“I’m not having this conversation.”

“Yes, you are,” Charley said. “We deserve to know.”

“How do you figure?”

“We’re your sisters,” Charley insisted. “We get to know everything.”

“Where is that written?”

“Come on! Don’t be lame! Spill it.”

“It was great, if you must know,” Hannah said, glancing over their shoulders to make sure no one was listening, especially Nolan.

“Did you cry?” Ella asked with sweet compassion.

“A little.”

Sniffling subtly, Ella hugged Hannah.

“Caleb left me a letter.”

“What?” Charley asked breathlessly, her eyes gone wide with surprise.

“He gave it to his mom to hold on to until she felt I was ready. She gave it to me on Thursday after I told them I’m seeing Nolan.”

“Oh my God,” Ella whispered. “What did it say?”

“A lot of things, but mostly he wants me to be happy, he wants me to love again and to not let his death steal the joy from my life.”

Ella swiped at the tears that now flowed freely down her cheeks.

Charley was suddenly very interested in her feet.

“What an incredible thing for him to do,” Ella said.

“Were you mad she waited so long to give it to you?” Charley asked.

“No, because she did exactly what he told her to do by holding on to it until now.”

“Holding on to what?” Hunter asked as he came into the kitchen carrying a stack of plates.

“Caleb left her a letter,” Ella told their brother.

“Oh he did? And you just found it now?”

Hannah relayed the story of Amelia holding on to it for her.

“Wow.” Hunter leaned against the counter, his arms crossed over his chest. “And here I’ve been kind of pissed all this time because he didn’t do that, and I so wished he had for your sake.” He took a closer look at his twin. “You seem really happy, Han. I take it the weekend away went well?”

“Uh-huh,” she said, as Ella giggled softly.

“Oh God.” Hunter groaned and rolled his eyes. “I’m so out of here.”

Nolan came in with some of the serving bowls, which he placed in the sink before turning to face the three sisters. “Are you guys talking about me in here?”

“Not at all,” Charley said with a disdainful snort. “Don’t be so full of yourself.”

“Right,” he said. “How foolish of me to think someone with the last name of Abbott might be gossiping.” He surprised Hannah when he put his arm around her and kissed her square on the lips. “You’d better not be kissing and telling.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Right,” he said again, releasing her and shaking his head on the way out of the kitchen.

The three women dissolved into laughter.

“He’s so hot.” Ella fanned her face. “You get all the hot guys. It’s not fair.”

“There’s one out there waiting to find you, El,” Hannah said. “And whatever man wins your heart will be the luckiest guy in the world.”

“I think she’s got her eye on one already,” Charley said.

“Do tell!” Hannah said.

“I don’t,” Ella insisted.

“She always says that,” Charley said, “but if you ask me, she knows exactly who she wants, but damn if I can get it out of her.”

“Shut up, Charley. Why do you always have to be such a pain in the ass?”

“It’s part of my charm.”

“Is Charley being a pain in the ass again?” Molly asked as she came in carrying more dishes.

“Yes!” Ella said. “Do something about her, would you, Mom?”

“Darling, I’ve been trying to do something about her for thirty years now.”

Charley snorted with laughter at the true statement. “Keep trying.”

“I’ll never give up,” Molly said. “What’s she being a pain about now?”

“She’s hammering Ella because she thinks Ella has her eye on someone, but being the smart girl that she is, Ella won’t tell Charley,” Hannah said.

“I wouldn’t tell her either, El,” Molly said.

Ella sent a smug, satisfied look to Charley.

“Say what you will, my friends, but she’s hot for someone, and I’m going to figure out who it is.”

“Why don’t you spend your time figuring out who Colton’s hot for,” Ella said. “That’ll be a much more satisfying mission.”

“I’d like to know that, too,” Molly said. “Two weekends in a row he’s a no-show for Sunday dinner.”

“I’m on that as well,” Charley said. “Luckily, I can work multiple missions at the same time.”

“Where were Max and Chloe today?” Hannah asked her mom about her youngest brother.

“Poor Chloe has been hit with morning sickness that’s more like all-day sickness. Max decided to stay in Burlington with her.”

“Ugh, that’s gotta suck,” Charley said.

“I was so lucky I never had that with any of you, or I would’ve had a whole lot less kids,” Molly said.

“That might’ve been a good thing,” Ella said with a pointed look at Charley.

“You love me,” Charley said. “You know you do.”

“Stay out of my business, and I’ll continue to love you.”

Charley pounced. “See! I knew it! She has business!”

“Ugh!” Ella twirled and stomped out of the room.

“Leave her alone, Charley,” Molly admonished gently. “You know how private she is.”

“What right does she have to be private when the rest of us are forced to share every detail of our lives with this family?” Charley asked.

Hannah couldn’t exactly argue with her rationale, even if she didn’t always agree with her tactics.

“Leave her alone,” Molly said more sternly. “I mean it. If she’s got business, as you put it, she’ll share it with us when she’s ready to. Hammering at her isn’t going to get her to spill it any sooner.”

“That’s true,” Hannah said.

“Now tell me, Hannah,” Molly said, “what can we do to help you for next weekend?”

“We’re going to need a ton of food.” Hannah was never sure what they went through more of during a Sultans weekend—food or beer, so she always had plenty of both on hand.

“That we can help with, right Charley?”

“Yeah, sure,” Charley said, pouting a bit after failing to break Ella. Hannah knew she’d keep at it until she got the info she wanted. That was Charley.

In the other room, she heard Wade say good-bye to their grandfather. Hannah went into the dining room to stop him before he could leave. She drew her brother into the hallway. “How are things going?”

“I got an e-mail from Mia last night, letting me know she can’t meet me anymore.” The utter devastation on his face broke her heart.

“Oh no. Did she say why?”

He shook his head. “I’m so afraid he found out about our friendship and now . . . The thought of what she might be going through kills me. I don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m losing my mind.”

“Please don’t do anything crazy, Wade, or put yourself in jeopardy when you have no idea what’s really going on there.”

“I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

“That might be the best way to keep her safe.”

“I don’t know.” He ran his fingers through his hair, which was loose today. “I’m going to take a hike on the mountain and burn off some of this energy.”

“That’s a good idea. Will you call me if I can do anything or even if you just need to talk?”

“I will.” He hugged her. “Thanks, Han.”

Shortly after Wade left, Nolan slid an arm around her waist. “Everything okay?”

She nodded even though she was desperately worried about her brother and what he might do to ensure the woman he cared about was safe.

“Wade seemed worked up about something.”

“Maybe a little.” She glanced up at him. “Are you ready to go?”

“Whenever you are.”

As they were saying good-bye and thank you to her parents, she heard her dad say, “Take good care of my little girl.”

“I fully intend to,” Nolan replied as he shook hands with her dad.

Touched by his love and concern, Hannah hugged her dad, who held on tighter than usual. Her parents had suffered right along with her when she lost Caleb. They’d loved him, and they’d worried endlessly over her. She knew it was a relief to them to see her moving forward with her life and spending time with a man they liked and respected.

“You survived,” she said to Nolan when they were back in his truck.

“Just barely,” he said with a teasing grin. “Everyone was really nice. No one asked anything inappropriate, which was shocking.”

“I didn’t get so lucky.”

“I knew it! Your sisters were grilling you, right? What did you tell them?”

“Nothing. Much.”

“Hannah . . .”

“I didn’t give them any details.”

He busted up laughing. “And yet somehow you gave them the full picture.”

“I did no such thing.”

“Whatever. I know how you Abbotts roll.”

“Does it bother you that everyone knows we’ve been, well, fooling around?”

“If I had my druthers, no one would know but you and me, but I get that’s not the world we live in. There aren’t many secrets in Butler or in the Abbott family.”

Hannah thought of what Wade was going through with Mia, that Hunter had feelings for Megan, that Ella might be interested in a man none of them knew. “We have our share of secrets.”

“Apparently, you and me and what we’re up to isn’t going to be one of them.”

“That one’s harder to keep.”

“I’m looking forward to when our relationship is no longer in the headlines.”

“How long do you think that’ll take?”

“A while probably,” he said with a sigh. “The people in this town don’t fool around when it comes to gossip—and they’re all extremely protective of you.”

“Good thing I picked the right guy to spend time with. At least they’ve got nothing bad they can say about you. Everyone loves you.”

“I guess we’ll find out for sure, won’t we?”

They headed around the mountain, past the entrance to the sugaring facility that Colton ran and north to the outer limits of Butler, where Gavin’s logging company was headquartered. He lived in a log cabin on the property adjacent to the sawmill he’d built four years ago. Hannah hadn’t been up here in a long time, but at first glance she could see the business had grown tremendously.

She felt a surge of pride for what Gavin had accomplished, much of it fueled by relentless grief and the need to pour all that emotion into something productive. Her recently satisfied stomach turned with worry about how this visit might go. The thought of being at odds with Gavin or his parents was unimaginable.

As Nolan parked his truck next to Gavin’s, he said, “Relax, honey. It’s going to be fine.”

Hannah wished she could be so certain. She got out of the truck and wiped her suddenly sweaty palms on her jeans. As they walked to Gavin’s front door, she felt Nolan’s hand on the small of her back guiding her and took comfort from his solid presence by her side.

She knocked on the door and waited anxiously until Gavin appeared wearing only a pair of faded jeans. As always, the sight of him was a stark reminder of the husband she’d lost, and it took a moment to recover her bearings. “Hey, Gav,” she said. “Could we come in for a minute?”

Without a word, he pushed open the screen door to admit them.

Nolan squeezed her shoulder as he followed her inside to Gavin’s cozy home, which boasted a big-screen TV set to a Boston Red Sox preseason game.

Gavin went to the fridge, got a beer and cracked it open. “Want one?”

“No, thanks,” Hannah said.

“I wouldn’t mind a beer,” Nolan said.

Gavin gave the one he’d opened to Nolan and got another for himself.

Hannah sat next to Nolan at the bar. Gavin stayed in the kitchen, facing them, drinking his beer and waiting for one of them to say something.

Nerves fluttered in her belly as she tried to think of what to say.

“I heard you came by the garage yesterday,” Nolan said.

Hannah was grateful to him for the opening salvo.

“Uh-huh.”

“I assume your parents told you Hannah and I are seeing each other.”

He kept his expression unreadable when he said, “Right.”

Hannah couldn’t bear to remain silent any longer. “Gavin—”

“Don’t, Hannah. Please don’t say anything. Whatever it is, I don’t want to hear it.” He put down his bottle with a loud thunk. “No, wait. That’s not true. I’d like to know why you didn’t tell me yourself when I saw you the other day.”

Thrown by Gavin’s angry outburst, she said, “I should have. I don’t know why I didn’t. My only excuse is that it’s still new, and I wasn’t exactly ready to talk about it yet. With anyone.”

“You saw fit to tell my parents.”

“Because I didn’t want them to hear it through the grapevine.”

“But it was okay that I did? It was okay that I was at the diner and heard you two had been there and were getting rather cozy? Can you imagine what it was like to hear that from someone I barely know when I had just seen you?”

“I’m sorry,” Hannah said softly as tears formed. “I never meant to hurt you.”

“We should’ve told you,” Nolan said.

“How long have you been interested in my brother’s wife? When he was alive, too?”

“No! God no. You know how I felt about him.”

“Yeah, I do, which is why I find this so unbelievable.”

“Why, Gavin?” Hannah asked, feeling desperate to make him understand. “Why is it so unbelievable that I would have feelings for an old friend, and he would have them for me?”

“What I find unbelievable is that this only happened recently.”

Hannah stared at him, stunned by the implication. “I, um . . . I have to go.” Blinded by tears, she got up and rushed out the door.