Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 71843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Kola rushed over to us then, with Harper and Jake right behind him. “Jake said Hannah got into a fight. Is she okay?”
“She’s fine,” Sam assured him, taking hold of Jake’s shoulder. “What happened?”
“They asked me to tap the keg,” Jake admitted, sounding sad and miserable. “I had no idea anything was going on until Shanti came and found me, and she was crying so hard I couldn’t even understand her.”
“Then what?” I asked him as Sam gently rubbed the shoulder he was holding.
“Then nothing,” he answered with a shrug. “George came and told us to follow him to the car. Hannah was already in the front seat, and when I tried to talk to her, she didn’t answer. She hasn’t really said anything to me.”
I turned to George.
“You know, when your adrenaline is suddenly gone, it’s draining.”
“Yes,” I agreed.
“And Abbey didn’t help. We had to make several stops so she could puke.”
“How long were you at that party?” I asked Jake.
“It wasn’t that,” George reported. “Abbey pulled a muscle in her back, so she’d taken a Vicodin earlier.”
The mix. “I see.”
Hannah appeared on the stairs in a ponytail, ripped jeans, and an off-the-shoulder sweater. Jake met her at the bottom, and I was surprised when she gave him a slight smile, told him everything was okay, and then stepped around him to face her brother and Harper, repeating the same words before calling over to George.
“Can I talk to you?”
“Pardon me,” he said, slipping around Sam and crossing to the living room where she was now standing. He took off his mask when he reached her.
I sent Kola to knock on the door of the guest bathroom to check on Shanti so I could watch Hannah pass George the two handkerchiefs and the hoodie she was carrying.
“Oh look, my things,” he groused at her as he took them. “I don’t see my sweatshirt.”
“That still needs to be washed.”
He scowled at her.
She smiled back before she darted to the kitchen.
“What does the sweatshirt look like?” I asked him, raising my voice.
He flashed me a wicked grin. “It doesn’t matter.”
I watched his face change, return to glowering as she passed him, walking to the fireplace and then stopping there, waiting. When he followed, she passed him a large candle in a glass jar with jute wrapped around the lip, from which hung a silver sun charm. It wasn’t one of her Samhain candles, it was different, but since we hadn’t melted wax since then, she had to have made it at the same time.
He lifted it to his nose, smelled it, and then his gaze met hers as she spoke. I couldn’t hear them, which I was guessing was my daughter’s intent.
Shanti emerged from the bathroom, eyes puffy, and Harper took her hand and led her outside with Kola trailing behind them. Jake was in the kitchen, watching George and Hannah as she nodded to whatever he was saying.
“I’m gonna go check on him,” Sam told me before he went to the kitchen, put his arm around Jake’s shoulders, and walked him out the back door.
When I glanced back at Hannah and George, he pulled a folded handkerchief from his breast pocket, and held it out to her. Her face lit up and she smiled wide, nodding before she stepped into him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
He looked like it hurt.
She squeezed tighter.
Shaking his head, he bent, wrapped her in his arms for a moment, and then stepped back so she had no choice but to let go. He then crossed his arms as he stared down at her, waiting.
She rolled her eyes, said something, and he gave her a nod before crossing the room to me. “Always a pleasure, Mr. Harcourt.”
“You too, George. Thank you again.”
He went out the front door with Hannah trailing after him, and passed her his candle and stuff to hold while he put on his shoes. She gave them back moments later, following him to the edge of the porch.
Jake stepped in beside me, and we both watched as she walked George down the path to the front gate.
“Is Hannah mad at me because I didn’t protect her?” Jake asked.
“I don’t think so,” I told him, “but why don’t you ask her when she comes back in.”
He nodded, and I left him there, watching Hannah say goodbye to George.
Minutes later, I was putting cupcakes on a platter as Hannah came in and joined me in the kitchen.
“Look,” she said, chuckling, showing me the handkerchief embroidered with her initials, HK, and then a small tag with the words “this is yours.”
“In contrast to his, that are not yours.”
“That’s what I’m thinking, yeah.”
I cleared my throat. “Jake thinks you’re mad at him because he didn’t ride to your rescue.”
“Mr. H,” Jake groaned loudly.
Hannah spun around to face him. “Are you kidding?”