“That’s lovely,” Hannah said with a sigh. “Good for them.”
“I guess I should go home and pack.”
“Look at it this way—it’s a rare opportunity to get away with your kids. How often does that happen anymore?”
“Not very.”
“Try to enjoy it, because you know that mixed in with the emotion will be a lot of laughs.”
“Probably.”
“Definitely. We’re talking about your kids. They’re nothing if not funny.”
“They are,” Molly said with a smile.
“They’ll get you through this, and you’ll come home to Christmas. It’ll be fine.”
“Will he be fine? Linc?”
“Of course he will. He has you and your incredible family to get him through it. This is a blip. He’ll deal with it and go on with his life.”
“I hope you’re right.” Molly stood to leave. “Thanks for listening to me whine.”
“You’re not whining. You’re understandably furious.”
“I am, but Linc doesn’t need to see that.”
“That’s what sisters are for.” Hannah hugged her. “Hang in there.”
“Thanks, Han. Appreciate this so much.”
“Any time.”
Ray came over and handed her something warm wrapped in a paper towel. “Egg sandwich to go.”
Molly went up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “You’re the best. Take good care of my sister.”
“I’m trying, but she doesn’t make it easy.”
“Trust me, I know.”
“Hush, you two. I can hear you.”
“Come over after dinner on Christmas,” Molly said. “We’ll be home all day. And tell your kids, too.”
“We’ll see you at some point. Safe travels.”
Molly got in her car and ate her delicious breakfast on the way home to the barn, where she’d pack and put on a happy face for this trip, even if she was seething on the inside. Linc was the best guy she’d ever known, other than her own father, and when he hurt, she hurt. The call from his sister hurt him. The request from his father hurt him.
If they said or did anything else to hurt him, Molly wouldn’t be responsible for her actions.
Hannah shut the door behind her sister and turned to watch Ray move around the kitchen like a pro. Wanting to be self-sufficient, he’d learned to cook after his wife died, he’d told her. After more than twenty years on her own since her husband left, Hannah was still getting used to having a man around again. But Ray made it easy on her. He didn’t pressure her for more than she was willing to give or ask for things she wasn’t sure she wanted.
Rather, he was patient and kind and sweet and loving and everything she could ask for in a partner, which was why she was on the verge of doing something she’d once sworn she’d never do again—make a commitment to a man.
She went to him and wrapped her arms around him from behind, resting her head on his back. He was rock solid from years of working construction, and the first thing he’d done after moving to Vermont to live near his daughters and granddaughter was join a gym so he wouldn’t “go to hell in a handbasket,” as he put it.
“What’s up?” he asked in the gruff, New York-tinged voice she’d grown to love.
“Nothing much. What’s up with you?”
“Well, I’ve got this sweet, sexy lady clinging to me, so something else will be ‘up’ if this continues.”
And he was funny. Hannah had laughed more with him than she had since her kids had lived at home and kept her constantly entertained. “I’m happy you’re here.”
“Well, that’s nice to hear. Will you let me go so I can turn around and have this conversation face-to-face with you?”
“I’d rather do it this way.”
“We’re not hiding anymore, remember?”
Hannah reluctantly let him go and stepped back to give him room to turn around.
He caressed her face, a loving, tender gesture that made her knees feel weak. That happened a lot when he was around. “What’s on your mind, sweetheart?”
She looked up at his handsome face, weathered from years of working in the elements in New York City. “Thank you for being so patient with me.”
“You’ve made it well worth the patience,” he said with a suggestive grin.
Hannah felt her face go hot with embarrassment as she recalled their passionate nights together. He’d been a revelation to her, after having only been with her ex-husband. With Ray, she’d discovered that her marriage had been lacking in more ways than she’d realized.
He kissed her cheek and then her lips. “I love making you blush.”
“You do it far too often.”
“Because I love it so much.” He kissed her neck and gave a gentle bite that had her gasping from the sensations that lit up her entire body. “You know I love you, Hannah, don’t you?”
Hearing words that hadn’t been spoken before, she went completely still. Her first inclination was to pull back, to retreat, to run from the potential of being hurt even worse than she had been before.
“Don’t do that. Don’t go back into your shell and hide from me.”
“Old habits are hard to break.”
“You don’t need to do that anymore, Hannah. I already swore to you I’d never do to you what Mike did.”
“Leave me alone with eight kids to finish raising?” she asked with a small grin, looking for some levity as the conversation took a serious turn.
“Leave you ever.”
“You can’t know that.”
“I do know that. I was alone for a long time after my wife died. I never imagined anything like this happening again for me, but then there you were, and here we are, and this is what I want. You’re what I want.” He tipped her chin up. “Admit you love me, too.”
She shrugged. “Maybe a little.”
His brows furrowed into an expression that had probably made his daughters, Lucy and Emma, quake when he’d directed it their way as children. It only made Hannah want to giggle because she knew she had nothing at all to fear from him. “Tell me the truth.”
As she looked at the face that’d become the center of her life over the last year, she couldn’t deny how she felt about him. “Yes, Ray, of course I love you, but I promised myself a long time ago I’d never again risk more than I could bear to lose.”
“You’re not risking anything with me but a lifetime of happiness. That’s all I want for you—and for myself.”
Hannah wanted that so badly, but in the back of her mind—always—was the lingering damage Mike had inflicted when he abruptly left her after nearly twenty years of marriage. Even after all this time, it still rankled her that she hadn’t seen the end of her marriage coming until it was too late.
“I’ll never do to you what he did, Hannah,” he said again. “You already know that about me.”
She did know that. Ray was as true blue as it got. He meant what he said, and his word was gold.
“Our kids…” Her Grayson would soon marry his Emma, and a mess between her and Ray would be a mess for them, as well.