Just before Rachel topped a hill and disappeared, she turned around. “Bree,” she called. “Brianna Claire.”
Then she was gone.
Boone rubbed the back of his neck. Hannah murmured, “Brianna Claire McBride. A beautiful name for a beautiful little girl.”
The tears overflowed but damn if Boone cared. “I’ll do it, Hannah,” he swore. “I’ll be the best daddy in the universe. I won’t let Rachel down again. I won’t let Bree down.”
“I have no doubt.” Hannah opened her handbag and removed a clean tissue. Handing to Boone, she said, “You are going to be that little girl’s light.”
Chapter Thirteen
Tired as she was, Hannah had trouble falling asleep that night. Her mind bounced between reliving the events of the day and reliving events of her past. When a glance at the bedside clock revealed 1:37 in glowing red numerals, she groaned aloud and pulled the feather pillow over her head.
When she’d agreed to accompany Boone to Texas, she’d recognized that it would test her emotional stability. She hadn’t cared for an infant since Zoe was born. The fact that the baby was a boy had made the mountain seem less hard to climb.
Now Trace was Brianna Claire, and cradling the infant girl in her arms had catapulted Hannah back to pre-nightmare time. She wasn’t at all sure that she had the heart for this.
Maybe in the morning, she should tell Boone he needed to look for someone else for this job. She had told him her daughters had died. He would understand that being a nanny for a baby girl might be a bridge too far for her.
She tossed and turned throughout the night and awoke to Boone’s knock at her door feeling lethargic. He relayed the news that breakfast had arrived. She wanted to tell him she would skip the meal, but the notion of hot coffee was a powerful lure.
“I’ll be there in five,” she called to him and then dragged herself from the bed. A quick shower helped, but she needed coffee bad. Boone, on the other hand, appeared rested and relaxed, and his mood was annoyingly chipper.
“I did some thinking overnight,” he told her as she poured her second cup of coffee.
Me too. Little of it was good.
“After talking to Rachel, and knowing the people involved, I’m much more confident that this adoption will actually happen. If we don’t run into any hiccups at the attorney’s office, how would you feel about taking a detour on the way back to Eternity Springs?”
Warily, she asked, “What sort of detour?”
“Not far. To my family’s ranch. I think it’ll be safe to introduce Bree to my parents. I have no doubt that my mom will volunteer to fill in as my babysitter until the nanny recovers from her surgery.”
“Oh. That would be great,” Hannah said, relief flowing through her. “Really great.”
“Not that I’m trying to kick you out of a job or anything. I promise it’s cooler out on the ranch than it is here in town. Plus, my folks have excellent air-conditioning.”
“No! It’s good. I’m totally on board with that.” She walked toward the window and stared out at downtown Fort Worth before adding, “I’ll be honest. Jumping from blue to pink territory has me a bit freaked out.”
His silver-gray eyes focused on her intently. “I was afraid of that. I have a confession to make. After I heard you cry out last night, I looked in on you. You were obviously in the throes of a nightmare. I didn’t know whether it was best to try to wake you up or not. You settled down before I could make up my mind, so I went back to bed. I wasn’t being a peeper, but I do apologize for invading your privacy.”
Hannah had two thoughts. The damned nightmare again, and she’d probably looked like a nightmare when he’d peeked in. Great. “I’m sorry I woke you.”
“I wasn’t really asleep. I tossed and turned all night.”
“Me too.” Then, because she had tired-brain, she added, “We could have tossed and turned together, I guess.”
“Now, that is definitely something I could get on board with,” he said, his grin a wicked slash of white teeth.
Hannah held up her hand palm out. “Wait. That came out wrong.”
“Sounds pretty right to me.”
“Boone,” she protested.
“Okay. Okay. I’ll quit teasing. Just let me say one thing, all kidding aside. I’m up for tossing and turning with you anytime.”
“Grrr … I’m going to go get ready.” His laughter followed her into her bedroom.
Four days of meetings, shopping, eating at Boone’s favorite restaurants, and more shopping followed. They met the convalescing nanny and spent time with Bree and her foster parents each day. She was a beautiful baby, born earlier than Boone had been led to believe, a little over a month old. Her hair was definitely red.
Boone had changed diapers and dealt with spit-up like a trooper. Hannah had avoided holding the little sweetie as much as possible. If the foster parents or the social workers or attorneys had noticed, no one commented on it.
Through it all, Boone was a combination of the Energizer Bunny and a five-year-old boy waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve. The one instance when he was less than enthused was the afternoon of the second day in town after Hannah had done as she’d promised and spoken to Boone about Ashleigh Hart. “I don’t want to hear her explanation. I don’t care about any explanation she thinks she wants to roll out. The woman is dead to me.”
“Obviously not,” Hannah pointed out. “If you still get this worked up at the thought of speaking to her, she still has a hold on you. Let me offer you a word of advice if I may. I know firsthand what it’s like to live with a grudge that has outlasted a life. Living with regrets you cannot change can ding your psyche pretty bad, Boone. My advice is to avoid it if you possibly can.”
He tilted his head and studied her. “Am I correct in assuming that regret has something to do with your late husband?”
“Got it in one.”
“You never talk about him.”
“Maybe one day you can tell me your soap opera story, and I’ll tell you mine.”
“You already know most of mine.”
“And you know what really matters about mine.” Hannah shrugged. “Look, I have no skin in this game, so how you choose to deal with Ashleigh Hart doesn’t matter to me. I just thought I’d share insight on regrets because if I had to do it over again, I would.”
Boone thought a moment, and sighed heavily. “You’re right. I have some of those where my wife was concerned. Maybe I’ll call Ashleigh and let her say what she wants to say after all the adoption legalities are done. I don’t trust her not to screw this up for me too.”
He frowned, gave a little shudder, then quickly changed the subject. “So do you want to come with me to buy a car, or would you rather hang by the pool? Personally, I get a charge out of haggling with car dealers, but I know not everyone thinks it’s fun.”
“Root canals are more fun, in my opinion,” Hannah said. She chose pool time.
Finally, five days after arriving in Fort Worth, all the paperwork was officially signed and filed, and Boone took custody of his daughter. His stunning smile when his gaze met Hannah’s caused her heart to do a little flip-flop. She took photos of the moment because she knew his family would want to see them.