I say nothing, not trusting myself and quite frankly not wanting to let him have the satisfaction of hearing me lose my cool.
“I’ll give you a call when I get there,” he says, then hangs up.
When I make it home, Hannah is awake. Awake and…cooking?
“What are you doing?”
“Ah, you’re back already. I was trying to finish before you got here.”
Confusion makes my steps slow as I approach. “Finish what?”
The kitchen counter is filled with cooking supplies—flour, sugar, measuring cups, and a large wooden spoon.
“Sit.” She points at the stools on the other side of the counter.
I drop into one as curious as I am tired. She’s a sight for sore eyes. The flight back from California felt like an eternity. After the call with my dad, my mind spun, and I couldn’t sleep at all. Why the hell does he want to see me now? I hate myself for even considering going. I can’t. I won’t. Nothing has changed or will ever change.
“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” I ask as I watch her pull on my oven mitts.
“I took tomorrow off so I can pick up my sister at the airport.”
“Still…” I glance at the clock. “It’s late.”
She opens the oven, and a familiar sweet smell fills the room. I can’t place it but my stomach grumbles in anticipation. With a wide grin, Hannah places a tray of muffins in front of me.
“Huckleberry?” I ask, finally putting it together with the smell and the purplish berries on top of the muffins.
“Yep.” She nods, proud and happy, waiting for my reaction. She must have expected me to be pleased. She made my favorite muffins—why wouldn’t I be? Just seeing Hannah on any other day would have me floating on a cloud.
But all I can do is stare at her. I can’t seem to wrap my head around this thoughtful gesture. Or her. Or anything at all.
“You don’t have to eat them right now or anything,” she says quickly, filling the awkward silence. She pulls off the oven mitts and tucks a loose strand of blond hair behind one ear. “You’ve been so great, letting me stay here, agreeing to stay married until I find a sponsor. It’s a lot and I just wanted to thank my husband.”
I manage to nod like a robot.
“Anyway, my sister is coming tomorrow. I already said that.” She shakes her head, clearly flustered. “We’ll try to stay out of your way. I know you have a couple big games coming up.”
I’ve still not spoken and it’s beyond weird now. She lets out a long breath. “Okay. It’s late and you must be tired. I know I am.” She waves toward the mess. “I promise to clean this up in the morning.”
She starts to flee (who the hell could blame her?) and my brain finally clicks into gear. I jump to my feet and block her path.
“Thank you. This is really nice of you. No one has ever made me huckleberry muffins. They smell amazing.”
“You do nice things for me all the time. I wanted to repay the favor.”
I want to hug her or kiss her, no, definitely both. “You never need to repay me for anything. Whatever you want or need is yours.”
“Okay.” Her tone is shaky, like she’s trying to figure me out. I’m not often hard to read but right now I can’t even make out my own emotions so there’s no way she stands a chance of it.
I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment and when I open them, I try my best to be the guy she was expecting to walk in here tonight. I reach out and take her hand in mine. “It was a long day, but this is by far the best part of it.”
A small smile returns to her lips and then she takes a step back, pulling our hands apart. “Night, Travis.”
24
HANNAH
“How’d it go?” Kinsley asks, smile too bright for the early morning. It drops as realization dawns on her face. “Wait. You’re not supposed to be here today. Did something happen with Wren? Is she not coming?”
