“Why did you tell me Charlotte was a gymnast?” I found myself asking her. I hadn’t meant to question her again, but the accusation bubbled up without my being able to stop it.
Hannah pulled back, her face carefully neutral. “I told you I don’t remember saying that.” She took the keys out of the ignition and got out of the car.
I followed her up to the front door and watched as she fumbled with the lock. I noticed her hands were shaking. What was wrong with her?
“I’m pretty sure you did. It was the night we were talking about Dillon. You said she was a really great gymnast,” I continued, following her into the house once she got the door open.
Hannah’s shoulders were rigid and she wasn’t looking at me. “It must have been a slip. Sorry if you felt I was lying to you.”
She didn’t sound sorry. Actually she didn’t sound like anything at all. Unemotional.
“I didn’t know you and your mother had tried to sue the city after the accident and that Ryan Law represented them. They turned out to be a pretty shady firm,” I went on.
Hannah stood in the foyer, unmoving. “Yeah, well, why would I bring that up? It’s not really important, is it?” She sounded as if she were choking.
On all the lies?
“You tell me,” I prompted.
“What are you getting at, Mason?” she said tiredly, rubbing her temples as if she had a headache. “I thought we had a nice evening.”
“We did.” I sighed. Why couldn’t I let it go? “I guess I’m just being paranoid again.”
“You’re looking for the worst again.” She wasn’t unemotional now. Now she seemed sad.
I took her hands, feeling the way they trembled in mine. I hated myself for not letting it go.
Would I hate myself if I did?
“I’m sorry. I told you I wouldn’t do this, yet here I am.”
Hannah wouldn’t look at me. “Maybe you should go, then. I don’t want you to second-guess me the whole time we’re together. I made a mistake lying about my job. I feel like a total jerk. I don’t remember saying that Charlotte was a gymnast. If I did, I’m sorry. It was a lapse made by a woman trying to protect her heart.”
Her chin drooped and she looked defeated. I didn’t want to be the man responsible for making her feel that way. Because I only wanted her smile. Her laugh. Not her tears and heartache.
I wouldn’t do that to Hannah. Not when I was falling for her.
I wrapped her in my arms, kissing the top of her head.
“I’m sorry, Hannah. I’m not being fair to you. I don’t want to leave. I want to be here. With you.”
But do you trust her?
Yes, I did.
I had to.
I couldn’t give my heart to a woman I didn’t trust. And Hannah was slowly taking mine.
I saw in Hannah the pain and grief that resonated inside me. I also saw a warrior. A woman who refused to be destroyed by defeat and misery. She had lost her father and almost lost her sister, but she fought on.
She was kind and careful.
Secretive but learning to share her life.
When I didn’t think it was possible for me to have a real relationship with anyone, she had blown in and changed that.
Hannah rested her forehead against the hollow of my throat. “God help you, Mason.”
