His frown made her laugh. “Are you sure?”
“That’s why it was pink.” She waved her hand. “Anyway, Iwouldlike to talk to you about being closed on Tuesdays. Even though closing at two on three days gives me afternoons to do stuff, I’d love to have one day a week to sleep in.”
Smiling, he nodded. “That does sound nice. I don’t know if I remember how to do that.”
“I bet I’ll remember pretty quickly.” She leaned forward, putting her elbows on the table. “We should talk to Nathan before we make any decisions. I know he does some off-the-books work for his brother when he’s off, but it doesn’t feel right to take a day from his schedule without talking to him about it.”
“Kenzie, youhaveto be more selfish sometimes.” He shook his head, but his eyes were warm with affection. “And I already talked to him about it. So you and I, we’re going to have a conversation very soon and figure this out, okay?”
“That would be great,” she said honestly, mustering a smile for her dad.
Itwouldbe great, even though it wouldn’t make a difference as far as any relationship with Danny was concerned. She understood he had a nice life he really enjoyed, but she had no time for a man who expected her to rearrange her life to suit him without any compromise on his part.
It was time to stop yearning for a man who didn’t want her enough and learn to be content again.
* * *
Breakfast was a rushed affair, which suited Danny because it made the other two less likely to notice he pushed around more food than he ate. After a miserable night of tossing and turning, occasionally interrupted by restless sleep, he didn’t have much of an appetite.
It was best for everybody—including himself—that he go home as soon as possible.
Rob looked up at the clock after every few bites until he finally pushed back his chair. “I hate to eat and run, but I have to meet Scott to pick up the York rake. He’s not exactly jovial on a good day, so I don’t want to keep him waiting.”
“Do you need a hand with it?” Danny asked. The large rake they pulled behind the tractor or a UTV to smooth out the trails had needed some TLC, and Scott had called the previous night to tell them the welding was done.
“No, we’ve got it.” Then he kissed the top of Hannah’s head and was gone.
“Your pancake okay?” she asked a few minutes later, probably because his brother wasn’t there to distract her from the fact Danny was pushing the cut-up pancake around on his plate.
“It’s great. I might have had too big a midnight snack last night.”
“I thought I heard you moving around. And Rob made the pancakes, so I’m not offended or anything.”
When she got up to clear her place, he did the same. Hannah filled the sink with hot, soapy water while Danny put the syrup and butter away. She handed him the sponge so he could wipe down the table, and then she washed while he dried and put away.
She was humming while she worked, which left his mind free to roam. And where it roamed to was the memory of Rob and Hannah making a road trip to California to return her parents’ camper and pack up her things so she could move to New Hampshire to be with him.
“How did you know Rob was worth it?”
Hannah looked at him, tipping her head. “Worth what?”
“The risk, I guess?” He blew out a breath, scrubbing a hand over his jaw. “You left your whole life in California to be with him. You’re all the way across the country from your family. How did you know what you two had was worth that?”
“Sometimes it’s really hard being away from my family. Especially my nieces, to be honest. But we’re in constant contact, and, while I don’t get to see them as much as I’d like, we actually talk and text and video chat more than we used to. And I didn’t have to give up my job. Did I have to give up the big production deal? Yes. But I’m still doing the part of it I loved.” She gave him a pointed look. “It’s very nice to be able to work anywhere, as you know.”
“It’s not just about me working. You miss things—birthdays and cookouts and all of those moments.”
Hannah frowned, shaking her head. “Danny, it’s a little over two hours from here to your parents’ house. Nobody misses out on anything.”
“But I’d have to go alone. Oliver’s birthday party on a Saturday? Kenzie would be working. Mother’s Day brunch? Kenzie would be working. I could go alone, but I know I’d hate it eventually. If I’m going tosharemy life with somebody, I want to actually share my life, you know?”
“Have you explained that to Kenzie?”
“No, I haven’t, because it won’t change anything. It’s not like she can tell me she’ll take those days off because she can’t.”
“For the record, I really don’t want to be in the middle of this. But I will say this one last thing—for me, it came down to whether I could be happy without Rob in my life, and the answer was no.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
