"Everyone's talking about it," the voice says. After a second, I recognize it as belonging to her friend Marjorie. "Don't be surprised if Hanna starts asking for days off so she can go off gallivanting somewhere with him."
"Don't worry, I’ve got a plan."
There's a shuffle. I peek around the corner to see a couple of boxes on the picnic table.
"She's always lost in her damned books. If I get rid of those, it should make her realize I mean business and that she needs me to survive."
"I'm sure she'll find new books somewhere," Marjorie laughs.
"Her fucking books are just the beginning. Next, I’m going to set a small fire in the garage. It’ll ruin her crap upstairs with smoke damage."
"You really make your niece live in that rickety apartment over the garage?"
"Of course!" Blaire snaps. "I'm not going to let her live in our house!" She cackles, her friend joining her. "If all her stuff is destroyed, she'll have to keep working to earn the money to replace it all. She'll need a loan. Which means she'll be working here as long as I want. I can take whole days off, and that idiot Davis won’t even know.”
I risk another quick glance around the corner. Blaire is grabbing my books out of the boxes and piling them in front of a makeshift pizza oven she's constructed with some old bricks.
Tears fill my eyes, so much that I can barely see…Knox’s truck backing into the front driveway?
Oh wow.
Somehow, he knew I needed him.
15
KNOX
Leaping out of my truck, I race toward Hanna. One look at her face confirms my worst fears.
My right hand stabs at the buttons on my phone at the same time as my left one reaches for Hanna, scooping her against me. I kiss the top of her hair just as the call connects.
"Hey, Knox – what's the verdict?"
“Yup, I smell smoke. Are you on the way?"
Before Liam can answer, I hear the sirens. "We were coming in quiet until I got your confirmation, but yeah. Be there in seconds."
I slip my phone into my pocket to snuggle Hanna with both arms.
"How did you know?" she asks.
"You told me she said something about not letting you escape through your books. And I saw that awful pizza oven contraption when I was here a few days ago."
I pull her over to my truck, parked on the far side of the driveway to give Liam and his guys plenty of room to pull up.
We hear Blaire screeching and Liam sternly admonishing her about backyard fires being illegal if they're not in a proper barbecue or firepit.
I simply hold Hanna, feeling how rattled she was at first but that everything smooths out the longer we breathe together. Her chin tips up, and she gives me a soft smile. "Knox?"
"Yeah, darlin'?"
She takes a deep breath, then her smile widens. "May I please?—"
"Yes."
She snorts a soft giggle. "I haven’t even asked yet. Let me finish."
"Sorry. Go ahead."
