I sit next to her.When she reaches for another piece, I grab her hand.
She gasps and jerks her gaze to mine, trembling as though I’m going to take her food away.Someone has treated her very poorly.Was it Vanguard?I remember the old kook.I met him a few times years ago.He seemed ninety even then.It’s hard to imagine he’s only fifty.
Hannah swallows, eyes wide.“I’m sorry.”
I shake my head.“Sunshine, you will never be food-deprived again.Never.There will always be something to eat any time you want it.But I don’t want you to eat so fast you get sick, okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
I wince.I don’t like the way she called me sir.There are lots of things I’d like her to call me, but I don’t want her to bow to me.I grip her chin again.“Take your time.Chew and swallow slowly so your stomach doesn’t get upset.”
As she nods, I hand her another piece of cheese.
She takes a small bite.
When I look across the table, Rebekah’s head is cocked to one side, a quizzical expression on her face, narrowed eyes, parted lips.She can’t see Adam, who is angled slightly behind her.He’s smirking.He’s on to me.I don’t give a fuck.
I hand Hannah a cracker next.It’s a fancy fucking cracker, not a saltine.Whole grains and shit.I feel a bit hoity just owning the strange box now that Hannah is staring at it.
Finally, she eats it.It’s obvious she’s trying very hard to control the urge to devour every morsel on the table.
“It’s okay,” Rebekah begins softly.“Aaric isn’t kidding.The Gallants have enough food to feed the entire mountain.Take your time.No one is going to take it away from you.”
Hannah nods and lifts her spoon to take a bite of soup.She moans again.Poor thing.My heartstrings can’t take this.
We all sit quietly and let Hannah eat.It’s probably making her nervous, but I don’t know how to stop that.I’m not willing to move away from her, and I don’t want to force her to talk when she’s so hungry.
Eventually, she stops shaking.Her blood sugar was probably very low.She eats every bite of food in front of her.It’s obviously difficult for her to control the urge to stuff her face and swallow it all whole.I never ever want to see her this hungry again in my life, and I suddenly know it will be one of my life’s goals to ensure it doesn’t happen.
Whatever she’s been through, it’s over now.Whoever she was with wasn’t taking care of her.I don’t care if she’s married.Her husband is no longer welcome in her life.I’ll see to it that her marriage is annulled or divorce proceedings start immediately.Whatever is necessary to change her life around.
Eventually, she drains another glass of water and leans back.“Thank you,” she whispers before looking across the table at Adam and Rebekah.“How did the two of you get together?”
Rebekah giggles.“When the Gallants showed up to rebuild on their land, I started sneaking around, watching them.It felt like old times, except they didn’t know I was watching this time.Not for a while anyway.”
“And Mrs.Gallant wasn’t here to feed you,” Hannah mutters.She jerks her gaze to Adam and then to me.“I’m so sorry about your parents.It was tragic.”
I reach for her hand and squeeze it in her lap.“Thank you, Hannah.”It’s been ten years since a fire burned down our home, killing both of our parents.It’s hard to believe it’s been that long, and at the same time, it often seems like yesterday.
“Dad started the fire,” Rebekah informs her sister bluntly.
Hannah gasps and sits taller, eyes wide.Her jaw drops as she stares at me again.New tears run down her cheeks.
I still have her hand in mine, and I give it another squeeze.
“You must hate us.Why would you even make me a meal?”
I flinch, frowning.“No one hates you, sunshine.You didn’t start that fire.Your father did.He was a hateful man.”
Rebekah looks down, wringing her fingers in her lap.“I feel very guilty about it, too, Hannah.”
We’ve been through this.I hate that Rebekah feels any sort of responsibility for her father’s actions.She’s been struggling with this information since the night Richard Sharp revealed his culpability before inadvertently killing himself with his own ammunition—weapons he’d brought here with the intent of murdering the rest of us.As if he could have possibly outgunned or outsmarted us.
Adam reaches for his wife and lifts her onto his lap.“We’ve talked about this, firecracker.You are not to blame.”
She lifts her head.“If we’d obeyed his orders to never come onto your property when we were kids, he never would have been so angry that he felt the need to kill anyone.”
Adam grabs her chin.“And you would have been even more malnourished than you were without our mother feeding you.Plus, who would have entertained us with such shenanigans if not you?”he teases.
