Page 56 of One More Time

The bell chimed on the door, and out of reflex, I glanced over. My heart gave a resounding kick against my ribs when Jack came walking in with Derek and Hannah.

When he happened to glance my way and our eyes met from across the café, my hormones cheered, and heat spun in fiery pinwheels through me. Tessa cleared her throat, and I dragged my eyes away. My cheeks were burning up.

“Good thing it’s over,” she said dryly.

“Oh my God,” I muttered before taking a gulp of coffee.

Her grin was sly.

Hannah walked across the café. For a minute, I thought she was coming over to us, but she stopped at the empty table right beside us. When she glanced toward us, she smiled. “Oh, hi, McKenna.”

“Hi, Hannah. This is Tessa.” I quickly introduced them.

Hannah thought that Tessa training to be a weather person was “the freaking most awesome thing ever” and asked Tessa tons of questions about it.

I steeled myself to deal with Jack when he and his brother approached the table beside us. Derek greeted us and reported he’d won a small cash prize from the salmon derby. “I’ll be buying random coffees for people with it,” he announced with a grin.

Conversation rumbled around us, and Jack’s look was inscrutable when he met my gaze.

It doesn’t matter, I reminded myself. You got what you wanted. Just friends with benefits. You knew it wasn’t going to be more.

But what if it could?

I was relieved to have Tessa there. She kept the conversation rolling, with her, Derek, and Hannah doing most of the talking. I practically guzzled my coffee and got up to leave, not paying much attention to the conversation.

Tessa caught my eye. “Hannah was wondering about beach hikes. I don’t know the beaches as well as you do. I’m trying to remember how to get to that old trail we used to take in high school. Do you know?”

“I can tell you how to get there.”

“That would be awesome!” Hannah glanced from Derek to Jack. “Can I go?”

“Of course,” Derek said. “I sure as hell can’t keep up with you, though. I’d prefer it if you went with someone. There might be moose there.”

It was a great spot for eagle viewing, and there most certainly could be moose around. Moose were almost always around in this part of Alaska.

When I looked toward Hannah and saw the hopefulness in her eyes, I decided to just roll with it. A few minutes later, we were walking down the sidewalk.

“I think Jack, I mean Uncle Jack, likes you,” she announced.

I glanced her way. “Uh, well…” I hedged.

She smiled shyly. “I know you barely know me, but he totally has a thing for you. I’m just saying.”

Hope shot up flares in my heart, but I ignored it. I didn’t trust myself. Maybe Jack did like me, but that was chemistry. I knew he didn’t want to suddenly change his life and have a serious relationship.

I shrugged. “Okay.”

When I didn’t say anything else, she shifted gears, saying, “It’s still weird to call him uncle.”

“I can imagine. How are you doing? This is a big change for you,” I offered.

Hannah glanced at me quickly before looking away as we continued walking. “It’s okay. I’m okay. It’s been a weird year. My mom died, and Derek, I mean Dad, is all I have. And he’s sick.” Her voice cracked on the last word.

When I looked her way, her eyes were on the trees ahead. “I bet that’s hard. I bet this whole thing is hard.”

“It is.” She lifted her chin, but she didn’t look my way.

I wanted to give her the space she so obviously needed, so I didn’t add anything. We fell into quiet as we walked. A few moments later, I gestured to the side. “Down here.”

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