Page 53 of One More Time

I knew Hannah had met her because we’d run into McKenna one morning at the coffee shop. She nodded. “She’s the one you like.”

My niece said this as if she was reciting a fact, like the color of the sky being blue.

I opened my mouth to refute that point but stopped when I realized I was about to debate this with my seventeen-year-old niece. Hannah’s smile was sly. “McKenna’s a very nice person. Of course I like her,” I replied blandly.

“Nice like me,” Griffin quipped when he appeared by my shoulder.

Griffin was joining my hotshot crew, so we’d started to get to know each other.

I chuckled. “Yeah, nice like you.”

“Who’s nice? I don’t even know who you’re talking about.”

I almost groaned. Fuck my life. I did not need my niece deciding to stir the pot and give away anything about my feelings for McKenna. She had already asked me more than once where I spent the night when I wasn’t at the house.

“Your whole family is nice,” Hannah said, smoothly rescuing me from a potentially awkward moment. “You’re the firefighter, right?”

“Sure am,” Griffin replied. “Like your uncle here.” He cuffed me lightly on the shoulder.

“Why don’t you work for your family’s corporation?” she asked.

Griffin pondered that before shrugging. “I probably will someday. I can’t be a hotshot firefighter forever.”

When Hannah looked my way again, her brow was furrowed with worry. My heart twisted a little inside. She was worried about her dad, and she’d already lost her mom. I didn’t need her to worry about me.

“Don’t you even worry about me,” I said quickly.

“I’m allowed to worry about you,” she said pointedly.

Griffin glanced back and forth between us. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid when we’re out in the field this summer.”

A little while later, when I began walking home, I contemplated that Hannah had experienced more than enough loss in her life. She needed to know I would be there, no matter what.

I told myself I was walking because I wanted the fresh air and wasn’t going to check in with McKenna. I kept hoping I would run into her anyway. Although, I knew logically she had to already be home now.

When I passed the harbor and looked toward the docks to see her standing there, my feet aimed straight for her.

As I approached, I called her name. I saw her physically jolt a little before she turned.

“Hey,” I said quickly.

“Hi.” Her smile was polite, and her eyes guarded.

“Is everything okay?” I asked. I didn’t quite know how to read her expression, but she looked out of sorts.

When a gust of air blew off the water, and she curled her shoulders forward, I wanted to hold her. I wanted to keep her warm and protect her.

She didn’t answer my question. “I think maybe we should just be friends, just friends,” she said, emphasizing just.

For a moment, I wanted to argue about it, tell her we didn’t need to do that and tell her I loved her.

Instead, I thought about Derek. I thought about the list of appointments pinned to our refrigerator. I thought about Hannah, whose life had been shaken and stirred, and I told myself it was all for the best.

“Okay. So I’ll see you around then?”

McKenna blinked and glanced away. When she looked back up at me, it was as if she had closed the shades on her expressive eyes.

“Sure.”

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