Page 26 of Sultry Nights

“I understand that.”

Hanna focused on finishing her sandwich and drank her lemonade. Tisha stood abruptly. "Let me show you the flooring that I have here, to see if you'll like it."

She pushed in her chair and followed Tisha out of the sunroom and through the kitchen to a small pantry-type room off the kitchen. There were building supplies and things stacked neatly in various places. On the floor was a stack of flooring and it was beautiful dark hardwood with graining in it.

"This is the flooring I have. My son tells me there is enough here for an 8x10 room. I'm not sure if one of the rooms that you’re fixing up is that size or smaller, but you are certainly welcome to have this if you'd like. Otherwise, I'll have my son pack it up and take it to the thrift store."

Hanna knelt down and touched the wood. The satiny finish was soft to the touch and truly much nicer than she’d have ordered for her little house. The graining in it had light golden strands through it. She stood and brushed her hands on her thighs. Her cheeks were warm. She felt a little embarrassed, kind of like a charity case. But she smiled brightly and said, "I love it. It's beautiful."

"Perfect. I can have my son take it to your place today. You'll just need to give me your address. And then I have this table over here." She stepped over to a table that was sitting alongside the left wall. "This table was a kitchen table that we had in our house for years. My ex has proclaimed that he does not want it and to be perfectly honest with you, neither do I. You are welcome to it. It was very expensive. It's very sturdy, and it's in excellent condition. But I'm just ready for a change."

Hanna looked at the pretty table. It was lighter wood than the flooring, but it was in perfect shape. A nice round table. The chairs matched it. It would look elegant in her little bungalow. And she didn't have a table. "So thank you. I'd love this. Are you sure I couldn't give you something for it? You don't have to just hand me things."

"Nope. It's yours if you'd like it."

Hanna thanked her again. And then Tisha stood stock still.

Hanna wasn't sure what to do. She cocked her head to the side and looked Tisha in the eye.

"Is everything all right, Tisha?"

She saw Tisha's lip quiver slightly and then she inhaled a deep breath. "My ex-husband… who owns a business and whom I was married to the entire time he was building said business, has cut me off. I have no more alimony coming in and I am not sure that I'm really cut out for work. Not anything that I would be able to find in town here. And I'm not sure what to do."

Hanna's heart hurt for Tisha. She was out of her element. You could tell she had always had money, and she wasn't used to working. That was obvious from the manicured nails to the makeup to the expensive clothing that she wore.

"I can't believe if you've been married for a long time and your husband built a business the entire time that you were married, that you don't have some ownership in that business."

Tisha squared her shoulders back. "Yes, that's what I thought was weird, too. But my attorney did not feel as though I had any stake in the business because I never worked it."

Hanna cocked her head to the side. "I think you need a new attorney because I have a friend who went through the same thing, and from what I'm told, that because her staying at home and raising the children and keeping the house allowed the husband to go off to work and build that business, she was entitled to 10% of the profits for the rest of the life of the business. So I encourage you to find another attorney."

Tisha's head cocked, and she studied Hanna for a long time, almost to the point that Hanna felt a little uncomfortable. "Is that so? You know, Hanna, I think you're right. I don't think the attorney that I hired did me any justice. So I'm going to take your advice and I'm going to find another attorney. A female attorney. Thank you."

Hanna nodded, "You're welcome. We women have to stick together, don't we?"

"That we do."

Hanna concluded her lunch with the promise that Tisha's son would be bringing the flooring and the table and a couple little pieces of pottery that Tisha said she no longer wanted over to Hanna's house tonight.

Hanna had a date though, so she was going to have to ask her neighbor, Tim, to let Tisha's son in to drop the things off. That should work out just fine.

Now she could look forward to her date.

But she still had an attorney meeting to get through, and that could prove to be trying.

14

Quinn had a pretty good outlook on life. Things managed to work out for him in the end. But sometimes that middle could be a rocky road. Today, for the first time, he felt as though he'd not only made it down the rockiest part of the road, but he'd turned the corner, and the horizon was beautiful.

He strode through the construction trailer at the Winston job site and chuckled when he saw nothing but crumbs left in the cinnamon roll box. Those guys devoured the box in less than five minutes. He had entered the construction trailer and within minutes, his guys practically stampeded the trailer to get one of Hanna's cinnamon rolls.

He picked up the empty box and tossed it in the garbage can. Then he pulled a paper towel from the corner holder and wiped up the crumbs, coffee drips, and frosting droppings. Tossing the paper towel in the garbage, he strode toward the door.

As he twisted the handle, his phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and saw Margo Price's name on the screen. He couldn't help how his heartbeat increased. She likely had news for him.

"Hello, Margo. How are you?"

She chuckled. "I'm feeling rather proud of myself, to be honest. Your offer has been accepted."

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