Page 48 of Sultry Nights

"Good Lord." Hanna sighed quietly, so she didn't offend anyone, but she was a little perplexed at how this evening had already started.

Quinn chuckled, then had a conversation with her dad about business, which she thought was kind of cute, and then he told her parents and Jalyn about the barracks project and what they were doing there. They were all excited about what he was planning to do, and all agreed that the property needed some sprucing up, so this was going to be a good thing for the town.

Her dad said, "All right I'm going to get the steaks on the grill.

Quinn stood up with him, "I'll help you."

The two men in her life walked out of the room together, and she thought it was rather sweet.

Her phone rang, and she pulled it from her pocket and saw Isaac's number. She closed her eyes as Jalyn looked over and saw who was on the phone. "Don't answer that."

Not wanting to speak to Isaac anyway, she tapped the phone and hung up the call. It wasn't even a minute later, and the phone rang again. Isaac again. She stood and walked out of the room. "I might as well answer it, or he'll just keep calling." She answered her phone, "Yes, Isaac, how can I help you today?"

She shouldn't have offered to help him at all. He'd take advantage of that if he could.

"Can we... can we talk? Can I, can I, can we meet together and talk?"

"No."

"No? You won't talk to me?"

"I don't want to talk to you, Isaac. I would think the divorce would have been a pretty good sign of that."

"But I'm in town now, and I just want to meet you for a little while. I just want to apologize."

"You can apologize on the phone and then that's it. I'm at Mom and Dad's tonight and I don't want to have this conversation with you, like ever."

“Hanna, please just let me meet you in person and talk to you. I just want to say I'm sorry and I just want to see your face so that you believe me."

"Isaac, I don't believe I will ever believe you again. I don't want to have this conversation with you now, or ever, and I don't need your apology. I'm over it. I'm over it all. Please don't call again."

"But,Hanna, please."

She hung up the phone, took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. After a moment, she sauntered back into the living room where Jalyn and her mom sat waiting for her.

"He's in town apparently and wanted to talk to me. He wanted to apologize. I told him he could apologize on the phone. He didn't want to do that. He begged. I said no that's the end of it. I'm not meeting with him. I'm not talking to him. I don't want to have anything to do with him, to be honest with you. So, hopefully, that's the last I will hear from him tonight."

"Well, let's hope so," her mom said. "Besides, it doesn't look good when you're taking calls from your ex-husband when you're here with your new boyfriend."

"I've already told Quinn all about Isaac, and all the crap he's pulled, and his recent shenanigans. He's aware of what kind of person Isaac is. But I tend to agree with you. I don't want Isaac intruding on any of my time with Quinn. Actually, I don't want Isaac intruding on any of my time, period, so I won't be taking any more of his calls."

Her father and Quinn walked back into the house with a plate of delicious-smelling steaks.

"Steaks are ready."

Her mom jumped up. "Okay, let's go. It's time to eat."

Her mom hustled about, refreshing everyone's drinks. Then, they sat down and had a nice meal.

Dinner conversation centered around the new stage the Sandbar was building. The new flower pots the business league purchased for each Main Street business so there was a cohesive look to the street. And the upcoming election and the two mayoral candidates.

Quinn made it very easy for her parents to talk to him about anything. He was engaging, open, and honest.

And happily, they were all on the same page politically, so she could breathe a sigh of relief. Quinn asked Jalyn about being the first female firefighter. And he asked her questions about Hanna, which she was a bit uncomfortable with, but they laughed. Jalyn had a couple cute stories which Quinn seemed to enjoy. Then her phone rang.

Her mother sat up straight. Hanna looked over at her phone to see who it was, but it wasn't a number she recognized.

She moved away from the table. Her mom had a strict 'no phones at the table' policy. As she moved into the living room, she tapped the green icon on her phone. "Hello."

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