Page 26 of Billionaire Unforgettable: Tanner

To be honest, she’d sounded…nice. And she’d actually introduced herself as Anna Remington.

My mother smiled broadly as she stirred berries into her oatmeal. “That’s wonderful, Hannah. You’ll like Kaleb’s wife. I’ve met Anna several times. She’s a sweet girl, and Millie treats her daughter-in-law like she’s an adopted daughter to her. Were you able to take the appointment?”

That sounded like something Tanner’s mother would do.

I’d always adored the woman myself.

“Of course I took it,” I assured her. “I can’t think of anyone who would turn down an appointment with someone like her. I’ll be there for a while. Lauren Collier is going to be there, too, and Anna asked if I could squeeze Lauren in at the same time.”

I didn’t exactly have to juggle clients to get them on my schedule. I didn’t have much on the books for the next week.

Luckily, I had the money to afford being slow for a while.

I’d anticipated it, and my partners had paid me well for my part of our business.

Still, that money wouldn’t last forever, so building my business was becoming a priority now that my mother was well.

“You’ll love Anna,” my mother told me. “And you already know Lauren.”

I had a sneaking suspicion that Tanner had something to do with this sudden appointment, but I wasn’t about to complain because he or Kaleb had suggested that she use my services.

I took a bite of my whole grain bagel as I watched my mother eat her oatmeal.

No one would ever know that she’d just recovered from heart surgery.

She was in great shape because she exercised every day, and I’d just colored her hair to a pretty silver blonde color, and cut it into a stylish, shorter cut that suited her face.

“Why is it that you never really dated after you lost Dad?” I asked her curiously. “You were still a young woman when he died.”

She’d always been an attractive woman, and still was at the age of seventy.

She shrugged. “Probably for the same reason you didn’t date much in Seattle. I never found another man that I wanted to share my life with. I had you and Sweet Mornings to keep mebusy. Your father was my soulmate. If I couldn’t have the same kind of relationship again, I didn’t want to settle for something mediocre. I’ve always preferred to be alone. I’m content with my life as it is.”

That was true. Her life was full of activities and friends, and she’d never really seemed lonely.

“I dated in Seattle,” I informed her.

She sent me a glance that only a mother could give to her daughter. “Once or twice in seven years. You call that dating?”

“I tried,” I said with a sigh. “My heart just wasn’t into it. I think I needed time to get over Tanner.”

Ultimately, every man I’d tried to date got compared to what I’d had with Tanner. Not intentionally, but that spark had just never been there with anyone else.

I hadn’t slept with another man since Tanner, but I wasn’t about to discuss my sex life with my mother.

“Are you sure you ever really got over Tanner?” my mother asked, concerned. “I heard that you two were at The Mug And Jug last night together.”

I rolled my eyes. I’d forgotten how fast the gossip could spread in this town.

“He wants to be friends,” I confessed.

“That would help your business here,” she said thoughtfully.

“I’m not sure I can be his friend,” I confided. “We have too much history. I’m not brokenhearted anymore, but I’m not sure I can get that close to Tanner.”

“Then let him beyourfriend,” she suggested. “The Remington boys have changed a lot over the years, but you don’t have to give him your trust right away. He needs to work to earn it after the way he treated you.”

“He didn’t always treat me that way,” I said wistfully.

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