Page 61 of The Pink House

“I can do that.”

Pushing back his chair, he rose. “I’ll see you bright and early.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Was it only wishful hearing, or did he say, “Me, too” as he strode off the porch in the direction of his house?

CHAPTERSIXTEEN

“You are not going fishing in the morning.” Emma’s peal of laughter at the other end of the phone line grated.

After chatting about Calista’s pregnancy, Emma had turned her attention to Hannah. Almost immediately, Hannah regretted mentioning her plans for tomorrow.

“I told you about Brian’s letter, Em.” Hannah did her best to not let her annoyance show in her voice. “Fishing is something he got pleasure out of, something he wished he’d shared with me.”

“But fishing. Worms. Yuck.”

“Charlie promised no worms would die.”

“You’re going with Charlie?”

Something in Emma’s voice put Hannah on alert. “I told you that.”

“No,” Emma clarified. “You said you were going fishing at dawn. You didn’t say one word about Charlie coming with you.”

“Oversight.” Hannah kept her tone matter-of-fact. “He’s got the knowledge, the poles and the bait. It makes sense for us to go together.”

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with him.”

“Not that much.” Hannah hated the defensive edge to her voice and fought to smooth it. “Until yesterday, it had been nearly a week since we even talked.”

“A week, eh? Sounds like you’re keeping count.”

Hannah knew her friend was teasing, but she also realized shehadbeen keeping count. Why was that?

“I don’t have many friends here yet, Em.” Hannah leaned her head back against the sofa. “Mackenna is busy with work and her other activities. I’m doing my best to reach out. I tried with Lydia. That was a bust.”

“It’ll take time.” Emma’s voice softened.

“I know that.” Hannah hesitated, then plunged ahead. “I enjoy talking with Charlie. We have fun together.”

“Do you like him?”

“Of course I like him.”

“No, I mean, do you like him like a guy you want to date?”

Hannah’s knee-jerk was to say no, to tell Emma what she’d told Lydia, that it was too soon for her to think about dating anyone. But she admitted to herself that if she were to date anyone, if shewereinterested in dating anyone, it would be Charlie.

“He’s a good guy,” Hannah conceded. “I’m not sure I’m ready to date, but if I were, yes, I’d consider him.”

Emma said nothing for several long seconds. “Don’t take this the wrong way, and God knows you know this better than I do, but life doesn’t come with guarantees. Don’t wait too long.”

“I don’t know if dating me would be fair to Charlie.”

“Why wouldn’t it?”

“I loved Brian. Can you really love more than one man? I mean, really love them?” Hannah thought of her father. “My dad married Sandie. He says he loves her. Does he love Sandie as much as he loved my mom? I don’t know. I’d say no, but maybe that’s just what I want to believe.”

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