A knock at the door woke me. Alec had carried me to bed, and I’d asked him to stay. His hand was still caressing my back when I opened my eyes—I knew he hadn’t slept.
He sighed and then stood from the bed.
I sat up and slid to the edge, not sure how to word all my questions. They circled over my head trying to find a place to land, an explanation that would fit.
He turned to look at me. “I’m sorry to wake you.”
“Alec…”
“Ben won’t be at lunch today. Please help Hanna not to worry.”
I hesitated. “Please take care of him.”
“I’ll be very close.”
“I thought you said Vincent and James would be there.”
“In addition.”
Surely he was going in order to make me feel better. It was the opposite of helpful.
I made it downstairs clean and dressed as the others congregated near the base of the steps. Vincent and the others often wore suits, and today Ben matched them, instead of his usual work pants and T-shirt. With his thick blond hair slicked back, he barely looked like himself.
Just as I made it to the bottom of the steps, I heard Alec’s footsteps in the upstairs hall.
They all stopped talking and waited for him. I considered going to the kitchen to help Hanna, but I wanted to hear what Alec had to say to them, to Ben. Alec came to the bottom of the stairs and stood next to me.
He looked at the thick one, James. “Vincent has told you what you are to do today?”
He hesitated to answer, and his gaze flickered in my direction. “Uh, yes, sir.”
“You will not be seen. Ben’s being there will be taken as a coincidence, and no one is likely to realize with whom he is associated, anyway. Your being there will not be glanced over.”
James’ back straightened, and his voice was stronger. “Yes, sir.”
Alec looked to Vincent. “You have everything set?”
“We’ll hear and see everything.”
Alec nodded. “I’ll be joining you as well. Please tell your contact to expect me.”
Vincent glanced at me, the tiniest flicker of his gaze. “Everything’ll be set. There won’t be any problems.”
“Thank you,” Alec said. Then he added to the group, “Thank you, gentlemen.”
The others turned to go. Ben was closest to me, and before he could walk away, I stepped forward and hugged him. “Please be careful.”
He mumbled over his words. “Don’t be worryin’, Adriane.”
The other four paused to stare, even Vincent, until Alec cleared his throat. The others walked away, and I let go of Ben. With a straight back and easy pace, Ben went with Vincent and James to stand by the door while Anthony and Charlie took their seats in the dining room.
Alec stood with his back to them, blocking me from view. “Thank you for watching over Hanna for me.”
“I’ll keep her busy.”
The corner of his mouth pulled up. With a gentle hand, he lifted my chin and kissed me once. “I’ll miss you,” he whispered in my ear.
Then he walked for the door.
The others stopped staring at Alec’s approach. James glanced back curiously before Vincent prodded him to follow Alec out.
I spent the morning trying to keep Hanna talking, mostly about daily stuff. I figured simple would be easier today.
After we ate a very small lunch, I busied myself with wiping the already spotless counters. The phone’s ringing made me jump.
Hanna walked over and picked up the receiver.
She smiled a little as she listened. “Thank you, dear… She’s right here.” Then she held the receiver out to me. “It’s Alec.”
I set down the rag that I was using and took the phone. “Alec?”
“He’s fine. There were no problems.”
I took a breath. “Did you find anything?”
“He dined with Councilman Garrett. It appeared to be mostly legitimate business, but Talbert was again present.”
“Did they say anything you can use?”
“Nothing that couldn’t be easily explained away.”
I was silent with disappointment.
He continued. “I promise to take care of this.”
“I trust you, but—”
“I know,” he said softly.
I sighed. “I’m sure you need to get back to work.”
“I should.” There was something hidden in his voice.
“You’re already there,” I surmised.
His voice lightened. “Yes.”
“And you’re making someone wait.”
“You’re more important.”
I turned mostly away from Hanna to hide my smile.
“I love you, and I’ll see you tonight,” he said.
“I love you, too.”
Hanna’s head jerked, but then she stopped it. My voice had been quiet. I thought hearing was supposed to be the first thing to go with age.
Alec’s end went dead, and I paused before hanging up. I braced myself for her attack.
She turned and resumed cutting vegetables for whatever she was making for dinner. I kept an eye on her as I finished wiping the counters. I rinsed the rag in the sink.
Finally, she said, “I knew I was right.”
I looked up. “Hm?”
“I knew Alec was, in the very least, attracted.”
Not sure how to respond, I continued rinsing and looked at her only peripherally. He’d told her point blank he wasn’t attracted.
She set her knife down and turned to me. “He watches you,” she said. “When your eyes are down, when you’re busy with something else, he…watches the way you move. He likes your hands and the way your hair brushes your face.”
I held the rag under the water even though it was as clean as it was going to get. “I care about him,” was all I could think to say, “very much.”
Her voice was gentle. “I’m not going to pry.” Then she smiled. “But I knew I was right.” She turned back to her vegetables, and the knife resumed clacking against the cutting board.
A few seconds passed.
I turned off the faucet. “Hanna?”
“Yes, dear?”
“How many times have you seen that before?”
She looked over her shoulder. “Seen what?”
“Alec attracted to someone.”
The clacking of her knife stopped. I turned to face her fully and leaned against the counter.
“Come to think of it,” she said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him get like this over a woman. Of course, I’d catch him when he was a teenager looking at pretty girls. I figure he didn’t approach them because I was around.” Her wrinkles curved up. “I don’t want to know how many hearts he’s broken.”
I forced a small smile. “What about when he came home the conquering graduate? I bet women were all over him.”
Her smile faded. “He seemed so…calm when he first came home.”
“Like he was finally over his teenage rebellion?”
“I suppose.”
“But it didn’t last?”
“The next day, he just suddenly… I don’t know—maybe it was that he started doing work for his father. He never wanted that kind of life.”
My heart pounded in my throat. Somewhere in my head, I’d been thinking I was missing something in what Alec had told me. But he was exceptional at hiding his emotions; if Hanna saw that big a change in him, something powerful must’ve happened.
I forced another smile. “But then he changed everything. I bet he started feeling better, being calmer again.”
She sighed. “No. He’s not calm so much as controlled.”
“You’re using the present tense.”
Her smile had disappeared into the soft folds of her skin. “He’s never been good at being open, but I used to understand him. Maybe not completely, but I knew what shaped him into the man he became.”
“That changed when he came home from school?”
“It was like the flip of a switch. I don’t know… He wouldn’t ever talk. He was like a stranger. I kept waiting for him to come back to me.”
I swallowed. “I’m sorry, Hanna.”
Her back straightened. “Lately, he’s been so much better.” Something in her eyes smiled. “I think I know why.”
I slouched back against the cabinet. Five years. He’d spent five years staying away, and yet close. Five years watching Hanna worry about him. Five years of muscle-strained self-control.
Five years of keeping me at a distance.
Something had to motivate him to do all that, to think we couldn’t, perhaps even shouldn’t, be together. What kind of chance did I have that he’d decide that motivation, whatever was, didn’t matter anymore?