Charming Hannah (Big Sky 1)

It’s not going well.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this in public,” the brunette woman says with tears in her voice.

“At least it wasn’t by text,” the man replies, and I frown, then hide my face behind my almost empty coffee mug. What a jerk.

“So, why now? I thought it was going well.”

There’s a long pause, and then the douchebag replies with, “I’m going to be brutally honest here. The sex just isn’t doing it for me.”

“We haven’t even had sex yet,” she hisses, and he has the audacity to simply nod.

“Exactly.”

“You said you understood when I told you that I wanted to get to know you better first.”

“Yeah, I thought you meant that you had a stupid three date rule or something. But it’s been a month, Penny, and nada.”

“I’m relieved I didn’t have sex with you, and I regret the blow job.”

“That was a delightful evening,” he says with a wink, and I silently will the woman to punch him in the throat.

But she does something so much better.

She stands, and says in the loudest voice possible without shouting, “No, Nick, your limp dick issue isn’t normal. You should see someone about that. Not to mention, you couldn’t find a woman’s g-spot with GPS and written instructions. You should probably see someone about that, too. Your inability to please a woman is embarrassing, and I need a real man in my life.”

With that, she turns and stomps away, chin up, not a tear in sight. And I can’t help but stand and give her a slow clap, then turn and glare at Mr. Douchenozzle. He’s not smirking now, is he?

He curses and rushes away in the opposite direction, and I sit back with what’s left of my coffee, ready to enjoy the last few moments before I have to go to the office.

I tip my face back to soak in some sunshine and revel in the mountain views. The fact that the snow is still holding on at the top is surprising for this late in the year.

It was a particularly snowy winter, and by the time it started to melt, I’d seriously questioned whether I made the right choice in accepting the position here five years ago. I’d originally wanted to settle in a city, delivering a dozen babies a day. I love my job, and after putting in my time at big city offices, I didn’t know if that was for me, either. I want to develop a working relationship with my patients, not just shuffle them through the office, one after the other, as fast as I can.

When Drake told me there was a position open here, I brushed it off, still not convinced that this was for me. I’d been here to visit, and while it’s beautiful, I didn’t think small town life was the answer.

I’d left that behind when I was eighteen and finally able to escape the home life from hell for college. A full ride scholarship, for the first four years, followed by a mountain of loans that I’ve thankfully been able to pay down quickly. I don’t owe anyone anything, and I earned everything that I now have.

But Cunningham Falls, Montana, is nothing like Wamego, Kansas. There are mountains here. Fewer bugs. More people. And that’s saying a lot, given that Cunningham Falls has fewer than ten thousand full time residents.

This is also the biggest and bluest sky I’ve ever seen, when it isn’t winter anyway.

And most importantly, there is no Randall Malone here. No, I ran far from that man and his liquor.

His self destruction.

No child should bear the burden of an alcoholic father. I don’t know if he’s dead yet. Part of me hopes so. I could do a search. With social media and Google being what it is, it probably wouldn’t be hard to find out.

But I haven’t looked because honestly, it doesn’t matter. He’s not even a spot in the rear-view mirror anymore.

“Hello, Hannah.”

I turn and shield my eyes from the sun, delighted to see Lauren Cunningham. Actually, Lauren Sullivan now that she’s married to Ty.

She rests her hand on her gently rounded belly and grins.

“Hi, Lauren. Wanna have a seat?”

“Are you alone?” she asks and sits in the chair that Drake just vacated.

“Drake had to run off to a surgery. I thought I’d enjoy the sunshine for a minute.”

“It’s beautiful today,” she says with a grin. “It’s about time summer showed up.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Great.” She pats her belly again. “I had no idea that pregnancies could be so different. This isn’t anything at all like my first.”

“They say no two babies come into this world in the same way, and from what I hear, that’s the truth.”

She nods and tips her head back so the sun beats on her face. “I’m on my way to see Ty. I thought I’d take him an early lunch.”