Josh & Hannah (Redwood Falls 1)

Hannah sat frozen in stunned disbelief as Ethan, slowly and with exaggerated movements, raised his hand from underneath the table and carefully placed it on the top. Taking his time, he looked up and met Ty’s gaze. “No,” Ethan replied harshly.

Without quite realizing she was doing it, Hannah reached for Josh’s hand as she watched the tableau in front of them unfold. Seeing what was going on between Ethan and Ava was almost more exciting than Josh storming in and calling dibs on her. Almost, but not quite.

Underneath the table, Josh laced his fingers through hers and held her hand while their attention stayed centered on Ty and Ethan for the time being. Ty was opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water, and there was no question in Hannah’s mind that he was completely dumbstruck by Ethan’s actions.

Finally, Ty seemed to get a grip as he shook his head as if to clear it and then pointed his finger at Ava. “You.” He snapped his fingers at his sister. “Let’s go.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Ava announced. But even as she said it, Ethan slid from the table and stood to his feet and Ty wasted no time. He reached over and grabbed his sister’s hand and physically pulled her from the booth and then from the restaurant.

Ethan sighed and sat back down. “Well, that was fun,” he bit out in a voice that was laced with sarcasm.

“Yeah,” Josh agreed in a tone that plainly said it had been no fun at all.

“I’m supposed to spend the night with her,” Hannah said as Josh swirled his thumb over the palm of her hand.

Josh turned his head and looked into her eyes, his expression gentle. “I don’t think so, princess.”

“But my parents are out of town, and I don’t want to stay by my … never mind.” Hannah was appalled at what had almost come from her mouth. Both Josh and Ethan would think she was little more than a child if she let them know she was scared to stay alone. But crap. Sixty-thousand acres and just her? Scary.

But nothing was lost on Josh and he wasted no time, whipping his phone from his pocket and pressing a single digit. “Katie. I need a favor.”

****

Two hours later, Hannah and Katie were eating popcorn and watching the first of several chick flicks together. Katie had agreed to spend the night with Hannah so Hannah wouldn’t have to be alone, and the girls were now happily ensconced on the big sofa in the media room, getting to know each other better and watching movies.

Hannah licked the salt off her thumb as she thought about the drive that she and Josh had made to pick up Katie. Once again, Hannah had found herself in the middle of the bench seat next to him, and he’d held her hand all the way until they’d pulled up in front of his house. On the ride there, he’d wasted no time in explaining to Hannah all about the ‘dibs’ comment. No, it didn’t mean they were a couple. No, it didn’t mean they were dating, because they still couldn’t see each other. It just meant that his douche bag friends couldn’t have her. Did she understand that?

No, she really didn’t understand it but she wasn’t going to argue with him now. He thought they could hold out until she turned seventeen to start something, but surely sixteen was old enough? But she didn’t argue with him, because she wasn’t even sixteen yet. She had mildly agreed with what he was saying as her brain almost short-circuited from the grip he had on her hand. It certainly felt as if they were together and she took comfort from that as they pulled up in front of his house.

Hannah vaguely remembered being at his house once before when she was really young, maybe six or seven, when her mother had brought food or something. Hannah couldn’t remember why they’d visited. But looking around, it was more than obvious that the Turners didn’t have the same lifestyle that the McIntyres enjoyed. The road leading to the house was rutted, the fields overgrown with weeds, and the house itself was badly in need of a new coat of paint. But Hannah didn’t concentrate on those things; she was too excited to be this close to where Josh actually lived. And slept.

He never moved from the truck, just released Hannah’s hand and called Katie on his cell phone and she came running outside.

Josh made no move to pick up Hannah’s hand again once his cousin was in the truck.

Katie had smiled at Hannah, looked her cousin over quizzically and then buckled up.

That was all the alone time that Hannah and Josh had had that night, and now Hannah tried to put it from her mind and concentrate on the movie.

Chapter Seven

At about two in the morning, Hannah heard a door slam in the house and it roused her from sleep. Katie was lying on the loveseat that sat at a ninety-degree angle to the couch and was slowly opening her eyes, as well.

Loud footsteps could be heard, but before Hannah could panic and think it was an intruder, Zachary stood in the doorway of the media room and prowled over to the coffee table and picked up the remote and muted the television that was making a soft hissing noise. He tossed the remote back down and fastened his eyes on Hannah. “Hey, squirt.”

“Hi,” she whispered, pleased to see Zach, but not wanting to fully wake Katie from sleep.

“Where are the parents?” he asked in his deep voice.

“They went to Shreveport to see grandma again.”

“And they let you stay here alone with just Ava for company?” Zach looked away from Hannah and turned to the girl who was lifting herself up to a sitting position. His body stilled and his eyes narrowed on Katie as his features hardened imperceptibly. “You’re not Ava.”

“N-no. I’m … Katie.” As Katie answered, Hannah could see the distress on her face. So did Katie know about the affair as well? Did everyone know that Zach’s wife was sleeping with Chris Turner?

Zach’s eyes glittered as hotly as coals as they fell from Katie’s face and slid down her body. Slowly, his eyes found hers once again. His voice was laced with disdain as he spoke, “I know who you are.”

Hannah was disturbed when she understood that Zachary was upset by Katie’s presence in the house and tried to mitigate the situation with small talk. “We fell asleep watching movies.”

“That much is obvious.” As he answered Hannah, his eyes never left Katie and suddenly the moment became awkward.

Hannah watched as Katie’s face lost all color and she turned her attention to the television even though there was nothing playing except a blank, static screen. As she stared resolutely at the screen, Katie pulled the coverlet that had slipped down to the floor up and over her body.

Feeling the tension between Zach and Katie, a chord struck deep within Hannah’s belly as she realized how bad it would be for Zachary if she and Josh were actually a couple. How would it be for Zach if he had to see Josh here so much of the time? Would he be reminded constantly of his wife cheating on him? Would he resent Josh because of it? Without a doubt, in that moment, Hannah knew exactly what Josh had meant when he’d said that he was a Turner and she was a McIntyre. She knew what he meant because she could feel it in the air around her now as Zach stood with an air of menace, looking down at Katie.

Geez. And Katie was only Chris Turner’s niece, whereas Josh was the man’s son.

Crap. Crap.

Hannah tried to break the silence again. “Are you … are you going to your house?” Zach and Cindy had a small house on the ranch about half a mile away that they stayed in when they were here. Hannah knew that recently, Cindy had been staying there while Zach stayed at his apartment in Dallas most of the time.

Zach seemed to shake himself and looked from Katie back to Hannah. “No. I’ll be in my old bedroom if you need me.”

“Okay, goodnight.”

“Night.” With that, he turned and walked out of the room and Hannah caught Katie’s expression, as the other girl seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Hannah wanted to ask her if she knew about the affair, but didn’t know how to, and really, she needed to have that conversation with Josh before she had it with his cousin.

Katie stood up and began folding the coverlet, but wouldn’t meet Hannah?

??s eyes. “I had fun, Hannah. But you don’t really need me here anymore and I should go home.”

“Oh, no… you don’t have to go.”

“No, really. I need to wake up at my house tomorrow. I’ve got a huge physics test on Monday and I need to study. You’ll be okay, right? Your brother’s here.” With that, Katie pulled out her phone and keyed in a text message and received an answer back almost immediately.

There was little doubt in Hannah’s mind that Josh would be on his way to pick Katie up within minutes. “Okay, well, thanks for staying with me. It was a sweet thing to do, even if Josh made you do it.”

“Josh doesn’t make me do anything. And I like you, Hannah, I really do.”

Hannah liked Katie as well and felt deeply for her for whatever she’d had to endure with Jesse Whitaker. “Maybe we can hang out one day. Go shopping or hang out by the pool when it gets warmer.”

“Sure, I’d like that.”

Hannah stood up and began walking Katie to the front door, hearing the hum of Josh’s truck already. When the girls reached the door, Katie turned to her. “Are you sure there’s nothing going on with you and Josh? Y’all seem to be together a lot lately.”

“He’s friends with Ty and Ava’s my best friend, so we see each other a lot.”

Katie studied her with concern. “Okay, but remember what I said. You’re too sweet to get hurt, Hannah.” After a spontaneous hug, Katie opened the front door and walked out to meet Josh at the curb. Hannah watched Katie climb into the truck and she stood motionless until the truck was out of sight. She sighed as she shut the door. She really didn’t like lying. But what was she supposed to say to Katie? That yes, she already had feelings for Josh? That he was only biding his time until he thought she was old enough to date him without repercussions? Katie would probably be concerned enough to confront Josh, and then Josh would be angry with Hannah.

So it was best to just keep everything to herself.

But she could tell Ava. Thank God she had Ava to confide in.

****

Hannah woke up the next morning to the smell of coffee and found Zach sitting alone in the kitchen eating cold cereal. She offered to cook for him, but he was almost finished eating and declined. They had a stilted conversation, but he never mentioned why he was staying in his old bedroom, and Hannah took her mother’s advice and didn’t ask or bring anything up.

But Zachary brought a few things up himself.

“Since when is the Turner girl a friend of yours?”