Josh & Hannah (Redwood Falls 1)

He closed the door and she followed him inside and plunked herself down in one of the two chairs that faced his desk.

As he walked around behind his desk and sat, he asked, “What are you doing in the city?”

Hannah eased back in the chair and tried to get comfortable. This wasn’t going to be a short conversation. “I’m only here to see you.”

Pleasure lit his eyes but only momentarily. She knew his astute brain was telling him that something was wrong for her to travel this far and want to see him face to face, when a phone call would have been sufficient for mere pleasantries.

He zeroed in on that idea immediately, “What’s wrong?”

She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, ruffling the wisps of hair around her face. “Nothing’s wrong in my life, but I don’t think you’re going to care for what I have to say. If your reaction to Katie is anything like—”

He jerked to attention. “Katie? What’s wrong? What does Katie have to do with this?”

Hannah was momentarily flummoxed into silence. Her eyes went to Zach’s sinewy hand holding his pen in a grip so tight she thought he might break the object in two. Just as quickly, he began tapping the pen on the desk in a rhythm that reflected the emotional stress he suddenly seemed to be under. His reaction was already unnerving and she hadn’t even started on her explanation yet.

“Nothing. I was just going to say that since you don’t like Katie—”

Again, he cut her off. “I don’t dislike Katie.” His voice was strained.

Hannah was surprised he would even try to deny it and told him so in no uncertain terms. “That’s crap, Zach. You’ve never liked Katie. You’ve tolerated her because she’s one of my best friends and she loves me. Why don’t you just admit it?”

“Are we fighting? You’ve come here to what? Pick a fight?” Confusion replaced the pleasure on his countenance. She knew he wasn’t used to anything from his little sister except immediate compliance. She had never been one to rock the boat about anything. At least, not as far as he was aware. She was about to blow that theory into smithereens.

“No. You’re throwing me off track by refusing to admit you don’t like Katie. I have something to tell you that doesn’t have anything to do with Katie, not really—”

Zach’s pen landed in a thump on the desk in front of him in a display of impatience. “Damn it, Hannah! Does it or doesn’t it?”

“It doesn’t!” she slammed out and took a deep, controlling breath. “It’s about Josh.”

“Josh?” He asked in confusion.

“Josh Turner,” she elaborated a tad more softly.

“The cousin?” he questioned.

“Yes,” she responded.

Zachary’s brows drew together in a thunderous expression and Hannah could tell at once that he didn’t like where this was going. “What about him?”

Hannah’s stomach clenched with nerves and her hands trembled, but she managed to speak in a strong, determined voice, “I’m going to marry him, this weekend.”

Zach looked like he’d been sucker-punched for a moment before he visibly regrouped. “No, you’re damn well not.”

“Yes, I am.” Her voice was adamant.

“Bull fucking shit,” he refuted in a stream of obscenities meant to underline his feelings on the matter.

“Probably tomorrow,” she responded as if he hadn’t spoken.

Zach stood to his feet and began pacing the floor in a small area adjacent to where she was sitting. “What the hell is this all about?”

She lifted her chin, boldly met his eyes, and responded sharply, abandoning the idea of having her say and getting to leave quickly. “I’m sorry I’ve hidden this from you all these years, but I was young and didn’t want to face your anger and hurt.” Her eyes searched his and she continued in a more gentle voice, “I’ve been in love with Josh for years.” As Hannah spoke, she saw her brother flatten his hand on his desk, helping to support his weight, as if he had taken a body blow. She swallowed. “A long, long time. Before Cindy left you. Before there was any animosity between our families.”

“That’s not possible. You were too young.”

“I had just started tenth grade when we spoke for the first time.”

Zach’s face turned red and his hands clasped into fists. “He took advantage of you—”

“No, he didn’t! Never! I chased him relentlessly. He would barely talk to me, let alone touch me. You have no idea how—how disciplined he was.”

Zach was quiet so she continued, “He wanted me, too, don’t get me wrong. And I was incorrigible, practically throwing myself at him. But he wouldn’t take advantage of me, wouldn’t be less than honorable.” She watched him for a reaction but he held himself immobile, standing still and taking it in. “And I mean he wouldn’t touch me at all, he wouldn’t even kiss me. He promised that when I was older, if I still felt the same way, we could try then. And of course, I still felt the same. It’s a feeling that I’ve always had for him; I always will.”

Zach’s eyes were narrowed and he looked as if he was trying to work out a puzzle. “He must be after something, it’s too coincidental that Katie would want to be your friend and—”

Her feelings hurt, she interrupted him in a harsh voice. “Is it really so impossible to believe that he might want me for myself?”

He looked her over, his eyes going from the top of her head to her feet and back again. His look visibly softened, “No, not impossible at all.”

Appeased somewhat, she soldiered on. “And you’re wrong about Katie. Think about it, Zach. Now that you know how I feel about Josh, who do you really think pursued our friendship?”

For whatever reason, Zach looked pained, as if the realization that she had pursued the friendship with Katie hurt him in some way. Some way that Hannah couldn’t begin to understand. He answered with a rough shake of his head, “Shit. You did.”

The bluntness of his words left her with the vague thought that she wasn’t privy to what he was really thinking about. But she continued on the track the conversation needed to go. “Of course it was me. Mom and Dad were in Shreveport so much, Josh was always working, and then Ava got pregnant. Katie was friendly and sweet and more open than anyone I had ever met. It was like she got me, you know? She didn’t know how insanely crazy I was about Josh; she just knew I needed a friend. You’ve done her a disservice, Zach. You’ve been harsh

and cruel to her in looks if not in words. You have no idea what a kind and generous person she is.”

Although she imagined her words might in some way pierce his tough hide, she never expected the tortured look that crossed his features. It left her with an altogether different kind of discomfort.

“You’re right. Katie doesn’t have anything to do with this. We need to focus on the problem at hand. I still think he’s taking advantage of you. Didn’t it ever cross your mind that our family is wealthy and his … isn’t?”

“No, it never crossed my mind and it wouldn’t have. Josh loves me. I know that. Josh hates to even talk about the inheritance because it upsets him so much.

A look of disbelief heightened the stark contours of Zach’s face. “Why would the prospect of three million upset him?”

“You have to know how he thinks. You think Chris Turner screwed you over? You had it easy compared to Josh. Josh has scars, Zach. I mean physical as well as emotional ones. All his life, he’s had to live under the bad shadow of his father. He’s had to overcome his father’s horrible reputation. He has it in his head that he wants to make it on his own. Be his own man. That sort of ridiculous, masculine stuff that I don’t always get, but nevertheless try to understand.”

“So, you’re compensating for him already.”

“Don’t get on your sanctimonious high-horse, big brother. You and mom and dad can keep the damn money. It’s only going to make Josh unhappy, and that will make me unhappy.” She hit out with something that would hurt when she knew she shouldn’t. “It’s always been about money with you. This is about something much more important. The only thing that matters to me. Love.”

“Yeah? Well, you’re forgetting something. You need money to finish school.”

Hannah smiled a small, satisfied grin. “I graduated this week—”

“Graduated already?” She could be wrong, but that looked like pride on her brother’s face.

“Yeah, in three years.”

“Congratulations. Why the hell didn’t you invite me?”