Dangerous Tides (Drake Sisters 4)

"Hannah. You didn't say anything to any of us. Jonas can be such an ass, but I'm sure he was thinking he was protecting you. You're beautiful and you're already very thin. I can't imagine that you've been gaining weight."

"No, but I'm getting older. You can't be on top forever."

Libby held her hand out to her sister. "You aren't old and you know it."

"This business is a young woman's game. Few careers last past late twenties and early thirties, not on the runway."

"You've banked nearly every cent you've earned. How long do you want to keep going at it?"

"What else do I have, Libby? I can't talk to people, you know that. Without you and the others to help me, I stammer and have panic attacks. I have no other skills."

"You speak several languages, Hannah."

Hannah laughed. "Libby, it doesn't do much good if I can't actually utter a word around people. Once my career is over, I'm done. I don't know who I am or what I'd do."

"I had no idea you felt that way." Libby leaned closer. "Hannah, you are eating, aren't you?"

Hannah hesitated briefly then shrugged. "I don't know how to eat anymore. I haven't eaten for the last seven years."

Libby was silent trying to remember just what Hannah did do at mealtimes. She was often in the kitchen. She cooked. She baked. She made tea. Did she actually eat? Libby couldn't remember one way or the other. Hannah did look too thin. Beautiful, but far too thin. Jonas probably could put his fingers around her thigh--and that was way too thin. Why hadn't Libby noticed? She was a doctor. "I'm sorry, baby, I should have seen you were in trouble. I'm so caught up in helping total strangers, I didn't see what was right in front of my nose."

"I'm not in trouble," Hannah denied. "Other than despising Jonas Harrington."

"If you aren't able to eat, you're in trouble, Hannah, and you know it," Libby said. "We have to get you some help."

"Not until after New York. It's a very important show. I'll concentrate on gaining a little weight after that." Hannah dismissed the subject with a wave. Her tone had a small warning note in it as she forced a smirk. "Meanwhile, I'm concentrating on working out a spell to keep Jonas out of the house and off the property. Which reminds me, your Tyson must have gone through the gate to get to the beach access."

Libby let out her breath. Hannah wasn't going to discuss her eating habits or her job anymore and was finding a way to change the subject. Libby didn't want to let it go, but she couldn't risk upsetting her sister. She needed to talk to Sarah and find the best way to handle the situation. It was highly probable that Hannah had an eating disorder. "He isn't my Tyson and the gate wasn't locked. I left it open in case Inez stopped by to see me. She said she might come for a short visit if she could get away from the grocery store." She glanced at her watch. "I'd better take a shower before Ty gets here."

"Are you wearing red panties tonight?" Hannah asked mischievously.

Libby wadded up a napkin and threw it at her sister. "Hannah, you and the rest of my sisters better not have been messing around with my underwear. Abigail's in enough trouble after that red panty ceremony . . ."

"Which you took part in," Hannah pointed out.

"For Abbey, not for me. I don't want to find a man. And wipe that smile off your face. If I fall, you're next."

"It's never going to happen. I can't talk to a man without all of you bolstering me. All I do is stammer or have an anxiety attack, so the possibility of me finding a man is just about nil." Hannah sounded very satisfied. "So I can cast spells, make up love potions and participate in the red panty ceremony with the rest of you to my heart's content."

"You're in so much trouble, Hannah," Libby said.

Hannah's laughter followed her up the stairs. Libby stood in front of the mirror and stared at herself. Her face was completely streaked with dirt and there was dirt in her hair. Her nose was bright red and because she'd been wearing sunglasses, she had a white raccoon mask around her eyes, just as she'd predicted.

She groaned and made a face. "Hannah! Get up here! I can't go out looking like this. Why didn't you tell me I looked awful?"

Hannah hurried into Libby's bedroom. "Just don't get under the lights and you'll be fine. We'll use a little makeup and no one will know."

"I'll know. I'm nervous enough around him without looking like a clown," Libby wailed.

"I hate to point this out," Hannah said, "but he's already seen you looking like this and he kissed you anyway. That's a pretty good sign he likes you. And he asked you out to dinner. How's your head? Mom and Dad aren't going to be too happy with you running around. It took all six of us girls plus Mom and Aunt Carol to save your life, Libby. If you're at all not feeling well, you shouldn't go."

Libby began to toss her clothes aside. "I still have a bit of a headache and I'm a little weak, but nothing serious. Believe me, Hannah, I'm well aware of how stupid I was risking everyone. Elle and you bore the brunt of it." Impulsively she hugged her sister. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

"Well, I happen to feel the same," Hannah said. "Why are you throwing all your clothes around?"

"I hate them all. Nothing I own makes me look"-- Libby searched for the right description--"well, like you. I need perky breasts. Although at this point, any breasts will do, perky or otherwise."

Hannah shook her head. "You've got it bad. I've never heard you talk about your looks. I don't think you've ever even thought about how you look."

"You'll have to meet him at the door and tell him I can't go out with him. I'm serious, Hannah. I just can't do this." Libby sank down onto the bed in the middle of clothes strewn everywhere.

Hannah sat next to her. "You really like him, Libby. He wouldn't have asked you out if he didn't want to go out with you. You're beautiful and smart and funny and he obviously thinks so."

"He calls our magic 'crap.' He's abrasive and he rides a motorcycle and he's a multimillionaire. I don't want to go out with a multimillionaire. Do you remember his parents at all? Because I don't."

Hannah shook her head. "Only that they used to travel all the time and I don't think they wanted to be with him much because they were always shoving him off on his aunt. He lived with her on and off over the years. Sam told me Tyson's parents didn't understand him and were embarrassed because he was such a geek. They were jet-setters and very trendy. He wanted to stare into a microscope and talk about things-- such as hot viruses--that they didn't want to think about. They died a couple of years ago and left him a fortune. I don't think he's done anything with it, but rumor has it Sam was living very well, so Tyson must have shared."

"How strange that I didn't know that," Libby said. "I know all about his education and the work he does, but I never really thought much about why he lived with Ida Chapman. It was obvious she loved him, so it seemed natural to me." She shook her head. "I just can't go out with him."

"Libby, go take a shower. You deserve to have some fun."

Libby made a face. "I'm not certain going out with him actually would be fun."

"You're stalling. I'll find you something to wear. It's just dinner, right?"

"He'd better not come to get me on his motorcycle."

"Libby!" Hannah gave her a little push. "He'll be here soon and then you'll really panic. What do I do if he comes while you're in the shower?"

"Well, don't send him up here for heaven's sake. Occupy him."

"With kisses?" Hannah teased.

"Jonas will shoot him. You'd better not do that." Libby pressed a hand to her stomach at the thought of Tyson with Hannah. "Why do you have to be so beautiful?"

Hannah stiffened. "I'm not really, you know," she said. "You don't see men knocking down the door to take me out."

Libby turned quickly enough to see the hurt on Hannah's face. "Baby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

Hannah flashed a small smile, but it didn't light her eyes. "I'm just f

eeling sensitive. Greg asked me if it was possible to get a breast reduction. I'm down to a size two but apparently someone complained that my breasts are too big."

"Hannah, you're five foot eleven. You're intelligent enough to know that Greg is an idiot if he wants you any smaller. You're lucky you have breasts without any weight on you."

"I know. Like I said, I'm feeling a little sensitive. It isn't a big deal."

"It is to me, if you're feeling bad about yourself."

"I'd better go man the door just in case your date arrives," Hannah said.

Libby turned on the water as hot as she could stand it and stood under the pulsing shower contemplating what she should do about her younger sister. Hannah always seemed happy. She was loving and giving and generous with her time to her sisters. She didn't make friends easily and kept to herself, seemingly content in between her modeling assignments to stay at their home in Sea Haven. Hannah was the last person Libby would have thought might be unhappy. Why hadn't she noticed? Was she so wrapped up in her own life that she hadn't noticed her sister losing weight? Looking sad? She should have felt her unhappiness. Jonas Harrington had seen Hannah was in trouble before Libby had.

She shampooed her hair while she considered how best to help Hannah. Did she pretend to be happy because she already felt a bother to her sisters? They lent their support to her on a regular basis, so much so that it was automatic. None of them thought anything about it, but maybe Hannah did. Was she upset because she felt she needed her sisters to go out into the public and do her job? That was likely, now that Libby thought about her personality. They had all hoped she'd grow out of her anxiety in public, but it had worsened, rather than getting better.

Libby wrapped a bath sheet around her and covered her hair with a towel, turban style, as she stepped out of the shower. She nearly ran straight into Jonas and let out a little shriek when he grabbed her shoulders to steady her. "What are you doing? You're getting weirder every day, Jonas. This is the bathroom."

"How the hell was I supposed to know what room it was? I don't exactly come up here that often. I have some questions."

"How did you get past Hannah?"

"She's busy making up some spell against me," Jonas said. "She looks kind of cute all serious like that, muttering to herself."

"Her spells really work, Jonas," Libby cautioned.