There was a moment of silence—stunned in the case of those who hadn’t already known, expectant for those who had.
“I’m sorry, Mom, Dad,” Hannah said. “I should have told you sooner. And don’t blame Andrew that I didn’t. I asked him not to say anything.”
“Andrew is the baby’s father?” Bryan looked bewildered as he studied both Hannah and Andrew in turn. Andrew moved to stand beside Hannah, close but not touching, offering moral support. “You mean, you two have been seeing each other since he left here last summer? But— When?”
“You don’t need to know all the details,” Hannah said firmly, making it very clear she had no intention of answering questions about the how and when—though at least part of the when was obvious, Andrew thought with a glance at her belly. “Just suffice it to say that Andrew is the father, and that he plans to be an active part of the baby’s life. I hope you’ll all respect our privacy and accept whatever decisions we make on our daughter’s behalf.”
Pop was the one to ask the question both Andrew and Hannah had expected, probably beating his wife to it by only seconds. “Does this mean y’all are getting married?”
“No, Pop, we aren’t getting married.” Again, Hannah’s tone brooked no argument. “That’s one of the decisions you’re going to have to accept and respect.”
Andrew bit his tongue. This wasn’t the time for him to speak up, he reminded himself. That would wait until he and Hannah were alone.
“Humph,” Pop grumbled beneath his breath, but just loud enough for the rest to hear. “Aaron’s moved in with Shelby, Andrew’s having a baby with Hannah. Doesn’t seem like the Walker twins are the marrying kind.”
Andrew bit down so hard on his tongue he almost tasted blood. He suspected his brother did the same. Their own family would have been in shock at the very suggestion that any Walker did not believe in the sanctity of marriage. Aaron and Shelby were only in their early stages of their romance—which, granted, was proceeding very swiftly—and Hannah wouldn’t even discuss the possibility with him, so Pop was being a bit unfair to make such a sweeping statement.
Now that Linda had taken a moment to recover from her initial surprise, she didn’t seem as startled by hearing about Hannah and him. Perhaps she had sensed the undercurrents between them, or maybe something they had said or done had given her pause. She looked at him and he searched for disapproval in her eyes but found none. “Have you told your parents yet?”
He shook his head. “We wanted to tell you first. I’ll tell them when I go back to Dallas tomorrow.”
Linda turned her attention to her daughter. “Are you going with him to talk to them?”
“No,” Hannah replied. “He invited me, but that was before we knew Lori wouldn’t be here to fill in for me while I was gone. With the holiday coming up, I’m needed here.”
“We can manage if you want to go with him to talk to his family,” Shelby insisted. “I can man the desk and still work on the books.”
Hannah shook her head stubbornly. “That would add at least two hours a day to your work. I won’t put you or anyone else in that bind. After everything that’s happened here lately, we need to get back to normal. I intend to start working on that immediately.”
She could cling as hard as she liked to her old “normal,” but
that wouldn’t stop change from coming, Andrew thought privately. He understood why the events of the past few months had left her unsettled, anxious, worried about the future. But everything had changed and the sooner she acknowledged that, the better.
He felt someone take his arm, and he glanced down to find Shelby leaning companionably against him, smiling up at him with her usual warmth. “So, you’re my niece’s daddy. Welcome to the Bell family, Andrew.”
He wasn’t sure if he was more startled by hearing himself called “daddy” or by the implicit acknowledgment that his connection with Hannah and their child automatically meant this family would be a significant part of his life from here on out. Looking around the room, he decided he had no complaints about that.
* * *
Even though she knew many conversations would come, Hannah was relieved that the family didn’t say much more that evening in response to her announcement. Mimi and Pop were tired, so C.J. and Sarah walked them home. After making sure the broken window was secured for the night, the others drifted off, too.
“You’re sure you’re okay?” her mom asked, touching her fingertips very lightly to the shallow cuts on Hannah’s face.
“I’m fine, Mom,” Hannah replied gently, giving her mother a quick hug. “And now that Patricia’s gone, I’ll be perfectly safe.”
Her mother chuckled softly. “Oh, I’m sure Andrew would make sure of that anyway,” she said, looking his way with affection and gratitude.
Hannah bit her lip, resisting an automatic urge to remind her mother that she could take care of herself. “We’ll, um, talk tomorrow,” she said instead. “Good night, Mom.”
She kissed her father, then rushed Andrew outside before anything else could be said.
She noted that Andrew tested the railing on the porch when he escorted her home, giving it a good shake to make sure it held steady. He wasn’t going to trust that railing anytime soon. She lifted an eyebrow. “My father is a very competent carpenter. He would make certain everything was solid before he put away his tools.”
Andrew smiled a bit sheepishly. “I’m sure he would. Just needed to check again for myself.”
As she’d expected, he followed her inside without waiting for an invitation. She tossed her keys on a table and turned to look at him. “You know, there’s really no need for any of you to worry about me now. Patricia won’t be back.”
“I know. You should probably file a restraining order against her, just in case.”