A Place to Call Home (33 page)

Hannah glanced at Mac, standing with arms folded while he leaned against the wall. His eyes sent a hard stare.

“I love your dad. I love all of you,” she admitted, glancing at each of them.

God, she couldn’t do this. Her heart had never endured so much pain, the way it ached and squeezed her chest, suffocating her. But if she didn’t, then they’d suffer a lot more grief when Jane wrenched them from their father. She took a slow breath but it did nothing to soothe her nerves.

“Then why leave?” Ryan demanded.

Tears welled in her eyes. She lowered her head to stare at her hands. Then she looked up at Mac who studied her with intense scrutiny. “Could you please help me out here, Austin?”

“Not a chance. I can’t explain to them why you’d want to leave.”

“Forget it, Dad. Hannah, I’m really disappointed in you,” Aidan said, his tone harsh.

She cringed. “Oh, Aidan, please don’t say that.”

“No, if you loved us like you say then you’d never leave. At least our mother left because she didn’t love us. I actually think that you leaving even though you love us sucks more.”

“I couldn’t have said it better, son.”

“Me either,” Ryan said.

“Leave Hannah alone,” Luke screamed. He ran to her and hugged her fiercely. “I’m not mad at you, Hannah. I know you’d never leave unless you had to.”

Tears ran down her cheeks, and she stared at Mac over Luke’s embrace. God, she felt like a knife had sliced her heart and now twisted through it.

“You’re so right, Luke.” She kissed his head and rose from the couch. “I understand if you don’t want to come to the opening tomorrow night.”

“Actually we wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Mac said, not hiding the sarcasm in his voice. “Right guys? I mean, how else would we say goodbye to you?”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Hannah had insomnia. She hadn’t slept in days and had been nauseous and exhausted. Leaving Charleston proved to be the hardest thing she’d ever done. How many times had she contemplated telling Mac about Jane’s blackmail? But she could never jeopardize his custody of the boys just because her heart broke from being away from them.

Now she resided in a small studio apartment in Savannah, Georgia, and filled her days with operating her seven restaurants from the makeshift office she’d set up in her living room. If she hadn’t been exiled from Mac and the boys, she’d enjoy being in Savannah. The quaint town was rich in history and the people so friendly. It would be an ideal place to open one of her restaurants but she wanted to stop at seven. Mac was right. She didn’t need to have any more. She liked the empire she’d built. It was manageable, profitable, and successful. She didn’t need much more than that.

Well, except for Mac and the boys.

She’d spent an anxious morning playing telephone tag with Mr. Delaney, her private investigator. Peering online at her bank balance she grew nervous she would run out of money before finding anything on Jane that would give Hannah the leverage she needed against the woman’s cruelty. But Hannah was prepared to spend every last dime if necessary.

Mr. Delaney had spent the last three weeks digging into Jane’s background, and she’d come up squeaky clean. Disappointment consumed Hannah, pissed that another day had passed and kept her out of Mac’s arms and bed. Would he ever speak to her again anyway after she’d broken his heart?

She sighed. She would never know if she didn’t first deal with Jane. She’d expected finding a black smudge on Jane to be tough—especially since she needed something major to use against her. The odds weren’t in Hannah’s favor. Someone like Jane—conniving, rich, and in the public eye—would be sure to protect herself from anything in her background she didn’t want disclosed. Mr. Delaney had ensured Hannah in each of his previous cases he’d always succeeded.

When Hannah’s cell phone rang, she jumped for it.

“Hi, Mr. Delaney. Please tell me you’ve found something.”

“Not yet but I think I’m onto something. I can’t talk now but hang in there, Ms. O’Leary. I’m traveling to Monaco for a few days to follow some leads. I’ll be in touch as soon as I have any information.”

Hannah’s head dropped into her palm after she sat on her couch. “Please, Mr. Delaney. Please do whatever you can. I’m willing to pay, you know that.”

“I do indeed. As I’ve said you’ve been more than generous with me, and I appreciate your situation. I’m working on this case every waking hour I assure you. So please you just try to relax, and I’ll be in touch as soon as I can.”

“Okay.” She hung up the phone. Her nerves worked overtime. She had to take better care of herself at least for the tiny life inside of her. Her hand lay over her belly to calm the rising wave of nausea that had plagued her for weeks. At a minimum, she needed to get some sleep.

Out of everything she hadn’t told Mac, keeping the fact that he would be a father again bothered her the most. She wanted to share her joy with him. When she’d misled him and said she’d gotten her period, the light in his eyes had dimmed. But she’d had to lie until she could figure out what to do with Jane.

Hannah reminded herself to be patient. She had been doing all she could to fix the mess she found herself in. She missed Mac and the boys so much she couldn’t walk, sleep, or breathe without thinking of them, but she didn’t dare call them. If she spoke to them she wasn’t sure she could keep up her charade. She feared she’d break down and tell Mac everything and then the custody battle would ensue between him and Jane, destroying the boys in the process.

So Hannah would be patient. What was the old saying? Good things come to those who wait? Covering her mouth and running to the bathroom, Hannah hoped she didn’t have to wait too much longer for Mac.

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Mac had been agitated since Hannah left last month. Everyone had noticed and voiced their fair share of remarks but he wouldn’t divulge to everyone in town that Hannah O’Leary had managed to highjack his heart and take it with her when she ran from town. Why had he expected her to break old habits? She’d been on the run her whole life. It had been ridiculous and shortsighted to believe that he meant enough that she’d settle down with him.

“Hey, Dad?” Aidan said coming into the kitchen.

“What?” Mac growled.

“Forget it,” Aidan said back with heat. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Watch your tone with me, son,” he said, pointing a finger. “I’m in no mood for attitude.”

“Yeah, we know. You haven’t been in the mood for anything.”

Ryan and Luke rushed in following Aidan. Blood smeared Ryan’s face, over his nose and down his chin.

“Jesus!” Mac said dropping the knife on the counter where he diced vegetables for a salad. “What now?”

Aidan placed a towel on Ryan’s nose, the source of the blood.

“Luke got him in the face with the football.”

“It wasn’t on purpose, Dad,” Ryan mumbled. “Don’t yell at him.”

Luke paled. “It was an accident, Daddy. I swear,” he said, holding his small palm up.

Mac looked down, noticing his youngest’s frightened expression and sighed. “I believe you, buddy. Relax you’re not in trouble. And, Ryan, don’t tell me who to yell at.”

“Yeah, why bother?” Aidan said, releasing the towel for Ryan to hold himself. He went to the sink and washed his hands. “He yells at everyone.”

Mac glared at Aidan. “Son, you may be almost an adult, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to take lip from you. That’s your final warning.” He turned to Ryan. “Let me look.” He removed the towel and studied the nose “It’s not broken.”

“Sure as hell feels like it.”

“Watch your mouth. I don’t care how much it hurts, I’m not listening to you curse.”

“Good thing he wasn’t outside with us when it happened,” Luke whispered.

“Aidan, get some ice,” Mac ordered. “Luke, go get me some clean towels. Ryan, sit down and put your head back. Keep pressure on the nose.”

“No way. It hurts.”

“Keep pressure on it I said.” Mac placed his hand over his son’s to illustrate.

“Ow, Dad! Come on, it hurts.”

Aidan handed Mac the ice in a bowl. Luke returned with the towels. Mac designed an ice pack and swapped it for the bloody towel.

“Hold this on your nose, Ryan.”

“It’s cold.”

Mac laughed for the first time in weeks. “Did you expect ice to be hot?”

“Dad, you’re so not funny,” Ryan complained.

Mac rustled his hair and turned to get some aspirin. He handed them to Ryan along with a glass of water. “You’re going to need these, son.”

Mac leaned against the counter. “Hey, guys. I want to talk to you. I owe all of you an apology for the way I’ve been acting since Hannah left. Guess I’ve handled it badly and took my anger out on you guys by yelling and being short with you when none of you deserved it.”

“So, Dad, what are you going to do about Hannah?” Aidan asked.

There it was, the question he’d wrestled with since his brat had left. Mac shrugged. “There’s nothing I can do. She’s a grown woman. She made her choice and moved on.” Should have tied her to the damn bed, though.

“You can marry her,” Luke said.

Mac’s heart thudded. Forever with Hannah. In his dreams, it looked like now. “Yeah, I could, and I want to, but I don’t think Hannah would say yes. She has plans with her life that keep her moving around.”

Mac hung his head, leaned back against the counter and thought of the diamond ring stashed away in his dresser drawer upstairs. The day before Hannah had announced she’d planned to leave, he’d bought the damn thing. Remembering how he had planned to ask her to marry him the night of her grand opening now made him feel like the biggest fool. Good thing she’d decided to break his heart before he had made a spectacle out of himself. He shook his head, unable to remove the vision of Hannah’s gorgeous body and sparking emerald eyes. God, he’d been so sure she’d say yes because she had loved him.

“How do you know what she’ll say unless you ask her?” Ryan said, still holding his head back.

Loneliness settled deep into his bones. His boys and his business had always kept him busy, but Hannah had completed him, filling the hole that had resided in his heart over the years. “I don’t, but I’m not going to ask her. Okay?”

“Come on, Dad. You never gave Hannah the chance to say no. Maybe that’s what she was waiting for,” Aidan said, his voice filled with hope and understanding. “You should ask her to marry you.”

Mac thought about it then dismissed the notion. “I’m not marrying, Hannah. Now go clean up for dinner.”

“Come on, guys,” Aidan said and led his brothers out of the room. Aidan stopped at the stairs and turned to face his father. “Boy, Dad, I’d never thought I’d see the day when you were scared.”

Mac hadn’t budged from where he rested at the counter. Hadn’t had much energy for most things lately. “What are you talking about? Scared of what?”

“You’re afraid to ask Hannah to marry you.”

“What do you think, that I’m afraid she’ll say no?”

“I think you’re afraid she’ll say yes, and then what, Dad? You’ll be a happy guy, and you don’t know how to be happy. You’ve been working your ass off and trying to be a great dad for so long that you’ve forgotten how to make yourself happy.”

Mac stared at his grown boy who happened to be dead right. When the hell did the kid grow up? His backbone matched his wits. Pride surged through Mac. “I’m happy with my work and my boys.”

“And you’d be a lot happier with Hannah. The three of us have voted, Dad, and we love Hannah and want her, well, to marry you. But we can’t ask her for you. Only you can do that, but since you won’t,” he said with a shrug. “I guess we’ll never know what could’ve been.”

Aidan turned and marched out, leaving Mac stunned. His boys had discussed him and Hannah? He knew they’d been hurt by her departure, but they hadn’t said much—or if they had, he hadn’t heard them. It had been so difficult to concentrate on anything when all he did was replay the last few days with Hannah. Had he pissed her off? Had he done something that insulted her or hurt her? He couldn’t think of one damn thing that would make the woman do a one-eighty with their relationship. And, if he had do something wrong, then she damn well should’ve mentioned it to him instead of hitting the road. He would’ve groveled and done anything to keep her from leaving. There was nothing they couldn’t handle together.

God, he missed his brat.

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“Daddy, guess who called?” Luke said.

“Who?” Mac said stepping into the kitchen after his shower. For a Saturday morning, he had nothing planned. He’d never realized before Hannah how dull his life had been.

“Hannah.”

Mac’s heart skipped a beat, excitement flowing through him. Had she changed her mind? “When?”

“While you were in the shower. She said she couldn’t talk long but wanted to let us know that the menus Luke and I designed were a big hit,” Ryan said, pride bouncing off of him. “She asked if I could send her the drawings I’ve done for the other restaurants. But I think I can do better than that. I’ll just bring them to her.”

“You’d take them to Savannah? And how are you going to do that?”

“I thought you’d drive me. Here’s the address.” He handed him a scrap of paper.

“I want to go too,” Luke said.

“No, none of you are going,” Mac said, staring at the paper in his hand.

“What? Why?” All three boys complained, raising their voices, and surrounding Mac.

“I’ll drive us there if Dad won’t,” Aidan said.

“I’m going by myself,” Mac said.