Whatever other problems they faced, the attraction between them had never been in doubt. All it took was a touch or a shared look to set it off again. He couldn’t imagine that ever changing, at least not on his part. Even tired, a little disheveled, worried and pregnant, Hannah looked beautiful to him. He wanted her. And he suspected she knew it.
He dropped his hand, knowing this wasn’t the time. “Golf cart?”
She blinked. “Um, what?”
There was some satisfaction in knowing that brief interlude had left her mind a little hazy, especially because it had taken some effort to clear his own. “You were going to take a cart to the diner? I’d be happy to chauffeur you.”
“Oh. Right.” Her cheeks a little flushed, she stepped away from him. “Sure, if you’re going that way anyway.”
“Are you kidding?” He chuckled. “I wouldn’t miss the grand announcement. Bet you a dollar your grandmother is going to brag she knew it was a girl all along, though I heard her tell your aunt yesterday she was sure it was a boy.”
Hannah shook her head. “I’m not taking that sucker bet. Of course Mimi will claim to have known all along. That’s what she does.”
Pushing that near kiss to the back of his mind to analyze later, he placed a hand lightly at the center of her back and escorted her to the green cart. They would talk again later, he reminded himself. In the meantime, he needed to decide exactly what he wanted to say to her.
* * *
Not everyone in the family was waiting in the diner—at a swift glance, Hannah cataloged her uncle C.J., her cousin Lori and her grandfather among the missing—but the others all seemed to be waiting for her. She saw Shelby helping her mother behind the serving counter, an indication of how busy they’d been because Sarah usually handled grill and check-out duties on her own. Hannah’s own mother had pitched in to wipe down tables, which meant someone else was running the store. Hannah hadn’t thought to look that way when she’d entered the building. Was Lori at the store register? Or maybe Aaron, who wasn’t here with the others? She’d heard he’d helped out in the store when Steven was hurt. Apparently her mother had been too impatient to wait there rather than in the grill with the rest of the family.
The family members not working in the diner were gathered around their usual big round table in the far corner. Maggie spotted Hannah and Andrew first, and motioned them over in excitement. “Well?” she called before they even had a chance to head that way.
Hannah wondered idly how many of her family’s big events had played out in this little retro diner. Birthday cakes had been served here, announcements made, good and bad news received. While her family got along amazingly well considering how much time they spent together, her father and her uncle had once almost come to blows over a business dispute on a hot, harried afternoon and hadn’t spoken for almost a week until Mimi had trapped them both in the grill and made them apologize to each other right in front of the customers. Growing up, Hannah had probably spent as many hours in this multipurpose building as she had in her parents’ house. Along with her sister and cousins, she’d done her homework at the counter with mugs of hot chocolate on many a winter afternoon. Would her daughter sit at one of those high stools someday, kicking her feet and scribbling in a notebook?
Her mother reached her before anyone else, the table cleaning cloth dangling from one clenched hand. She searched Hannah’s face. “Is everything okay?”
Hannah smiled reassuringly. “Everything is fine. Your granddaughter is developing perfectly.”
Her mom caught her breath. “Granddaughter?” she asked in little more than a whisper. “It’s a girl?”
“It’s a girl,” Hannah confirmed with a light laugh, one hand resting on her tummy.
Hugs and high fives ensued, and Hannah found herself fielding congratulations even from customers in the diner she’d never met before. The ultrasound picture was passed from hand to hand, examined and cooed over. Mimi, of course, declared loudly that she had known from the start that Hannah was carrying a girl because she had a knack for knowing those things. Because she was accustomed to her family’s exuberance, Hannah wasn’t particularly fazed by the outburst. As her father gave her a big hug, she noted that Andrew stood back quietly, cooperatively playing the part of her driver, nothing more. His own copy of the ultrasound photo was tucked discreetly out of sight.
She felt a pang of guilt, which wasn’t helped when she heard her mother say to him, “You’ll have to excuse us, Andrew. We’re just so excited about the baby.”
“I understand,” Hannah heard him murmur in response. “I’m sure any family would be thrilled to anticipate the arrival of their first grandchild.”
Hannah winced. And then noted that her sister was looking from her to Andrew and back again with speculative eyes.
“Shouldn’t everyone get back to work?” Hannah asked, waving a hand around the busy diner. “We can talk later, after closing. Is Lori handling the desk?”
Her mother nodded. “Yes, Lori’s at the desk and Aaron’s running the store. He volunteered so I’d be free to meet you in here with everyone else. I should go relieve him.”
“I was just headed back to my place,” Maggie said, taking Hannah’s arm. “You should put your feet up for a while, sis. Come on, I’ll give you a ride.”
“Oh, but there were a few things I was going to do this afternoon—” Hannah started to protest, but was immediately overridden by her concerned parents and grandmother, all of whom insisted she needed to go rest.
“Lori can finish up,” Sarah agreed. “She needs to put in a few more hours this summer anyway. Heaven knows I’d rather see her helping us out than hanging around with Zach.”
Outnumbered, Hannah surrendered. “Fine. I’ll go put up my feet.”
Maggie glanced at Andrew. “Need a ride back to Steven’s?”
“No, thanks. I think I’ll find my brother. I’ll see you all later.”
“Thank you for getting me to the doctor and helping me pick up my car,” Hannah said to him for everyone else’s benefit.
He gave her a look, but replied merely, “You’re very welcome.”