"He cannot lose his mother, not after having lost his father. That little boy needs at least one of his parents."
"Kelly will make it back to him." He tried to infuse as much confidence as he could into his words. "And you can tell me again that I don't actually know that, but I'm still going to keep the faith that that will happen."
"I want to believe it, too. But sometimes bad things happen, and I need to prepare myself for that."
She'd been through far worse things in her life than he had, but he also knew there was nothing she could do to prepare. "You can't control the future, Hannah, or even the present. But you can focus on the positive, what Kelly has done right so far. She was smart enough to get Brett to safety. She left him food. She was on top of all that. She's working some plan in her head. Maybe it's a good one, maybe it's not, but she's trying to handle her problem the best way she knows how."
"That's true," she said slowly. "It's hard to trust in someone I haven't seen in fifteen years. And in my experience, Kelly didn't always make the best decisions. But I will try to think positive, because I have to. Now, I should get back to Brett."
He fell into step with her as they walked back to the booth. Brett was now not only playing with the dog, but also Chloe's toddler son, Leo, and Gianna's stepdaughter, Hailey. Chloe, Keira, and Gianna were in a very quiet conversation when they approached, and he had a feeling that they were talking about Hannah and him, or maybe just Hannah. They'd all gone to high school together, and there had been a time when all four women had hated his guts, but Chloe, Keira and Gianna had found a way to at least tolerate him and accept that he'd changed for the better.
"Is everything all right?" Keira asked, her gaze full of concern.
"Adam is trying to make everything all right," Hannah said, choosing her words carefully.
Jake didn't think she had to worry about Brett picking up on too much. He was very caught up in the dog and the other kids.
"Keira has told us a little," Chloe said.
"Because I only know a little," Keira added.
"If we can help…" Gianna put in.
"I will let you all know, and I will fill you in at some point, hopefully when there's more news and it's all good," Hannah replied.
"We're going to play some games in the arcade," Gianna said. "Can we take Brett with us?"
"Actually, I'll go, too," Hannah put in. "I could use a break, unless you need me, Keira?"
"Not at all. I'll be fine. Lizzie and Chelsea are coming in ten minutes to take an hour shift. Go have a little fun."
As Hannah, Chloe, Gianna and the kids left, he was about to go his own way when Keira said, "Not so fast, Jake."
"What?" he asked warily.
"I want to know what's going on."
"Hannah said she'd fill you in."
"Not with Kelly. With you and Hannah. When did the cold war end?"
He grinned. "Last night, thanks to a flat tire."
"It's quite a fast turnaround."
"But a long time coming."
"So you're friends now?"
"That might be stretching it a bit, but I'm hoping to keep going down this path."
"There's nothing I would like more than to not have to watch the two of you shoot daggers at each other."
"That's Hannah, not me. I'm on the receiving end of those daggers."
"True. But you earned every one of them, Jake. And I don't want you to hurt her again. Whatever you have in mind, you better think long and hard about it," Keira warned. "Or you'll have me to deal with, and I won't be throwing imaginary daggers."
"I get it. And you can believe me when I say the last thing I want to do is hurt Hannah."
She gave him an assessing look. "Okay. But you do know there's a good chance she could hurt you, right? Our Hannah doesn't forgive or forget—not easily anyway."
"Well, I don't like it when things are too easy. I'll see you around." Despite his cocky words, Keira's words rang through his head as he left the booth.
Was he chasing an impossible dream? Well, it wouldn't be the first time.
Chapter Ten
Hannah had just finished making Brett breakfast Sunday morning when her doorbell rang. She was surprised and tense when she walked out of the kitchen and down the hallway. If it was Adam, it could be bad or good news. But it wasn't Adam; it was Jake, and while she was still surprised, the tension was much, much different.
"Good morning," he said with a smile that immediately sent butterflies through her stomach.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm picking you and Brett up." He waved his hand toward his truck.
"To do what?"
"Go sledding. We're all meeting at Northstar for sledding, tubing, snowman building… Gianna set it up last week. Don't you remember?"
She frowned. She'd completely forgotten that Gianna had set up a group outing for today. "I don't think I can go."
"Why not?"
"I have Brett."
"Hailey and Leo will be there. It's a family-friendly day. You were planning to go, weren't you? Or were you waiting to see if I'd be showing up?" he challenged.
"You really don't factor into my decisions, Jake." She was beginning to realize how petty she'd been when it came to Jake. She was a little disappointed in herself. But that didn't mean she wanted to spend the day with him. While he might not be her mortal enemy anymore, she didn't really know what else she wanted him to be. Even now, she was feeling far too many tingles just standing a few feet away from him. And she still had to get through that date she promised him, which she planned on putting off as long as possible.
"Prove it," he said. "Come to the snow park with me."
"I don't have to prove anything to you."
He sighed,
