Free Persuaded by Misty Dawn Pulsipher Page B

emotion she certainly had not.
    —Jane Austen, Persuasion
     
    No sooner
had Hanna come through the front door of Uppercross than Mary met her in the
entry with a stressed look.
    “Where
have you been? I was worried sick!”
    “I
took the boys down to the harbor,” Hanna answered. “Sorry, Mare, I didn’t think
to text you.”
    Mary
took Walter out of his aunt’s arms. “It’s okay, Hanna. It looks like this guy
is ready for his nap,” she said, taking him upstairs. “I’ll be right back.”
    “Banana,
can I play the Wii?” CJ asked.
    “Go
ask your dad,” Hanna answered as she followed him into the kitchen, removed her
hat, and tossed it onto the counter. CJ, evidently spying his dad through the
back door, bolted out onto the sand. Ella sat at the kitchen table painting her
fingernails.
    “Isn’t
it a gorgeous day?” Hanna said as she poured herself a glass of lemonade from
the fridge and sat down at the table.
    Ella
watched her for a moment, a hesitant smile lighting her face. “I guess. Where
have you been?”
    “Flying
kites and getting ice cream cones.”
    “It
looks like you finally got some sun.”
    Hanna touched
a hand to her cheek, not minding if Ella attributed her color to a sunburn.
    “Okay,
out with it,” Ella said. “You’re grinning like an idiot.”
    Hanna’s
lips twitched in a condemning sort of way before she could help it. Taking a
deep breath, she said carefully, “I met somebody today.”
    Ella
sat up as if she’d been electrocuted. “Somebody? Like, a guy?”
    Hanna
nodded, biting her lip to hinder yet another telling, dumbfounded smile.
    “Ooooooh,
is he cute?”
    After a
pause, Hanna relented. “He’s really good-looking.”
    Squealing
like a schoolgirl, Ella clapped her hands and leaned forward. “What does he
look like?”
    “He
has curly hair and dark eyes and dimples . . .”
    Ella
clapped a hand over her mouth, but the questions continued. “How did you meet
him?”
    “I was
trying to put that stupid kite together, and he was taking pictures close by.
He saw me struggling and offered to help.”
    “Oh,
that is soooooo cute,” Ella whined just as CJ came through the door and plopped
in front of the TV. He was followed by his father, and to Hanna’s horror,
Derick.
    “What’s
all the squawking about?” Charles asked.
    “Hanna
met a guy today!” Ella informed the whole room.
    Hanna
immediately regretted confiding in Ella. The circumstances would have been
mortifying enough on their own, but the fact that Derick was hearing it all
made it so much worse.
    “A
guy?” Charles repeated. “Like, a guy-guy?”
    “Don’t
sound so shocked,” Hanna answered defensively. “It’s not like they’re extinct
in this part of the world.”
    Charles
laughed at her answer and launched the same barrage of questions his sister had
moments ago. Hanna’s aim now was to downplay at all costs.
    “It
was nothing,” she said, shrugging. “He was photographing the boats and saw me
struggling with that stupid kite. He fixed it, that’s all.”
    “And
then he had ice cream with us,” CJ added unhelpfully.
    The
little snitch . Wasn’t he supposed to be completely engrossed
by his game?
    “Who
had ice cream with you?” Mary asked, joining them from upstairs.
    “A guy
Hanna met at the marina,” Charles supplied.
    “Like,
a date?” Mary said. “While you had the boys?”
    Hanna
was losing her grip on the situation. “No, not like a date! The ice cream was
to say thank you for fixing the kite, that was all.”
    “Did
you get his number, Hanna?” Ella asked. “Tell me you got his number. Did he ask
for yours?”
    “No
and no,” Hanna answered through her teeth.
    “If
he’s photographing the harbor, I bet we could run into him again . . .” Ella
suggested.
    “Is he
a professional photographer?” Charles asked.
    “Is he
a local?” Mary added.
    Hanna’s
face was positively aflame now. She didn’t know whether to answer or burst into
tears. Before she could