The Country Guesthouse (Sullivan's Crossing #5)(69)

“I look at things a lot differently now,” he said.

I wouldn’t believe that for one second, she thought. “Goodbye, Wyatt. Go ahead and delete my phone number. It’ll be simpler that way.”

“I guess I should be grateful you aren’t blocking my calls.”

“Ah, that’s a good idea, thanks! When you run into our mutual friends, please say that I’m quite well and very happy. Bye, then.”

And she clicked on her directory and blocked his number.

When she got back to her house she found that Noah and Owen were packing up Noah’s toys.

“How’d it go?” Owen asked her.

“Very well,” she said. “My old boss was supportive and gave me an extended leave that he doesn’t expect me to use. And I got an apologetic call from the ex-fiancé. He’s called a couple of times and left no message so I thought it might have been an accident, a pocket dial. Working up his nerve, I guess. What a gutless wonder.”

Owen grinned. “Did he ask for another chance?”

“He did, but that’s impossible. I told him he was forgiven, told him better luck with the next one. And blocked his number.”

He put his arms around her. “Poor dope,” he whispered.

  Hannah and Owen worked like farmhands, getting the house all packed up and shipped. One load was delivered to a storage facility not too far from Kate’s house, and she was given the entry code. A crate full of Hannah’s favorite things and the lion’s share of Noah’s toys, bedding his mom had gotten him, pictures and other odds and ends were shipped to Timberlake.

Hannah gave away a lot of clothing, furniture, kitchenware and linens, but the pile of things to throw away grew larger by the day. During the whole process Noah stayed with either Kate or Sharon. They spent a few evenings with their friends. Although the work was hard and dirty, the reunion was excellent and the prospect of a fresh start was delicious.

  It was their last day in Minneapolis and Owen was taking one final load of junk to the dump. Noah begged to go along and Hannah stayed behind to sweep out the garage, her last chore for the day. The property manager had been given a list of things that still had to be done and Hannah was very pleased with the rental price she’d be asking. It looked as if everything was going to be fine.

She was almost done sweeping out the empty garage when a small bruised pickup truck pulled up right in front of the house. There had been so many laborers dropping by to give her estimates on cleaning, painting, repairs and landscaping that she just leaned on her broom waiting to see who this could be. The minute he got out of his truck and began to walk up the drive, she knew.

Roger Addison. Cal had texted her pictures of Roger and Victoria weeks ago, just as he had promised.

She kept a firm grip on her broom. “Can I help you?”

He pulled the cap off his head. “You moving out?” he asked.

“Do I know you?” she returned.

He shrugged. His hair was thinner than his picture showed and he was short of stature, but his shoulders were broad. “Just looked like you was moving out. I’ve been looking for a place.”

She didn’t let on that she knew who he was. “It’s been sold,” she said. “I’m just doing a final cleanup.”

“You don’t know who I am, do you?”

“Should I?”

“Maybe. I’m your best friend’s brother. Erin’s brother.” He looked around. “I wanted to check on my nephew. He okay?”

“I think you better go now,” she said. “I’m busy here.”

“I thought I should come over and at least say hello to you and my nephew,” he said. “I don’t know if we met before. I sure never expected you to be my nephew’s mother.”

“Roger, you have to go,” she said, pulling out her phone. “Or I’m going to call the police.”

“The police? For what? For me being friendly? Saying hello? Asking how my nephew is getting along? Listen, there are a few things you should know.”

“How did you even know I was here?” she asked.

“I knew this was your address,” he said. “I asked one of the neighbors if he’d seen you around and left my phone number with him. Mr. Handelson, down the street? I asked him to call me if he saw you.”

She shook her head. “I don’t even know him.”

“Listen, there are a couple of things I want to tell you, since you’re raising the kid now,” he said. “I was in trouble a lot as a kid, Erin pretty much hated me and I don’t blame her. But we’re still family and I always meant to make amends. I guess I just ran out of time.”

“No, I think she did,” Hannah said.

“Yeah, I feel terrible about that. I didn’t even know about her until about a month after she was gone. I’m sorry for your loss.” His hands were tucked in the pockets of his loose jeans as he just watched her. “I didn’t treat her right. I didn’t treat a lot of people right. And I would never hurt the kid.”

Just then, Owen’s SUV turned sharply into the drive. Owen got out and slammed his door. “What do you want?” he said, recognizing Roger at once.

“Oh, man, you people are not friendly at all,” he said, backing away a little. “I guess you probably heard all the bad stuff about me. But I wanted to tell you, that was a long time ago...”