Page 46 of The Perfect Secret
“Oh, I don’t want to ruin her plans.”
“You won’t. Thanks for thinking of her.”
They made plans for the weekend and said goodbye. He bowed his head and held the phone against his forehead. Whathad he ever done to deserve this, and how could he prevent himself from screwing it up?
Hannah climbed into Dan’s car Saturday; Tess sat in the back seat, a mutinous look on her face. “Hi, Tess.”
Tess turned and looked out the window, arms folded.
“Tess!” Hannah jumped at Dan’s roar. “When Hannah says hello to you, you answer. Do you hear me?”
Eyes filling with tears, Tess mumbled a hello, stuck in her earbuds, and stared once again out the window.
Hannah placed a hand on Dan’s hand over the gearshift. He flinched, but after a moment, covered hers with his own. “Sorry about that,” he said under his breath.
“Would it be better if we change our plans?”
“No, I’m not caving in to a fourteen-year-old.”
“But if she doesn’t want to be with me…”
He turned and caressed her arm. “It’s not you. She’s mad at me because I took away her phone.”
Hannah frowned and glanced toward the backseat. “But I thought…”
“That’s her old iPod. I’d take it too, but it would end up punishing me more than her, since I’d have to listen to her complain.”
“I can hear you, you know,” Tess said.
Dan started the car. “If you’re not careful, I’ll take away Halloween.”
Wow, he threatened to cancel a national holiday. Either he possessed way more power than she’d given him credit for, or he was having a bad day. Hannah resolved to make sure everyone enjoyed themself today.
He pulled onto the road, and they headed out of town. Hannah craned her neck toward the backseat. “So, Tess, this farm has great pumpkins and it’s pick your own. We can get anything we want. I went here last year to get harvest decorations for oursukkah.”
Dan glanced at her before he returned his focus to the road in front of him. “You have asukkah?”
“Yeah, a bunch of us build the three-sided hut on the roof of our building, decorate it with pumpkins and mums and eat in it during theSukkotholiday. It’s fun.”
“Sounds like it.”
When Tess continued her silence, Dan shifted his gaze to the rearview mirror and opened his mouth, but Hannah shushed him. “I hope they still have bushels of apples for sale. My grandma makes a great apple pie, and I want to bring some apples home for her.”
“I like pie.” Dan grinned for the first time since Hannah had entered the car.
She laughed. “Well, if you behave, maybe I’ll share with you.” She ignored the snort from the backseat. “But I doubt it.”
“Why not?”
“Because her apple pie is amazing and I want it all for myself.”
“I helped you with your résumé.”
She glanced sideways at him. His cheeks were lifted in a grin and his hands, which gripped the steering wheel, relaxed.
“Depends on what it’s worth to you.”
His eyebrows rose and Hannah bit the insides of her cheeks to keep from laughing.