“You’ve been miserable since you moved in with me.”
She shrugged. “It’s a new place and that takes time. Plus, you and I have never lived with anyone before, so that’s new too.”
“Hannah,” Drew began, taking her hand.
“I love you,” she blurted. His eyes widened, an emotion she couldn’t name shining in them. Then his eyes shuttered, and she couldn’t see anything at all. “And I think—”
“I’m annulling our marriage. The paperwork will be sent to you by this evening.”
Her jaw dropped. “What about five years?”
“Hannah, we can’t last five weeks. I won’t do that to—” His jaw worked. “I needed you, you helped me, and for that, you will have my eternal gratitude.”
Please don’t say you’ll give me money. Please don’t make what we have cheap. “But I don’t want an annulment.”
“It’s done. Once everything is back to normal, you’ll never hear from me again,” he said flatly.
“What about our wedding?” she asked, feeling lightheaded. This could not be happening. It was almost a repeat of this morning, but worse. It was this morning’s argument on steroids.
“It’s been cancelled. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some things to take care of for my father.” Without another word, Drew stalked out of the room, and all Hannah could do was watch him go.
Chapter Fourteen
Two weeks later
Hannah had thrown herself into winterizing The Magnificent Dunes. She’d scrubbed, mopped, polished, folded, tacked, and draped more times than she could count. Then she’d repeated it the next day and the next until she would fall exhausted into her very lonely bed.
But it kept her mind busy. And the staff had kept her laughing with their jokes about the new boss. Despite everything, Drew’s present of the resort had turned out to be the best thing that had ever happened to her.
The staff seemed to think so as well, their concerns of an out-of-towner taking over put to rest.
She ran her hand over forehead to wipe away the sweat. This was the very last day. Tomorrow, all she would have to do was go through the entire resort with her grandparents for the final time.
However, she had no idea what she would do once that part was done. A closed resort with a great management staff tended not to need much babysitting.
“Hannah,” her grandma said as she met her in the grand foyer. “Would you be interested in working at Laura’s studio next week? She needs some help with a summer camp.”
The first genuine smile she’d felt in days curved the corners of her mouth. “Same group as last year?”
Grandma nodded. “Only a titch older.”
“Tell Laura yes. On second thought, I’ll give her a call this evening,” Hannah said, finally looking forward to something that wouldn’t remind her of Drew. Art camp would be infinitely better than moping around her house.
“Good to see you’re not letting Drew’s absence get you down.” The older woman gave Hannah’s arm an affectionate squeeze. “It’s not easy being married.”
Hannah’s cheeks pinkened. She hadn’t told her grandparents about the annulment. “You know he’s spending time with William as he recuperates.”
“I know. He’s such a good boy, but the two of you are newlyweds. Can’t be easy.”
Hannah smiled wanly. “No, it’s not easy at all.”
*
“Why are you still here?” William said, looking at Drew over his morning paper. “I already have a nurse.”
Drew gave him a baleful look. “Because you fell in the shower yesterday.”
“A minor dizzy spell.”
Dizzy spell, his ass. “You weren’t listening to your nurse. The handrails are there to help you,” Drew reminded him. “Stubborn ass.”
His dad folded the paper, frowning all the while. “I’m stubborn? Seems to me that I wasn’t the one who sent away the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Of course his dad had found out what Drew had done, but instead of threatening him, he’d merely informed Drew that he was disappointed not to have gotten to talk to Hannah. No lecture. No threats to sell the company.
Nothing.
“I did what was best for her. There was no reason for the two of us to stay together.”
“That has to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, and considering the shit that comes out of Connor’s mouth, that’s saying something.”
“Stay out of my business.”
“Do you at least miss her?”
Yes. He missed her. It was like a piece of him was gone and that hollow feeling that she’d made whole… was back. Bigger. It encompassed his soul. “I enjoyed spending time with her. She was an integral part of my formative years.”