Page 5 of See It Through
Then she went taut again.
“Yes, I do remember. Which means you broke in. If you damaged the lock, I’m billing you for it. If you messed with anything else, I’ll—”
“You’ll what?”
“Let’s just say you’ll be wishing for the muffin.”
I could have gone back and forth a while longer, but my presence was causing her stress, and I didn’t like that.
Chuckling, I looked her square in the eyes. “I know it’s been a while, and I have a couple more scars than I used to, but you really don’t recognize me, Hannah Kelly?”
She gave me another long look. Something sparked in her gaze, and her mouth fell open. She’d managed to make her slack-jawed surprise look cute…before it morphed into tight-lipped anger and fiery red cheeks.
“Remington Town, you’re about a month too late.”
My hands tightened on the back of the chair. “That’s one way to see it.”
She tossed the keyboard on her desk and folded her arms over her chest. “We buried Graham four weeks ago—but I guess you probably know that from all the messages you received. I’m only guessing you received them since you’re here, not because you bothered to return any of them.”
Henry’s voice had replayed in my head since I first heard it.“Yer dad’s dead, kid. Guess you gotta come back and settle up.”
“I got the messages. You want to talk about it, I will, but not when my ass is in the wind.”
Her eyes squeezed shut. “Oh my god, go get dressed, and please stop bringing up your ass.”
Despite myself and where I was, I grinned at her holding her hand over her face like the sight of me was offensive. She’d been a wildcat way back when, and it seemed like that still held true. A lot had changed, and I was inexplicably relieved that wasn’t something that had.
“If that makes you happy, Hannah Kelly.”
She shooed me away, and this time, I went.
Hannah was in the kitchen when I returned, fully clothed. The second she saw me, her spine stiffened, and she eyed me warily, but she didn’t offer a word of explanation for her presence in Graham’s house.
I poured myself a cup of the coffee I assumed she’d made and added some of the milk she must have bought if her growl was anything to go by. Considering she was the intruder and I had every right to be here, I didn’t let it bother me.
We were in a silent standoff while I drank my coffee and looked around the kitchen. Graham had done a lot of work on the place. The cabinets had been painted bright white, and what looked like a relatively new butcher block counter had been installed. The walls were painted too, and the light fixtures had been switched out. The only thing I recognized was the oversized farmhouse sink, and even that looked different. What had always been filled with dirty dishes was now empty and scrubbed clean.
Hannah huffed, bracing her hands on the island opposite from where I stood. “I was in a pretty foul mood before you came bumbling into my space, swinging your dick at me.”
“Didn’t swing it at you,” I muttered, not bothering to raise my voice. She was on a roll and most likely wouldn’t have heard me anyway.
“I don’t know why you bothered showing up after all this time, but let me make something clear, Remington Town, we don’t need you here. Everything that needed to be taken care of has been, and that includes seeing your father to the other side. You can go back to your adventurous, freewheeling lifestyle and leave the rest of us in peace.”
My mug clunked as I set it down, but Hannah didn’t flinch.
“Think you remember I go by Remi,” I said softly.
She lifted one shoulder. “Things change. I figured since you’re famous now, you’re probably a little more formal. Isn’t that what your byline says?”
I huffed a humorless laugh. That was the last thing I’d expected to be talking about right now. “I’m flattered you’ve been following my career, but famous is a stretch.”
There were one or two photojournalists who were widely known, but for the most part, it was our pictures that became famous, which was all well and good with me. I didn’t do it for the acclaim.
Her fingers flexed on the counter, turning white from the pressure. “Graham followed his son’s career. He showed me your pictures every chance he got. I had little to no interest, but since I respected him, I paid attention.”
It was incredibly hard to believe Graham had cared about me after I’d left since he hadn’t bothered to while I’d been living in the same house, but this woman had no reason to lie to me. But I couldn’t take what she was saying in, wrap my head around it. Not when a headache was sneaking in with all the anger I’d lassoed and left behind in tow.
“Funny, ’cause when I was here, the old man had little interest in me.” I dragged my hand over my face, still tired after a restless night in my too-small childhood bed. It had creaked every time I shifted, which had been a lot since the mattress springs had kept trying to pierce me.