Harboring Hannah by Pepper North
Chapter 2
When the waitress left with their order, Hannah glanced back at Deke. “You don’t have to be nice to me now.”
“No, I don’t. But I want to get to know you better.”
“Why?”
“Because I think you’re the one I’ve been looking for. My Little girl.”
“You don’t waste any time, do you?” Hannah said in bewilderment. She’d never met anyone quite as confident as Deke. “I don’t even know your last name.”
“Brennan. I’m forty-two. I’m finishing up a job here before I move to SANCTUM.”
“Sanctum? Is that like spelled with capital letters?” she said, trying to make light of the conversation.
“It is spelled with capitals. SANCTUM is a safe community for Littles and Daddies.”
“There’s a neighborhood for that?” she asked, feeling her face heat as the waitress set their drinks on the table. Hopefully, the server didn’t know what they were talking about.
“Not just a neighborhood, but a walled community to protect the most precious people inside. A place where Littles and Daddies can be themselves. Have you known you’re a Little for a while?”
Gathering her courage, she asked, “Are you recording this?”
“No, sweetheart. We’re just talking. I’m sorry others haven’t treated you well. I plan to.”
Hannah studied his face. There was no sign of deceit or ridicule. He seemed earnest and open. She blew out her breath in a long stream to calm herself and said, “I’m not really a Little. I mean… I’ve read books and experimented a bit, but to them it was all a joke.”
“I’m sorry. It’s not a joke to me. Being a Daddy is who I am.”
Holding his gaze, she lifted her right hand as if being sworn in and introduced herself, “Hannah Tobler, twenty-six, constant screw-up.”
“I have a feeling the last part isn’t true. I think you just need more support than you’re getting now.”
“My family is wealthy.”
“I don’t mean financial stability. Most Littles thrive when someone watches out for them, helps them make good choices, supports them emotionally when bad things happen, and loves them no matter what.”
Running those items over in her head, Hannah’s mind boggled at the concept of each one. She’d always felt like she sank or swam alone. “Does that really exist?”
“It can.”
“Why would a Daddy want to do all that? Surely he has enough problems to deal with on his own,” she asked, allowing the skepticism to creep into her tone.
“That’s what a Daddy is wired to do. Take care of his Little.”
Hannah heard his words talking generally about Littles, but knew he was sharing his personal feelings. She gave herself a little time to think by sipping her diet soda. Jumping slightly at the feel of his hand covering her free one, Hannah met his gaze.
“Let me show you what it could be like. Maybe we’re the match I think we are. Maybe we aren’t. We’ll never know if we don’t try.” Deke looked at her steadily with those dark eyes.
Getting lost in his eyes, Hannah couldn’t stand the thought of not seeing him in the future. Swallowing hard, she answered, “I don’t know if I’m brave enough to risk this.”
“Littles are the bravest people I know. We have a while. Will you risk spending time with me to find out if we fit together?”
She didn’t want to be anywhere else. “I’d like that.”
His hand squeezed hers in a silent celebration as the server interrupted them again to set two juicy hamburgers and fries on the table.
* * *
That lunch became swinging in the park followed by ice cream sundaes for dinner. The following day, she helped Deke find an honest vendor to redo the inside of the party cruiser. Every minute he had free from his project at work, Deke wanted to spend with Hannah. She loved being the center of his attention.
“I’ve had a wonderful week,” she confessed at dinner a few nights later.
“Me, too. What shall we do tomorrow?” Deke asked.
“There’s a parade and fall festival downtown,” she suggested hesitantly.
“I bet they’ll have those big, chewy pretzels.”
“Every year,” she laughed as her phone beeped, notifying her that a message had come in.
Opening her cell, Hannah spotted a message from her former boyfriend who’d dumped her. She rolled her eyes in disgust. He probably needed rent money. Hannah started to close the chat window, but a flash of skin caught her eyes as a video played for a few seconds.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” she explained, getting up from the table. She didn’t look at Deke, instead scanning the restaurant for the restroom sign. There!
He captured her forearm gently to stop her. “Are you okay, Hannah?”
“Yes. I’ll be back soon,” she promised, tugging her arm away and hurrying to the narrow corridor to the door marked Women. Dashing into an empty stall, she pulled up the video. After a second, she was sick.
It was her and Tommy. The only time she’d had sex with him. The graininess of the video signaled to her it must have been a hidden camera. She’d never have agreed to this.
Unable to watch any more, Hannah closed the window to look at the message that accompanied it.
Hi, Hannah. I have this memento of our time together. I plan to share this with the town on the city government livestream next month unless you decide to buy it from me. I think your performance is worth fifty thousand, don’t you think? Watch it a few times. Your family’s going to love the footage at 13:34. And oh, your dad needs to make sure Clinton Edwards isn’t convicted. Just let me know if you want a repeat session. You weren’t too bad.
Hannah blindly set the phone aside and vomited into the toilet. Her mind filled with sickness at the thought of him broadcasting that video. Even when her stomach was empty, Hannah was still nauseous. A tapping at the stall door made her whirl around.
“Are you okay in there? A very concerned man is waiting in the hallway for you.”
“Yeah. I’m okay,” Hannah mumbled. She flushed the toilet and emerged to wash her hands and tidy up. Walking out of the bathroom, Deke wrapped his arms around her.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” he asked.
“I’m sick, Deke. Could you take me to my car?”
“Of course, Hannah.”
She sat frozen in the truck’s comfortable seat, unaware of anything except her fright and Deke’s presence next to her. Her heart was breaking because she didn’t see another option. She’d have to disappear and hope if she wasn’t around, Tommy wouldn’t follow through with his threat. If he did, at least she wouldn’t have to see the disgust on Deke’s face.
Jumping as he covered her twisting hands with one of his, Hannah glanced over at him. Concern was written all over his face. Damn! I’m going to miss him.
“You okay, sweetheart? You know you can talk to me if something is wrong. Everyone needs someone’s help sometimes,” he asked, rubbing his thumb across her skin.
“Some people more than others. I’m sorry to be a bother.”
“You could never be a bother to me, Little girl. The days I’ve spent with you have been the best of my life. I plan to build on that. SANCTUM is waiting for both of us.”
“It sounds like an amazing place.” She tried to stay noncommittal. Hannah couldn’t lie to him now that she’d decided to run away from Tommy’s threat.
“I hope you’ll love it as much as I do,” Deke said as he pulled next to her car in the parking lot where she’d met him to go to dinner. “I’ll follow you home to make sure you get there.”
“No!” Her sharp answer earned a concerned look. Hannah rushed to add, “I’ll be fine now. I’ll head home and get into bed. Tomorrow will be better. Sorry to ruin the evening.” She reached for the door release, only to stop as his hand tightened around hers.
“Let Daddy take care of you,” he reminded her and squeezed her hand softly again. Deke slid from the truck and rounded it to open her door.
After helping her out, he kissed her lightly on the forehead. “Sleep well, Little girl. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. We’ll check out that fair.”
“I’d love that. Thank you… Daddy.” Before that last word tore her up inside, Hannah scrambled into her car and drove away with a wave. Tears tumbled down her cheeks as she watched him in her rearview mirror. Hannah felt as if she dragged her heart behind the vehicle on the rough asphalt. She could have had it all, but managed to screw up again.
