Promise Me (Book One of the Kirkland Family)

Promise Me: Chapter 17

Chapter 17

A little while later, Hannah, Kim and Justin kissed Josie good-bye as Mr. Kirkland started a new game of chess with the girl.  The time Josie spent with Kim and Hannah had almost been similar to the afternoons under their shade tree at work.  The three women sat on the edges of Josie’s bed, chattering away about nothing important, and Hannah constantly felt Justin’s eyes on her back.  He reclined in the chair by the window, his booted feet propped up in the other chair, letting the three of them laugh and giggle and be females for that short time together.

But every time Hannah glanced at Kim, the blond gardener waggled her eyebrows, as though to say, He’s staring at you.

Hannah didn’t have to be told.  Good heavens, she could get a sunburn from the heat coming off his gaze, directed straight at her.  But she refused to acknowledge his attention in any way.  

Even now, as they left the hospital room, Kim’s arm linked through hers, Justin followed behind them, staring at her.  As they hit the parking lot, they managed to gain some distance from his leisurely pace, and Kim hissed, “You promised!”

“I know,” Hannah said back.

“How can you talk about him if he’s with us?”

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch,” Hannah said, peeking back at the man behind them.  “We’ll find an opportunity to talk.”

“Then give me a hint.  I saw the way he was looking at you,” Kim urged.  “Something is definitely going on in that man’s mind, and I don’t know if I want to wait to find out what it is.”

Hannah sighed and shook her head.  “If I give you hint, then you’ll want all the details now, and we can’t talk right now.”

“Please...pretty, pretty please,” Kim begged, gripping Hannah’s arm tighter.  “I promise I won’t ask any more until later.”

Hannah laughed.  “But you’re not that great at keeping your promises.”

“Come on, Hannah,” she said, stopping beside her car.

“Fine,” Hannah huffed, making sure Justin couldn’t hear them yet.  She leaned in and whispered, “He kissed me...twice.”

Kim blinked and grinned, and clamped her mouth shut because now Justin was only a parking spot away from them.  Though the look in Kim’s eyes said she was getting every little, sordid detail out of Hannah later.  That was a promise.

“So, where exactly are we going?” Justin asked.

“Mike’s Place,” Kim answered.  “Do you know where it is?”

Justin glanced at Hannah, who held her breath from the smoldering green heat in his eyes.  “No, but Hannah can tell me.  Want a lift?”

Kim pushed Hannah toward him.  “Of course, she does.  I’ll see you two there.”  And with that, Kim jumped into her Jeep and drove away before Hannah could even open her mouth to protest.  Hannah wondered if Kim actually thought about it, they could have used the drive over for her to tell all about the two kisses.  But no...Kim dumped her off and ran away.

We’ll see how many details she gets now, Hannah grumped silently to herself as Justin led her to his truck.

About a block away from the hospital, Justin stopped at a traffic light and glanced over at her.  She tried not to look as nervous as she felt, but for heaven’s sake...she was actually on a date with this man.  Albeit, a forced and unintentional date, but a date nonetheless.

“You told her, didn’t you?  That I kissed you,” he accused.  Hannah looked at him with indignation.

“I did not!  You were there the whole time.  I never said a word to Josie about us!”

He chuckled at her flare up.  “Not Josie...your friend, Kim.”

“Oh,” Hannah breathed.  “You never said I couldn’t tell anyone else.”

“No, I didn’t,” he agreed quietly as he shifted into gear and drove through the intersection.  The street lamps flickered through the windshield as the truck passed under them.  Hannah studied his profile, wondering what he meant by his statement.

At the next red light, he said, “But if you don’t mind, I’d rather you not discuss it in front of me tonight.”

“You want me to talk about you behind your back?”

“I’d rather you not talk about us at all,” he corrected.

“I didn’t realize there was an ‘us’,” she said, turning her head to look out her side window.

“There isn’t,” he said.  “Therefore, ‘us’ should not be discussed.”

Okay, now he was just being a jackass again.  “You didn’t have to come tonight,” she reminded him sullenly.

“I’m curious about this Mark guy,” he said in a sardonic tone.

“You mean my ‘boyfriend’?” she spit at him, but not looking at him as she said it.

“Yeah, this could be interesting,” he said.  “Since I’m your date.”

Hannah rolled her eyes cynically.  “Don’t worry.  Mark will be very...understanding.”

Justin grunted in reply, but otherwise kept silent for the rest of the drive.

Mike’s Place was a cajun seafood restaurant in the downtown area.  Hannah loved the place, but she rarely had a reason to go...unless it was to get a free beer from Chad, one of her employees who moonlighted as a bartender here at Mike’s.  Chad always seemed to be short on cash, so she was always buying him lunch, and in return, he would put a beer on his own bartending tab if she ever ventured into the restaurant.  Hannah didn’t like to take advantage of him that way, since the tab came out of his share of the tips and he needed the money to support his three younger siblings, but if she didn’t stop by every once in awhile, he started feeling guilty because he could never pay her back.  So, about once a month, she’d swing in, chat with him and the waiting staff for an hour or so, drink her restitution, order some crab stuffed mushrooms to go with it, and then be on her merry way.  A happy compromise for both of them.

“Hey, Hannah!” Kim called to her and Justin as they walked into the restaurant’s entrance.  “Over here!”  

Hannah smiled and headed toward the bar where Kim and Mark commandeered two barstools.  She waved at Chad, who was washing glasses at the far end, and sat down next to Kim.  Justin dropped his butt in the stool next to her.  “I thought we’d stay here at the bar, since it’s so late,” Mark said and reached his hand across both ladies to Justin.  “Hi, I’m Mark.  Pleasure to meet you.”

Justin shook Mark’s hand, scanned the older man’s face, and smirked.  “Justin Kirkland.”

“Oh, yeah?  Any relation to Ronald Kirkland?”

“He’s my dad,” Justin said.

“He’s a good man,” Mark said.  “So, how long have you known Hannah?”

“Seems like forever,” Justin answered with a rakish grin as Kim choked on her water, an obviously surprised reaction from his words.  Mark patted Kim’s back.  Hannah closed her eyes and prayed for a short night.  Between Kim’s knowing looks, Justin’s appeal, and Mark’s oblivion to the whole situation, Hannah wasn’t sure she could survive.

“Chad,” she called out hastily, “can I get a beer?”

“Sure thing, darlin’,” Chad said, and Hannah added, “And I’m paying for this one!”

Chad grinned.  “Mark’s already hit me up tonight, so I'm tapped out on freebies anyway.”

Hannah gave Mark an accusing glare.  He knew, just as well as everybody who worked at the farm store, how Chad needed every cent he could save to make ends meet, especially when he was sole guardian of his three half-brothers and sister, one of which just got out of diapers last year and another needed constant medical attention.  

“You didn’t,” she hissed at Mark.

Mark leaned over to her and said, “What was I supposed to do?  I got in here, and he reminded me that I paid for his gas last week.  He tried to give Kim a free one, too--”

“But I told him I wasn’t drinking tonight,” Kim said, staring into her ice water with regret.  She sighed woefully.  “Dang it.”

"Would someone like to fill me in here?" Justin asked from the end of the row.  All three of them turned to him and opened their mouths for a quick explanation, but Chad dropped off Hannah's drink and asked what Justin would like.

"I'll have what she's having," he replied, tapping Hannah's beer mug.

"Sure thing," Chad said and turned back to Hannah, "Oh, darlin', I almost forgot...we're out of stuffed mushrooms.  Can I put in an order for something else?"

"Oh, I don't know," she said.  "What do you guys want?"

"We've already ordered the artichoke dip," Kim supplied and nudged her gaze to Justin.  Hannah rotated on her barstool toward him.

"How about you?" she asked.  "Hungry?"

He searched her face carefully...for that one particular amount of time, where the people around them recognized his hesitation as noteworthy, but not long enough for them to speculate on what it meant.  But Hannah knew.  She'd asked him once today if he was hungry, and that meal ended on a very intimate and sexy note.

"I'm in the mood for apples," he said.

"Apples?" Chad repeated.

"He's kidding," Hannah said, shooting Justin a reproving look.  "We'll have the sampler platter."

Chad nodded, slid a beer to Justin and disappeared through a door to the back kitchens.  That gave them a chance to explain about Chad and his life of responsibilities which no twenty-two-year-old should have to endure.  And yet, Hannah looked at Justin and realized that he had a wife and child at twenty-two.  And Justin looked at Hannah when she described how she and Mark, and everyone, at the farm store tried to help him, but Chad was proud and found ways to pay them back.

"Why don't you give him more hours at the store?" Justin asked.

"He won't take them," Mark said, shaking his head, and Kim added, "He won't spend more time away from his brothers and sister than necessary."

Hannah said, "He works from eight in the morning until two in the afternoon so he can be home when his girlfriend leaves for her shift -- she's a dispatcher for the city -- then when she gets home at seven, he comes here and works until ten.”

Justin whistled low.  “That’s a lot of time away from his family.  But I still don’t see why he needs to work so much, if his girlfriend lives with him, too.  Doesn’t she help out with the finances?”

Hannah, Mark and Kim glanced at one another.  Hannah wasn’t sure how much private information to divulge to Justin.  Because there was more to the story than just Chad providing for his younger siblings.  After a moment’s hesitation, she quietly added, “The oldest brother under Chad, Jackson...he’s got, um, issues...health issues, and they have to pay for around-the-clock nurses.”

“And their insurances only pay for a small percentage,” Kim added.

Justin studied them carefully.  “What kind of health issues?”

“Cystic Fibrosis and diabetes,” Hannah answered quickly since Chad came back with their food orders.

“Here you go, guys,” Chad said, putting the plates of appetizers on the bar in front of them.  “Let me know if you need anything else.”

Hannah wondered what Justin thought about the bartender.  His eyes seem to study Chad carefully before holding out his hand to the younger man and saying, “Sorry, we didn’t get a chance to meet.  I’m Justin.  Hannah says you work for her at the store, too.”

Chad smiled and shook Justin’s hand in a firm grip.  “Yup.  Ever since I got out of the military and moved back here.  She’s a real sweetheart.”

An interested light flickered in Justin’s eyes.  “The military, huh?  Let me guess...”  Justin’s gaze traveled along Chad toned arms and broad shoulders.  “Army?”

“Coast Guard, actually,” Chad replied, leaning against the bar.  “I used to live down in Florida near my mom, but then my dad and stepmom died in an accident, and I came up here to take care of my brothers and baby sister, since I’m all they’ve got left in this world.”

“A Coastie,” Justin mused, sipping on his beer.  “How long were you with the Guard?”

“A little over three years, joined right out of high school,” Chad said, and started talking about those three years.  Justin added a few of his own stories from his days in the Navy, and Mark slipped around to the barstool next to Justin to share his experience in the Army.

Hannah and Kim looked at each other and rolled their eyes in unison.  “How about we take a trip to the ladies room, and you keep your promise to me?” Kim suggested, sliding off her stool.  Hannah reluctantly followed and glanced back at the men before disappearing around the corner to the bathrooms.  Justin’s green eyes collided with hers for a brief second, making her nearly walk into the wall, and she saw a hint of censure in his gaze, as though to say he didn’t approve of the obvious reason her and Kim were leaving the bar.

What was she supposed to do?  She’d already promised Kim she’d tell her everything, but she wondered if it was right to kiss and tell, so to speak.  Even if Kim was one of her best friends.  She’d just have to make sure Kim didn’t say anything to Josie about it.  With a heavy sigh, she entered the domain of tiled floors and bathroom stalls, and hoped she wasn’t disappointing Justin too much.

*****

His eyes would not stay away from her tonight.  Though he tried like hell to appear impassive.  Damn, she looked great.  That pink dress complimented her skin tone and hair perfectly...and hugged every curve like it’d been sewn on her.  Justin couldn’t recall a redhead ever having such tanned, perfect skin.  Most that he knew or saw were white and freckly.  And wearing pink?  He remembered somewhere that reds didn’t like to wear pink because it contrasted with their coloring too much.

Not Hannah.

When she entered Josie’s hospital room earlier that evening, all he could think about was, She wore that for me.  And his idiotic beast roared with pride and pleasure inside him.  But, hell...he’d done the exact same thing.  After his shower, he pulled out a brand new pair of jeans and one of his suit shirts, telling himself that everything else was too dirty or wrinkled.  Yet, when they stood together, it seemed they had coordinated their outfits especially for a date.

A date.

Other than that little dancing fling back in Barcelona, he’d not been on a date in...well, too long to remember.  And his daughter set him up on this one.  What did that tell people?  What would that mean to Hannah?  Not that he should care what Hannah Baker thought, but he was finding it harder and harder to remain unaffected by her opinions and sentiments.

And it was hard to keep his hands to himself tonight, that was for damn sure.  Half of him was glad she hopped off to gossip with Kim.  Most of him was pleased that Chad and Mark offered a distraction from Hannah through their military stories.  And a small part of him was overjoyed that she seemed apathetic toward him tonight.

But the rest?  That itty, bitty, teeny-tiny fraction of his brain, hidden in a corner that was darker than all the rest...that part of him wished she’d come back, tell him she was ready to go, and straddle his lap the whole way home...or to the nearest deserted parking lot.  And he was fighting with all his might to keep that part as miniscule as possible.

He seemed to be fighting with himself a lot lately.  And in all honesty, he was glad for that, too.  Because tonight, he realized something about himself as Hannah and her friends told him about Chad.  That woman...the one who couldn’t afford to put a roof on her house, she paid a kid to mow her yard, and not because she was lazy.  She gave him a bed to sleep in when he could barely stand on his own two feet.  She became friends with his daughter when she didn’t have to, and was even discouraged from doing so.  She ended her dream in California to come and care for her dying father.  She even took over managing his store because -- Justin believed this for himself -- she couldn’t bear to sell something her father worked so hard to build.

Hannah did so much for others, pushing aside her own dreams, her own life, her own hard-earned money.  And what had he done lately?

Nothing.

He made enough money in a year to support his entire family for the rest of their lives, but did he know his neighbors?  Had he taken in a friend who needed help in recent memory?  Had he done anything benevolent for anyone lately?  Sure, his company doled out tens of thousands of dollars in charities, but Justin couldn’t think of the name of a single charity on his company’s list.

And here, standing before him, was a man who’d given up his career in the Coast Guard to take care of his little brothers and sister, counting the tips in his jar every night to see if he had enough money to buy groceries for the next week.  And what struck Justin was the fact that Chad seemed happy to do just that.  The man was twenty-two.  At that age, Justin was married and raising his own child.  He remembered feeling cheated out of his wild twenties and not being able to go out every night, date a different girl every week, drink until his head threw up.  But Chad didn’t seem to think that.  Chad’s eyes glowed with pride and love when he spoke of his siblings and his life.

Justin could not sit on the sidelines any longer.  He felt a desire growing inside him to do something for someone else.  To be as happy as Hannah and Chad were.  And that was what made him offer a position in his company to Chad.

“Communications, huh?” Chad asked after Justin explained his business.  “I was training as an electronics technician when I had to leave.”

“With this new contract with the Navy, we’re doing a lot of electronic communications changes.  I could use a guy who knows his way around the military, with some experience.  Besides myself, I’ve only got one other man, and if things go well, then our contract will spread to other branches of the Armed Forces,” Justin explained.  And now that he started thinking about it all, he could use a guy like Chad.  The younger man wasn’t a stranger to hard work or long hours.  He understood the jargon.  He knew the processes and procedures.  And any details he didn’t know or understand, he could learn on the job.  

Chad wiped the bar with a towel and thought for a moment.  Justin noticed that Mark seemed to be watching him carefully, judging his intentions toward Chad.  “I don’t know,” Chad said.  “Will I have to relocate to Savannah?  I’ve got my little ones to think about.  And my girlfriend...she may not want to go.  All her family is here.”

“Take some time to think about it,” Justin said, drinking from his beer again.  “I can start you off at the standard probationary salary, which is quite sizeable, for the first year.  If you decide later that it’s not worth it, then during that probation period, you can break your contract without any repercussions.  We’ll even settle with you for the remainder of your yearly salary.  But my company will pay for all your relocation expenses and set you up in a house until you find one for yourself.  You’ll get four weeks of paid vacation each year and full benefits -- medical, dental, life, retirement packages...the works, and it’s all paid through the company.  None of it comes out of your pocket, as well as no travel expenses while on the job either.”

Chad studied him for a moment, clearly tempted by the offer.  “Will there be a lot of traveling?”

Justin admitted, “Yes, there will be.  The military is scattered all over this planet, as well as some of our other clients.  Sometimes we have to go to them.

“I’m not sure how that’ll work out, since I’m responsible for my kiddos,” Chad said, pausing again, and then added, “Jackson, the oldest brother...he has to have special treatment.  I don’t think I could leave him for weeks at a time.”

“Then take them with you,” Justin offered.  “I’ll be honest with you...my company makes a butt-load of money, especially with this military contract.  We’re a small business, only a handful of employees, and we take care of our own.  My daughter has gone with me on jobs many times.  But you won’t have to do a lot of traveling for the first couple of months.  It’ll take some time to get you trained, so most of the work will be local and regional, in the Savannah area.  At most, you’d have to stay overnight someplace.”

“I don’t know,” Chad hesitated, though still very tantalized by the prospect.  Justin wasn’t going to beg or solicit the man’s employment beyond what was appropriate for the moment.  Chad had to make up his own mind.  He was a young man thrust into an older man’s responsibilities.  If he could handle that, then he could evaluate the pros and cons on his own.  But he did pull out a business card from his wallet and scribbled his cell phone number on the back with a pen from the register at the bar.

“Just give me a ring when you do decide,” Justin said, handing Chad the card.

“Thanks,” Chad said, staring at the card.  “I’ll talk to Jennifer and the kids tomorrow.”

Justin nodded and left it alone for now.  He was somewhat leery of the curious looks Mark kept giving him, but he sampled from the platter before him and offered no explanations to his behavior tonight.  The only person’s opinion he was interested in wasn’t with them.

And what the devil was taking her so long?  Two kisses weren’t that lengthy in describing.

*****