The McClane Apocalypse: Book Two (6 page)

“Take Isaac and I’ll raid my closet,” Sue tells her as she places her new son in Hannah’s arms.

“Sure. You don’t have to tell me twice,” Hannah returns with a bright smile. The first thing she does is take a nice long whiff of his tiny forehead, kisses there and presses down his crown of feathery, silky hair- what little there is of it- with her fingertips. He’s growing so quickly already, and he’s only a few months old.

“I’d offer to get you something from Reagan’s closet, but you are actually trying to attract someone of the opposite sex and not repel them!” Sue says with a laugh that Hannah returns.

“Yes, Grams says that Reagan dresses like a boy. She gets mad at the clothes Reagan wears and is always complaining about her dressing like a teenage boy. I just try to explain it to her that Reagan’s always been different. She just marches to the beat of her own drum, always has,” Hannah defends her other sister.

“You got that right! That is what I’d call the understatement of the century,” Sue calls from her closet area into which she has likely disappeared. They again share a laugh.

It is true, though. Reagan just doesn’t have time to think about her appearance. She is too busy trying to figure out how to save the world through medicine and study. What she remembers of her sister from when they were young before Hannah lost her sight is that Reagan was very pretty even then. Her hair had always been a messy, wild mass of curls, and she was usually dirty from digging around in a creek, pond or lake for specimens to examine under a microscope. But Sue and Grams say that she’s quite beautiful. Hannah remembers Sue being pretty, too. Her chestnut locks were always shiny and lovely. That’s one thing she definitely remembers about Sue. And she is tall, statuesque. What she doesn’t remember, strangely enough, is how
she
looks. Not remembering what your own face looks like is surreal sometimes, but Hannah had only been nine when it had happened so what little she does remember is the face of a child. She can only hope she isn’t hideous because that certainly isn’t going to help her land Kelly.

“I can’t believe how big he’s getting already, Sue,” she says to Sue when Hannah hears her approach again.

“I know. It’s crazy, right? They grow so fast, and all I wanna’ do is make them stay little forever, protect them forever, especially now,” Sue laments. Little does her sister know it’s how everyone on this farm feels about the kids. “Here, Hannie. This pink shirt should fit. And these are some cropped jeans. They’ll probably be long on you, but they’ll fit I think. These fit before I got pregnant for the third time!”

“Thank you so much, Sue. You’re the best,” she returns easily. As reluctant as she is to hand over Isaac, she does so because she knows he needs down for his nap and, more importantly, needs down for his nap for her sister’s sanity. “And for the record I heard Derek telling John the other day that he likes your curves.”

“Yeah right!” her sister heartily disagrees.

“He did. They were working on a tractor or something when I was in the chicken coop collecting eggs. He told his brother that when you’re pregnant you get even curvier and he said that was just fine with him. I swear it.”

“Hm, well I don’t like it. I can’t wait to lose some of this extra baby weight. Trust me, Hannie. I’m plenty curvy enough without the extra pounds,” she says on a chuckle.

“I think your husband just likes you any way you look. You’re so lucky. Derek’s such a good man, Sue. He’s so direct and honest and caring. He really loves you and the kids,” Hannah observes.

“You don’t have to tell me. I know I’m one lucky woman. Derek’s wonderful. Of course I’m not gonna go around telling him that too often. I don’t want him to get a big head. These Rangers are cocky enough without us blowing up their egos,” she says with a laugh that Hannah returns. “Ok, enough about my hot husband. This shirt might be a bit snug on you, Hannie, ‘cuz you would need a size larger. You know ‘cuz you’re a little more endowed than me,” Sue says with a smile in her voice.

“Oh, really?” Hannah asks completely clueless.

“Yeah, Hannah! You are way more endowed than me and definitely more than Reagan,” Sue explains as she takes Isaac into her warm embrace again. She just radiates a motherly touch and has an unlimited warmth about her.

“Oh goodness,” Hannah cries weakly. Is she some sort of freak?

“Hannie, it’s not the worst thing ever. Trust me on this one. If you were any other woman, you’d be using that to your advantage. But Kelly likes you just as you are. Big boobs or no,” her sister says on a crack of laughter that startles Hannah and makes her blush hard at the comment. “Poor Kelly doesn’t stand a chance!”

“I don’t know about that,” she replies.

“Oh, I do. That guy is smitten, Hannah. Don’t give up,” her sister encourages. Hannah nods and casts her gaze downward. “Let me put him down for his nap and I’ll help you get ready.”

“Ok, I’ll meet you in my room. I’d better get going. Gotta finish some things in the kitchen first,” she says quietly as she leaves her sister’s room.

Once downstairs she takes her pies out of the oven and heads to her room to get ready. Luckily, Grams is somewhere with Grandpa so she hadn’t had to explain her nervous hands and absent-mindedness.

“Knock-knock, Hannie,” Sue says a few minutes later after Hannah’s had a chance to change into her borrowed clothing. “Want me to help you with your hair?”

“Uh, sure. Does it look bad?” Hannah asks and touches the coiled bun at the base of her neck self-consciously. She always does the bun or braids like Grams had showed her so long ago. They are convenient and keep it all out of her face when she is in the kitchen.

“No, it never looks bad. It’s just pulled back. Most men like women to wear their hair down. Plus, it’s a shame to hide your hair all the time. It’s so long and pretty,”

“Ok, I trust you, Sue. Do what you want with it,” Hannah concedes with a smile. “It’s not like I’d know anyways.”

“Hannah,” Sue says in her best disciplinary tone. She uses this frequently on her five and seven year old children, too. “You are such a nut. I’m just going to put some styling cream in and brush it out smooth for you. Your hair is so shiny and gorgeous.”

“This shirt feels kind of tight. I’m not used to that,” Hannah tells her as she tugs at it. Sue uncoils her bun and places the pins on the dressing table.

“It’s good that it’s snug. That way it’ll keep it out of your way when you’re riding,” Sue explains as she brushes her hair until the knots are all gone.

Her sister’s touch is soothing, just like when Hannah was younger and Sue would help her with her hair. She had so easily stepped into the role of mother after their mother had passed. Sue had always tried to make sure that she didn’t go out in public dressed like a dork or how to interact with people so that they felt comfortable around her blindness. Hannah likes to think that Kelly’s young sister Em finds her touch comforting, as well, when she helps her with her long hair.

“I’m... Sue, I’m kind of nervous. I know that probably sounds stupid, but Kelly and I aren’t usually alone for very long together,” Hannah admits and tries to still her quivering fingers. This is so embarrassing to admit, but Sue is the only person of whom she feels she can admit it to.

Sue brushes one last time through Hannah’s long tresses and replies, “Don’t be nervous, Hannie. Just be yourself. Kelly likes you. I’m very sure of it, honey.”

“Sometimes he seems like he does, and then other times he just acts distant and off-putting,” she confesses with even more humiliation. It’s so hard to keep throwing herself at Kelly just to have him push her away and distance himself again and again. If she didn’t feel so strongly about him, then she would’ve given up already.

“Don’t worry, Hannah. If Kelly feels the way I think he does for you, then he’ll let you know. He’s not some teenager from town who had a crush on you. Kelly’s an adult man.”

“I know. He’s just so closed off, like he doesn’t want to let me in,” Hannah explains when Sue is finished.

“He’s been through a lot. He’s seen more than we can probably ever comprehend. I know how much the things that Derek has seen and done in all his years of warring have bothered him. Sometimes he has nightmares. But don’t ever tell him I told you that. These men on this farm, these three Rangers, have demons that haunt them daily. It’s just how well they can conceal them or how well they can suppress them,” her sister expounds.

She’s never talked with anyone in the family as far as Hannah knows about Derek this way. Derek is a proud man, and Hannah’s sure that he wouldn’t approve of Sue telling her anything about his military past. And from what she knows of John he never seemed bothered by anything. If it was some sort of non-verbal behavior, then Hannah was not ever going to be privy to it anyways. But John and Derek always seem so fun and light-hearted to be around that she never gave an ounce of thought to their dark background, and it had to be a very dark background as long as they had been enlisted in the Army before the world fell apart.

“I think you’re right, Sue,” Hannah agrees. “That is exactly how Kelly acts. He sometimes seems so withdrawn from me. Then other times he’ll actually open up and talk a little. I just care so much for him that I don’t know what to do.”

“Believe me if Kelly’s interested, then he won’t let anything stop him. I just think it’s going to take him a while to come to terms with whatever makes him hold back where you’re concerned, Hannie. And unfortunately, it’s just going to require a lot of patience on your part,” Sue imparts which Hannah returns with a soft moan of frustration. But she does nod after a moment.

“Thanks for talking with me, Sue. You’re so helpful,” Hannah tells her and turns to embrace her oldest sister in a strong hug.

“Love you, kid. And hey, don’t forget to wear some sunscreen,” she reminds Hannah as she stands and goes to the door of Hannah’s bedroom. “No guy is going to be attracted to you with a sun-burned lobster face!”

Hannah laughs with true joy at her sister’s joke and is left to quietly reflect on what they’ve discussed. She is also left to dwell on her feelings for Kelly. They’ve grown stronger, deeper every day since he’d first come to the farm. She can hardly contain them anymore. It is a task that is getting more and more difficult each time they are alone together. She knows he feels something for her, too. He’d kissed her twice already, and it had left her feeling weak-kneed and short of breath. He is all she ever thinks about anymore. Yesterday while canning peppers she had inadvertently placed a half cup of sugar in the canning jar. She’d meant to put it in a pie recipe that she was also working on. That never happens. She loves canning with Grams and never makes silly mistakes like that. Her mind had been on Kelly and his massive forearms that she’d once clung to while he kissed her. If he ever leaves this farm, she’s quite sure she’ll die of a broken heart. So being the resilient McClane he once accused her of being it is her job to make sure he never wants to.

Chapter Five

Kelly

The hour flies by as he busies himself in the barn making small repairs to loose boards, fixing a leaking water pipe and shoveling out the cattle’s cement loafing pads in the newer concreted area. He’s late getting his horse caught and saddled by fifteen minutes, and he ties her to the hitching post in front of the horse barn so that he can go and fetch Hannah. When he gets to the house, Hannah is waiting on the back porch swing like he’s picking her up for a damn date! Before he even gets up the stairs, she stands because she’s heard his approach. How she knows the different people on the farm from just their footsteps he’ll never know, but she does.

“I’m ready, Kelly,” she says brightly, bites her lower lip and holds out her hand to him. This is the first time he’s ever seen Hannah not in one of her long white dresses, and it’s shocking to say the least. She wears a short-sleeved polo shirt, slim fitting blue jeans that come to the tops of her ankles, where there are four inch zippers, and pastel plaid deck shoes. She looks like the cover of an all-girls prep school pamphlet except she’s wearing the shit out of those jeans. Hannah McClane’s grandmother was right in putting her in the potato sack dresses. Coupled with the almost-snug fitting pink top, Kelly feels a surge of instant lust shoot through him like a tidal wave. And she’s still holding out her hand to him like an unknowing fawn holding its tiny hoof out to a wolf. And the wolf gladly accepts it, of course, because wolves aren’t stupid, and they know a good meal when they see one.

“Step down. That’s it. Let’s go,” Kelly tells her and holds her hand tightly in his. He doesn’t drag her like that damn, fateful day in the barn but goes much slower for her. As they approach the barn, his mount whinnies loudly, making Hannah jump and squeal. “Are you sure you want to do this? I can take you back if you...”

“No! Please, I really want to, Kelly. I love riding and being outdoors and around the animals. Like I said, Reagan always took me,” she explains and a breeze blows her hair against Kelly’s arm, tickling him. It makes him grimace as if he’s in pain.

He unties the horse’s reins and leads the chestnut mare toward the paddock gate. Once they are all three through, the mare on one arm and Hannah on his other, he mounts up, checks the rifle scabbard again.

“Ready? Reach up, there, got ya’,” he tells her as he pulls her easily up behind him. She’s slighter than he originally thought, probably because she wears such baggy clothing so often that make her appear bigger than she is. The mare prances twice under them, and Kelly pulls her under control easily enough. Hannah’s arms wrap tightly around his midsection, not something he’d considered when this dumb idea came to fruition.

“I’m ready,” she declares happily.

And with her declaration, they’re off to make the morning rounds for a perimeter safety check, as well as making Kelly exceedingly uncomfortable in his jeans. This isn’t one of his more brilliant plans.

“Hannah, if something would happen out here, I’ll let you down first and put you somewhere with the horse out of danger while I take care of it,” he explains as they come down to the end of the first paddock.