“Oh, I’m sure!” Laughing with him, she asked, “So that’s what the text was? More guilt about the holidays?”
“Yeah, but…it’s complicated.” He resumed his position with his back and head against the wall.
“Look, we’ve got nothing but time to kill here, so if you want to talk about it…”
It was starting to feel a little warm in there so he took off his tie, unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, and rolled up his sleeves a bit. “Is it me or is it a little too quiet out there? Shouldn’t we hear them banging around or something by now?”
“Nice diversion,” she muttered, reaching for another cookie. “I was trying not to think about that.”
“Sorry.” And because he felt like he could, he helped himself to another cookie as well. “Okay, so my mother lives in and is the manager of a fifty-five and over community. It’s sort of like this building except everyone there is…well…fifty-five and older.”
“O-kay…”
“So she’s gotten a little…shall we say…competitive with some of the other residents.”
“Competitive how?”
He inwardly groaned and cursed the fact that he’d even brought this up, but when he looked at Hannah, she seemed genuinely interested. “It seems like there’s a bit of a competition over who has the most grandchildren and whose children visit the most,” he explained carefully. “They’re having this massive Christmas party for all the residents and their families this year and my mother has been after all of us to attend.”
Hannah blinked. “That’s it? You’re all twitchy over a Christmas party? What’s the big deal?”
Rather than answer right away, Gage reached for another cookie and took a bite.
“Do you not like the holidays?” she asked while he chewed. “Hate parties?”
He swallowed hard and wished he had something to drink. “I love the holidays and am usually on board for a good party. It’s just…this particular party is putting a lot of…awkward pressure on me.” Glancing over at Hannah, he sighed. “I think I left out some important information.”
“I’m all ears,” she eagerly replied.
“I have four older sisters. They’re all married and have kids. Lots and lots of kids,” he added wearily.
“Oh…I get it. Now everyone’s looking to you to add to the list of grandkids so your mom can show off a bit to the other residents.”
Nodding, he took another bite. “Basically.”
“How many grandkids does she already have?”
“Twelve,” he murmured. “My oldest sister Christina has five. Stephanie has three–she’s the next oldest. My other two sisters are twins–Sarah and Amy–and they each have two kids. Actually, Sarah gave birth to twins eight months ago. You’d think it would be enough to keep everyone happy, right?”
“I would think so…”
“Now they’re all banding together with my mother and making me their holiday project. Finding me a wife so I can have kids and help my mother’s cause is now some sort of family sport. Every time I’m with any of them, they’re throwing single women at me. It’s exhausting.” Leaning his head back against the wall, he let out a long breath as he closed his eyes–fairly certain Hannah was looking at him as if he were crazy.
And maybe he was. After all, it wasn’t the worst thing a guy could go through, right?
He continued, “Here’s a perfect example for you. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Steph’s this year. Everything was going great. I was totally relaxed, and then suddenly two of her single friends showed up unexpectedly to join us for dinner.” He snorted with disgust. “Like I didn’t see right through that.”
Shaking his head, Gage wondered why his family thought he was a complete idiot who didn’t know what was going on.
“Let me guess,” Hannah said, interrupting his thoughts. “You have zero interest in getting married and having kids.”
Gage shook his head. “That’s not it at all. I can’t wait to get married and have a couple of kids. Hell, I’d love to have all those things but…I haven’t met the woman to do that with yet and I don’t think having random women thrown at me is going to make it happen either.”
“Well…you can’t really know that. Do you get out and socialize a lot?”
“No, but…”
“Do you date a lot?”
“Not really, but…”
“Have you tried online dating?”
“That’s not my thing, but…”
“Then how do you expect to find this perfect woman if you’re not willing to actively look for her?” Hannah demanded.
“There really wasn’t a big push for it to happen until recently,” he argued. “And the more they push…”
“The more you want to resist. Got it.” Then she turned her head and muttered, “Typical man.”
“Excuse me?”
The lights flickered briefly and they both glanced around before looking at each other again.
“All I’m saying is…” she began and then let out a small scream as the elevator lurched slightly right before the sound of creaking metal split the air. The next thing he knew, she was pressed up against him, her hands fisting his shirt as she burrowed her face against his neck. “This is not the way I want to die!”
Gage wrapped his arms around her, held his breath, and had to agree.
Chapter Two
Abject terror was Hannah’s first response, but once the elevator stopped, she immediately honed in on how good Gage smelled.
It wasn’t logical to be thinking of something like that when they were about to plummet to their deaths, but…there it was.
They stayed locked together for a solid minute before slowly separating. Hannah looked up and saw the same wariness she knew he was seeing on her face. “Do you think…?” Before she could finish that thought, the lights flickered again, followed by the same grinding metal sound and Gage simply reached for her and held her tight.
With her eyes squeezed shut, she mentally chanted, “Please don’t drop, please don’t drop, please don’t drop…” and she held her breath so long that there was no choice but to let it out and breathe.
“It’s quiet again,” Gage whispered.
“I really wish someone would call and tell us what’s going on,” she quietly responded. “Was that noise because they’re working on the elevator or is something going wrong?”
“Honestly? I have no idea.” Again, they slowly separated, and it took several minutes to relax. “I wish I had something to drink. All those cookies…”
Hannah was about to agree when she remembered the gift Shawna had given her. Twisting, she pulled the gift bag out of her purse. “It’s not water, but I think it may help in this situation.”
“Wine?” he asked with a small laugh.
“Shawna gave them to me down in the lobby. I’m not usually much of a wine drinker, but…” Pausing, she stared at the bottle in her hand and wanted to cry.