Almost Midnight Read Online Free PDF

told him she felt uncomfortable giving out her phone number. He probably would have understood since she didn’t want to get out of the car. Dumb, Hannah. Really dumb.
    “I assure you, Mr. Clearbrook, I have your son’s education first and far most in my mind at all times. Today we studied multiplication.” 
    His eyes examined her with a mocking intensity. “Is that a fact?”
    “Tanner,” a male voice called from the stairs. “Gall dang it, you leave that little filly alone. I hired her, and by heaven, she’s staying put.”
    The hurrying of little feet, thwack of a walking stick, and clanking of cowboy boots sounded from the hallway above. Hannah was never more relieved than to hear Jeremy and his grandfather descending the stairs.
    White-silvery hair popped into view as Fritz’s lanky body swaggered toward her. The sixty-year-old man wore a pair of dark blue jeans, a sky blue shirt that matched his eyes, and a pair of weathered cowboy boots. His walking stick was more part of his costume than a needed tool. Sometimes he had it with him, sometimes not.
    Hannah never asked him why he carried the mountain cane, but since the man was sweet on her mother, the lady had confided to Hannah that Fritz enjoyed carrying the walking stick when hiking or when wanting to get the attention of his sons. He had picked up the sturdy oak branch in the mountains when he had been hiking with his late wife. He then had it whittled down to size and coated for a keepsake. 
    “Hello, Fritz,” she said calmly. Jeremy’s grandfather had been out most of the day. They had barely seen him except for a few minutes early in the afternoon.
    “Hannah.” The older man came between her and Tanner, giving her a peck on the cheek. “How’s that mother of yours?” Fritz asked.
    Hannah gave the elderly man a tentative smile. “She’s been fighting a bad cold the last few days, and with everything else, she’s on some new medicine that has some side effects. But besides that, she’s doing okay.” The side effects had sent her mother to the hospital for observation, but she wasn’t going to tell them that.
    Fritz smiled at Tanner. “Told you I got a new tutor, son.”
    Tanner lifted his eyebrows. “Did you now?”
    “Sure did,” Fritz said.
    Hannah believed the man, but for some reason, she didn’t think Fritz had ever given Tanner the tutor’s name. How odd was that?
    She caught a familiar twinkle in Fritz’s striking blue eyes and wondered if this sweet gentleman had known about her meeting with his son that dark night on the mountain road.
    “I like her!” Jeremy spat out.
    Hannah looked at Jeremy. The boy warily met her gaze, then looked away. “Jeremy, I believe you have something to say.”
    The boy glanced up at his father with a mingled look of defiance and remorse. “Sorry I wasn’t nice.” 
    At the moment, Hannah realized that was about the best Jeremy could do with an apology.
    “We’ll talk about it later.” Tanner took the words right out of her mouth as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and stared at his son. She had to remember that she wasn’t the boy’s mother, just his tutor.
    But the warmth in the man’s gaze, as he looked at Jeremy,  gave her heart a little kick. He cared about his son.
    Tanner’s voice softened. “Miss Elliot tells me she’s been teaching you multiplication. Well, partner, how about telling me what three times five is?”
    A brittle silence filled the hall.
    Hannah noted a wave of antagonism flash across Jeremy’s face. A cold knot formed in her belly when Fritz scraped his walking stick against the marble floor, pulling Tanner’s face upward.
    “No helping, Dad. Let Jeremy do it himself.”
    Jeremy stared at Hannah. The pain in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. He wasn’t about to show or tell his dad anything. The boy’s hostility was due to more than just the man’s absence.
    Questions swirled in her brain. Could Jeremy truly be blaming his father