to face him. “You’re sayin’ I’m his substitute daughter.”
“Yeah.”
I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. Being a daughter had never worked out very well for me, and it made me feel Hank’s affection for me wasn’t for me, per se, but for the role I filled.
He studied me with a look of consternation. “That’s a compliment, Carly.”
It sure didn’t feel like one, but I wasn’t here to discuss me. This was about Hank and his happiness.
“I just want Hank to be happy,” I said, “and I’m gone more often than I’m home, which means he spends hours and hours alone. My goal is to restore some of his independence. He should be able to take care of himself and become less dependent on me.”
His body stiffened slightly. “Are you thinkin’ about leaving Drum?”
I propped a hand on my hip. “What makes you ask that?”
“It just seems like you’re paving the way to make your departure.”
“By trying to give Hank his independence? It’s more like I’m the Eugene to his Rapunzel.”
He blinked hard. “What?”
“Obviously you haven’t seen Tangled ten million times,” I said, thinking back to my teaching years. “I’m not leaving Drum”—no, his father had seen to that—“but I think we should encourage him to drive and go places.”
“We?”
“I don’t have foggiest idea of how to make his car more accessible to him, and once it’s properly equipped, he’ll need to learn how to drive it with the new additions.”
“You want me to teach Hank how to drive.” The corners of his lips lifted a little. “Do you have any idea what kind of grief I’ll get when I suggest such a thing?”
“Yeah, I know,” I said with a sigh, “but I’m askin’ you to do it anyway. I’ll be happy to pay for whatever needs to be done to his car—”
He jolted, his back ramrod stiff. “I’m not takin’ your money to help Hank,” he said in disgust.
“I’m sure if the car needs to be altered—”
“I’m not takin’ your money,” he said, less angry this time. “But I will make a trade.”
“What kind of trade?”
“You have dinner with me.”
“Excuse me?” I stared at him in disbelief. “You’re using your friend to try to win me back? If that’s your goal, this is the absolute worst way to go about it.”
“Then make it breakfast or lunch, and it’s not so I can win you back. Hank’s not going to yield unless he thinks you’re comfortable having me around. If he knows we’re spending time together, he’ll welcome me back over and I can hang out with him in the evenings again.” His mouth twisted to the side. “I miss the old fart.”
Dammit. He had a point, although I couldn’t help thinking he also hoped to wear down my defenses. Nearly three months ago, he’d told me he thought we belonged together, and that had been four months after our three-week-long relationship. I suspected he hadn’t suddenly given up on me, especially since I still saw the wistful looks he shot in my direction at the tavern when he thought I wasn’t looking. If I’d learned anything, it was that these Drummonds all played the long game.
“No dinner. I’ll spend an hour with you, although I can’t tell you when. I have to work until closing, and I’ll probably be covering the lunch shift tomorrow since Max fired Molly.” I glanced over at Junior’s empty bay. “Where’s Junior?”
“The baby’s sick, and he’s going to watch her while Ginger works the lunch shift.”
I grimaced. “Seems like Junior makes more than Ginger.”
“You’d be surprised; besides, we didn’t have a car for him to work on this morning.” He paused. “What about breakfast tomorrow?” he asked. “You can come to my place. I’ll make pancakes and this time you can eat them.”
His house was the last place I wanted to go. He was sure to get the wrong idea. I considered suggesting Watson’s Café, but then the town would get the wrong idea. “Come over to Hank’s. You say we’re doing this for his benefit, so it makes more sense for him to see us together rather than hearing about it.” Plus, he could chaperone.
“But I planned to cook for you, not the other way around.”
“Then you can cook for the both of us,” I said. “But you can’t make real bacon. Hank really shouldn’t have it.”
He watched me for several seconds, and I was starting to squirm when he said, “Okay. I’ll be over at seven-thirty. I’d make it later, but I’ll need