“Nana Diana? Who’s going to tell Mom she’s a grandmother?”
“Will she be upset?”
“Well, I don’t think she’s going to be thrilled about being cast into the role of Granny all of a sudden, especially just a few weeks after learning she has a son. Now she has a granddaughter too? How would you feel?”
Sam gritted his teeth. “I’m not sure how I’d feel about being a grandmother. I’m still getting used to the idea of being a fourteen-year-old father.” He looked down at Hannah. She giggled and hid her face on his shoulder, as if she were embarrassed.
He patted her back and asked, “What’s so funny?”
“You are. You look funny.” She raised her head and poked at her own cheek. “Kiss me right here.”
Sam shook his head and looked over to Mara and Ping for help, a mixture of embarrassment and desperation on his face.
Hannah punched his arm. “Come on. I want to see if it itches.” She looked up at him expectantly and turned her cheek to him.
Mara rolled her eyes. “Give the girl a kiss. She doesn’t look like she’s the type to give up.”
Sam reddened and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Her eyes widened, and she let out a little squeal. She rubbed her cheek with one hand and reached out to Sam’s with the other. “No scratches! It’s smooth! I like the scratches better.”
“About Mom, I think you should be the one to tell her about Hannah,” Mara said.
“Why me?”
Mara pointed to the girl. “First of all, she’s your daughter, so it’s your responsibility. Second, Mom will empathize with the emotional implications this new relationship represents for both of you.”
“Don’t blow smoke up my backside. You caused all of this. You should be the one to explain it. Don’t you agree, Ping?”
Ping held up his hands. “I think it would be prudent for me to stay out of your family matters.”
A loud rap on the front door of the shop made them jump. “Mara! Are you and Sam in there?” It was Diana. “Is this Abby’s car they are towing away?”
Hannah jumped up and dashed to the front of the shop. Mara pointed after her and yelled at Sam, “Stop her!”
Sam did a double-take, stood and ran after her. By the time he made it to the side of the grandfather clock that stood next to the front counter, Hannah was already skittering across the wood floor, kicking shattered glass out of her path and reaching for the dead bolt on the front door.
“Hannah! Stop running! Be careful. You’re going to cut yourself,” he called after her.
She flipped the dead bolt and pulled back the door, crunching glass on the floor beneath it. Diana stood in the doorway as Hannah looked over her shoulder at Sam and said, “Don’t worry, Daddy. I’ll be careful.”
Diana looked down at Hannah and then up to Sam with raised eyebrows. “Daddy?”
Hannah skipped in place, put her hands on her hips and swung them as she sang out the door, “Banana Hannah’s Nana Diana, fo fanna!” and leaped into her grandmother’s arms.
CHAPTER 2
Holding Hannah’s hand, Diana stepped into the shop. Bending down, she picked up the little girl and rested her on a hip. Scanning the debris scattered over the floor, she looked at Sam and said, “Why are you letting this child run around in a roomful of broken glass?”
Sam shrugged. “I didn’t let her. She just ran out here, when she heard you knocking.”
Mara and Ping walked up to stand by Sam next to the front counter.
Diana turned to Hannah. “What’s your name, cutie?”
Hannah giggled. “It’s so silly you don’t know my name, Nana. Just like my dad.” She pointed a finger at Sam.
Diana’s eyes widened. “Somebody please explain to me what is going on. I spent the last three hours dodging mindless rotting people trying to get to my daughter—who lied to me and snuck out of the house in the middle of the night—and now I’m standing in the middle of a disaster area holding a little girl who is calling me Nana.”
Sam reddened and turned to Mara. He held up a hand, inviting her to explain.
“Well, um, Mom, like she said, or rather, sang to you, this is Hannah. And you are Hannah’s, ah, nana.”
Diana slowly turned to Sam. “She’s your … daughter?”
Sam stared up at the ceiling, avoiding his mother’s gaze. He rubbed his face and looked back at her. “We think so,” he said.