Hannah swallows hard as she slowly shakes her head and murmurs.“Shit, no, this can’t be happening,” before she pulls her hand from mine and turns and runs out of the room.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Hannah
I can’t even think straight, but I do know I need to get the hell out of here and that’s exactly what I do.Hopping into my car, I leave before Leo has a chance to catch up to me.The first place he’s going to look for me is my house and the second place is Dylan’s, but I go there anyway.I need someone to talk to, someone who understands why I reacted the way I did when I quit my job, a job I now wish I would have kept because I wouldn’t be in this situation if I had.But then that would mean I would never have met Leo and just thinking about that starts up the tears.I’m going to lose him regardless.Once he finds out what I did, there’s no way he’s going to look at me in the same way he does now.I was a complete asshole to his father.
Even though I know Leo will show up at Dylan’s, I also know Dylan will turn him away.He’s always been protective of me and seeing me heartbroken will cause that protectiveness to kick in.There’s no way he’s letting Leo in while I’m curled up in Dylan’s extra bedroom bed, sobbing into his high thread count sheets.
I’m crying so hard that everything looks like a blurry mess as I park on the street outside of Dylan’s place and use my key to let myself in.
“Dylan?”I wail, calling out to see if he’s home, but I’m met with silence and a few seconds later Tessa is rounding the corner, her eyes wide when she catches a glimpse of me.
“Oh my god, Hannah, what’s going on?”she asks, waddling over to pull me into her arms.“Are you okay?”
“Tessa, you’re never going to believe what happened,” I moan, attempting to sniff back the flood of tears but failing miserably.
It serves me right for being such a bitch when I quit.I should have taken the high road, but Roy Langston is and will always be an asshole.Fuck my life, Leo’s dad is an asshole.The guy I fell in love with, the guy I seriously considered spending the rest of my life with, has an asshole for a father and I pretty much ruined any chances of getting past that when I told him I never wanted to see his stupid face again.
Tessa pulls back, looking at me, she guides me over to the living room couch and has me sit down.My head falls into my hands as I replay the look on Roy’s face when he realized I was the girl his son had fallen in love with.Of course he had no idea it was me when Leo was telling his parents about his new girlfriend because Roy Langston thought my name was Anna not Hannah.I’m pretty sure he even muttered it, confused and shocked when we met just a little while ago.
“Where’s Dylan?”I now ask, when Tessa returns, handing me a glass of water.I take it and thank her, but I think I need something a little stronger to kill off this disaster.
“He ran to the grocery store.He should be home soon.What’s going on?”She sits down next to me, running her hand down my arm with an air of sympathy.
My head is swirling with a million different thoughts, but most of all, I can’t stop thinking about how I ruined this amazing thing that Leo and I had going.There’s no way his father didn’t tell him the story of how his sous chef quit, leaving him high and dry.And not just that, but that she also called him every name under the sun.There is literally no way Leo and I can get past this.His father hates me, no doubt.
“I can’t even talk about it.It’s so fucking embarrassing,” I mutter through sobs.Not that I think Tessa will judge me.I know she ghosted Dylan when she didn’t want to confront what was going on between them and she also disappeared for a bit when she found out she was pregnant.If there’s anyone who understands relationship disasters, it’s her.
“It might help to talk about it.When I thought things were going to go to shit with Dylan, he surprised me and look at us now,” Tessa says, reassuringly.But she has no idea how bad this really is.Getting knocked up accidently is one thing but telling your possible future father-in-law that he’s the biggest asshole you’ve ever met is another thing.
“Tessa, I love your optimism, but I really fucked up.Leo’s dad is my old boss,” I blurt out, the tears starting again when I think about the whole situation.
Her mouth falls open when she finally hears why I’m a blubbering mess and it feels like we sit in silence for hours.Not even she knows what to say.
“Okay, well that’s a new one,” she eventually says in the way that only Tessa can, avoiding making it sound judgy but somehow making me feel better all in the same breath.“What did his dad say to you when you met him?”
“Nothing.I got the fuck out of there before he could,” I admit, feeling like it sounds super childish to run from something I created.
“I would have done the same thing,” Tessa replies, chuckling a little.“It’s hard to confront something like that and I know you really laid into him when you quit.”
“I did and I’m almost certain I said I never wanted to see his stupid fucking face again.Well, that fucking backfired, huh?”
“You really should talk to Leo about it.I’m sure he’s confused and maybe he doesn’t even know his dad is an asshole?”Tessa suggests and talking to Leo feels like the last thing I want to do.
What am I supposed to say to him?There’s no way I can explain to him what happened.After all the conversations we’ve had about his family, he definitely holds his parents in high regard, especially his dad.His father is a world-renowned chef and someone Leo has looked up to all his life.
“And how did you not know that your old boss and Leo were related?”Tessa now adds and it’s a question I’ve been asking myself too.It was a thought that instantly popped into my head when I was in the safety of my car driving away from this nightmare.
“Since Leo’s last name is Marsh and his dad’s is Langston, there’s no way I would have connected them.I mean, looking back now, Leo said some things about his dad being a famous chef and whatever, but not enough for me to think that in all of the Napa Valley area that they would be related,” I wail, realizing all this has done is get me fired up all over again.
“I wonder why he has a different last name?”Tessa asks, like we’re ever going to get to the bottom of this mystery since I don’t think I can ever see him again.“Maybe his dad changed his last name after he became a well-known chef?”she suggests, but like it really matters why.What matters is that I’ve fucked up a good thing so massively.Whatever Leo and I had is now long over.
My phone begins to ring again, and I know it’s Leo, but I can’t bring myself to answer it.I have no idea how to explain any of this to him.It’s been ringing since I left his house, and I’ve been ignoring it.
“You gonna answer that?”Dylan yells as he comes through the front door, his arms loaded down with groceries.“And what’s Hannah doing here?Saw her car out front.I thought she was meeting Leo’s parents,” he says absentmindedly, like it hasn’t even crossed his mind that things may have not gone well.
“She was,” Tess answers, speaking for me because I’m sure I’ll start sobbing again should I try to open my mouth.“It didn’t go very well.Leo’s dad is Hannah’s old boss.”
