The McClane Apocalypse: Book Two by Kate Morris

be using that to your advantage. But Kelly likes you just as you are. Big boobs or no,” her sister says on a crack of laughter that startles Hannah and makes her blush hard at the comment. “Poor Kelly doesn’t stand a chance!”
    “I don’t know about that,” she replies.
    “Oh, I do. That guy is smitten, Hannah. Don’t give up,” her sister encourages. Hannah nods and casts her gaze downward. “Let me put him down for his nap and I’ll help you get ready.”
    “Ok, I’ll meet you in my room. I’d better get going. Gotta finish some things in the kitchen first,” she says quietly as she leaves her sister’s room.
    Once downstairs she takes her pies out of the oven and heads to her room to get ready. Luckily, Grams is somewhere with Grandpa so she hadn’t had to explain her nervous hands and absent-mindedness.
    “Knock-knock, Hannie,” Sue says a few minutes later after Hannah’s had a chance to change into her borrowed clothing. “Want me to help you with your hair?”
    “Uh, sure. Does it look bad?” Hannah asks and touches the coiled bun at the base of her neck self-consciously. She always does the bun or braids like Grams had showed her so long ago. They are convenient and keep it all out of her face when she is in the kitchen.
    “No, it never looks bad. It’s just pulled back. Most men like women to wear their hair down. Plus, it’s a shame to hide your hair all the time. It’s so long and pretty,”
    “Ok, I trust you, Sue. Do what you want with it,” Hannah concedes with a smile. “It’s not like I’d know anyways.”
    “Hannah,” Sue says in her best disciplinary tone. She uses this frequently on her five and seven year old children, too. “You are such a nut. I’m just going to put some styling cream in and brush it out smooth for you. Your hair is so shiny and gorgeous.”
    “This shirt feels kind of tight. I’m not used to that,” Hannah tells her as she tugs at it. Sue uncoils her bun and places the pins on the dressing table.
    “It’s good that it’s snug. That way it’ll keep it out of your way when you’re riding,” Sue explains as she brushes her hair until the knots are all gone.
    Her sister’s touch is soothing, just like when Hannah was younger and Sue would help her with her hair. She had so easily stepped into the role of mother after their mother had passed. Sue had always tried to make sure that she didn’t go out in public dressed like a dork or how to interact with people so that they felt comfortable around her blindness. Hannah likes to think that Kelly’s young sister Em finds her touch comforting, as well, when she helps her with her long hair.
    “I’m... Sue, I’m kind of nervous. I know that probably sounds stupid, but Kelly and I aren’t usually alone for very long together,” Hannah admits and tries to still her quivering fingers. This is so embarrassing to admit, but Sue is the only person of whom she feels she can admit it to.
    Sue brushes one last time through Hannah’s long tresses and replies, “Don’t be nervous, Hannie. Just be yourself. Kelly likes you. I’m very sure of it, honey.”
    “Sometimes he seems like he does, and then other times he just acts distant and off-putting,” she confesses with even more humiliation. It’s so hard to keep throwing herself at Kelly just to have him push her away and distance himself again and again. If she didn’t feel so strongly about him, then she would’ve given up already.
    “Don’t worry, Hannah. If Kelly feels the way I think he does for you, then he’ll let you know. He’s not some teenager from town who had a crush on you. Kelly’s an adult man.”
    “I know. He’s just so closed off, like he doesn’t want to let me in,” Hannah explains when Sue is finished.
    “He’s been through a lot. He’s seen more than we can probably ever comprehend. I know how much the things that Derek has seen and done in all his years of warring have bothered him. Sometimes he has