A Hard Choice for Hanna [Hardwick Bay 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)
Hardwick Bay 2
A Hard Choice for Hanna
Hanna Marks is happy with her life. She loves her job as a veterinary technician, her home, beautiful garden, friends, and family. When sexy Kent and Carter VanLindt pursue her, she feels that it can't get much better. They’re smart, successful, fun to be around, and amazing in bed.
Hanna loves her family dearly, and can’t imagine life without them. But her parents didn't grow up in Hardwick Bay, the little town that embraces alternative lifestyles. Surely they’ll be able to accept her relationship with two men. Or will her mother’s increasingly conservative views on marriage and relationships ruin it all?
Kent and Carter love Hanna to bits. Surely she’s the one for them. But when Hanna pulls away at the first sign of trouble, Kent’s past relationship disaster comes back to haunt him. Can Carter convince him to forgive Hanna and give their relationship another chance?
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre
Length: 57,471 words
A HARD CHOICE FOR HANNA
Hardwick Bay 2
Morgan Henry
MENAGE AMOUR
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Amour
A HARD CHOICE FOR HANNA
Copyright © 2014 by Morgan Henry
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62741-719-8
First E-book Publication: May 2014
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
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DEDICATION
To my parents,
Thanks for all your support over the years.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
About the Author
A HARD CHOICE FOR HANNA
Hardwick Bay 2
MORGAN HENRY
Copyright © 2014
Chapter 1
Hanna Marks, head technician at the Three Pines Veterinary Clinic in Hardwick Bay, opened the cupboard and looked through the supplies of fluids, IV lines, and assorted paraphernalia. She added three bags of Plasmalyte to her order list and then checked the drawers on the treatment table. She looked up as Cailynn, the other tech at the clinic, came into the treatment area.
“Good morning!” she said with a smile. “How was your weekend?”
Cailynn smiled and blushed. “Great,” she said cautiously, drawing the word out a little.
“Out with the boys again?” Hanna asked, knowing full well that Cailynn was out with the Harris brothers on the weekend. She added IV catheters to her list.
Cailynn turned a deeper shade of red. “Yes,” she replied. “We went out on the boat and toured around for a bit.”
“Sounds like fun,” Hanna remarked. “It was great weather on Sunday, almost too nice for May.” Hanna knew that Cailynn was still a little shy about discussing her relationship with the Harris men, so she changed the subject. It really wasn’t a big deal in Hardwick Bay to be in a ménage relationship, but Cailynn was still a bit shy. “Have you noticed whether we need any more suture material or other surgery supplies?”
“Um, I don’t think so, but I’ll check and add anything to the list this morning for you,” Cailynn replied, sounding relieved. She was working with Dr. Dunlop in surgery this morning and could easily check on the supplies while she readied the area.
“Awesome, thanks. I’m just going to be in the pharmacy if you need anything.” Hanna headed off to check and see what else needed to be added to the order.
Hanna loved her job at the clinic. She was able to use her skills to care for patients, but she also had the responsibility for looking after the inventory, scheduling the staff, and meeting with the company representatives that came to the clinic to discuss new products or insights into current ones.
She checked the vaccines in the fridge, adding a liner of one to the order. Most of the inventory was computerized, but she liked to peruse the shelves at least once a week to ensure the clinic didn’t accidentally run out of something important. She rattled the jars of various pills, checked to see if there were any empty areas on the shelves, and gave t
he drawers the once-over for other supplies. She noted that the evening students weren’t stocking the drawer that held syringes each night. The docs hated running out of syringes in the middle of the day, so she’d remind the kennel students to make sure it got done. In the meantime, she filled it herself.
Hanna had come to the clinic about three years ago. After graduating from school, she worked in a practice in Toronto and did a few shifts on the side at one of the emergency clinics. She liked the job but hated the city. Not that there was anything specifically wrong with Toronto, she just hated city life. She figured she wouldn’t be happy in any major city. She didn’t like the noise, the traffic, and the huge numbers of people. There were parks, sure, but there wasn’t enough green space and trees for her. She hated her crappy little apartment but it was all she could afford while paying down her school debts. And while she got along with her roommate, she hated that the crappy little apartment came with a roommate at all. It just had not worked for her.
She started as a technician at Three Pines, but it was clear that Hazel, the head tech at the time, wanted to scale back her hours and semi-retire. The other technician, Kim, didn’t have the organizational skills, or the drive, to take over the non-patient-related tasks. So Hanna stepped up and was happy she did. It worked out well for everyone. Hanna had a more challenging job she enjoyed, Hazel only worked a day or two a week, and when Kim had to leave to go nurse her ailing parents, the clinic still had two out of three experienced techs. Cailynn had joined them a few weeks ago and was doing great as the newest member of their little team.
Hanna headed out to the front office. “Anything you need out here?” she asked Lisa, the receptionist.
“Here’s a list of office supplies we’re running low on,” said Lisa as she handed Hanna a piece of paper. “Clay stole the last big bag of Dental Diet, and what do you want to bet he didn’t take it off the computer inventory?” They both smiled at that.
“No bet,” said Hanna. “I wasn’t born yesterday.” Dr. Clay Webb was the practice owner and was forever taking supplies for his pets but never entering it into the computer. She added the bag of dog food to her list.
One of the first things Hanna did when she took over Hazel’s position was get the inventory management computerized. It wasn’t perfect for everything they used, but it was still much more efficient than checking all of the supplies every single day. Dr. Webb often forgot to make a note of what he had taken, messing up the computer inventory tally. But he was so nice to work for, that everyone overlooked the fact he hated the computer system and could barely enter his patient notes properly.
“So what did you do on the weekend?” asked Lisa.
“Worked outside mostly,” replied Hanna. “I got most of the winter crap in the gardens cleaned up. I suppose that’s just wishful thinking. We’ll probably get one more hit of wind and snow before spring really gets here.”
“Bite your tongue, woman!” exclaimed Lisa. “I like the winter, but I’m tired of the snow. Bring on the green!”
Both women were laughing as the door opened and Mrs. Halloway came in with her Pekinese, Jazzy, to be admitted to have her teeth cleaned.
Hanna left Lisa to admit Jazzy while she continued to work on the order. She went to her desk and pushed her reddish-brown hair behind her ears as she called up the inventory information on her computer and started to finalize the order for the day.
She was pleasantly sore from working outside on the weekend. She had rented a house in town that was quite tiny but was on a lovely and large lot. It had four rooms, a kitchen/dining room, living room, bedroom and bathroom There was a beautiful patio out back and plenty of gardens. Hanna loved it. The house was just enough room for her and was way too small to have a roommate, which was a big plus in her eyes. In addition, she could indulge her passion for growing things. The previous residents had neglected the gardens, so Hanna was restoring them as well as planting a big vegetable garden.
The house was actually owned by her neighbors, Sasha Taylor and Stephanie Breen. The little house was quite close to their larger home and the two lots couldn’t be joined due to some weird bylaw. The women had had a bad experience with a previous tenant and were thrilled with Hanna. She was quiet, looked after the house, and was doing wonders for the property. She also accepted the fact that they were a gay D/s couple and didn’t freak out over the occasional strange noise that came from the house. They were so happy that Hanna was restoring the gardens that Sasha and Stephanie had reduced her rent as a thank-you.
Hanna could spend all day out in the dirt. She was still learning a lot about the plants that grew in the gardens and was having a great time doing so. She hoped she never got over the excitement she felt when her seeds actually grew up into plants. It was even better when the plants produced flowers or vegetables! She was having a lot of fun learning how to preserve the bounty from the gardens, too. She had made jams from the berry patches and apple trees. The vegetables she made into salsa and pasta sauce, or canned and froze. There were also a few disasters, like the pickle fiasco of the first year, but she was getting better all the time.
The weekend had been spent clearing some of the winter debris from the flower gardens, as well as some of the stuff she didn’t get cleaned up from the previous fall. There were a few hardy plants poking their little green heads up out of the dirt. The snowdrops were more or less done, but the hyacinths were starting to come up. There were a few hellebores in the shady areas that had blooms on them as well. It was too soon to till the vegetable garden, unfortunately. Hanna had it all planned out and was itching to get the seeds sowed but knew she needed to hold off as the weather just wasn’t warm enough yet. She contented herself to looking after some of the vegetables she had started in trays on her windowsills. She would transplant them later.
Her shoulders and back were a bit stiff from the manual labor, but it felt good. She was pleased that she wasn’t completely out of shape after a winter of reduced activity. Hanna tried to keep fit, but didn’t like the gym. She preferred to be outdoors and would go snowshoeing and cross-country skiing in the winter, while the garden and hiking kept her healthy in the summer.
After the more relaxed pace of the weekend, Monday went by quickly. In addition to the surgeries booked, there were plenty of sick patients. Most of the patients had minor illnesses that had cropped up over the weekend, but weren’t serious enough to be seen at the emergency clinic. Dr. Dunlop, Dr. Webb, Hanna, and Cailynn were kept hopping all day and eventually got everyone looked after.
Chapter 2
Hanna was grateful to get home to her little house after the busy day.
She checked her little pots that she had planted with tomatoes and peppers as she got out of her scrubs. Almost all of them were looking well, with healthy leaves and sturdy stalks. She chucked the scrubs in the laundry and changed into comfy sweats and pulled out some leftovers to heat up for dinner.
There was a scratching at the backdoor and Hanna opened it to allow Tink, her little gray cat, inside. Tink had arrived shortly after Hanna moved in and was such a friendly little thing she couldn’t resist adopting her. Tink loved Hanna, and she also liked Sasha and Stephanie a lot, but hated all other cats it seemed. She put the run on any other stray that came nosing around the property, for which Hanna was grateful. She knew that she was softhearted enough to take in all the stray kitties and then would end up with a hundred cats in her tiny house and be featured on some horrible documentary where the cats ate her body when she died. And she would die alone, because no one would marry her when she had a hundred cats.
So, Tink was adopted, vaccinated, and spayed in short order. Hanna definitely didn’t want to add a litter of kittens to the pet overpopulation problem. Since Tink was forever fighting off strays, she was also an occasional visitor to the clinic for fight wounds and abscesses. Thank goodness the clinic provided care for her pet at cost.
“Hello, Tink,” she greeted her fuzzy friend. Hanna couldn’t help b
ut talk to the cat. She figured it was okay as long as she didn’t think Tink started answering. “Out protecting your turf today, as usual?”
Tink meowed and twined herself around Hanna’s legs. Hanna was pretty sure that meant something along the lines of “Shut up, slave, and bring me dinner.” Not that Hanna thought Tink was rude, but really, cats thought humans were their servants.
She measured out Tink’s canned ration into her bowl and refilled the water dish as well. Tink quickly left Hanna’s legs and started nibbling at the food. Hanna put a little kibble into the other bowl, picked up her own dinner, and took it into the living room where she ate watching TV. Tink joined her after finishing the canned food and tried to fish through Hanna’s plate to be sure that Hanna wasn’t holding back anything really good. Satisfied that Hanna’s pasta wasn’t to her liking, she curled up with Hanna on the couch.
Just as Hanna was getting set to enjoy a movie with Tink purring on her lap, the phone rang. Hanna groaned when she saw who was calling, but picked it up out of a sense of duty.
“Hi, Mom,” she said, trying to sound happy.
“Hello to you, too,” replied her mother, Linda. “I called you several times over the weekend, but didn’t get any answer. And you didn’t return any of the messages I left. What were you doing that you couldn’t possibly take the time to call your mother?” Her mother’s tone was now accusatory.
Hanna held in the deep and heartfelt sigh she so desperately wanted to release. Or was that a scream she was holding in? “I worked Saturday morning and was outside the rest of the weekend in the gardens. It was too beautiful to waste and I was dead tired at night. I didn’t even check my messages.” Okay, that was a small fib. She checked her messages. She just didn’t want to talk to her mother.