Page 17 of Always Right

"Uh...yeah. Yeah, I'll be there."

He nodded. Derek wanted to say more, I could tell.

I wanted him to.

Minutes passed, in which neither of us spoke. There was a heaviness in the air surrounding us, making it hard for me to breathe until he sighed, running a hand over his face.

"I'm trying, Hannah."

Three words.

Out of everything he could have said, those were the words he chose. I could have fought it, could have told him it was too little too late but Nathan's words echoed in my head and I couldn't ignore them.

Take the fucking olive branch.

"I know."

A flicker of surprise crossed his face, but he didn't say anything else.

I climbed into my car, watching as he stepped back, his eyes still on me.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Derek."

Chapter 7

Derek

“Are you sure this isn’t going to get me strangled or something?”

Lisa was joking but I wasn’t sure if either of us would make it out alive. I told Evie I wanted to bring Lisa to brunch, and she reluctantly agreed. If she died, however, it wouldn’t be at the hands of Evie. It would be Hannah.

I could feel everyone’s eyes on us as soon as we stepped foot in the backyard. The lively chatter died down as Evie approached us with an honest smile on her face. She wrapped her arms around me, whispering how happy she was that I could make it, then hugged Lisa, a small smile on her face. One of understanding.

“Blake is here too?” I heard the shock in her voice, the sadness, but all I offered was a nod.

“Let’s go meet the girls.”

Hannah sat off to the side, next to a tree with the girls by her side. She was thoughtful, quiet...and it wasn’t because there was no one else with her. Her eyes were distant. She was there, yeah...but her mind was long gone.

“Hey,” I said. She looked up at me, startled, then at Lisa.

A flash of anger crossed her face, shooting daggers out of her eyes to Lisa but didn’t say anything. Not a word. Lisa grimaced, pulling on my arm to get the hell out of there but I didn’t budge. We would be in each other's lives for the next eighteen years, at least. We’d have to figure it out.

“Do you mind?”

She wanted to refuse. But instead, she gestured toward their stroller. Her eyes remained on us as I pushed the stroller, still within her view, but far enough where she couldn’t hear our conversation. We took a baby each and Lisa smiled, her eyes alight with love for the girls that she had just met.

She would be a wonderful aunt.

Between Evie and her, those girls would be spoiled rotten.

“They’re adorable. They look just like you.”

I didn’t think so. Perhaps they had my eyes but everything else? It was all Hannah. Their smile lit up the room, their innocence lightened the load off my shoulders, off hers. I could see it in the way she now sat on the grass, picking at it, trying her best not to look in our direction. She was tense. Blake approached her, sitting next to her and as soon as he did, she rested her head on his shoulder.

That I couldn’t see.

“I was wrong, you know? Accusing her. I should have waited. I should have looked for more information before placing the blame on anyone, much less her. It’s cost you a lot.”

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