Page 36 of Better Than Expected

“Hannah, you know it does.” Francis raised his hands in a gesture that read calm down.

Calm was the furthest thing from what Hannah felt.

“But am I supposed to sit idly by while my granddaughter is practically being raised by a woman who is taking advantage of a bad situation? A woman who screwed over my son? This woman is all Abigail speaks of half the time! She sees her more than my son gets to see her–”

“And the person you need to speak to about that is your son!” Hannah shot back, pressing her shaking hands tightly against her thighs, looking for control.

It didn’t matter that they always kept these matters quiet between the three of them, that Michael was simply… never mentioned. It didn’t matter that things between her and Caroline were still slightly off, from everything that had happened a few weeks ago. Not a lot, but just ever slightly.

Like Caroline was a little skittish, for the first time in their relationship, about what Hannah actually wanted.

And Hannah… she was skittish because she had to really figure out what she really wanted. And how to be okay with it.

But that didn’t matter right now. They could have broken up, and it wouldn’t matter in this moment.

“Abbie talks about Caroline so much because Caroline is here for her. When Abbie was up sick in the middle of the night with a scorching fever, and I considered taking her to the hospital a few months ago, your son?” The word fell from her lips with disgust. “Didn’t answer the phone or even respond to my messages for two days. Caroline? Was here in a heartbeat. Because she is good and dependable, and she loves Abbie, she loves me, and she treats both of us better than Michael ever did. And you better get used to her, because if you want to continue spending time with Abbie? You need to accept that Caroline is going to be here, too. Probably more and more as time goes on. Why don’t you see how weak-willed I am, then?” She challenged, the words falling from her lips before her mind could even catch up to them, pushed on by sheer feeling.

Hannah wasn’t sure who was more shocked out of the three of them, as a tense quiet set over the kitchen.

But she straightened her spine and held firm, because she believed in what she said. In every word. And she would be damned if Michael’s parents would ever determine who she was or what she was going to do.

“And? Don’t speak to Abbie about Caroline, ever. I think you’ve seen now how that will work out.” She inclined her head toward the hallway Abbie had walked down.

Where she would bet her meager life savings that Abbie was only just around the corner right now, anyway.

Francis put his hand on Marina’s tight shoulder, as they both knew she would be the one likely to argue with Hannah.

“We’ll call,” he informed her tersely.

“Don’t call before you think about everything I said,” she shot back as they turned around.

As they walked out, she took in a deep breath and blew it out, feeling her shoulders still stiff with the interaction. And, honestly, the anger. How dare they say anything like that in front of Abbie? About Caroline?

She wasn’t shocked at their opinion, because she knew the Daltons. But she’d thought that after keeping everything so very civil through the divorce that they would continue to do the same afterwards.

“Well, that was… something else,” Caroline’s voice drifted to her, and for a second, Hannah thought she was imagining it, in this high-emotion moment.

She snapped her eyes open and looked to the doorway the Daltons had just vacated.

No. She hadn’t imagined it.

Caroline stood, with a questioning smile on her lips, wearing dark jeans with a cute, short-sleeved shirt tucked in and she looked – perfect.

Hannah felt a bit of embarrassment rise as she rolled her lips, and the words she’d just had so easily fell away. “I just…”

“Forgot you invited me over for dinner?” Caroline guessed, keeping her voice light, but it was very clear she’d heard the entire interaction.

The smile Caroline sent her from where she stood, the real, full, loving smile – the one that wasn’t missing or strained in any way – had the power to make the haywire feeling inside of Hannah settle. It was the first not strained in any way smile she’d received in a few weeks, and it loosened that final knot.

That was a smile that really said, everything will be okay. We will be okay. The future will be okay.

And for the first time in a very, very long time, Hannah believed it.

October 31 – This Year

“Thatwas the best trick or treat,” Abbie commented, her voice a little shrill from the excitement and the fact that she’d been eating bits and pieces of candy for the last two hours and was still practically vibrating on her feet as they walked up the footpath to Caroline’s front door.

It was the second Halloween in a row that very few people had recognized Abbie’s costume – the main character from the Divinity book – but she hadn’t cared. Especially because Norah was also a character from the book, and they’d excitedly planned their costumes in conjunction with one another.

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