Page 108 of That Reunited Feeling

Without meeting his eyes, because if I did I would surely just hurl myself right at him, I turn and head for the front door.

“But Hannah?—”

His voice follows me down the foyer.

I keep going.

Moving forward. Onward. Into a future without Tom Dashwood.

I haul open the heavy front door, the cold air almost freezing the tears on my face, and close it with a soft squeak behind me.

32

HANNAH

“F

inally!” Rachel says, handing me a glass of white wine and flopping into the big armchair opposite me in her freshly completed guesthouse. “Peace and quiet. Just you and me.”

It’s been a hectic time wrangling us out of the Dashwoods’ home, flying us and all our worldly goods to California, spending a couple days in a hotel, moving into this stunning two-bedroom cottage, and getting Dylan settled into his new school.

The upset, stress, and exhaustion have been overwhelming at times—on the first night at the hotel I sneaked out into the hallway after Dylan was asleep to cry a bit.

This would all be hard enough under the best of circumstances, but to do it against the background of walking away from Tom, with the taste ofwhat might have beenstill fresh on my lips, and with Dylan sulking about moving away from his friends, it’s all been a lot to bear.

Maggie shed a few tears when we left. She said Tom had gone to New York to see his brother—I assume that was to avoid theawkward goodbyes. And she’s texted me a few times since to check in on us. If I were looking for a mother figure for me and a grandma substitute for Dylan, I couldn’t hope to find a better one.

But the move will all be worth it in the end. Things are already looking up. Rachel and her husband, Dev, took us down to the beach this weekend. Dylan’s face when he dipped his toes in the chilly Pacific for the first time was a picture. And he’s already making friends—one of the kids at school invited him around to playOverlord Hybridsthis evening.

So now, with Dev out at a work function, it’s the first time Rachel and I have had the chance to sit down quietly with no one else around.

“To a fresh start,” Rachel says, holding her glass out to me.

I clink mine against it. “Fresh starts.”

“One more month, and we’ll be just over there.” She points in the direction of her huge new house that looks finished on the outside but isn’t quite ready yet on the inside. “Desperate to get out of that hotel.”

“I can’t thank you enough for letting us stay.” I stretch my legs out along the brand-new sofa. I can’t believe how beautifully she’s furnished it for us. “This place is the stuff of dreams.”

And it is. We’re sitting in the open-plan kitchen/living area with a wall of glass that folds back to open the whole place up to the patio and the lawn leading to the pool. There are two bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. And then there’s the view over the city to the ocean beyond.

“The Dashwoods’ place was nice though, right?” Rachel says.

“Beautiful, yeah. Totally different. It’s a historic building that the guys completely restored for them.”

“Speaking of the Dashwoods…” She raises her eyebrows over the top of her glass as she lifts it to her mouth. “Have you heard from Tom?”

“Stop it. That name’s banned, remember?”

“Yeah. But you love him.”

“Rachel!”

“So…have you?”

My heart flutters at the mere memory of seeing his name in my inbox a few days ago. “Only when he sent me the reference.”

“And did he sayanything?”

---