Page 107 of Sweet Twins For My Brother's Best Friend

“You’re amazing,” I tell her, and she rolls her eyes before I close the door.

It’s a quiet drive home, and I let it stay quiet. Both of us are processing and imagining the ways our life will change. It’s easier to imagine the future now that I can imagine the children, the dinosaurs and monster trucks materializing in my daydreams.

Clutching the ultrasound pictures in her hand, Hannah says, “Chris, I’ve been thinking a lot about Maine.”

Outside the window, the nighttime has finally overcome the evening, and the darkness seeps into the car. The moon follows us from the dark sky, flanked by stars.

My heart pounds in my chest, feeling the tension in her words and in the energy coming off her.

“Oh yeah?” is all I say, as though I don’t feel my heart leaping into my stomach.

She carries on while looking at her hands in her lap. “I know what a dream it is for you, and I want you to go.”

“I can’t go, Hannah,” I tell her firmly, tightening my hands around the steering wheel.

Sweat pools in the lines of my palms and I look over at her and see the sincerity on her face. “There’s no point even talking about it.”

“Our kids need to know it’s okay to chase dreams,” she murmurs, picking at one of her fingernails.

“Yes, but, more importantly, our kids need to know their dad is there for them and always will be,” I respond without looking at her, my eyes on the road.

“I’ve let it go. You should, too. There’s plenty to focus on here. Maine will still be there when the time is right.”

“I think you’re going to regret it,” Hannah mutters, “And I don’t want you to ever have regrets. You deserve to do what you were planning to do. I have family here. I’ll be okay.”

“I know you’ll beokay. But I want to bewithyou while you’re okay. No, I’m not going.”

I shake my head as I pull into the parking lot of the apartment complex. I park the car and relax in my seat, finally looking over at her.

She holds up the ultrasound and points at the two little beans on the glossy white paper, their faces gray lumpy shapes that somehow still bring tears to my eyes.

“We can still visit each other. You should have everythingng set up within 5 months.”

“You’re not being realistic, Hannah. It would certainly take much longer than that. And, even if it didn’t, I’d have to find someone to run it if I come back here. Right now, I have good managers in my other clubs but getting a new one off the ground is a different proposition. How do you see that working? I get it set up and I just come back? I don’t oversee anything? You think it would only take 5 months for the construction, purchasing or leasing the equipment, hiring employees, training them, decorating, get a decent clientele, all that? No, Hannah, I’m done talking about it.”

I see her lip quiver, and her eyelashes moisten, but I step out of the car and walk over to her side to let her out of the car. I hold out my hand, but she ignores it and braces herself against the car to get up instead.

“Seriously? Lord, you are such a little brat, Hannah Jackson. Come on.” I reach for her hand, and she lets me hold her hand limply. I continue to out of spite.

Despite her attitude, or maybe because of it, I can’t stop finding her adorable. There’s just something about a woman who takes on your dreams as her own.

I squeeze her hand and unlock the front entrance of the building for her. I hold the door as she enters, her jaw still set angrily.

I can hear Lucy inside, shuffling and sniffing at the crack under the door. Hannah smiles and dips her head away from my line of sight so I can’t see it.

When I unlock the door, I’m greeted first by Lucy and second by the realization that all of the luggage normally stored in the top shelf of my closet is packed and sitting in the living room.

Chapter Forty-Nine

Hannah

Trying to conceal the smug excitement on my face, I see confusion transform on Chris’.

It moves into anger and then a tender understanding when he notices the plane ticket balanced on top of one of his bags – a one way to Maine.

He runs a hand through his curly locks and sighs deeply before turning to me. “So when you said you’d been ‘thinking’ of Maine.”

Grinning, I reply, “I meant that I’d been thinking about how I’d prepared for you to go to Maine. You leave in the morning.”

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