Page 74 of Why We Break

Her eyes fill with tears at my declaration, and I worry I’ve said something wrong before she flings herself into my arms. “I don’t know what to say. I can’t believe you did that! I still think it’s too much.”

I just shrug, running my hand down her back, before turning back to her gramps. “So, are you and Gladis gonna have a wild time at this Christmas party?”

“Oh, you know we will,” he responds with a laugh. “I told Melvin I was coming for him again if there were games involved.”

“Gramps, you’ve gotta leave that poor man alone,” Hannah scolds before turning to me. “Melvin is the guy across the hall and he has a leg cast up to his thigh. For some reason, Gramps has a vendetta against the poor man.”

“Hey now, just because he had surgery doesn’t make him innocent,” Mr. Scott argues. “I caught him trying to cheat at bingo last week, and he tried to flirt with Gladis at breakfast yesterday when I was in physical therapy!”

“Okay, okay, my bad. I didn’t know about that,” Hannah says, holding up her hands in surrender, causing both of us to laugh.

“But enough about the nursing home drama. I know y’all have better things to do than listening to me running my mouth all damn day. But feel free to bring my granddaughter with you on your weekly visits, Will.”

Hannah’s eyes widen in surprise again. “What the hell? You two are just full of secrets. You visit him every week?”

“Yeah,” I tell her honestly. “Is that okay?”

“I’m absolutely in love with you,” she murmurs, and I feel another rush at her words.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing that,” I tell her honestly. “And I love you too.”

She leans in for me to press a kiss to her forehead, while her grandfather looks on with a smile.

“Okay, okay, you two have spent enough time in here today. Y’all go on so I can watch theNCISmarathon this morning. But I’m happy for you both,” he says truthfully before pulling Hannah into a long hug. He whispers something in her ear and she laughs before moving to stand.

I stand to shake his hand, but he grabs my arm and pulls me into a hug. “Just make her happy, okay, son?”

“I intend to,” I tell him honestly, before moving to the door and taking Hannah’s hand.

“Bye, Gramps. I love you,” she says, turning back to look at where he’s reaching for the remote.

“I love you too, my Hannah Banana,” he says with a wink before we make our way into the hall.

“You ready to go home? I’m pretty sure there’s a pig who could use a bath,” she says, causing me to groan at the prospect. But after a beat, I realize she’s referring to Falling Oaks as home for the both of us, and I smile, deciding it’s worth all the chaos that will definitely ensue from trying to give her wiggly pig a bath.

“Yep, let’s head home, Han,” I say, pulling her close and kissing her forehead. “But if he squeals the same way he did when you clipped his hooves, we’re gonna have to invest in some really good headphones because the little fucker is loud as hell.”

CHAPTER 53

HANNAH

“So, Hannah, we’re gonna need all the details on how this weekend went,” Caroline says, a minute after I slide into our booth at Maracas on Monday.

“Yeah, please, tell me y’all spent the weekend naked after everything the two of you have been through,” Margaret teases, causing Caroline and I to laugh.

“Well, in case you both have forgotten, I still have a farm to manage, so we did have to tend to the animals, but I will say it was still a pretty great weekend.”

“I bet,” Margaret teases before adding, “I also heard you and Will were the main topic in both of the STS blasts this weekend.”

“Welcome to my world,” Caroline teases. “If I had a dollar for every time Miss Sally and Miss Ethel included something about the fire chief, I’d be able to retire.”

We all laugh at that before I respond, “Yeah, I heard, but there’s no real surprise there. I just can’t believe this is really working out after all this time.”

“Believe it, Han,” Caroline says, leaning over to grab my hand. “You know we’ve always said ‘brighter days ahead.’ It looks like you finally found yours.”

I smile at the mention of our phrase, and nod in agreement.

“I’m happy for you both.” Margaret sighs. “But it looks like I’ll be the only one not getting any around here from now on.”

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