Page 51 of The Widower
Yeah, I know—I’m getting a bit full of myself. Helen’s fault, really. She’s the one who said the girl thinks too highly of me. Truth is, she should be keeping her distance, since I’m the least friendly person in this house.
When I walked into the kitchen, Helen was making some snacks—and smiling again.
“Good afternoon. Sorry I didn’t let you know Hanna was up, but she made a new friend.Looks like you’ll have to share her attention from now on.”
“Good afternoon, Helen. A new friend?”
“Yes. Take a look in the room next to the sunroom.”
I’ll admit it—I was curious. I headed over, and when I saw Hanna playing with Joshua, my heart almost stopped.
My son—the same one who’d been angry at the world, convinced I was trying to replace his sister—was actually laughing, caught up in some kind of trivia game with her.
“Hanna’s persistent,” Helen said, coming up beside me.
“What did she do?”
“She wouldn’t leave him alone after he got home from school. He tried to get away, but she followed him around like a little shadow. She’s like a barnacle.”
“You’re kidding,” I said, smiling awkwardly.
“Not at all. She wore him down for a good two hours. He finally promised he’d play with her for just a few minutes, but... well, time passed, and now they’ve been having fun for quite a while.”
I couldn’t hide it—I was genuinely happy. Maybe too happy.
“I’m going to be forgotten,” I muttered.
“...or,” Helen said gently, “you could take it as an opportunity.”
She gave me a look, and I knew exactly what she meant. It wasn’t the perfect scenario to reconnect with Joshua, but maybe I could try joining them. Then again, knowing Hanna, she’d probably pull me in without even realizing it.
“We’ll see how things go,” I said. “You never know.”
There was somewhere I was supposed to be today, but after everything that happened, it could wait.
Tonight, all I wanted was to sleep in peace—for once.
CHAPTER 12
“All it takes is a single spark…”
ISABELLE CAMPBELL
I’d chewed my nails down to nothing that afternoon.
Helen was going to kill me, I just knew it. I was always the last to find out about everything—and discovering that Hanna had been sleeping in Colin’s daughter’s bed nearly gave me a heart attack.
Colin had been so sweet with Hanna lately, and that terrified me a little. He was calm now, but what if one day hesnapped?I couldn’t even imagine how I’d react as a mother… or how my daughter would.
The latest stunt from my little whirlwind was following Joshua around for two straight hours, practically begging him to play with her. I thought it wouldn’t work—but clearly, I still underestimated her persistence. Next thing I knew, they were both in the garden.
At first, Joshua had that familiar scowl on his face, but it didn’t last long. Somehow, she’d worn him down, and now they were laughing together—playing some kind of trivia game in one of the sitting rooms.
When I went to check on them again, I saw Colin and Helen talking nearby. His face looked… softer. Kinder. Maybe seeing something like that had pulled out the last bits of his “human” side.
“One of us should probably stop them before this game goes on forever,” I said, walking over to him.
“I have too much work to do. I’ll let you two decide who handles it,” Helen said before slipping away, clearly amused.
