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“Of course.” The lie tasted sour. She forced a shrug. “It was a dozen years ago. I’ve lived a whole life since then. He’s just Wes. A guy I used to know.”
“Wes, with the sexy eyes.”
Hannah couldn’t help her smile. “And a tendency to glower.”
“So you’re not going to do anything about it?”
“What would I even do?” she said. “Whatever we were, it’s in the past.”
Her friend tilted her head. “Past doesn’t always stay in the past, Han.”
“Maybe it should,” she murmured, more to herself than to anyone else.
She thought of the way his hand had brushed hers when they were decorating the tree and the way he had stepped back like he’d been burned. “Some things are better remembered than repeated.”
On Hannah’s laptop screen, Morgan gave a soft huff of a laugh. “You know that sounds exactly like something a person says when they are very much not over it.”
Hannah lifted her teacup so Morgan wouldn’t see her wince. “It sounds like something a person says when she has to be up at six to get two kids dressed, fed and out the door in time for school.”
“I don’t miss breakfast chaos,” Morgan admitted. “Are you trying to distract me from talking about your friend Wes?”
“Is it working?”
Morgan laughed softly. “If I have to be stuck here, the least you can do is give me something fun to think about. I’m just saying. Sexy man with a great dog and a tragic backstory is prime entertainment.”
Hannah smiled despite herself. “Not for me. I’ll take the dog and leave the sexy man and his tragic backstory to someone else.”
Morgan studied her for a long time. When she spoke, her voice sounded thinner. “Just promise me one thing.”
Hannah’s throat tightened. “If you’re about to say ‘live every day like it’s your last,’ I’m ending this call right now.”
“Please,” Morgan said dryly. “I don’t have the stamina for inspirational-poster crap.”
She paused then sighed. “Don’t shut any door just because you’re scared hurt might be on the other side.”
Her words seemed to push through every single argument Hannah had been making to herself. “This is silly. I don’t want to talk about me when you’re the one dealing with serious stuff.”
“Exactly why I am fully qualified to say this. Life is short, and hot men who build bed frames for kids they don’t even know are not exactly thick on the ground.”
Hannah had to laugh, though it sounded slightly shaky. “You should be resting, not matchmaking.”
“This is the most fun I’ve had all week,” Morgan said. “Now I’m tired, though, so I’m going to hang up before I fall asleep and you get an hour of me snoring.”
They said goodbye and Hannah closed her computer screen.
She sat for a long time, thinking about the past and the future and the uncertainty of life.
After she settled the children to bed, she went into their rooms to tuck them in. Carter went straight down but when Hannah walked into Riley’s room, she found the girl gazing at the small tabletop Christmas tree Hannah had bought for her room.
Her eyes sparkled, reflecting the lights of the tree with unshed tears.
Panicked, Hannah sat down on the edge of the bed. “What’s wrong, honey? Are you missing your mom?”
Riley nodded and the tears began trickling down. Hannah’s sympathy was apparently all she needed to unleash her emotions. “Is my mom going to die like my dad and my grandma did? My grandma had cancer and she died.”
Hannah felt completely inadequate to handle this line of questioning. She wanted to FaceTime Morgan again and let her deal with her daughter’s distress but she could not add to her friend’s burden right now.
Riley’s mom was in the fight of her life and likely didn’t have the emotional bandwidth to deal with her children’s fear as well.
