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When I walk into the kitchen, Hannah is standing at the stove wearing a light blue dress and cooking eggs. Her hair is loose and messy, and all I can think about is how it looked spread across her comforter.
Suddenly, startingly, scarily, I canseeit. I can imagine walking into this kitchen every morning to this sight.
She glances up as I approach the island.
“Hey.” Her smile is guarded, and the dread in my stomach turns to lead. “Sleep well?”
“I got a few hours.”
“I didn’t hear an alarm.”
I guess we’re not pretending we didn’t spend the night in the same bed. “I was trying not to wake you.”
She nods, sucking in her bottom lip as she continues pushing eggs around the pan. “I can tell my dad you needed to leave, if you want. You don’t have to go to the game.”
“I want to come, as long as that’s okay.”
Hannah’s expression shows surprise, but she doesn’t try to talk me out of going. “Okay. Yeah. Of course that’s okay.”
I rest a hip against the edge of the counter. “I’ve never been to one,” I admit.
“A baseball game?”
I nod.
“You’veneverbeen to a baseball game?”
I shrug. “My dad was more into golf and polo. And my mom…” My voice trails, obviously, since I can’t come up with any way to finish that sentence.
Since I don’t talk about my mom.
“Is it okay if I take a shower?”
Hannah nods, jerky and fast. “Yeah, of course.”
I continue through the kitchen and down the hall, trying to get my head on straight. I need to stay focused on the point of this trip: one step closer to being divorced. As soon as that’s taken care of, I can decide what to do about Quinn. How to handle everything with my father.
Hannah has plans too. She might not have a second marriage breathing down her neck, but she’s intending to start school in the fall. Her whole life is in California: her family and her careers, both present and planned.
After I’ve rinsed all the stickiness off and gotten dressed in a clean suit, I return to the kitchen.
Hannah is sitting at the island, eating eggs and reading something on her computer.
When she spots me, she coughs.
I wait for a suit comment, but it doesn’t come. If I had something more casual to wear, I would. But I don’t. It’s just become easier to make it my default uniform no matter what else I’m doing. Even at home, ever since I had to stand to get a paper during a video call and revealed I was wearing sweatpants with my button-down.
“If you’re hungry…” Hannah nods toward the skillet on the stovetop. “Plates are in the cabinet to the left of the sink.”
“Thanks.”
I pull a plate out of the cabinet and heap it with eggs, which are still steaming.
I can’t recall the last time someone made me breakfast. Based on the size of the pile in the pan, Hannah made a lot more than she was planning to eat herself.
“Do you want coffee? I can make—”
