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Why he wassointo this idea, she did not know. He’d brought it up multiple times—his birthday present to Hannah, a bonus to Bruce for all his hard work. He was like this, got an idea in his head and wouldn’t let it go. There was something else, too, some other reason. But Hannah didn’t know what.
When the time came, though, the chances of him canceling were high; or Bruce may or may not be able to get away. Grown-ups only, Mako had insisted. So Hannah and Bruce would have to make arrangements for Gigi—when they hadn’t even left her for an evening yet. She wasn’t sure she would be ready for that.
But her brother kept talking about a stunning house deep in the woods of Georgia, a kind of self-styled wellness retreat—hiking, yoga, massage. He had a way of painting a picture—an idyllic weekend in nature, a fireplace, her and Bruce reconnecting with their couplehood, maybe an opportunity to grow closer to Liza.We’ll invite Cricket—Hannah’s best friend, who was more like part of the family.
Hannah had agreed and put the weekend in the calendar—six months from now. A lifetime. Anything could happen between now and then. Truly, there was almost zero chance they’d pull it off.
“Sure,” she says, looking back at Bruce, who is looking at his phone, frowning. Hannah feels a familiar jingle of unease. “Of course.”
“Don’t let this guy talk you out of it,” he says, throwing a glance at Bruce, who looks up and shrugs amiably, frown dropping.
“We’re in,” he says, and Mako gives him a satisfied nod.
“It’s isolated but there’s Wi-Fi,” Mako goes on. “We can check in to work if we have to. You can keep your eye on that baby monitor.”
“Icouldbring Gigi,” she said.
“But then it’s not a vacation for you and Bruce, right?”
That was true. But his statement annoys her. Once you have a baby, you see it. The world is divided. There were people with kids. And then there were people without kids. Parents remembered what it was like before. But people before parenthood had no idea what it was like afterward. It was an abyss between Hannah and Mako, would be until he had kids of his own and maybe even then.
Hannah glances at Liza who stands by the car watching them impassively. Hannah can’t imagine the tiny woman pregnant, mothering. Which was a silly thing to think—judgmental and not nice. Hannah has more of Sophia in her sometimes than she cares to admit.
“Where did you hear about the house?” asks Hannah. He wasn’t normally a vacation rental type.
“I’ll send you the link. It’s—amazing.”
Of course it would be. He wouldn’t be gunning for some shack in the middle of nowhere. That wasn’t how Mako rolled. Go big or go home. That was all.
Obviously, Liza is driving. Hannah moves over to her and Liza offers a quick, bony hug,
“Thanks for everything today,” Liza says.
“I really couldn’t have done it withoutyou,” Hannah says. And Liza smiles, sweet, warm. Hannah decides that she is going to work on getting closer to Liza this year.
Liza climbs into the driver’s seat of the new Tesla.
“Take care of yourself,” Hannah says to Mako, moving away from the car. “Don’t work too hard.”
He laughs, runs a hand through his hair, looks at Bruce who stands beside her. “I’ll try not to.”
Bruce has joined them at the car. Mako claps Bruce hard on the shoulder.
“Anyway, things are a lot less stressful now that Bruce has saved my ass.”
She’s not sure what that means. Some glitch in the game that Bruce found and fixed. But sometimes the two of them are speaking a language she can’t understand. She knows they’ll both be working around the clock until it launches. Such is the nature of tech.
As the car glides away, silent and smooth as a shark, Bruce stands behind her, and they wave until the car is out of sight. The air is cool but balmy, palm fronds whispering. Somewhere a halyard clangs, a neighbor’s boat rocking in one of the docks behind the houses. Christmas in Florida.
Bruce stares after the car a moment, something strange on his face.
“What?” Hannah asks.
He shakes his head, seems to snap back from his thoughts. “Nothing. All good.”
Later, her parents and Gigi sound asleep, Bruce in front of his laptop “just checking in on a few things,” Hannah takes a moment to sit in front of the tree. Its lights glimmer and shine. She stares at the ornaments—some handmade by her and her brother from their childhood, collected from family vacations, tiny framed pictures of Gigi—gifts Hannah made for her parents this year. It’s peaceful. Now that she’s older, she gets it. The quiet space after the storm can be a blessing.
Hannah picks up the Origins box. It probablywasMako. Just like him to give a gift that causes trouble. He’s always been a mischief maker. And really—who else?
