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Once she felt relatively sure that he wasn’t going to pull in after her, she left Emma asleep in the car and got out, just as Olivia came out of the house.
“Hey, did you forget something?” she asked, flinging a dishtowel over her shoulder.
Hannah just ran to her, wrapping her arms around her, her whole body shaking, and cried.
“What’s going on?”
“He was at the apartment,” she cried. “And I just got scared.”
“Oh, Hannah,” Olivia said.
“I’m ready.”
“Ready for what?” she asked.
“For the divorce.”
Olivia wrapped her arms around Hannah as she cried. “You’re going to be so happy. You’ll finally be free. And my offer still stands. Move to the farm. You don’t know how he’ll react to the divorce. You shouldn’t be alone.”
Am I being ridiculous?Hannah wondered. Am I just blowing this out of proportion? Maybe Troywasgetting himself together. Maybe she didn’t even have to worry about him. But she decided she couldn’t risk it. There was no way she was putting Emma in that position.
The stone in Hannah’s throat made her gasp for air. “Thank you, Olivia.”
“You can sleep in Rosie’s old room tonight, but tomorrow we’ll get your things and move you two into the apartment.” Jesse and Mae peeked out from the window and waved at them. Olivia rubbed Hannah’s back. “Let’s start opening up the windows upstairs. The place will need a good airing.” Olivia started toward the barn.
Emma stirred in the passenger’s seat, rubbing her eyes. “Are we still at the farm?”
Hannah smiled, glad her innocence had been preserved a little longer.
“We’re going to stay here, tonight.”
Emma looked confused, but she didn’t ask any questions, just turned her head and closed her eyes again.
“Come on,” Olivia called. “I haven’t been up there in forever. It’s probably a mess.”
Olivia opened the door and Hannah looked up, instantly thrown back twelve years to when she and Troy first got married. She had been barely eighteen, with a baby and a straying husband. Yet, living on the farm had been the happiest time of her life.
Olivia flipped on the light switch, and the space lit up.
Hannah looked at the small sink and two-burner stove. The fridge would barely fit the amount of milk Emma drank, much less anything else. The avocado-green furniture had to be thirty-plus years old.
“You know, I really missed this place.” She laughed.
Olivia rubbed her back. “Tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of your life.”
* * *
Jake and Jesse drove out to check the bred cows in the east field at the Gunderson ranch.
“He’s always been trouble,” Jesse said.
Jake slowed the truck as they approached the herd. “She saw him waiting at her apartment?”
“She didn’t talk to him,” Jesse said. “But it scared her enough that she drove back to the farm.”
“I just don’t see why’s she stayed married to him all these years.”
“Emma.” Jesse made a face. “It’s always been about Emma.”
