Page 82 of Unhinged

“Of course he will.”

Hannah searched Audrey’s gaze. “But⁠—”

She shook her head. “He loves you. And I promise he’s just waiting for you to come to your senses.”

Was she right? Hannah had hurt him by pushing him away. She hadn’t trusted him, hadn’t trusted herself, and he deserved better than that. She should have talked about it instead of shutting down—but maybe they could still make this work.

She wiped the remainder of her tears away and looked at Audrey. “Thank you.”

Audrey studied her for a second. “You okay?”

“I think so, yeah. I’ll try to talk to him before I leave tonight.”

“Good.”

“I’m sorry to drag you into this. You’ve got enough going on already.”

Audrey waved away Hannah's apology. “I’ll always be here for you if you need me. Besides, Scott doesn’t warrant any more tears than I’ve already given him.”

Hannah studied Audrey for the first time since she’d shown up and dragged her back here for an intervention with Fiona. Audrey’s eyes were rimmed with red as if she’d been on a week-long crying jag. Stitches cut across her forehead, and her flesh was bruised a deep purple around the wound. Her normally put-together appearance was disheveled almost to the point of sloppiness, and Hannah knew the impending divorce was weighing more heavily on Audrey than she’d ever admit.

“How are you holding up? For real?”

Audrey’s lips pressed together in a firm line before relaxing and letting out a soft exhalation. “You know what? I’m actually okay. I know I look like a mess”—Audrey grinned, and Hannah couldn’t help but return it—“but I’ve realized something over the last couple months. I’m not really mad at Scott. I’m not even mad at myself anymore.

“We shouldn’t have gotten married, but I learned an important lesson. I need to do something for me. So much of my time has been spent catering to others. I’m selling my portion of the practice.”

“But… Are you sure?” Hannah asked. Audrey loved it there. “I thought⁠—”

She shook her head. “It was my decision. I want to do something that really matters, something that makes a difference. I’m applying to work for the VA.”

“I think that’s a fantastic idea. Tell me all about your plans.”

They spent the next hour catching up, talking about the past, about the future, and Hannah realized how much she’d missed these moments.

“I really haven’t gotten to see much of you since…” She waved one hand in the air, not wanting to dampen the mood by mentioning Audrey’s attack from two weeks prior. “It’s been so crazy recently.”

“I know.” Audrey nodded. “I promise once all this is over, we’ll get back to our normal routine.”

“Deal.” Hannah glanced out the window at the setting sun. “We better get out of here. I want to talk to Luke on the way out.”

“Good.” Audrey straightened and hitched her purse over her shoulder. “Keep me posted, okay?”

“I will.”

With one last hug, Audrey let herself out, and Hannah closed up, making sure everything was locked up tight. She made her way to the lobby, but Luke was nowhere to be found. With a sigh, she trudged to her car and slid inside, then dug her phone out of her purse.

Should she text him or wait? Taking a deep breath, she quickly tapped out a message and hit the send button before she could rethink her decision. She tossed her phone back into her bag and headed for home, her heart practically beating out of her chest. She’d finally found the man she loved—she just hoped she wasn’t too late.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-EIGHT

Hannah's phone rang, startling her from a restless sleep. Hope filled her chest as Luke’s name flashed across the screen, and she lifted it to her ear.

“Luke?” When he hadn’t responded to her text, she had finally fallen into bed—not quite an hour ago—and cried herself to sleep.

“Hannah.” His voice was strained to the point of politeness, but she could hear the heavy undercurrent in his tone. It also wasn’t lost on her that he hadn’t used his nickname for her, and the knowledge stung. Silence filled the line for several seconds before he cleared his throat and began to speak. “Listen, I’m sorry to tell you this way, but there’s been a break-in at the health center.”