She put her hand over her heart. “I can’t believe you did all this.”
He arched his eyebrow. “There’s more,” he said, reaching for her hand to lead her to the stairs.
As they landed on the second floor, she noticed it looked the same. But when she poked her head into the spare bathroom they had gutted and never finished, she was shocked to see it had been outfitted with a new toilet, tub, and vanity. “Oh my god, is this real?” She looked at Tom and clapped her hands. “No more sharing a bathroom with the kids?”
“Actually…” he said, grabbing her hand, “they don’t even have to share with each other now.”
She looked at him, confused. “What do you mean?”
He guided her to the stairs leading to the third floor. The only time they ever went into the attic was to store old Christmas decorations.
But they had always fantasized about it being something else. “You didn’t.…” She trailed off.
“Welcome to your new master suite,” he said as they reached the top of the steps.
Hanna was speechless as she looked around the space. No furniture was in it yet, but there was now drywall and hardwood floors. She looked to her right and caught a glimpse of the bathroom. There were still some sawdust and construction materials hanging around, but it looked mostly complete, with a white tile floor, Carrara marble double vanity, glass shower, and… “Oh my god,” she screamed. “The tub!” She ran over to the freestanding soaking tub that reminded her of a luxury spa. “I can’t believe you did all this.”
He leaned against the door. “This damn tub was the reason I almost missed the gala,” he confessed with a laugh.
She walked over to him and took his face into her hands. “Thank you. I don’t deserve any of this, but thank you.”
“You deserve everything,” he said softly. Just as she leaned in to kiss him, his eyes grew wide. “Wait—one more surprise.” He walked out of the bathroom, and she followed him. She couldn’t think of anything else he could show her that would make this house more perfect.
But as they entered the next room, she was proven wrong.
“Holy shit,” she whispered, her mouth dropping as she looked around the room lined with built-in bookcases. Her eyes filled with tears. “You made me a library?”
“I was thinking we could put a couple of armchairs in here and you could use it as your reading spot.” He wiped a tear running down her cheek. “I know you liked the one in the other house.”
She threw her arms around his neck and snuggled her head into his chest. “I love it!” she cried. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he said, hugging her tight. “And if you want to stay in the other house, that’s okay, too. I went into this knowing you might not want to move back in, but I guess I just hoped you’d change your mind one day. And if you don’t want to move back, at least the updates would be good for resale.…”
She put her finger over his mouth. “Shhhh. I love it.” She looked around the room in awe. “I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
Tom bit his lip and smiled. “I just want you to be happy, wherever we are.”
Hanna looked back at him and smiled. “I’ll be happy wherever you are. But all of this is just icing on the cake.” She kissed him again. “It’s perfect.”
Tom took her hand and twirled her in the middle of the room. “Welcome home.”
Just then, her phone buzzed. She grabbed it from her back pocket and looked at the caller ID. It wasn’t a number she recognized.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Hanna?” a soothing female voice responded. “It’s Diana. I just wanted to check in on you and see how you were feeling.”
She froze. Ever since the disastrous get-together at her house last week, she had managed to avoid the other moms by having Tom do drop-off and the nanny do pickup. She needed time to heal and figure out how she was going to handle things with them. But she hadn’t expected anyone to call her.
“Oh hi, Diana.”
Tom’s eyes got big as he recognized it was one of the moms. He stepped out to give her privacy.
“Thanks for checking in. I’m doing okay.” She figured Diana knew that she hadn’t actually suffered from any physical illness the other night. The woman seemed smart enough to know what really happened.
“I’m glad to hear you’re better.” She paused. “You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about it, and just wanted to say I know how hard it is to move to a new school. Especially Evangeline Oaks. It’s a little… different.”
Hanna’s muscles eased a bit. Diana’s comment made Hanna feel better, like she wasn’t the only one who felt out of place.
“I just want you to know that if you need anything, don’t ever hesitate to call.”
“Thanks,” she said softly. “I appreciate that.” The two continued talking for a few minutes. Hanna told her about their flooded house, and Diana offered for them to come stay with her family. Then Hanna shared about Tom’s surprise. The conversation felt easy. Hanna was relaxed, feeling for the first time in days like she was exactly where she should be—in her home, gabbing on the phone with a friend.
“Listen, before I let you go, I’ve been obsessing over that peach cobbler you made, and was wondering if I could get the recipe. I’m hosting a ladies’ luncheon with some friends this weekend and wanted to make it then. I’d obviously also love for you to join us, too, if you can.” She paused. “You know, it’s not going to be the usual crowd from the school—I try not to hang out with those ladies when I don’t have to.”
Hanna laughed out loud. Was Diana openly dissing the other moms? Was she inviting Hanna to be her friend? Either way, she loved it. “Of course!” she said enthusiastically. “I’ll text it to you right now. And yes, count me in for your luncheon!”
“Excellent!” Diana said. “I’ll send you the details. See you soon!”
“See you soon!” Hanna ended the call and sighed a deep breath of relief.
She stood in the library a moment longer, eyeing the empty bookshelves around her. She couldn’t wait to fill them. The possibilities were endless, and even though she was back in the old house, there was an exciting feeling about new beginnings.
A year later…
Epilogue
Lexi peeked out the window of her niece Lucy’s bedroom. Her dad and Tom were stringing twinkle lights all over Hanna’s backyard, and a collection of twenty white folding lawn chairs sat neatly in rows of five on the freshly cut green grass. The afternoon sunlight was hitting Hanna’s pecan tree at the top of the hill, giving the leaves a soft golden glow. Lexi couldn’t wait to see how pretty it was at sunset. It was a perfect day for a wedding.
Callie’s voice startled her. “Ready to put this thing on?”
Lexi turned her head from the window to see her sister holding her ginormous designer wedding gown. Yes, she had promised to tone the whole thing down, but god, she loved that dress.
“Let’s do it!” she said, untying her silk robe. Her sisters dug a hole with their hands from the top of the dress to the bottom to separate the layers of tulle.