Page 52 of The Perfect Secret
Hannah stared without seeing at the TV that night. Her focus remained on her earlier conversation with Mike. For all the attitude he’d given, he’d clarified a few things. Her brother was trying. He was clean. And he was as scared as she was.
Maybe her grandmother was right. It was one thing to enable him and ignore his flaws. It was another thing to ignore all the work he did and continued to do, and to punish him for a past he was trying to fix. Moving on would require her to set aside all her hurt. Could she do it?
Hannah’s phone rang. When Dan’s caller ID popped up, she muted the TV. “Hey there.”
“Hannah, it’s Tess.”
She started. “Oh, hi, sweetheart. I thought it was your Dad. How are you?”
“I’m fine, but I wanted to ask you a question.”
Hannah leaned forward and clenched her hands into fists. Tess never called. “Sure, what’s up?”
“My school is hosting an art exhibition. I wanted to know if you’d like to go. I have a few pieces in it and they serve snacks and drinks. They sort of arranged it like an art gallery opening and the money is used to fund art in our school.”
Hannah gripped her phone tight and blinked multiple times. Out of all the people Tess could invite, she chose her? Her chest expanded. “I’d love to go! What kinds of pieces are you displaying?”
“I’m taking a charcoal sketch class, and mine will be from that portfolio.”
“I can’t wait. When is it?”
“December third. Are you sure you’re free?”
“Hold on, let me check my calendar. Yup, totally free. Thank you so much for the invitation.” Hannah hung up the phone. Tess invited her to her art exhibition. She cared for Tess more each time she saw her, and it gratified her to know her feelings were reciprocated.
“Hannah, where are you going?” her grandmother asked as she emerged from her bedroom, knitting in hand.
“Tess invited me to her art show,” she said. “Can you believe she wants me to go?”
“Of course I can. You’ve made a good impression on her. Can I come too?”
“I don’t know. Let me ask.” She hit redial and when Tess picked up, she asked, “My grandmother wants to know if she can come too.”
“Sure!”
Hannah smiled at the excitement in Tess’s voice as she hung up the phone. “Yes,Bubbe, Tess said you can come too.”
As she was about to tell her grandmother the date and time, the phone rang again. This time, though caller ID said Dan, she answered with care. “Hello?”
“Hi, what’s wrong?”
At the sound of Dan’s voice, she relaxed and stretched out on the sofa. “Nothing, I wasn’t sure it was you.” She filled him in about Tess’s phone call. “Is it okay with you? I don’t want to infringe on anything…”
“Hannah, it’s great. I want the two of you to have a relationship, and I’m thrilled she invited you.”
Hannah let out a deep breath. “Okay.”
He chuckled.
“What’s funny?”
“Not funny, so much as…I don’t know. I love the way you are with Tess. How you mix our family in with yours without question.”
“You make her sound like an ingredient,” Hannah said.
The deep laugh on the other end of the line sent chills down the nape of her neck and warmed the pit of her stomach.
“Well, I am partial to food,” Dan said, “so maybe it’s not such a bad thing. But in all seriousness, thank you.”