Page 59 of The Perfect Secret

He loved her.

He jerked to a standstill. He loved her? When did that happen? Was it when she’d cleaned the tomato sauce off of his cheek? Charmed Tess? Made him feel like a man even as she figured out a way for him to rest his leg? Confided to him about her brother?

Her brother.

There was no possible way this could work. Now that he knew he loved her, he had to do what was best for her.

He recognized the signs. An inability to get her out of his mind. An inability to sleep. His need to see her, talk to her, touch her.

He was addicted to her, as if she were a substance. Like before.

Her brother was a drug addict.

He was too.

She didn’t deserve that.

He’d broken his oxy habit, because it almost killed him and harmed Tess. Now he had to break things off with Hannah. No matter what it cost him.

Chapter Seventeen

Hannah looked at her phone for the third time that day. Dan still hadn’t returned her call. She’d called him in the morning. When she reached his voice mail, she suggested he and Tess come over next weekend for Shabbat dinner with her grandmother. He hadn’t called back. Now, it was ten at night. They talked every day. It was weird. Maybe there was something wrong with his leg? Or Tess?

She picked up her phone and weighed it in her hand. She didn’t want to seem needy, but she also wanted to talk to him, to make sure he was all right. Deciding to compromise, she sent him a text.

hi

She was about to give up when dots flashed across the screen. He was typing.

Hello

She breathed a sigh of relief.

missed you today

Again, there was a pause.

I missed you too.

did you get my message

Yeah, sorry, busy day.

what’s wrong

She stared at the phone. You didn’t have to be a genius to figure out he wasn’t in the mood to talk. With a sigh, she turned her phone to vibrate.

When she woke the next morning, there was a message from Dan declining the dinner invitation—he and Tess were busy. For the next couple of days, he answered only if she initiated conversations, without giving away information. If she called, his phone often went straight to voicemail. This was getting ridiculous. Her fingers jabbed the text buttons on her phone.

i think we should talk

She didn’t expect an answer, not after how he’d been avoiding her. After a few seconds, the dancing dots appeared on her phone. She held her breath, waiting.

About what?

i’d rather talk in person

There was such a long pause she was convinced he’d tossed the phone aside, like he seemed to be doing with her.