‘It’s Facebook official! Hannah White is in the building!’
She burst through the door, her change of name deed in one hand, her divorce papers in the other. Brody had booked the day off to take her out for the occasion; Ava was at Martine and Ruby’s. She was currently into drum kits and singing every Disney song known to man in her squeaky cute little voice. A day off from that wouldn’t hurt their ears. She was doing well. Victor had no contact now, and he hadn’t tried since the attack either. It had been about control, not love. It had been from the start.
‘Are you ready to wine and dine a free and single woman?’
Bullet was at the door to the kitchen, sitting like a sentry. She could see something flickering in the gap in the doorway.
‘Hey, boy, where’s Brody, eh?’ She always called him Brody when addressing the dog. They were work colleagues, after all. He slowly moved aside, and she noticed he had something stuck in his collar.
‘What’s this?’ She pulled a rolled-up piece of paper out.
Bullet nudged the door open, going to sit at Brody’s side. He was sitting at the island. She always found him so sexy sitting there. They’d updated the kitchen, well the whole house really. They’d had a lot of naked painting fun, she recalled with a blush every time she saw the happy yellow walls in the kitchen. He was dressed to match her, her smart dress complementing his smart suit. The flickering was from the candles on the countertop, two filled glasses of champagne next to an ice bucket.
‘I thought we could celebrate in style; we have time before our reservation.’ She went to sit on the stool next to him, and he pulled it closer to his. ‘How do you feel?’ His eyes searched hers, but she felt nothing but relief. Happiness. Life was good.
‘Free,’ she said simply. ‘Happy. I love you.’
He grinned, looking a bit sheepish. ‘Good, then you won’t freak out when you read the note.’ She remembered the rolled-up paper in her hands, and went to open it. His hand hovered over it. ‘Hannah, I mean it.’ She looked up at him, intrigued now. His eyes locked onto hers, as they always did. ‘No freak-outs. It’s just the question game.’
She opened the note as the cogs turned in her head. When she read the words, the yes was out of her lips a second after. Pushed out with her heart and her gut. By Hannah, and Erin – the two halves of her who loved him to distraction.
The note said: Will you do me the honour of becoming Mrs Hannah Brody?
Of all the things she’d done in her life, she knew she could live the rest of it quite happily playing the question game. Of their lives. Just like that.
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