Page 48 of The Valentine Agenda

"Oh." Trevor sank slowly back into his own chair. "Not Vanessa."

"No." James smiled slightly. "Definitely not Vanessa."

The tension drained from Trevor's shoulders. He wiped a shaking hand across his forehead and let out a long breath. He looked at James. "The teacher, huh?”

"Hannah," James corrected quietly. "Her name is Hannah."

Trevor let out a slow breath, something unreadable crossing his face. "Huh."

"What?" James frowned.

Trevor hesitated, then glanced down at his phone, tapping his fingers against it before exhaling sharply. "I'm going to marry Vanessa."

James blinked. "Oh. Well. Congratulations." The word came automatically, and he found that he actually meant it. "I hope you're happy together."

Trevor let out a short laugh, shaking his head. "She doesn’t know yet."

James froze. "What?"

Trevor met his eyes, something oddly knowing in his expression. "Vanessa doesn’t know yet. But I do. And now, so do you."

James exhaled, leaning back in his chair, processing Trevor’s certainty.

There was something unsettling about it—how easily, how confidently, Trevor knew. No hesitation. No doubts. No waiting for the right moment or wondering if he was making a mistake.

Trevor knew he was going to marry Vanessa.

"Must be nice," James said finally, voice quieter than he meant. "Knowing."

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Hannah

The Daily Grind hadn't changed. Same chipped mugs, same mismatched chairs, same old Pete behind the counter practicing his coffee bean juggling. But sitting across from David—Sophie's friend from kickboxing class—Hannah felt like she was looking at everything through warped glass.

"So you're a teacher?" David's smile was nice. Perfectly nice. "That must be... rewarding?"

Hannah wrapped her hands around her coffee cup. David had ordered it for her—hazelnut latte with whipped cream. She hadn't corrected him, hadn't mentioned she preferred a splash of cream, no sugar.

James had noticed her coffee preference.

"It is," she said, realizing she'd let the silence stretch too long. "My students are working on an community art project right now, actually. They're creating weather-based metaphors for emotions, helping the elderly residents in my building process their feelings about—" She stopped herself, recognizing the glazed look in David's eyes. "But you probably don't want to hear about all that."

"No, it's... nice." He smiled at her. "Kids are great."

Hannah took a sip of too-sweet coffee to hide her expression. James would have questions. Would have wanted to know how Tommy was doing with his storm clouds, whether Sarah had figured out how to express joy in her paintings, if—

No. She wasn't going to think about James Park and his perfect questions and his way of making her feel like everything she said mattered.

"What about you?" she asked, desperately reaching for conversation. "Sophie mentioned you work in finance?"

David brightened, launching into a detailed explanation of market derivatives that Hannah suspected was meant to impress her. She found herself studying his tie—plain blue, perfectly knotted. James's ties sometimes went slightly crooked by the end of the day, and he'd started leaving the top button undone when they'd get ice cream, and—

Stop it.

"...and that's why diversification is really the key to any solid portfolio," David finished, looking pleased with himself. "What do you think about market trends?"

Hannah realized she hadn't heard a word he'd said. "I think..." She looked down at her untouched pastry. "I think I should be honest with you."

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