Page 73 of Novel Problems

GEORGE

I took a large gulp of coffee, hoping it would counteract my terrible night’s sleep. I’d had a vivid dream that Alexis had won the presidency, and I was at her victory speech, standing behind her on the stage with a smile plastered on my face, desperately wishing I didn’t have hundreds of eyes and video cameras pointed at me. My happiness for Alexis was mixed with horror that I was about to become First Lady and that I’d have to sell Novel Gossip to focus on my new role. But when I’d turned to Alexis, it was Hannah, instead, standing behind the podium, looking radiant as she announced she was going on a world-wide book tour for twelve months—a book tour she’d failed to mention to me. I’d woken with a start at the news and then taken two hours to get back to bed. I kept telling myself that Hannah wasn’t like Alexis and that Novel Gossip was going to be just fine, but I couldn’t help wondering if the dream was a sign my subconscious wasn’t completely convinced.

“What time will Hannah be arriving back?” Mom’s voice cut through my thoughts as I sat in the armchair,cupping my mug with my hands. “If you need me to look after the café while you go pick her up, that’s fine with me. I think I’m really getting the hang of things.”

I smiled at Mom, who was eating cereal on the couch, Max curled up next to her. By the time we closed the café yesterday, Mom had well and truly found her feet. If she’d been a paid employee, my only complaint would have been that she spent too much time chatting with customers. And I had offered to pay her—an offer she’d firmly refused.

“You are. If you keep this up, I’ll be enlisting your services every time you visit,” I said. Mom grinned with pride. “But to answer your question, Hannah’s going to stay another day. Something came up that she needs to deal with.”

Disappointment flitted across Mom’s face. “Oh, that’s a shame. Alexis used to do this sort of thing all the time too?—”

“Mom!” I cut her off abruptly, unable to keep the frustration out of my voice. “Hannah is not Alexis.”

I clenched my teeth. Alexis had often had to extend her work trips or cancel our plans at the last minute because of a political crisis or an unexpected media interview or a networking event had arisen, but this was different. While Mom only had my best interests at heart, her making these comparisons was not helpful. Deep down, I knew that Mom’s concerns about Hannah were baseless, but her words still triggered a flicker of doubt in my mind and unearthed latent insecurities.

“Well, I Googled her last night, and she certainly has a lot of media attention at the moment,” Mom replied defensively.

“Yes, and she didn’t ask for any of it,” I snapped, guilt sweeping over me immediately. “Mom, I know you mean well, but I don’t want to talk about this right now. Youhaven’t even met Hannah yet, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make assumptions about her. Let’s change the topic.” I smiled at her, pushing my annoyance aside. “So, how many dates do you think you’ll be asked out on today?”

“It lookslike your mom is really enjoying herself,” Blake said, grinning over the counter as I made her a coffee. I glanced up to see Mom befriending another patron.

I chuckled. “Yeah, she’s actually been a huge help the last few days.”

“Have you heard from Hannah?”

I looked up, checking that no other customers were waiting in line. Thankfully, we were in a quiet spell. “Yeah, it sounds like things have been going about as well as they could, and she’s decided to stay an extra day to try to sort out some divorce stuff with her ex.”

I hit the pitcher of frothed milk on the counter to break up some larger bubbles that had formed.

Blake grimaced. “That doesn’t sound fun. Are you holding up okay?”

I poured the frothed milk into a mug. “Yes. I’m not worried about her ex or anything like that…”

“I feel there’s a ‘but’ coming.”

I paused, collecting my thoughts. “You remember how, before we started dating, I was worried about our relationship being imbalanced because I was her boss?” Blake nodded. “Well, all the events of the last few days have brought home just how successful Hannah is, and while I think that’s amazing and she deserves it, I guess I’ve had this underlying worry that perhaps our relationship is imbalanced, just not in the way I originally thought. It’s nothelping that Mom keeps trying to draw parallels between Hannah and Alexis. It’s also been a real struggle having her gone, which has made me think again about the impact our relationship might have on Novel Gossip.”

Blake pressed her lips together thoughtfully. “I don’t think a relationship is ever going to be perfectly equal. Jenny did so much for me when we first got together, and now she’s working hard building up her business, and I’ve been doing more around the house, looking after the pets and that sort of thing, to take the load off her. Those kinds of swings and roundabouts are quite different from what you described with Alexis, which was basically you being the one to make all the sacrifices without any sign she’d be willing to do the same for you, to the extent that you were completely miserable. From an outsider's perspective, at least, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case with you and Hannah.”

I nodded, thinking over all the times Hannah had stepped in to help me. Hannah had initially kept working at the café because she felt bad leaving me in the lurch, baked multiple cakes of the day with me, saved Novel Gossip from burning down and organized Chris Chen’s talk, which I could tell had caused her anxiety. I smiled. It was definitely swings and roundabouts with us. And Hannah had checked with me first, asking if it was okay for her to go to New York, so it really wasn’t fair to treat her absence as evidence that our relationship might damage Novel Gossip or that she didn’t value me. My employees also needed to be able to take time off. I just had to stop letting Mom get to me.

I exhaled. I couldn’t wait for Hannah to be back in Sapphire Springs tomorrow.Unless something else delays her.I pushed down the thought. For now, my priority was to finish making Blake’s double-shot latte.

An hour later, I was making yet another coffee when someone walked through the door. As usual, I lifted my head to greet them and did a double-take, my heart skyrocketing.

I blinked.

Just like the very first time I’d set eyes on her, Hannah stood near the front door, dressed in brown sandals, wide-legged navy pants, and a white t-shirt, looking absolutely gorgeous. But this time, she was looking at me and smiling.

My face broke into a grin so broad my cheek muscles ached.What the hell is she doing here?It took every ounce of self-control not to throw down the milk jug, run over, and take her in my arms, but I’d almost finished this latte and the customer who’d ordered it had been looking at their watch and sighing. In any event, having a reunion make-out session in the middle of my café was probably not the most professional look. Surely she’d walk over here any minute.

But Hannah spotted a recently vacated table that hadn’t been cleared yet and, instead, beelined toward it and started stacking the plates.Goddamnit. I want her here, now.

Mom, who’d just picked up a food order from the kitchen and was about to deliver it to a table, stopped next to me, frowning.

“Why is that customer clearing tables, honey? Should I tell her to stop?”

I laughed. “That’s not a customer. It’s Hannah, Mom.” I poured the frothed milk into the latte, forcing myself to focus on the coffee rather than the fact that Hannah was now walking back toward us.

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