Page 53 of The Library of Second Chances
Chloe locked the door to the bathroom and rang Hannah, her heart thumping a hundred miles an hour. She felt like a criminal, sitting on the closed toilet seat and leaning forward, as though that would make her voice quieter. Her migraine was coming back.
‘Hi, Chloe. Are you nearly here? Did you get lost?’
‘Hannah!’ Chloe hissed. ‘What the hell? I’m at Liam’s house!’
There was silence on the other end of the line. Then, ‘What?’
‘The address on your library card must have been wrong. It sent me here to Liam’s. Lily is here. Lily’s dad is Liam?’
‘Oh, no. I’m so sorry. I’ll be right there. I must have gotten the library card when I lived there and . . . just wait there, okay? I’m sorry. I’ll be over in five minutes.’
Chloe held her cup of tea in her hands, feeling so awkward that she almost wished she was facing Eric and talking about her rejection instead. It would be less painful than this.
Lily was their saving grace, happily assuming Chloe was her dad’s friend, chattering on about her different Hot Wheels cars while Chloe watched Liam out of the corner of her eye. It was surreal, seeing him here. She had always remembered him at eighteen, perfect in her eyes until he’d betrayed her. But this guy was . . . older. Imperfect. Balding.Normal.
‘This is the fastest one, watch.’ Lily pulled back her car and let it go. It raced across the floor and hit Chloe in the foot.
‘Oh!’ she said, even though it didn’t hurt. ‘Wow, um, Lily’s talking is really good for her age.’
‘Yeah, she’s my little genius,’ said Liam proudly.
She sipped her tea, glad that at least she had that to do while waiting for Hannah. Damn him, but the tea was made perfectly.
Hannah burst in five minutes later, which felt more like five hours. Her face had blanched and her cardigan was done up lopsidedly, the buttons fastened one too high. She looked between Liam and Chloe.
‘Mummy!’ cried Lily, jumping up from her toys and going to hug Hannah around the waist.
‘Hi, Hannah.’ Liam rose, wiping his hands on his jeans. Maybe he had the decency to feel uncomfortable, too. ‘Cuppa?’
‘No, thanks, Liam. I’m just here to pick up Chloe.’ Hannah was breathless, like she had run all the way here. Chloe set down her cup and said bye to Lily, who seemed a bit upset her mum wasn’t staying.
‘It’s all right, Lily. Hey, want to watchPaw Patrol?’ asked Liam, and Lily waved goodbye.
‘I still need that book,’ Chloe reminded Hannah.
Hannah slapped her forehead. ‘Right.’
It took some time, but Liam finally dug out the library book from one of Lily’s toy boxes. Chloe could guess why Liam hadn’t been back to the library to return it if he knew Chloe was working there.
Nausea squirmed in her guts. Liam, Lily’s father. She still couldn’t believe it.
She couldn’t breathe properly until she stepped outside and the cold air hit her face. ‘Chloe, I’m so, so sorry,’ said Hannah quickly. ‘Let me explain.’
They walked up and down the street, leaving their cars in Liam’s front drive. ‘How did that even happen?’ Chloe found herself asking. It just seemed so unlikely.
‘Oh, it’s so stupid.’ Hannah sighed. ‘Everyone else had gone, you know? To university or whatever. I asked my cousin to set me up on a blind date, if you can believe that, and it turned out to be Liam.’
‘And he got you pregnant.’ Chloe raised an eyebrow.
‘It was dumb. I laughed at first, thinking it was a joke, but my cousin worked with him and didn’t know about . . . everything. About you. And you had already left by then. We got to talking, one thing led to another . . . We weren’t even going out. I didn’t even like him that much, and when I decided to keep the baby, we tried living together for a bit.’ She gestured towards Liam’s home, rolling her eyes. ‘I suppose I must have made my library account when my address was registered there. I’d forgotten all about it.’ She rubbed her hands over her face. ‘I’m sorry. There never seemed to be a good time to tell you. Either Lily was there, or we were talking about other things . . .’ Chloe knew she meantMum and Dad’s deaths. She guessed she could understand that. Who would want to drop a fresh bombshell on a grieving friend?
‘This is just so weird,’ Chloe said. Her ex-fiancé had slept with her friend, and they had a child together.
‘He’s one of the few people, apart from me, who didn’t leave this town after school,’ said Hannah. ‘We were reminiscing, you know? And I suppose I was lonely and a bit desperate. Too many tequilas, and next thing you know, I was knocked up. But I really wanted to keep the baby, and I’ve been doing just fine by myself.’ Sorrow filled her gaze as she gently took Chloe’s wrist. ‘Do you hate me?’
Chloe walked alongside her. ‘Of course I don’t hate you,’ she said finally. Something strange had happened. Seeing Liam as he was now had shifted something in her. And despite her continued awkwardness with Gwen, she just couldn’t bring herself to feel anger at Hannah. As she’d said, Chloe had long left by then. Things had been over between her and Liam for years. If anything, she felt bad for Hannah that she was now tied to Liam for ever in their joint parenthood.
‘Good, because I was going to tell you, eventually.’ Hannah blushed. ‘You’ve been so great, with the café and everything, and I just feel like I’ve been a terrible friend. I didn’t expect to see you walk in that day . . .’ She was rambling now, and Chloe half listened, trying to process her feelings.
