They both dreaded being away from each other, but he reminded her it would only be for a week.
Fuck, he hadn’t seen her again until that night. She’d been gone for over three months, and every day that passed, it felt like another piece of him had died.
Hannah and her Rhys had taken a trip to Germany, where their uncle was ill, and they’d flown to be with him. It was only supposed to be a few days. When he asked if her uncle was doing better, she or her brother just said they were hopeful.
Cullen tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and pictured her as she looked in the bar that night. She was as beautiful as she had always been, but maybe even more so now. Her hair was longer and lighter than it had been. She was tiny before, but now she was downright thin. Too thin.
He got up and walked into the house. There was time enough to dwell on Hannah later. He was wiped out and needed sleep. He’d think about what to do in the morning.
****
Hannah looked out her side window as her brother drove them back home. Most of her was numb, but there was a kernel of excruciating pain that was building, and she wanted to be alone in her room before she let loose.
“Why didn’t you tell him?” Rhys asked.
“I didn’t want to mess up his life. You know this. He’d just started a business that he’d dreamed of for years. If he’d known I was sick, he would have dropped everything and come to me.”
“I know why you didn’t let me call him in Germany. Although I don’t agree with it, I get where you’re coming from. I’m talking about tonight.”
Hannah’s hands fisted in her lap. “I was going to, but I didn’t get a chance to before he introduced his g … girlfriend to me.” God, just thinking about it made her limbs tremble, and she blocked everything because she wanted to wait until she was alone.
“I’m not so sure that’s what she was.”
“Please. Can we not talk about it?”
Rhys sighed. “Yeah.”
She turned to him. “Rhys, you have to promise not to tell him anything.”
Rhys scowled. “Jesus, Hannah, it might be the difference between you and he being together.”
“I want your promise, Rhys. I swear I’ll never forgive you. It’s best this way. Too much has happened in the last few months. I’ve changed, and I’ll never be the same. He could do and have everything he’d ever dreamed of with another woman.”
“Goddammit, Hannah.”
“Please just stop. I can’t take it anymore.” Her energy level was still not up to what it used to be, and her muscles had deteriorated while in the hospital. The doctors told her it would take weeks, if not longer, for her to be back to normal. But she knew that she’d have to get used to a different kind of normal. One that didn’t include Cullen.
Rhys sighed as he pulled into their driveway.
She looked around. Even her home had changed. The grass had been cut, but the flower beds were so overgrown with weeds that you couldn’t see the bushes and perennials she’d planted.
She flinched when Rhys’s hand came down on her leg.
“Let’s give it a rest, Hannah, and concentrate on the house and getting jobs.”
“I like that idea.”
She slid out of the car and grabbed a few of their bags while her brother got the rest.
Rhys unlocked and opened the door before turning on a light. They set their bags down and looked around.
“Well, hell, we know what we’re doing tomorrow,” Rhys said.
She nodded. There was dust on every surface, and papers and cups they’d forgotten to take care of before leaving. But they’d thought they’d only be gone a week.
“Let’s worry about this tomorrow.”
Rhys looked at her, and she did the best she could hide her emotions.