Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN AT THE LIBRARYHer name was Hannah Reed.
Emmett met her at the public library.
Not at a gala.
Not at a restaurant.
Not through a dating app.
Margot had dropped a stack of books.
Hannah helped pick them up.
That was it.
For three months, Emmett didn't tell me anything else.
He was afraid.
I understood.
Eventually, he invited Hannah to Sunday dinner.
She arrived carrying apple pie and looking more nervous than anyone I had ever seen.
Margot studied her suspiciously.
Hannah didn't force conversation.
She didn't buy Margot gifts.
She didn't call her sweetheart.
She simply sat beside her and asked what book she was reading.
Margot showed her.
Twenty minutes later, they were discussing dragons.
After dinner, Hannah noticed Phoebe's photograph on the mantel.
She walked over.
“That must be Margot's mom.”
The room went quiet.
Emmett nodded.
“Yes.”
Hannah smiled gently.
“She has Margot's eyes.”
No jealousy.
No discomfort.
No attempt to change the subject.
Just acknowledgment.
Later, when Hannah was leaving, Margot ran after her.
“Hannah?”
She turned.
“Yes?”
“Do you want to come next Sunday?”
Hannah looked at Emmett before answering.
Not because she needed his permission.
Because she understood whose invitation mattered.
“I'd like that.”
After she left, Emmett stood beside me.
“Too soon?”
“For what?”
“To hope.”
I looked at him.
“Hope doesn't betray the dead.”
A year passed.
Hannah became part of our lives gradually.
She never tried to become Phoebe.
That was exactly why Margot trusted her.
Then one afternoon, Hannah came to see me alone.
She looked terrified.
“I need your help.”
“With what?”
She placed a small velvet box on my kitchen table.
Inside was a ring.
I stared at her.
She smiled nervously.
“Emmett thinks he's proposing to me Friday.”
I blinked.
“He is.”
“I know.”
“Then why do you have the ring?”
“Because I found it.”
I laughed.
She didn't.
“Walter, I need to ask Margot something before I say yes.”
My smile faded.
“What?”
May you like
Hannah took a breath.
“I need to know whether she's ready for me to stay.”
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