When We're Thirty Casey Dembowski (the chimp paradox .TXT) 📖

Nulty was having an early dinner. Your eyes met, and the rest, as they say, is love.”

That would’ve been a fabulous story. Hannah almost wished she’d thought of it. Of course they would’ve reconnected over Leonard Nulty’s soul-crushingly beautiful words.

“Not quite.” She sipped her coffee, caffeine and relief filling her veins. She liked Madison. She was fun and quirky and owned it. The last time Hannah had felt this comfortable with a stranger had been with Riley, and the time before that, Kate and Will. “Are you a Wilderness fan?”

“God, no. No offense. They just aren’t my thing.” Hannah could only imagine the music Madison listened to. The car radio had been set to something innocuous, but that didn’t mean anything. “But it’s impossible to know William without knowing Wilderness.”

Hannah laughed. “That is true. Will introduced me to them back in college.”

“Ah, so you two have a history.” She winked as if Hannah had slipped up and spilled a secret.

“Yeah. We were best friends in college, lost touch for a while, then a few months ago we ran into each other... and the rest, as they say, is love.”

“Shame you two didn’t run into each other sooner. Manhattan’s not that big, after all.” There was a hint of contempt in Madison’s tone, but Hannah couldn’t place it. Yes, she’d given her a detail-free version of the story, but she’d tied in Madison’s own phrasing, made sure her “ran into each other” sounded wistful.

“I know, but there are a million people on that island—my best friend and I live a few blocks apart, and I swear, if we didn’t seek each other out, we’d never accidentally run into each other. Will and I actually crossed paths down the Shore.” That was the part of the story they had crafted generically enough so it couldn’t be questioned or verified, unlike a concert or a fundraiser or even something as simple as being in the same bar to watch the same game. “My parents live ten minutes or so from the beach, and I was down for a weekend. Our shared loved of funnel cake brought us together, really.”

“Kismet,” Madison said, her eyes glued to her phone. She still seemed off, but all Hannah had to judge by was the bubbly woman she’d been with for the past thirty minutes, and no one could stay that way indefinitely.

“Everything okay?” Hannah asked finally, unwilling to let the weird vibes she felt go unnoticed.

Madison pocketed her phone with a grimace. “Yeah. Just work and wedding stuff. Jon and I are meeting with the florist tomorrow before we head back to the city. She agreed to a Sunday-night meeting, and now she’s being all bitchy about the timing. But there are ten other equally qualified florists in the area, so whatever.”

“Wedding planning sounds fun.”

“It’s god-awful. I swear, if you can get through planning the wedding, marriage should be a breeze. You seriously dodged a bullet.”

Hannah laughed, knowing that what Madison said was one hundred percent true after her sister’s wedding. “And work?”

“Oh.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m a physical therapist, and apparently there’s some insurance issue and they need paperwork, and ugh. Can I just fix people, please?”

“Whereabouts?” Hannah asked, her pulse quickening. Could she have found a physical therapist after all this time? Madison was someone Will knew and who she would want on her side.

“Union and Nineteenth.”

She could walk there from her office if she wanted. “I’ve actually been looking for a PT for a while. Do you take new clients?”

“I do.” Madison looked her over. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Bum knee.”

“Let me check my schedule, but I’m sure I can fit you in. We’re practically family.” Madison swigged her coffee. “Speaking of, we should get back. You don’t want to make a bad first impression by being late to brunch.”

“Then I guess that means we can’t try and sneak in a coffee refill?” Hannah asked, swirling the last of the coffee around in her cup. It had gone cold, but the tiniest part of her wanted to drink it if her only other option was that sludge back at the house.

Madison shook her head. “Bringing in outside coffee is basically treason.”

Chapter 20Hannah

"Where were you?” Will’s tone was near panic as Hannah stepped into their bedroom.

She eyed him, sitting at the foot of the bed in slacks—not jeans—and a long-sleeved polo. It was far from the usual Sunday brunch attire. She guessed today would be the day to wear the dress she’d brought.

“Madison took me to get coffee since the pot in the kitchen practically melted from whatever your dad likes.”

“Madison?”

Hannah pulled the dress out of the closet and glanced at her watch. Blowing out her hair wouldn’t be an option, but she still had enough time to get presentable. “She’s cool. It’s nice having another woman here.”

“Right.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and started scrolling.

“Hey.” Hannah sat down next to him despite the ticking clock and pulled his hand into hers. “It’s going to be fine.”

He smiled, but it didn’t quite feel real. “I know, Abbott. How could it not be with you by my side?”

Normally, she would’ve rolled her eyes at such a comment—Will made them often enough—but this one rang true in a way the others hadn’t. She kissed his cheek as he had hers so many times that week. The surprising intimacy of that small gesture sent a shiver down her spine.

“I’ll be right out,” she said, giving his hand one last squeeze.

Less than twenty minutes later, Hannah sat beside Will at the dining room table across from Madison, Jon, and Daniel. It felt intentional, and she wished someone would move to their side. The head of the table was open, awaiting Jonathan’s arrival—apparently getting there before the patriarch was not just a ploy on Will’s part. Will hadn’t introduced her to Daniel, which made sense, but the youngest Thorne kept looking over and grinning into his coffee. Either he knew that shit was about to