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

“What? Way to bury the lede—pun totally intended.”

She shook her head. “It’s interim editor in chief of Deafening Silence Boston.”

The words didn’t sink in at first. Not all of them. Interim editor in chief. Pride swelled in him. She’d made it. Her dreams were coming true. His wife was going to be editor in chief. Then the rest of her title hit. Boston. She couldn’t manage the Boston edition from New York.

“Whoa.”

“Yup.”

“When do you leave?” he asked, even though the last thing he wanted was to hear the answer. Because if she was telling him now, then the answer was soon, sooner than a year. Too soon for all the plans he’d started making.

“Will,” she said, reaching for his hand.

“Do you want out of the pact?” he asked, eyes trained on the table. He couldn’t watch her say she was leaving him.

“Come with me.” She scooted her chair closer to him, cupping his hands in hers. “It’s only for a few months until they hire a full-time editor. And I love you, so come with me.”

“You love me?”

She rested her forehead against his. “Yes, Will Thorne, I love you. I have always loved you.”

He’d been waiting a decade to hear those words. He kissed her, long and deep, putting every ounce of his love into it. “Me too,” he whispered against her lips.

“You too, what?” Hannah asked, her eyes locked on his, searching.

“I love you, Hannah Abbott-Thorne,” he said, cupping her face.

“Then come with me to Boston.”

Timing was such a bitch. Getting allowance to relocate, even temporarily, would’ve been difficult at any time. Wellington Thorne wasn’t exactly known for being up with the times.

He kissed the hand that still covered his. “I wish that was possible, Abbott, I do. But there’s no way my uncle’s going to let me move to Boston in the middle of this case.”

“Then I won’t go.” Hannah’s voice was steady and determined. Her eyes, glassy with unshed tears, bored into him.

“I can’t be the reason you turn this down,” he said, his voice cracking.

She pressed their entwined hands against his heart. “And I can’t do this without you.”

Chapter 38Will

Light snow dusted the ground, and the night sky twinkled. He hoped it wouldn’t stick, at least not until Hannah arrived safely in the Hamptons. She and the rest of her team were covering an indoor music festival on the Island all day. Will had dropped her off, and Daniel had agreed to drive her the rest of the way after his shift. Once Hannah was safely in his arms and he could smell the sweet scent of her skin, then bring on the snow. It would at least give him a solid block of time to convince her to take the Boston job. As of that morning, she was planning to turn it down, but she had agreed to wait to give Riley a final answer.

He stared down at the journal he kept in the Hamptons, sometimes in his room, sometimes in his mother’s room. For once, he didn’t feel like visiting with her. He lay back on his bed and sketched Hannah’s name into the margin. Hannah loved him. He’d hoped when he knocked on her door with that ridiculous ring that this would be the outcome. But the reality was better than his dreams. His wife was so much more than he could’ve imagined.

A knock at the door pulled him out of his reverie. Hannah wouldn’t knock, and his father had long since retired. Whoever was on the other side of that door was someone he didn’t want to see. Today had been better, but that didn’t mean he was up for late-night heart-to-hearts with either Jon or Madison. The knock came again, softly—Madison. He banged his head against the headboard twice. Why?

Against his better judgment, he made his way over to the door. He could feel Madison’s presence, thick and desperate. If they hadn’t been in the Hamptons, the date might have swept past him without consideration. His mind was knee-deep in reports and Hannah—always Hannah—but it was hard to forget their old anniversary when the person who’d shattered his heart had been sitting across the room all day and was knocking on his door.

He leaned against the doorframe and hid his face in his arm. He didn’t want to do this. She had chosen Jon over and over for months, and she chose him still. And Will’s heart belonged to Hannah. It always had. He chose Hannah. He would always choose Hannah.

“Will, please,” Madison said, so quietly it was like she knew he was standing on the other side of the door.

He took a breath. He could do this. Madison’s hold on him was gone. It was just another night. The knock came again, and he knew she wouldn’t leave until he opened the door. Hannah would find her crying outside his door, and then there would be questions. He pushed the image of Hannah to the forefront of his mind. Her eyes had been so full of love when she told him she was adding his last name to her own. They were perfect together, and nothing Madison said could ever change that. He pulled open the door.

Madison straightened, lifting her eyes to his. Tears stained her cheeks, and her eyes were filled with more unshed.

The harsh “make it quick” he’d planned on saying died on his lips at her tears. “Maddie,” he said, the endearment slipping out unintentionally. “What’s going on?”

“Jon and I had a fight,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself.

He tucked his hands into his pockets. “About?”

“He thinks I’m still in love with you.”

Well, that was something. He hadn’t thought Jon even gave him a second thought when he’d decided to steal his girlfriend. “And you thought showing up at my door after your fight was going to assuage his fears?”

She sniffled, he thought to cover a laugh, but then a sob racked her body. “He’s