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“Oh, well, then I’ll refrain from trash talking. This is actually good for my next announcement.”

Hannah groaned, passing a slow-moving car. “Please tell me you haven’t set up another blind date.”

“Better! I got us tickets to this awesome single ladies’ ball on Valentine’s Day!”

“A ball? Like poofy gowns and tiaras kind of ball?”

“Hell yeah!”

“And how is that better?”

“Don’t be a party poop head! It’s gonna be like freaking prom, baby!”

Considering she’d skipped prom in lieu of a plate of nachos and a Gossip Girl marathon, she had no response to that.

“But what about our anti-Valentine’s Day? Horror movies? Junk food? You want to give all that up?” It was actually one of her favorite traditions, one that had started when Nicki and she were twelve and weren’t invited to Kelsey Wilson’s first boy-girl party. Since then, even if Nicki or Hannah had a boyfriend, they would ditch them to have their traditional Valentine’s Day together.

“Oh, come on, Han, it will be great. We can break tradition this once. We’ll go shopping, and get our hair and nails done. Maybe our makeup. When is the last time you went and got pampered?”

It had been her last birthday. She’d gone to get a pedicure, and it had been great except she’d almost kicked the woman in the face. The curse of ticklish feet.

“It’s been a while, but I don’t know if I want to spend my Valentine’s Day dressed like Cinderella with no prince.”

“That is the best part! Princes will be provided. It’s some charity event, and they will have a ton of guys from the base there to dance with us and tell us we’re pretty.”

“Military guys?” Thinking of Blake, a scene flashed through her mind of her in a cream-colored gown, her hair atop her head in a riot of curls, and Blake staring at her as if she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

“Hannah? Did I lose you?”

“No, I’m here.”

“So, what do you say? And before you say no, the tickets cost me fifty bucks each and I really want to go, but I need my best friend so I don’t look like a loser.”

Hannah sighed heavily. “You owe me.”

“Yes! I’ll make our beauty appointments, and this weekend, we’re shopping! Love you, got to go! Bye!”

Hannah didn’t even get a chance to say good-bye before Nicki was gone and she was getting off the freeway. For the last few minutes of her drive, she conjured up an epic fantasy to rival Cinderella’s happily ever after. She’d show up at the ball, and Blake would just happen to be one of the military guys. He’d see her from across the room talking to some other guy, and he’d make his way over to ask her to dance.

As he spun her around the room, he’d hold her tight and tell her he couldn’t stop thinking about their kiss. That he didn’t want to just be friends.

Then he’d kiss her once more in the middle of the dance floor.

Hannah parked in the staff lot and walked into the elementary school. Once she was directed from the office to the classroom, she read through the teacher’s lesson plan, which was pretty loose considering it was kindergarten. They’d go over the letter O, practice their addition, and have story time with a book that started with O.

Hannah pulled out her laptop, checking the time. The class didn’t start for another half hour, so she had some time to work on her manuscript while she waited. Smoothing down her dress as she sat in the chair, she read through the chapter before and started typing.

When the first student arrived, escorted by her mother, Hannah closed down the laptop and smiled at her. The little girl’s hair was braided with pretty blue and pink beads that clicked when she turned her head away to hide against her mother’s stomach.

“Hello there. I’m Miss Hannah, and I’ll be substituting for Mrs. Reichling. What’s your name?”

Hannah squatted in her floral dress so she was eye level with the child, who peeked at her with one eye.

“I’m Nita. This is my niece, Tasha,” Nita said, her hand brushing lovingly over the top of Tasha’s head. “She’s a little shy when first meeting people.”

“I can completely understand that. I used to be really shy, still am sometimes, but you know what helps me relax when I’m around new people?”

Now two brown eyes were staring out at her, curiosity etched in her pretty features.