Page 47

Instead of being offended, the doctor laughed. “Once or twice. Are you avoiding the question?”

“Fine, her name was Jenny. Are you satisfied?”

“Yes, for the moment. Tell me about the other woman. Does she look like Jenny?”

Sweat broke out on Blake’s forehead; he was uneasy for reasons he couldn’t even put together. “Why do we need to talk about her? It’s a moot point.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I told her I wasn’t interested.”

“I see. So you lied because you felt guilty that you don’t feel enough time has passed for you to be able to move on. What is a decent length of time?”

Blake shifted, ready to jump up and leave. “I don’t know.”

“Well, historically in Western culture, the proper length of time to mourn a spouse was one year, regardless of the time you were together.”

“It’s not enough time for me.”

“Shouldn’t the fact that you’re finally feeling attraction for someone else tell you that enough time actually has passed and you are fighting it because you blame yourself for Jenny’s death?”

“Do you always jump right into the hard shit with your clients?” he asked.

Dr. Stabler smiled as she wrote something else down on that yellow notepad. “To be honest, I find that working through the hard stuff is easy. It’s taking what you learn from that work and applying it to the rest of your life that is the tough part.”

Blake didn’t understand that for one second, but he was going to do his best to stick it out. Three hours a week of intense therapy wasn’t going to break him.

He was determined that nothing would ever break him again.

Chapter Thirteen

HANNAH ENDED UP staying the rest of the week at the school, falling in love with the students in Mrs. Reichling’s afternoon kindergarten class, especially Tasha. The parents had been singing her praises; at least, that is what the vice principal, Mr. Jones, had told her on Thursday.

On Friday, though, he’d called her into his office early before class started, and she was really nervous about it.

“Miss York, Mrs. Reichling called this morning, and due to some medical issues I cannot disclose, has chosen to retire early. She’d already cut her workload to the single afternoon class, so it is only a part-time position at this time, but as she has chosen not to return for the remaining school year, I was hoping that you would agree to take on her class until the end of the year.”

Hannah was beyond thrilled. She didn’t care if it was only part-time; it was a real teaching position. It was consistent and exactly what she needed to get her foot in the door.

“Of course, I would be happy to. I have really enjoyed working with the kids this week. I appreciate the opportunity.”

“Good, t

hen we’ll get a contract drafted, and when the school year ends, we’ll reevaluate and see if maybe we might have a permanent place for you here.”

Hannah stood up, wanting to hug the man, but she refrained. “Thank you so much, sir.”

“You are welcome.”

Hannah shook his hand and went to her classroom, then grabbed her cell from her purse. When she pulled up her contacts, her thumb slowed as her gaze fell on Blake’s name. She should just delete it and stop torturing herself. Although Blake told her that they were going to be friends, she didn’t actually believe it. Especially since he still hadn’t come back to Dale’s, and it had been four days since she’d last seen him.

Still, she couldn’t bring herself to do it, so she just kept scrolling past until she found her mom’s number, trying not to dwell on Blake.

She’d been just about to press the call button when her phone blew up, Nicki’s smiling face popping up on the screen.

Hannah answered by swiping the green phone icon.

“Hello, Nic.”