“Totally worth it,” Jackson said. “You’ll have a good time.”
He was looking forward to it. Even though some of the people he wanted to see—or at least one particular person who he hadn’t seen in almost ten years—likely wouldn’t be there.
They’d broken up after graduation. Then she’d moved out of state. Gotten married, or so he’d heard.
Anyway, that was all in the past. She was his past. And as he knew, the past should stay where it was.
But he’d still hang out with his friends, and after today’s shift, he could use a good time.
So he’d go to his high school reunion and have some damn fun.
CHAPTER 2
HANNAH CLARK BARELY HAD ENOUGH TIME TO DASH home, take a shower and get ready for tonight’s reunion, one she’d been undecided about attending ever since she’d first read about it on social media.
“I still don’t think this is a good idea,” she said in the bathroom while she pulled the straight iron through her hair.
“Why not?” her mother asked. “You’ve been back for months and have hardly connected with any of your friends from high school.”
“You know I’ve been busy setting the shop up, hiring stylists for the chairs, getting clientele.”
“And some of your high school girlfriends are potential clientele.”
She was not wrong. “Fine. I’m going to the reunion. I’ll make connections.”
A cute brown-haired boy with the sweetest brown eyes peeked his head around the doorway. “Where you goin’, Momma?”
“I have a party tonight, honey.”
“Can I go?”
Her mother smiled at Hannah’s son, Oliver. “No, sweet boy. Tonight we’re going to Aunt Heather’s house, so you can play with Isaiah.”
Oliver’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “I’ll go pack up some toys.”
Hannah looked up at her mom and smiled. “Clearly hanging out with Isaiah trumps going to a party with his mom.”
“Hey, you’re not a match for a much more sophisticated nine-year-old boy.”
She laughed. “True. Thanks for taking care of Oliver tonight. And tell Aunt Heather hello for me.”
Heather was one of her mother’s coworkers and best friends who just so happened to be only five years older than Hannah. Since Hannah had lived out of state for so many years, her mom had sort of adopted Heather as one of her own.
“She says you’re welcome to come. You’re missing lasagna night at her house.”
“Damn.” She loved Heather’s lasagna. She’d make a point to stop by there with Oliver sometime next week.
Since her divorce, she’d felt so unsettled. And so damn scattered and busy. Moving back to Ft. Lauderdale had been the right decision; she knew that. She needed her family after that mess with her ex-husband, Landon. And since he’d never cared about Oliver anyway, she hadn’t forced the child support issue and he hadn’t contested the move out of state. Sure, money would be tight, but at least she was free of him, and so was Oliver.
Now she and her baby boy could both start fresh. That’s what really mattered.
After finishing her hair and makeup, she went into the small bedroom that was now hers, the same one that had been hers when she was a child. When she was little, it had seemed enormous. Now she realized how small it was. Still, it represented freedom to her, and she’d been so grateful to her mother for letting Oliver and her stay here until she could save up enough money to get her own place. The tiny bedroom was fine. And Oliver loved his room, which was larger than the one they’d had at their house in Georgia. Plus, he had her mom, who doted on him.
She pulled out the awesome dress she’d found on sale at the discount store. It was a gorgeous black party dress, still had the tags on it, and she’d only paid ten dollars for it. Such a bargain.
It was a simple design, but it was her size and clung to her body as if it had been made especially for her. She added a long silver chain and her hoop earrings, and the silver heels she’d borrowed from her mom.
She turned around and looked at herself in the full-length mirror.
How long had it been since she’d dressed up like this? Years, probably. She couldn’t remember. Landon had never wanted to go out anywhere except the local bar, and he’d mostly done that alone or with his buddies. A nice dinner to him had been the buffet in town. Which was fine, but occasionally it would have been fun to dress up and go out.
But he’d never thought about her desires, or her needs. Only his own.
She shrugged and tossed thoughts of Landon aside. That part of her life was over, had been for a while, actually. Now she had a clean slate.
Tonight, she’d see old friends and have a good time. She sat on the bed and opened up her old yearbook from senior year. Her mom had dredged that dusty thing out from who knows where. The attic, probably. She flipped through the pages, smiling at photos of her friends, horrified by some of the shots of herself and her goofy faces. Still, she laughed because she’d just been a kid.
Her heart thudded when she landed on a picture of her and Kal Donovan. Underneath, the caption read, “Cutest Couple.” Kal was behind her in the picture, his arms wrapped around her, her body resting against his. She looked so happy, so in love. She traced the picture with her fingers, remembering how sweet Kal had been, what that first love had felt like. The butterflies in her stomach whenever she saw him walking down the hall toward her. The sensation of his hand resting on the small of her back, the little shivers she always felt along her spine.
And his smile. She’d always loved his smile.
She shook herself away from the past. Again, she’d just been a kid—a silly teenager. What had she known about love back then?
Or even a few years later when she’d married Landon?
Oliver burst into her room and threw himself on the bed. “Grandma and I are gonna leave soon.”
She put her arm around him. “You have fun with Isaiah tonight. Eat some lasagna for me.”
He laughed. “I will.” He looked down at the picture. “Who’s this guy?”
“This is Kal. He was my boyfriend in high school, when I was a teenager.”
Oliver studied the picture. “Before Daddy?”
“Yes. Before Daddy.”
He scrunched his nose. “Did you like him a lot?”
“I did. But then we broke up after I graduated from high school. Then I met your daddy, we got married and we had you, my shining star.” She cuddled him close to her.
“Momma. Too much hugging.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
Oliver hopped off the bed. “See you later.”
“I love you.”
He waved on his way out of her room. “Love you, too!”
She sighed, realizing her sweet, warm, cuddly baby boy was growing up, becoming independent. A good thing for him. But she missed all the cuddling they used to do when he was little.
So much change in her life. So much failure. The end of her marriage, closing her shop in Georgia, moving back home. She was starting all over again. She sighed once more, closed the yearbook and got off the bed, determined to blow off these feelings.
Starting over wasn’t a bad thing. In her case, it was definitely the right choice. The right choice for Oliver, too.