Chapter 1
SNEAK PEEK OF THE PINK HOUSE
CHAPTER ONE
“Pack it, or smash it?” Standing in the middle of a room full of boxes, Hannah Danbury lifted one hand palm up then the other as she weighed the options.
Her BFF, Emma Sands, held the mug sporting the logo of Hannah’s former employer between two fingers, a look of distaste on her face. “I vote smash it.”
Though tempted, Hannah shook her head. “If I did smash it, I’d be the one cleaning up the mess. Not worth it.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re going to keep it. Not after what they did to you.”
Hannah hesitated for only an instant. “It’s a good mug, but not for me. Put it in the donate pile.”
Emma offered a reluctant nod as Hannah continued to drop utensils into a box labeled Kitchen Stuff.
“You gave that company over eight years of your life.” Emma’s lips pursed. “Don’t tell me they couldn’t have found a place for you when they restructured.”
The thought had crossed Hannah’s mind a dozen times, but ruminating on her dismissal served no purpose. She hadn’t been the only one let go when the company had been sold. A lot of really good employees had found themselves without jobs.
“Layoffs happen.” That was Hannah’s go-to phrase whenever anyone had expressed sympathy during the past eight weeks. “Restructuring is part of corporate life nowadays.”
“True, but they don’t usually happen when you’re still grieving for…” Her voice trailed off, and sympathy filled Emma’s brown eyes.
“Brian. You can say his name, Ems. I don’t forget he’s gone just because we don’t talk about him.
” Last year, Hannah’s formerly healthy husband had been diagnosed with cancer only months before his thirtieth birthday.
He’d died six weeks later. “Brian is always with me. I look around this apartment and see him everywhere. It breaks my heart to think of all the dreams we had—he had—that will never come true.”
“Let’s take a break.” Emma set the mug on the island counter and gestured toward the sofa. “Is that the real reason you’re leaving Greensboro? To get away from the memories?”
Hannah stepped around several boxes to drop onto the sofa. She had asked herself the same question Emma was asking.
“If I was still employed at Mingus, I’d stay. With no income and my dad’s house in GraceTown falling into my lap…” Hannah shrugged. “Seems like the perfect time to return home.”
“I’m happy for you, I really am, but I’m sad for me. I wish home wasn’t Maryland.” Emma grabbed two sodas from the refrigerator. After handing one can to Hannah, she took a seat beside her friend on the sofa. “I mean, GraceTown is adorable, but it’s not like it’s down the block.”
Hannah reached over and gave her friend’s hand a squeeze. “I’m going to miss you, too. Big-time.”
They sipped their sodas in companionable silence before Emma shifted to face Hannah. “I’ve never asked. I mean, I know your dad won’t be there, but what about Brian’s parents? Do they still live in GraceTown?”
Hannah nodded. “They do, but I doubt I’ll see much of them. Brian’s sister, Katie, and her new husband are in town, and Katie and her mom are close.”
Hannah had liked her in-laws well enough. With her own mother passing away when she was small, she’d hoped to forge a closeness with Debbie. That connection had never materialized.
“In a way, with your dad and stepmom already in Florida, it’s like you’re moving to a completely new town.”
“I suppose.” Hannah lifted the can of soda, but didn’t take a drink. “Except I did grow up there.”
Emma pushed silky brown hair back from her heart-shaped face with the back of her hand, the gesture as elegant as the woman herself. “Are you going to look for another marketing position once you get settled?”
This wasn’t the first time Emma had broached the topic of Hannah resuming her career. Like Hannah had once been, Emma was all about opportunities and advancement. Each time before when Emma had asked, Hannah had simply told her the truth—she wasn’t sure what she would do.
Since she knew Emma worried, Hannah brought up a possibility that had recently surfaced, one she found intriguing.
“Mackenna, she’s a friend from way back, works at Collister College.
We’ve stayed in touch through the years, mostly online.
She mentioned they have a position in marketing and student recruitment coming open in September.
She thinks I’d be a fabulous candidate and offered to put in a good word. ”
“September is four months away.” Emma lowered her soda. “Do you really want to wait that long? Plus, there’s no guarantee you’d get the job.”
“I know that.” Hannah kept her tone matter-of-fact. “But it sounds as if it could be a possibility.”
In fact, it was the first position that had interested her, though she was sure the appeal was because she’d be working in the same area as Mackenna.
Thankfully, she had time to consider all her options. Brian had carried a robust life insurance policy, and Hannah had yet to touch any of the money. Between it and what she was making off the sale of the townhouse, she could easily take the summer off.
She told herself she deserved the break.
It had been a tough year, with the past couple of months being the roughest. She’d lost her job, learned her dad was leaving GraceTown for sunny Florida, then she’d decided to put her own home on the market and move.
The hits just kept coming with the first anniversary of Brian’s death last week, six days before their thirtieth birthday.
When she and Brian had first started dating, sharing a birthday had seemed incredibly cool. Now that day would forever be a yearly reminder of all she’d lost.
“We thought we had all the time in the world.” Hannah gazed out the window. “We had a plan. Our twenties would be focused on building our careers. The thirties, well, that was when we planned to start a family. Now here I am, turning thirty and making new plans alone.”
“Speaking of birthdays.” Emma placed a hand on Hannah’s arm and gave it a sympathetic squeeze before rising. Hurrying across the room, she stopped where she’d dropped her stuff when she arrived. She returned to the sofa with a white bakery box.
Emma’s eyes met hers. “I know you said you didn’t want to go out and celebrate. But we’re not going out, we’re here.”
A smile tugged at the corners of Hannah’s lips. “What do you have in there?”
“It struck me that this could be the last time we’ll be able to celebrate your birthday together.” Carefully opening the bakery box, Emma removed a cupcake. “I say a birthday without cake is like sex without a man.”
With its swirl of pink frosting dotted with tiny beads of white that resembled pearls and topped with a pink crown, the cupcake reminded Hannah of something out of a fairy tale.
A pretty bow of organza ribbon edged with pink satin encircled the base. Emma held out the gorgeous creation. “A cupcake worthy of a princess for a princess.”
A lump formed in Hannah’s throat. “It-it’s gorgeous.”
“It’s from that new bakery out on Whittier.” Emma pushed the cupcake at her when Hannah only stared. “The reviews say their cupcakes taste every bit as good as they look.”
“Thank you, Ems.” Tears stung the backs of Hannah’s eyes at her friend’s thoughtfulness. “You’re going to have to help me eat it.”
“No way am I making you share. Not on your birthday.” Emma smiled and pulled another cupcake from the box. “That’s why I got one for myself.”
The laughter that bubbled up in Hannah was as precious a gift as the gorgeous cupcake and the beautiful friend beside her.
Three weeks later, Hannah moved into the only home she’d known before leaving for college at eighteen.
Though the house hadn’t changed, GraceTown had continued to grow and now spread in all directions. Homes dotted ground where crops had once flourished.
Like the hardworking people who inhabited these homes, the houses in Hannah’s neighborhood remained untouched by the passage of time.
In the block she considered her own, the homes were older and boasted two stories and large front porches.
Blankets of lush green grass and flowering bushes spoke to the pride of ownership.
Many of the neighbors were the same. Sean O’Malley from down the street had a ladder resting against the trunk of a large pin oak as he sawed off a limb.
Geraldine Walker and Beverly Raymond still lived across the street.
In their early seventies, with hair now sporting more gray than brown, the two women waved from their porch swing as she drove by.
As Hannah waved back and called out a greeting through her open car window, she realized just how much she was looking forward to living in a neighborhood again.
The townhouse she and Brian had purchased right after college had been located in an area of Greensboro, North Carolina, called Friendly West. They’d been happy in the area inhabited by mostly young professionals, men and women focused on their careers and more interested in their own personal activities than socializing with neighbors.
She understood the focus. She and Brian had embraced that same lifestyle, working long hours, then filling any free hours with time spent together.
Hannah hoped to do things differently this time. While she would always give a job her best, never again would she let a career consume her life.
Though she’d meant what she’d said to Emma about understanding that layoffs happen, it still hurt to be cast aside after eight years of unwavering loyalty.
Hannah shoved the thought aside. She would not bring old regrets into her new life.
After setting a box of kitchen items on the counter, Hannah returned to her vehicle. Thankfully, her father had left most of his furniture, which had saved her the cost of moving hers.
Though she had to admit that parting with the sofa, chairs and bedroom furniture she and Brian had chosen together had been more difficult than she’d imagined.