The Unwanted Wife's Return (Ex-Husband Wants Me Back) novel Chapter 216

HANNAH’S POV: 

“It does not sound strange at all,” I said. 

She looked at me then and her eyes were bright and she laughed a little to break the heaviness of it. “I cried in the car on the way here. My friend had to talk me out of turning back. I felt ridiculous.” 

“You are not ridiculous,” I said. 

“The collection is named after your mother,” she said. “Who you never really got to know. And I never really got to have mine for long enough. And I think that is why it meant so much to me when I heard about what you were doing.” She looked back at the sketch. “I think our mothers would have liked each other.” 

I had not expected that. It sat in my chest in a warm and a little bit painful way all at once. 

“You will have your dress,” I said. And I meant it with everything I had. “I promise you, Paige. You will have it for your wedding day.” 

She pressed her lips together and nodded and her friend, the one who had offered the helpful clarification about the almond things, quietly produced a small packet of tissues from her bag and held one out to Paige without making any comment about it, which I thought was the mark of an excellent friend. 

After they left I stood by the entrance for a moment longer than necessary. 

Lily came to find me a few minutes later and stood beside me without asking any questions. She had a way of doing that, appearing at the right moment and just being present without requiring anything from you in return. 

“You okay?” she said eventually. 

Kate sat down next to me on the floor with her own coffee. 

“Have you seen T*****r today?” she asked. 

“I have been in here since seven this morning, Kate.” 

“Right yes, of course, sorry.” She held her phone out toward me. 

On the screen was a video. Short, maybe forty seconds. Filmed on a phone from a table away with that slightly unsteady quality of footage that was not meant to look professional. It was the cafe. After tennis. Cherry and I sitting across from each other with our plates and our drinks and Cherry’s wide disbelieving eyes and me saying something that the audio was slightly patchy on but the captions under the video filled in: A new collection. The Mirada collection to honour my mother. It will be released in a month.