Hannah
As soon as I get off work for the evening, I rush over to Tess’s house. I call Millie on the way and tell her to get her tiny hiney over there as soon as she can. I need all the support I can get from my girls.
Tess greets me at the door with a pint of ice cream and a spoon. I take it and shove a huge bite of the cookie dough ice cream into my mouth, sighing as the sugar soothes my soul. Lily runs up to me and hugs my legs, almost causing me to tumble over. It’s good to see we’ve recovered from our horrible babysitting encounter a few weeks ago.
Millie arrives moments later, ready to do damage control. She has a bag full of face masks, nail polish, and my favorite comfort movie, Pride and Prejudice—the miniseries, not the 2005 movie. Colin Firth will forever be my Mr. Darcy, even if that hand flex in the movie is everything.
They think I’m in distress. I brush off all of their pampering and stand in front of them, demanding their attention. “Seth is buying the store!”
They both gasp. Tess’s hand is over her mouth, and Millie begins rubbing my back, telling me there will be other buildings. I shrug her off and say, “You don’t understand! He’s buying it for me! He loves me, and he believes in me and my dreams!”
They gasp again, this time for a different reason.
“You have to tell him how you feel,” Millie says. “It’s time, girl.” She’s right. It’s beyond time. I wanted to tell him earlier, but dang Gertie had to go and ruin my moment. But what do I say to him? Now it’ll just look like I only want him because he bought a store for me. How do I show him that I want him?
“You have to help me! I don’t know what to do. I can’t do this on my own.”
“And you don’t have to,” Millie says in a squeaky voice.
We spend the next thirty minutes practicing what I’ll say. Millie stands in as Seth, which is hilarious considering she’s only five feet tall. I approach her, and she bends over in a deep bow with her hand outstretched toward me.
“Millie, what are you doing? He's not a British Lord meeting the Queen,” Tess says.
“Oh, right. Yo, Hannah, baby,” she says, deepening her voice.
“Oh my gosh. I can’t. Millie, you’re done. Sit down,” Tess says and steps into her place while Millie sits on the couch and cuddles up with Lily. She steals a handful of her goldfish and watches us like she’s about to see a Cinemark treasure.
I walk toward Tess and say, “Hey, Seth, can I talk to you?”
Tess waves to me and says, “Sure,” in a deep voice. I’m tempted to laugh but manage to keep it together.
“So, I’ve come here today to tell you that—”
“Okay, cut! Cut!” Millie says like a movie director. “You’re not giving a speech. Make it sound natural, like you’re talking to a friend.”
“A friend? I’ve never really thought of Seth as a friend. Kind of, but not really.”
“Just sit him down and tell him how you feel. You already know how he feels. He bought a store for you, for crying out loud. It’s safe to assume that he hasn’t stopped loving you in the last three days,” Tess says in the same motherly tone I’ve heard her use with Lily and Riley thousands of times.
“Seth,” I start again. “I love you more than all of my kittens, rainbows, and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream all combined…”
“Oh, this is hopeless,” Millie groans.
Tess and Millie declare me a hopeless case and feed me lines to say to Seth. It’s easy saying it when he’s not sitting in front of me, watching me with that easy smile of his. It’s another thing completely when I have to look at him. His curly hair tempts me to loop my finger through a rogue curl, his muscular arms beckon me to wrap myself up in his embrace, and that jaw…that jaw begs to be kissed.
With my brain crammed with ten different ways to declare my love for Seth Miller, Tess drives me and Millie over to Seth’s house. I could have come alone, but I need some moral support. And they both know I won’t do it if they aren’t here forcing me.
I’m standing in front of his door, completely shell shocked. I’ve forgotten how to breathe. I’ve forgotten how to knock on a door. I’ve forgotten how to speak. What are words?
“Knock on the door, Hannah,” Tess calls to me from around the corner. I turn to her and shake my head. I can’t do it. It’s too much pressure.
Millie’s head pops around the corner, and she says, “Hannah, you knock on that door right now, or I’ll do it for you. I’ll throw my shoe at it or something! Don’t you tempt me!” Millie’s crazy. She’d really do it.
I face the door and give it three solid knocks, and then my heart takes off in a gallop. A minute later, Jameson opens the door. He has a huge smile on his face when he sees me, and then he spots his wife standing a few feet behind me. “Hey, babe. What are you doing here?” he asks Millie. Oh gosh, gag me. They’re so cute.
I clear my throat to get his attention. “I need to talk to Seth,” I say. There’s a look of relief on his face for a moment before he lets me into the house. Seth and Colby are sitting on Seth’s couch, talking about something, and Seth jumps up suddenly when he sees me.
“Hannah!” he practically yells.