“How’s your knee doing?” her father asked as they were finishing up their entrées.

“Surprisingly well! Madison—Will’s brother’s fiancée—is my physical therapist, and”—she pushed her leg out from under the table—“I can straighten it and everything.”

“Wow,” Will and her dad said at the same time.

“I have an appointment with an orthopedist next week, and then I’ll know if I need surgery or not.”

“Hopefully not,” Will said, squeezing her hand. “Madison is good at what she does, and Hannah has been diligent about doing all her exercises at home.”

“Madison kind of threatened my life, but yeah. I’m looking forward to getting back out there,” she said. “Will’s a runner, and he’s been totally rubbing it in my face that he can go for runs every day.”

Will’s eyes widened, and his gaze swiveled to her father. “I swear I have done no such thing.”

Her father’s laugh filled the restaurant. “You two are fun. You know, the New Jersey half marathon is in April. Perhaps the Abbotts and Thornes can team up.”

The memory of runner’s high coursed through her. Was that even a possibility? Back on the pavement by April? They’d have to add Daniel to the team. She’d be so outpaced. But maybe. “Team Thabbott!”

Her father waved his hand in front of his face as if wafting away a bad smell. “Oh no, no, honey. That’s just awful.”

Chapter 36Hannah

Hannah redialed Riley for the third time. Riley was going to be so annoyed when she picked up, but that was what she got for scheduling meetings unannounced while on maternity leave.

“Why do we have a two o’clock scheduled for today?” Hannah asked when Riley finally answered, her tone calmer than expected.

“Because we need to... hold on.” Hannah could hear the high-pitched and aspirational sounds of a Disney movie playing in the background as Riley shuffled the phone around. “Sorry, Jo is being needy.”

“Is there any other way for an eight-week-old to be?”

“Yes,” Riley said amidst more shuffling. “Anyway, we need to talk, so you’re coming to me at two.”

“You’re on maternity leave.”

“Which is why you are coming to my house.”

“That’s all I get?” Hannah asked.

Much to her disbelief, Riley had stayed away during this maternity leave. With Cecilia, she’d been in the office constantly, baby strapped to her chest in one of those weird wrap things. She couldn’t stand to be home or away from her first baby. But the bigger, more experienced staff seemed to help keep her at home this time.

“See you at two!”

Hannah ended the call, staring at her phone incredulously. What could this possibly be about? Godmother duties, a fatal flaw in the latest issue, or health insurance finally coming through? No—Riley could email about all that. Hannah would have to worry about it later—and she’d have plenty of time while she sat in an MRI machine. Today was the day. Riley had better hope for good news if she was about to drop a bomb.

Hannah stared up at the hospital towering over the East River. She hadn’t been there since the days following her accident. The sight of the building filled her with trepidation. What if the news was bad and time made everything worse? She shook her head. This was why she married Will. She couldn’t lose more time. New Jersey half in April. Team Thabbott. She kept those thoughts in her mind. Whatever the outcome, she needed a goal.

“Hannah!”

She turned at the sound of Daniel’s voice. Will hadn’t been sure about Daniel’s schedule, but there he was, scrubs and all. At least they weren’t blood splattered.

“Ready?” he asked, enveloping her in a hug.

It still amazed her how quickly Daniel had taken her into the fold. Jon was warm but still distant. Not that she expected anything else—even in a normal situation, it had only been a few months. But Daniel seemed genuinely excited by her existence.

“As I’ll ever be,” she said, wishing again that she hadn’t told Will she’d be fine on her own.

“Listen,” he said as they entered the hospital through the main entrance. So far, it was much more welcoming than the emergency room—less chaotic and not so frightening. “I know my brother is trapped in some god-awful meeting right now, so I was thinking...”

“I’ll be fine.”

He laughed. “I don’t doubt that, but if you’ll have me, I’d love to accompany you.”

“Doing an ortho rotation?” She leaned against the rail in the elevator, watching the numbers go up. There would be no getting rid of him, but a good ribbing never hurt anyone.

“If it makes you feel better about it, then absolutely.”

Part of her wanted to do this on her own. That was why she’d shooed away both Will and Kate’s offers to go with her. Maybe she wanted the opportunity to take it in by herself—to be able to have whatever her reaction was going to be without an audience. Maybe she wanted the chance to lie about whatever the doctor said. Probably both.

But after an hour of scans, Hannah was glad Daniel had agreed to stay with her while she waited for the doctor. She would be mighty bored otherwise and probably panicking.

“Tell me what you saw on the scan.” Hannah lay back on the exam table, the paper crinkling under her weight.

Daniel sighed from his perch on the stiff plastic guest chair in the corner. “I’m no expert, but your meniscus is still torn.”

“Fuck.” Not that she hadn’t been expecting to hear that.

“It didn’t look that bad to me, but let’s see what Dr. Annabelle has to say.”

“Thank you for staying with me.” She meant it wholeheartedly. Daniel had less time off than the rest of the Thornes, and he was spending it with his brother’s wife in the hospital where he already spent the majority of his days.

“That’s what you do for family...”

Hannah couldn’t see his face from where he was sitting, but the end of the sentence had started to trail off, and the silence that followed was heavy with racing thoughts.

She sighed. “Just say it.”

“What?” he asked with a short, nervous laugh.

“I can hear you thinking all the way over here,” she said, closing her eyes for the briefest of moments.

“Right,” he said, clearing his throat. “I just wanted to thank you, really.”

She sat up too quickly, and all the blood fled from her head. She kept her eyes closed until her equilibrium returned. When she opened them, Daniel stared back at her, an amused expression on his face.

“Thank me?” she said after another moment.

“Listen, I don’t know why you and Will got married. Maybe it was because you needed this appointment.” He held up his hand as she started to protest. “I was there after everything happened. There is no way he met you and fell in love the way you two said. When you supposedly ran into each other, Will was so drunk every day he could hardly function.”