A Date for Hannah

by Callie Henry

  When Bree drew back, she cocked her head to the side. “Mad at me?”

  Hannah nodded.

  “Want to talk about it? We’ve got a two-hour car ride ahead, sis. I’m a good listener and I’m an even better advice-giver. I promise.”

  Hannah had essentially locked herself in her room all week, and even though her well-intentioned mother had stopped in to check on her and ask if she was okay a couple of times a day, she couldn’t bear talking about Liam, so she’d asked to be left alone. She didn’t think it would help to talk about it, but she felt so sad, she was ready to try just about anything. And who better than Bree, who knew her and knew Liam and had seen them together?

  “Okay.”

  And thank God they had such a long car ride, followed by an hour-long dinner near the theater, because Hannah rehashed the entirety—every little detail—of her weekend with Liam for her older sister.

  When she got to the part about kissing under the weeping willow, Bree sighed.

  Halfway to Ashland, Bree giggled over the fortysomething guest who’d forced Hannah and Liam into the charade of marriage.

  As they looked for street parking halfway between the theater and the restaurant, Bree cooed as Hannah recounted their romantic dance to “In My Life.”

  Hannah took a big bite of her croque monsieur before telling her sister how she’d listened to the story of his arrest by the outdoor fire and had somehow ended up spooned by his side.

  And Bree was so transfixed by Hannah’s recounting of them waking up on the couch together that she barely had a spoonful of the chocolate mousse they were sharing before Hannah finished it.

  “The way he looked at me, Bree? The way he looked at me after kissing me in that little hallway on Sunday morning? It was like a promise. It was like he was promising me something in his head. Something deep and wonderful and—and then I walked away from him and overheard you and Todd.”

  “And decided that he was only doing a favor for me by being nice to you.”

  “A paid favor.”

  “You need to know something,” said Bree. “I never paid him.”

  “What?”

  “He refused to take my money.”

  “He did?”

  “Wouldn’t take a dime. His feelings for you were real, Hannah.”

  “Then why hasn’t he called? Or texted?”

  Hannah stirred her coffee, glancing at her watch. It was only seven-thirty. They still had half an hour before the show, and the theater was only five minutes away.

  “Tell me something,” said Bree. “If he called you, would you pick up? Would you give him a chance to explain? Or would you jump down his throat and hang up on him?”

  Hannah shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “How about a text? Would a text be enough? Even if it was a really great text, would it be enough?”

  “I don’t know,” said Hannah, her voice breaking. She couldn’t imagine a text that could make this better—that could show her just how much he cared.

  “Then why would he call or text? I’m sure he’s as scared as you are.” Bree reached across the table and took her little sister’s hands in hers. “But Hannah, you know in your heart, don’t you? You know that no man acts the way that Liam acted unless he’s genuinely interested. No man looks at a woman the way Liam looked at you unless he’s genuinely, deeply, possibly irrevocably interested.”

  Hannah took a deep breath. “That’s what my heart keeps saying. And yet—”

  “What?” asked Bree, releasing Hannah’s hands when the check arrived.

  She shrugged, feeling miserable. “It’s hard to know. It’s hard to trust him now.”

  Bree signed the receipt, then focused on her sister. “I know he only spent one night with you, but he got to know you pretty well. My bet is that he suspects that you won’t talk to him and that reaching out might even push you further away. If he’s falling for you, he’s not going to risk doing anything that could hurt you more…or that could hurt his chances with you.”

  “He believes in second chances,” said Hannah quietly.

  “Yes, he does.” Bree waited a moment, scanning Hannah’s face intensely. “Do you?”

  Hannah swallowed the lump in her throat. “I don’t know.”

  “I think you need to answer that question. Because if the answer is no, you need to forget about Liam and let him go. There’s no hope for you two—for anyone, really—without second chances.”

  Bree stood up, and they walked out into the cool night air, strolling toward the huge theater complex only a block away.

  “It still hurts sometimes that our dad cheated on my mom,” said Bree, reaching for Hannah’s arm as they walked side by side. “He broke her heart. And you know? I could have let my father’s cheating ruin my chances at love. I could have decided that I didn’t trust men. But I didn’t. Falling in love with Todd was the best thing that ever happened to me. The best, Hannah. Was I afraid of getting hurt? Of course. But you can’t let your fears and insecurities take control of your heart.”

  Hannah thought about this. About her fears that no boy could see beyond her big body and love her heart, but maybe it had actually happened. And if Liam came to her and explained, apologized, and asked for another chance? Maybe she should give it to him.

  Taking Hannah’s silence as permission to continue, Bree said, “I saw you walk into that breakfast room last Sunday like you were on top of the world, holding hands with a beautiful boy who looked so proud to be standing beside you. I asked him to look after you at the wedding, yes. I offered to pay him, but he refused to take my money, Hannah. Why? Because the way you felt about each other, the way you looked at each other…that wasn’t about a favor or the promise of a little spending money. That was you. And him. And…and fireworks. Don’t let anyone, or anything, take that away from you.”

  Hannah sniffled lightly as her tired eyes pooled with tears. And something tight and angry inside of her loosened up as Bree’s words lodged deeply in her heart. Synapses fired, and her chest swelled as a montage of the weekend played like a movie in her mind.

  Are you here with anyone?

  Want to be my wedding date, Hannah Giacomina?

  If you believed in true love, we’d be a match made in heaven.

  If you were going to ask which part of her is so distracting, I’d have no choice but to show you.

  I wouldn’t have asked you out if I was seeing someone. I don’t do that. I’m not with anyone right now, Hannah…except you.

  Dance with me, wife.

  Nothing’s going to happen unless you want it to. I promise.

  My goal by the end of tonight is for you to say yes.

  You are beautiful, Hannah Giacomina. You hear me saying that?

  Something about you makes sense to me.

  What made you change your mind?

  I think it’s hard for people to give second chances…

  “I believe in second chances,” whispered Hannah, her feet stopping on the sidewalk as she looked at Bree. “I believe in love. When you get back, will you find him and tell him that? If he calls, I’ll pick up. If he texts, I’ll answer. I want a second chance.”

  Bree grinned at her. “I can’t begin to tell you how glad I am to hear that.”

  ***

  Liam

  Liam stood in the wings of the packed Allen Elizabethan Theater, trying to stay out of the way of the actors finishing up the fifth act of Romeo and Juliet. Although the costume he wore was velvet, he suspected his hands were sweating more because he was nervous than because he was hot. When he’d peeked at the audience during intermission and seen Hannah and Bree sitting together in the third row, his heart had soared.

  Please let this work. Please let this work.

  “Almost ready?”

  Liam looked up to see his mom’s friend, Julia, standing beside him.

  He nodded. “Yeah. And thanks for doing this.”

  Julia shrugged. “Don’t forget. You owe me a week of
work at Christmas and two weeks over spring break.”

  “Concessions?” he asked hopefully.

  “Ticket ripping,” she answered. “Now, on to business. After the bows, John Granger, who plays Mercutio, is going to say that the guests in seats C10 and C12 have been randomly chosen to have a private preview of our new Shakespeare-inspired show. The rest of the theater will empty out. Steve, up in the box, will give you a spotlight and overhead mic, and then…” She grinned at him, pushing her glasses up to the bridge of his nose. “It’s show time!”

  Liam took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. Awesome.”

  “She must be pretty special.”

  “She is,” he said. “She’s amazing.”

  “Well, if I don’t see you before you go on, best of luck.”

  “Thanks again, Julia.”

  “Anything for true love,” she said over her shoulder, walking into the backstage shadows as Romeo drank a vial of poison on stage.

  True love.

  His heart raced.

  Liam had no idea if what he felt for Hannah was love. His mom, who was pretty awesome, had asked him last night if his feelings for Hannah could be explained by a massive crush. He’d shrugged, playing it cool and telling her it was possible, but in his heart, he knew it was more than that. Since Hannah had left I Tri Merli last Sunday, he’d barely been able to eat, his mind had wandered endlessly to their time together, and he’d had trouble sleeping when he thought about never seeing her again. If that horrible feeling wasn’t love, he didn’t know what it was.

  He rubbed his sweaty palms on his tan velvet pants, which were tucked into a pair of knee-high leather boots. He wore a cream-colored shirt with billowy sleeves that looked completely idiotic and a brown leather vest. He pulled the brown wide-brimmed hat off his head and played with its cream-colored feather for a second before smashing it back on his head.

  Juliet was stabbing herself with a rusty dagger. It was almost—in Julia’s words—show time.

  For a guy like Liam, who was at home in a pool or working in a vineyard, this entire plan was way out of his comfort zone, and for a second he wondered if it was worth it to make such a fool of himself. But then he heard Hannah’s voice in his head: I look this beautiful because I’m looking at you.

  He had no choice. He’d either win her back or die—of sheer ridiculousness—trying.

  “For never was there a story of more woe…than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

  The audience broke into applause, and Liam’s heart rate doubled.

  It’s almost time. It’s almost time. It’s almost time.

  The actors were on stage bowing, and before he knew it, he heard John Granger announcing that the theater guests in seats C10 and C12 should remain seated, as they’d been chosen for a sneak peek into the Allen Elizabethan’s new Shakespeare-inspired play.

  Peeking out through a one-way scrim, he watched as Hannah’s lips parted in surprise. She turned to Bree, who shrugged her shoulders with a grin and sat back down. They appeared to have a quick discussion, and then Hannah sat back down too, looking up at the stage expectantly.

  Rubbing his hands together, he reached for the script he’d spent all week writing. He had no idea if it was good. He suspected it wasn’t. But it was all he had.

  He looked through the scrim again. The theater was about 80 percent empty now, with Bree and Hannah both staring at the stage. The last few stragglers funneled through the theater doors, the houselights went down, and suddenly, a spotlight appeared on center stage.

  Show time.

  Stepping out from the darkness, Liam walked across the stage until he was standing in the middle of the spotlight. Unrolling the scroll in his hands, he glanced at Hannah once before reading:

  “How shall I walk this earth without her?

  She beneath the willow’s bough.

  She ‘in my life’ may I woo.

  She for me, right then, right now.”

  He swallowed, looking up to find Hannah leaning forward in her seat, her eyes fixed on him, her lips parted in surprise. He gulped, clearing his throat before continuing:

  “How shall I be content without her?

  She, the fairest under thirty.

  She on a lounge, in the dark, by a fire,

  She, who seemed, for a time, to prefer me.”

  “Liam?”

  Hannah. He heard her voice in the audience and stopped reading, looking over the scroll at her face. Her cheeks glistened with tears, and her wobbly smile was the sweetest sight he’d seen in a week. He watched as Bree leaned closer to her sister and whispered something, then she stood up, gave Liam a double thumbs-up, and hurried up the aisle to the exit.

  “Want me to keep going?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Please.”

  “Do not take her lips away.

  Nor lovely face, nor heart so true.

  But give me one more chance, I pray.

  I promise, my Mina, I’d never betray you.”

  The echo of his voice through the microphone slowly faded, and he rolled up his scroll, staring at her, wishing he could quell the racing of his heart.

  Suddenly the spotlight went dark, and Liam stepped forward as the houselights came up to a dim glow. He stood at the edge of the stage, feeling ridiculous, staring at her face, hoping against hope that she had another chance in her heart to give him.

  With her eyes locked on his, she stood up, sidestepped down her row, then walked down the aisle to stand beside the first row.

  “Liam.”

  “Hannah.”

  “I loved it,” she said softly, her voice breathless. She reached up and swiped away her tears. “I can’t believe you did all of this for me.”

  “Hannah,” he said, jumping off center stage and taking off his hat as he faced her. “I’d do almost anything…for another chance with you.”

  She bit her bottom lip before asking, “You liked me, right? That was real? Not just a favor to Bree?”

  He took a step closer to her. “Liked you? No, not liked. I like you—present tense. Right here. Right now. So much. Honestly, like doesn’t even begin to cover it, Hannah.”

  She took a step closer to him. “I know you didn’t take the money.”

  “I didn’t even consider it,” he answered, taking another step toward her.

  She exhaled shakily, a relieved smile brightening her face for a moment before her wide eyes became serious again. “I’m going to freak out sometimes. I’m going to be a little difficult, because even though I’m working on it, this is all new for me, and it’s really hard for me to trust that it’s real.”

  He took another step closer to her, smiling because he couldn’t help it. He wanted to reach for her and pull her into his arms, but he also sensed she had more to say. “I’m okay with that, Hannah. I can be patient.”

  She took another small step in his direction. “And I might, you know, seem like I’m pushing you away sometimes, but inside all I want is for you to hold me so close and so tight that I feel like you’ll never let me go.”

  His scroll hit the floor, he closed the distance between them, and his hands landed on her hips.

  “I’ll stick around, even when you push me away,” he promised, pulling her closer.

  She flattened her hands on his chest. “And I might run away sometimes while I’m figuring this out. But if—if you could just…just wait for me, I will always run back to you again.”

  “Hannah,” he breathed, overwhelmed by his feelings for her, by her simple honesty as she told him that she wanted him in her life, even if she was scared too. “I’d wait forever if I had to.”

  “I didn’t even know I was looking for you,” she said. “But life is so lonesome without you now.”

  “For me too.” He laced his fingers behind her back, flicking his eyes to her lips and staring at them, counting down the seconds until he could kiss them again, because Sunday morning was way too long ago.

  “Liam, I…” Her voice faltered.
<
br />   “Tell me,” he said, looking into her eyes and encouraging her to finish so they could get on with laughing and loving and holding hands and kissing—so they could get back to the good stuff and leave the awfulness of the past week behind.

  She swallowed, looking down for a moment, perhaps to muster her courage before slamming her brown eyes into his. “Will you give me a second chance?”

  He was sure that his smile took over his entire face, because he’d never heard sweeter words in his entire life. “Yes! As many as you need.”

  Her arms flew around his neck and her back bowed as she pressed her body flush against his. Liam picked her up off the ground, spinning her in a circle before leaning back to catch her eyes with his.

  “You know,” he said, looking around at the dark, empty theater before gazing down at her with a happy grin. “I think we’re the only two people here tonight under thirty. Want to be my girlfriend, Hannah Giacomina?”

  She nodded. “Absolutely.”

  And as she pulled his head down to hers for a kiss, Liam Callahan realized that while he was originally cast as a date for Hannah, he’d somehow ended up in the part of he wanted most of all.

  Her boyfriend.

  THE END

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  Callie Henry

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  A Date for Hannah

  Thank you for reading!

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  QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

  One of the themes of A DATE FOR HANNAH is the giving and taking of “second chances.” Has there been a time in your life when you’ve been given a second chance? Is there someone in your life who could use one?