When the door swung closed behind Michelle, Hannah wondered whether her sister was right and she’d made a mistake. But before she could decide, there was a knock on the back door. Norman was here.
Hannah walked to the door on legs that trembled slightly and pulled it open before she could change her mind. “Hi, Norman,” she said, not meeting his eyes for fear she’d start to cry. “Sit down and I’ll pour you a cup of coffee. There’s a platter of Chocolate Almond Crisps on the workstation that Michelle baked this morning.”
“Thanks, Hannah.”
Norman sat down on a stool at the workstation. As she poured the coffee, Hannah sneaked a glance at Norman’s face. He was far from relaxed, but he didn’t look as miserable as Grandma Knudson had led her to believe. She began to feel slightly hopeful. Perhaps they could remain friends, after all.
She carried their coffee mugs to the stainless-steel table and set them down. Once she’d noticed that Norman had already taken a bite out of his first cookie, she took a deep breath and plunged in. “I have something to ask you, Norman.”
“I know. Your mother told me. The answer is yes.”
“Good!” Hannah gave him a relieved smile. Perhaps this wouldn’t be as bad as she’d thought it might be. “Then it won’t bother you to be in the wedding party?”
Norman just stared at her for what seemed like a full minute to Hannah. He looked positively incredulous.
“Of course it’ll bother me! I love you, Hannah. You know that. And you’re going to marry someone else. There’s no way I can ever be happy about that! Everybody in Lake Eden thinks I’m suffering from a broken heart, and they’re all dead right!”
Hannah gave an audible gulp, she was so surprised. She’d never heard Norman sound that vehement before. It was obvious that his emotions were running high and she’d have to tread very carefully.
“I know. Grandma Knudson told me. I should have said something to you earlier, talked everything out and maybe you’d feel better about it, but I just . . .”
“Maybe I’d feel better about it?” Norman repeated, interrupting her. “Maybe I’d feel better about it? I can’t believe you said that! Are you living in a different universe, or something? There’s no better, Hannah. The only better would be if you’d marry me!”
Hannah felt the tears well up in her eyes. Norman was furious with her. He’d probably never speak to her again. She’d lost him forever, and she didn’t think she could bear that.
Tears began to roll down her cheeks. She simply couldn’t help it. And then she felt his hand cover hers.
“I’m sorry, Hannah. I didn’t intend to make you cry. It’s just that I really thought you’d marry me someday. And now I know that you never will. It’s eating at me like a cancer. It’s just not worth getting up in the morning, or going to work, or anything now that I’ve lost you. Heartbroken is the wrong word. I’m in mourning for the death of my hopes and dreams for the future.”
Hannah squeezed his hand. “I feel the same way, Norman. I’m not sure I can bear it if I lose you. But I have to marry Ross. I love him so much that I don’t think I can breathe without him in my life. But I love you, too!”
They sat there, clasped hands stretched across the counter, both miserable and grieving. And then Norman did something that shocked Hannah so much that her head snapped up from its bowed position. He laughed!
“It sounds like we’re both in a h . . . h . . . heck of a fix,” Norman choked out, and then he started to laugh hard again.
And despite the fact that Hannah felt a bit like the end of the world had arrived, she found herself joining in Norman’s laughter. “Are we c . . . crazy?” she managed to gasp.
“Certi . . . certifiable,” Norman said, forcing out the word between gales of laughter.
“They . . . they should lock us up in the funny farm,” Hannah answered, beginning to wonder if she could ever stop laughing.
“So . . . what are we . . . going to do?” Norman asked.
“I don’t . . . don’t know. I can’t . . . think. My stomach hurts . . . too much . . . from . . . laughing!”
“Are you guys all right?” Michelle stood in the doorway, staring at them. “We heard you laughing all the way in the coffee shop and I came to find out.”
“We’re fine,” Norman said, still chuckling.
“Yes, we’re . . . we’re fine,” Hannah echoed. “There’s nothing to worry about, Michelle.”
“Okay, then.” Michelle didn’t look convinced. “I’ll go back in and tell Lisa. We were really concerned.”
“I guess she was expecting the worst,” Hannah said to Norman.
“It was the worst, but our senses of humor got the better of us. I’ll be in the wedding party, Hannah, and I’ll pretend to be happy for you. I know you weren’t happy about it when I was going to marry Bev, but you were nice to her even though you didn’t like her. This isn’t the same situation. I do like Ross. I just don’t like the idea of you marrying anyone but me.”