Of Course, It's You

Chapter 1

HANNAH

Hannah fidgeted in her chair, forcing herself to breathe in perfect rhythm. At one point in her life, Hannah had absolutely loved weddings. There was a thrill watching two people so in love, admitting it to those closest to them.

Maybe she had loved weddings because she never had an actual wedding of her own, choosing instead to make a quick stop at the local courthouse, or maybe it was simply because she loved love. But as she waited for the bride to walk down the aisle to join her groom, she felt uncomfortable.

Over the years, the appeal of weddings has dulled. They hadn't seemed to shine as brightly as they used to in her eyes. It was one of the many things that had changed since her wife had died.  

Three years, God, almost four now, since the day she learned of the accident. With Kayley gone, it was as if Hannah's world had shifted on its axis. No matter how hard she tried to level out her life again, nothing seemed to feel right. It was as if everything had shifted into a new permanent angle that wouldn't level back out no matter how hard she fought it.

The RSVP had taunted her from her fridge for weeks before she had finally replied. If her brother wasn't best friends with the groom, Eric, and if she also didn't work with the grom, she would have pushed against accepting.

When Eric just about begged to have her daughter Olyvia as their flower girl, she found there was no escape.

She uncrossed and recrossed her legs with clenched hands, unable to sit still, reminding herself that she was here for Olyvia. She could live with that thought rather than the welling emotions causing her chest to tighten.

"I'm here for Lyv," she reminded herself for the umpteenth time.

The wedding was like all the rest that Hannah had been to since she moved to Nashville a few years ago. It was an outdoor ceremony beside a repurposed barn decorated with hanging string lights overhead, that glimmered and shined perfectly. Once the vows finished, they would be moving into the barn for the reception where country music would be blaring from speakers.

Having found a job with a record label, it wasn't a new concept for Hannah. Country music had become a normality. It had become her life; the life she had rebuilt for herself.

Soft music began playing, and everyone turned in their seats. At the back, Olyvia seemed to struggle, unsure of what she was supposed to do. Hannah turned to look at her brother, standing with the other groomsmen. She was about to get up and help her daughter walk down with her basket of flower petals, but Jason held up a hand to her and made his way to his niece with a large smile.

Hannah couldn't contain the eyeroll when there was a collective awe as he held her hand and helped toss some of the petals on the aisle to show her what to do. Of course, this would work to his own advantage. The women around them practically swooned.

She looked around the crowd and choked back a laugh. Jason's best way into a woman's life was by the help of his niece, and helping her down the aisle, was most assuredly gaining him brownie points in all the women's eyes in that very moment.

All but one.

Hannah felt the weight of someone's gaze upon her, heavy and unyielding. She glanced up, expecting to catch someone she knew from work. It seemed half the office was in attendance. Instead, she found herself locking eyes with a stranger at the far end of the aisle that seemed to only be looking at her.

The woman didn't look away, her focus unwavering—not on the ceremony, not on Olyvia at the end of the aisle, and not on Jason coaxing his niece, but on Hannah herself. It was a look that seemed to see through the carefully constructed walls she had built over the years, right into the parts of her she'd long hidden away. It wasn't a look of pity, nor simple curiosity. It was something else, something that made Hannah's breath catch for just a moment. For the first time in a long time, she felt seen—not as a grieving widow, not as a devoted mother, but as a woman who might still have something left to give.