know?” She sniffled and tried to stay composed.
Hannah hadn’t said anything to her daughter yet about why her buddy Chad wasn’t going to be coming around any longer, and she hoped the little girl would just forget about the joyful, friendly, silly man she’d grown to count on.
“You’re picking at your dinner just like Matilda’s been doing lately. Is something wrong with my cooking?” Noelle asked.
“No, it’s delicious, as always. My appetite’s off, I guess. Worried about the election.” Chad shrugged.
“I’d say you’ve got it in the bag,” Jett said as he watched Lucy play with her dinner. “Word is people are really seeing a change in you since Hannah got ahold of your campaign. But Noelle mentioned you guys ended your little arrangement. Why is that?” Jett shot Chad a quick look, as if to remind him about the last time they’d talked about Hannah, at midnight in the kitchen.
Chad didn’t want to get into it, especially not with two people who seemed to have zero boundaries when it came to his life. Noelle would badger him for details about his feelings, and Jett would pull out his big brother wisdom whether Chad wanted to hear it or not. He wasn’t in the mood for a therapy session with them.
“Yeah, we’re finished up, I’d say. The election is almost here, so she’s stepping down as my unofficial official campaign manager and social media consultant.”
“Okay,” Jett said slowly. “And what about the extracurricular stuff?”
Noelle’s fork clattered to her plate.
“That?” Chad asked, doing his best to summon some of his old bravado. “That was just some fun. We’re all good,” he lied.
“Mm-hmm,” Jett answered as he grabbed a bite of food in between feeding the always-hungry Lucy.
“I talked to Hannah today,” Noelle said, not looking up from her plate as she focused on the last bits of mashed potatoes.
“I imagine you would, considering she’s your employee,” Chad said, not hiding the sarcasm.
“I mean, I talked to her,” she replied.
“Okay, good.” Chad shrugged. “Hopefully, she didn’t have anything bad to say. Because we’re on fine terms.”
“Of course she didn’t say anything negative. Quite the opposite, actually.” Noelle leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “I hope you know that she did more for you than just managing your campaign. She sort of admitted she’s not comfortable being on social media. Not sure why, because she’s absolutely gorgeous. But anyway, she said she did it for you. Because she knew it would help, and she wanted people to see the real you—the one that she saw.”
Chad froze. Suddenly, Hannah’s reluctance to be in his posts made sense. She’d been afraid of being recognized, especially when his posts started getting more attention.
But despite that, she’d appeared in the photos anyway. First, just her hand in his, but over the weeks she allowed her profile, and most recently, a selfie of the two of them with their faces smashed together, and the top of Aria’s head peeking into frame just below their chins. The only reason she’d done it was to help further his campaign, even though she knew she was putting herself at risk by going public.
The realization changed things. Not everything, but it was enough to make him question whether everything between them really had been a lie. He felt like he needed more information about exactly what Hannah had been through. Maybe there was more to the story than he’d realized.
“Hey, I’m gonna head out,” Chad said as he stood up and grabbed his plate and glass. “I’ll help you clean up before I go.”
“Nope, we got it, bro,” Jett replied. “Leftovers, so there’s just a few dishes.”
“Chad, maybe you two should talk again?” Noelle suggested in her don’t-mess matriarch voice. “I don’t mean to interfere, but I get the feeling that things aren’t quite right between the two of you. You guys were a great team, and I’d hate for things to end on a bad note. Maybe reach out again?”
“Maybe,” Chad said as he rushed to grab his hat from the peg by the door. “Hey, thanks for dinner.”
Chad tried to get his racing thoughts in order as he walked to his truck. He needed to really understand the full picture of Hannah, and the only way to get a handle on it without actually talking to her was to dive into some internet research.
He pulled out his phone once he was inside the truck and still in the driveway, intending to only take a quick peek before