to when Hannah had first taken over the account. The 5k and the surprise kiss. Noelle had taken a photo from the crowd, and Hannah had expertly cropped it so that her face was obscured. It looked like a work of art. Then the photo of them hand in hand on a sunset walk at the ranch, with the beautiful acreage unspooling in front of them and Willie the farm dog out of focus a few steps beyond. He remembered how surprised he’d been when she suggested holding hands, and how much they’d laughed as she struggled to frame it, set the self-timer and run over to grab his hand. But the resulting image was beautiful.
He scrolled to the photos that showcased the two of them. First, just traces of her were visible, but as he scrolled, she revealed more and more of herself. She was never the center of the photos, but she was clear enough in them that if someone wanted to identify her, they probably could. She looked stunning in every single image, and it hit him like a gut punch that it was over between them.
All of the photos and videos had hundreds of likes and comments. She’d used hashtags which had broadened his reach to followers well outside of Kingsley, and some of the women even posted jokey marriage proposals or said that if he and Hannah ever broke up, that they were available. Hannah had never said a thing about the other women to Chad, but she’d answered them all with smiling emojis or brief friendly responses.
He sighed and moved over to his laptop to check out his Facebook feed. Sure enough, another theme emerged as he scrolled through the content she’d posted. On Facebook he was the community man. The joiner and doer. The one who got shit done for his town. There were photos of him at the library planting event, and a short video of him delivering Magpie goodies to the women’s group planning event. She’d even recorded him talking to a few of the board members at the fundraising picnic, when he was describing some of the sustainable ranching techniques he’d picked up in Utah. Hannah had framed the video so it looked like he was addressing a bigger group of people, making it seem like he knew how to command an audience with confidence. Chad noticed that Hannah had also followed a variety of Kingsley movers and shakers that had followed him back.
It was a mountain of work that had reaped tangible rewards for Chad. And Hannah had done it all for him.
He finally took a peek at Twitter. It was a less active account, but she’d chimed in in his voice on matters concerning courthouse renovation and an upcoming fire preparedness meeting. Nothing seemed to get by Hannah.
All this time he’d had no clue that Hannah was essentially working a full-time job on his behalf.
Chad took a gulp of coffee and stared into space. When he’d first agreed to partner with Hannah, he was convinced that she was going to “spin” him into some other persona until he was someone who seemed suitable for the position. Maybe twist the facts so that he looked worthy. Instead, Hannah had coaxed out the very best parts of him in her posts, the real Chad, and shone a light on them for all of Kingsley to see. He’d worried that he didn’t really know her, but it was crystal clear that she knew him, maybe even better than he knew himself. He didn’t have to change to be a suitable candidate. Hannah had known it all along, all she’d done was help the rest of Kingsley see how worthy he was, one post at a time.
Damnit, he missed her.
He shifted in his seat, the discomfort of wanting her despite his hurt an unfamiliar sensation. Chad glanced at a photo of them together and even though it showed the gorgeous brunette he’d come to care for, he saw a flash of the polished blonde Hannah used to be in her old life.
No. She had too many secrets.
But the war raged on inside of him. No one had fit with him so perfectly. Even Aria. He’d always told himself that he was years away from wanting children, but the sweet little girl had made him understand how wonderful parenthood could be.
So how come he couldn’t get past Hannah’s half truths about who she was?
There was no use thinking about it. The damage had