“Ournew favorite place,” I correct her with a wink, taking another bite of my sandwich.
Hannah wipes her mouth with a paper napkin, and I can tellshe’s smiling, the flush in her cheeks a dead giveaway. And I know I’ve said it before, but fuck, she’s adorable. Man, I am in trouble with a capital fucking T, and I’m not even a little bit mad about it.
“Are you okay?” I ask after a few moments of comfortable silence. When she looks up from her sandwich and meets my eyes, I add, “After today?”
The way her smile falls from her lips makes me regret my question. I reach across and place my hand on her arm.
“I’m okay. I just feel bad. I’ve only known the guy a few days, and even in that time I could see how much he was drinking. It wasn’t normal. I-I… I don’t know. I wish I’d said something sooner.”
“Honestly, Baby Draper,” I begin, “nothing you said before today would’ve helped.” I shake my head. “I’ve seen this. When a person is in that deep, he needs to hit rock bottom before he does anything about it. Today, Brookes almost… dying…” I say the word softly, gently. “That was his rock bottom. And it was either gonna be today, or next week, or next year. The point is, it always happens, and it’s never nice. But it’s the first step for him to get better.”
She studies me for a few beats, her eyes flitting between mine. “It happened to your dad?”
I nod. “The first time I found my dad the way that you found Brookes today, I was eleven.”
Hannah’s eyes widen.
“But it wasn’t alcohol. It was… heroin.” I heave a sigh at the memory that is, unfortunately, engrained into my mind. “He was passed out with a fucking needle stuck in his arm.”
“Oh my God, Happy.”
“He got clean, but it only lasted maybe ten months.” I shrug. “He was in and out of rehab so many times, I lost count. It never stuck, until one day I told him I was going to be a father.” I press my lips together in a sad smile. “And I gave him the option offinally getting clean and sober once and for all or… never seeing his grandchild.”
Hannah watches me intently.
“He went into rehab. He stayed there for six months. And he’s been sober ever since.” I huff a self-deprecating laugh. “It sucks that I never really had a father the way my friends had dads growing up, but I’m so thankful that Lucky has a granddad. And sure, he’s completely tattooed, and he cusses more than most grandparents do in front of their grandkids, but he’s so good with her. And she isobsessedwith him.” I grin at the thought.
“Thanks.”
Confused, I rear back, quirking a brow. “What are you thankingmefor?”
Rolling her smiling lips between her teeth, Hannah shrugs. “Just… for tonight. For this—” She indicates the deli and our food.
“A couple sandwiches at Sal’s?” I joke. “You’re an easy lady to please, Baby Draper.”
Cocking her head to the side, she rolls her eyes, and I can’t help but chuckle before softening with a quiet, “You’re welcome.”
“You’re an enigma, Happy Slater.”
I grin, narrowing a dubious eye. “I don’t know what that means, but… thank you… I think?”
She giggles, shaking her head at me, and we continue eating our sandwiches to the tune of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons crooning through the old radio on the counter.
After we finish at Sal’s, it’s still early by the time we get back into my truck. I don’t want to take Hannah home just yet because I know if I do, I can’t stay. I need to get home to relieve Mom of babysitting duties and to pack my shit for our final roadtrip of the regular season tomorrow. But I really don’t want our night to be over just yet.
Starting the engine, I consider myself before glancing at Hannah and meeting her big blue eyes that reflect the lights of the dash. “You wanna go see something cool?”
“Are you talking about your penis?” She narrows one eye.
With an indignant huff, I clutch a hand to my chest. “You and your one-track mind, Baby Draper.”
She laughs, and I flash her a grin as I pull out of the parking spot.
CHAPTER 21
HANNAH
“Wow,” I whisper, because surrounded by darkness with nothing but the view of Manhattan sprawled out before us, glittering against the night sky, so close yet just out of reach across the water reflecting the city lights like diamond dust, it feels like talking might ruin the moment. “I didn’t even know this place existed.”
