Noelle reached across the table and rested her hand on top of Hannah’s. The comforting gesture nearly made her break down. But would Noelle be as kind if she knew the truth about her?

  “You have to do what’s best for you and Aria, I understand that. But I want you to know that if you change your mind, you’ll always have a job here at Magpie. And a friend in me.”

  Hannah’s bottom lip trembled, but she managed to keep her emotions in check. “Thank you so much. I’m still figuring out where we’re headed, so if it’s okay with you, I’ll keep working until we nail down our next location.”

  “Of course, just keep me posted. Does Chad know your plan yet?”

  Hannah nodded. “Yeah, he gets it.”

  Chad “got it” better than anyone. The specter of her past and the threat of Tripp spilling it to the people she’d grown to love was more than enough reason to pack up and leave.

  “I’m seeing him at the ranch tonight for dinner. You and Aria are welcome to stop by too. Just a friendly meal, that’s all.” Noelle’s expression made it clear that she was playing a cross between peacekeeper and matchmaker.

  “Oh, no, probably not a good idea. Now that our arrangement is over, we’re doing our own thing, separately. Keeps it from getting confusing for Aria, you 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 heading home. He typed in Hannah’s name, real name, and couldn’t believe the number of hits he got, on everything from The New York Times to Reddit. The first articles only mentioned her in passing, but as the case got more attention, she became a central figure in the drama.

  Central and sympathetic. Hannah wasn’t interviewed in any of the articles, but plenty of other Green Spaces employees and volunteers had given statements, and they all showed Hannah as a victim of her charismatic ex, bullied and belittled by a man who had become increasingly obsessed with crossing any lines and cutting any corners to steal the spotlight for himself.

  But that didn’t stop people from vilifying Hannah on social media. Chad couldn’t believe the amount of hatred directed at her over her role in the stunt, despite the factual press coverage. As usual, the mob mentality rose up and united against someone who made an easy scapegoat. Her rat bastard of an ex had won over plenty of people who were eager to shift the blame off of him and onto her. Chad bristled and felt his protective instincts kicking up despite feeling raw about the fact that she hid so much from him.

  He put his phone down on the seat beside him and gazed across the twilight fields. How much had Hannah endured, and how was she able to do it while trying to keep Aria safe? Chad wasn’t sure how much of a life Hannah had left behind, but walking away from everything she knew couldn’t have been easy. It sort of explained why she was reluctant to tell him about it.

  He shook his head. No, whether she had reasons or not, it still hurt that she’d kept the truth from him. They’d become close. Hell, they’d been lovers, and she should’ve known she could trust him. He’d trusted her, been more open with her than he could ever remember being with any woman before. Maybe that was why it hurt so much that the trust hadn’t been reciprocated. He’d thought they were building up to something special, but he’d been wrong. So, so wrong.

  Didn’t matter now, though. The damage was done, and so was their façade of a relationship. Now he was on his own.

  Even though he hated to admit it, deep down he still wished she was going to be by his side.

  17

  The next morning Chad sat at his small kitchen table with his laptop and phone ready to go next to his coffee and bowl of oatmeal. After listening to Hannah preach about the importance of connecting, he wasn’t about to let the final week before the election go by without updating all of his social media accounts. He’d never done so on his own before, but he was sure he had more than enough of his own photos to help carry him through until the big day.

  The truth was he hadn’t been on top of the accounts when Hannah was around. There was no need to. She was so good at what she did that he trusted her vision completely. Sometimes she’d show him a photo after she’d edited it, or read to him a caption she was working on, but he knew that anything she planned was bound to show him in the best, most effective light. He liked how the little snippets she shared looked and sounded; he didn’t need to see everything in action.

  Now, finally going over his accounts in all of their glory, he could see the big picture of what Hannah had been doing for him. Each platform showed off different sides of him and highlighted specific strengths in his character. On Instagram, Chad was hardworking but fun. There were shots of him around the ranch doing chores, and he couldn’t help but notice that Hannah always managed to make him look fit as hell in them. He glanced down at his bicep to see if it was actually as big as it looked in the photo of him hoisting a hale bale over his head. She interspersed the work content with photos of the two of them as well as him and Aria, including the video of them on the carousel. Chad watched it again and found himself smiling at the adorable little girl. He ignored the melancholy feelings that crept in as he listened to her tinkling laughter, wondering if he’d ever hear it again.

  Who knew you could miss a four-year-old so much?

  Chad scrolled all the way back 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 been done and there was no coming back. Chad picked up his phone, ready to start posting. He scrolled through his Instagram account to create a new post … only to discover that Hannah had planned his posts for the final week before the election, and that each one would be automatically deployed on schedule. He reviewed the photos in the queue and realized that even though he had a camera roll of pictures, he couldn’t do better. There was no use trying to create more compelling content, because Hannah had done her job perfectly until the last possible second.

  He put the phone down and closed his eyes. There was no use denying it. No matter what Tripp did or didn’t do, it was his campaign to win, and he had Hannah to thank for it.

  Chad hadn’t felt nervous like this since he was up for Homecoming King back in high school. The jittery gut, the shaky hands … he was used to laughing his way through whatever challenges came his way. But the election? This was serious, and public, and could change everything for him. Hell, if it worked out, maybe there was a higher public office in store for him?

  The Cattlemen’s Association members were milling around their official meeting room at the Kingsley administration building while two senior members tallied the votes. Tripp was in one corner of the room surrounded by his loyalists, the few men he hadn’t alienated yet.

  He hadn’t spilled the beans about Hannah. Chad didn’t know what he was waiting for—surely, he’d realized days ago that Chad wasn’t going to. Maybe he’d grown a conscience and realized that the poor woman had been through enough.

  Nah, more likely he’d just realized he’d look like the bullying asshole he was if he exposed her.

  Whatever the reason, Chad was glad it hadn’t come out. Not just because it would have hurt his campaign, but because of how it would have devastated Hannah.

  Jett and Shane were both making a rare appearance at a meeting and looked even more nervous than Chad. They knew how important the position was to him. Chad liked the fact that nearly every member had talked up Chad’s hard work to his brothers as they settled in for the meeting. For a change he wasn’t on the outside looking in, he was the center of attention for all the right reasons.

  “Gentlemen? Hey, y’all?” Hank Greeley said in a voice that commanded the attention of the room. “Let’s reconvene. We have our results.”

  Chad tried to read the old man’s face, but it was expressionless. His eyes didn’t land on Chad or Tripp, but instead focused on the little piles of paper in front of him. One pile was noticeably larger than the other.

  “You ready?” Jett asked, clapping a hand on Chad’s shoulder as they moved to the folding chairs.

  He nodded even though he felt a little queasy.

  “You got this,” Shane said quietly as they sat down next to him in the front row. “He doesn’t have a chance.”

  “Gentlemen,” Hank said, waving his hands to quiet the group. He waited until all eyes were on him. “This opening on the board has given us a welcome opportunity to bring in new blood. New ideas. New strengths. We’ve had a good campaign between our two candidates. Tripp? Chad? Please stand up.”

  Chad rose from his seat and waved to the crowd. He glanced at Tripp and they caught each other’s eye for a moment. Tripp looked the same as he always did—smug and small-minded, arrogant and entitled. He’d been that way at eight years old, and he’d still be that way when he was eighty. He’d always be a bully, always be cruel. But just then, he seemed a bit smaller to Chad than usual. Something about being in this room full of good people—people Chad knew and trusted—helped to put Tripp into perspective and show how empty his threats and his posturing had been all along.

  The voters on the association wouldn’t turn against him, no matter what gossip Tripp spread around. And the town wouldn’t turn against Hannah, either. Once they knew the truth, they’d see what Chad saw—a strong, brave woman who’d gone through the terrible ordeal and built a new start for herself and her daughter. That was the town he knew and loved, the town he believed in. The town he was certain would vote for him instead of Tripp.

  “Alrighty, gentlemen. Let’s get to the good stuff!” Hank said, finally lightening up. “We had a terrific turnout for the vote tonight, which means that y’all are equally invested in putting the right man on the board.”