Page 83 of The Perfect Secret
“Oh, sorry, am I interrupting?” Becca, one of Hannah’s friends, walked in.
“No, I’ll leave you two alone,” Sylvia said, kissing Hannah’s cheek and returning to the rest of the book club.
“Had enough of in there?” Becca asked and cocked her head toward the other room. “I know I have.”
Hannah rolled her eyes. “I feel like a horrible person.”
“Oh please, you’re the nicest person I know. But there’s only so much engagement gushing I can take from theyentasbefore I go nuts.”
“You too?”
“Totally. None of them will come out and ask if I’m going to marry my girlfriend—they’re open-minded, but afraid—but they keep giving me looks. Especially when you’re not there to get any of them yourself.”
“Ha! I’m trying to avoid the questions right now.”
“You and Dan broke up, right? I thought I overheard someone whisper about it.”
“Great. Yes, we did.”
“Sorry, that sucks.
“It really does.” Hannah opened the refrigerator while she blinked back tears and poured herself a glass of wine. “Guess I’d better go out there. You coming?”
“Yeah. Think we can get them to talk about the book some more?”
Laughing, Hannah linked her arm through Becca’s. “I doubt it, but we can try.”
Tuesday night, Hannah and her grandmother took a taxi to the church where Jeff’s meeting was. A big chalkboard sign stood on the sidewalk with a hand-drawnWelcomein large blue letters,NA meeting insidein smaller pink ones.
As she was about to open the side door,Bubbepulled on her elbow. “I’m pleased you’re doing this, Hannah. It means a lot to Jeff.”
Inside, a printed sign on the wall directed them to a classroom downstairs where chairs were arranged lecture-style.
Jeff stood near the window. When he saw them, he rushed over, hands jammed in his front jeans pockets. “Thank you both for coming tonight. It means a lot.”
“We wouldn’t miss it,” Hannah said.
“Most of our meetings are closed to visitors, but we have occasional open meetings where we celebrate anniversaries. No one will give big confessions, but we’ll have a speaker talk about the NA organization. There’s some food in the back for a little celebration. It’s not much, but…”
Hannah looked around. A blue-plastic cloth covered a table with plates of cookies and brownies, and urns of coffee and tea. “It’s perfect.”
They took their seats as the meeting was called to order. After the leader spoke a few words, the speaker told everyone about the organization—its history, purpose, and goals. Then the meeting leader walked to the front again.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize one of our members. Jeff is celebrating his one-year anniversary clean.” Everyone clapped. Tears prickled behind Hannah’s lids. “Jeff, would you like to come and say a few words?”
Squeezing Hannah’s hand, he walked to the front and faced everyone. “I’ve been a drug addict for longer than I can remember. I lost everything. Myself, my job, my family.” He looked at Hannah. “I never thought I’d get clean. This group has helped me realize I can get clean and stay clean. It’s been three hundred and sixty-five days. It’s a struggle every day. But thanks to my sponsor, Mike, I’m here celebrating today.”
Mike approached Jeff and gave him a hug and a handshake before he returned to his seat.
“I’d also like to thank my grandmother for never losing faith in me. And finally, my sister. Hannah, you loved me enough not to enable me. You forced me to see I needed to clean up my act. Thank you for letting me back in your life. I love you.”
A cough sounded behind her, but before she could turn, Jeff grabbed her in a hug. The tears she felt earlier trickled down her cheeks as she whispered in Jeff’s ear, “I love you too.”
“Come on, let’s get something to eat,”Bubbesaid.
She followed her grandmother and Jeff toward the table in the back. A crowd blocked the aisle and when she tried to get past, she knocked into someone. “I’m sorr—”
The words died in her throat.