Safe With Me by Amy Hatvany Read Free Book Online

good,” she answers. “Just got back from my run.”
    “Are we on schedule for opening?” Sophie asks.
    “Looks like it,” Hannah says. Initially, she and Sophie had planned to manage the renovation of the new salon together, but a few months after Emily’s accident, Hannah latched on to the tasks of finding the right architect and contractor, of obtaining permits and designs, as a way to keep her mind busy. Spinning on thoughts of construction was the only thing that kept the grief at bay. Hannah decided the best way to stay on top of the project was to actually stay on top of it. Unable to live in the house she had shared with her daughter, she moved into the upstairs apartment of the new location. Hannah couldn’t stand the emptiness of that house without Emily in it; she couldn’t look at the street where Emily was hit without spiraling into hysterics or being overcome by rage toward the woman who’d killed her. It was an accident, Hannah knew. The police determined that the woman wasn’t intoxicated and that she hadn’t been speeding—witnesses confirmed that Emily really did shoot out from the driveway—so there were no criminal charges filed. And yet there were moments when Hannahcouldn’t help but blame the woman. On her worst days, she hated her. It didn’t matter that the woman’s insurance company was paying out substantial death benefits to Hannah. All that mattered was that Emily was gone.
    After Emily’s small funeral, Hannah had the majority of their things moved into storage and rented the home to an older couple who had no children. Seeing Emily’s friends around the neighborhood after the memorial was too much for Hannah. They wanted to talk with her about Emily, to have Hannah offer them some kind of comfort in their grief, but she couldn’t give that to them. She couldn’t even give it to herself. Their visits reminded her too much of all she’d lost. When she moved, she felt relieved, like the cramped apartment somehow contained her sorrow. Kept it from overrunning her life. She welcomed the constant noise below her, the Skilsaws and sanders. She liked the idea of starting over, refinishing the old to make room for the new.
    Sophie seemed to understand Hannah’s inability to continue to work at the downtown Ciseaux, where Emily had grown up, where she had taken her first steps and played dress-up in front of the mirrors. For now, her savings and the death benefit payments are more than enough to cover the cost of renovation and give Hannah some to live on. Sophie agreed to be a silent partner at this location, with Hannah running the day-to-day operations.
    “Your clients keep asking for you,” Sophie says now. “They miss you.”
    “They can come see me here,” Hannah responds with a sigh. The truth is, she hates the idea of seeing her clients again—the pity on their faces at Emily’s funeral had been enough. Shewants to exist in a new world with new clients, women who don’t know that Emily is dead. Women whose mouths won’t screw up into dark frowns and who won’t ask how she is doing . What does that mean, exactly? How do they think she is doing? Her daughter is dead . A hard knot forms in her throat, and Hannah swallows around its sharp edges.
    “Hey, Soph,” she says, attempting to sound cheery. “I was just about to jump in the shower. Can I call you back?”
    “I’ll just see you later this afternoon, darling. The meeting with the caterer for the opening?”
    “Oh . . . right. Of course.” Like Mike’s name, Hannah had forgotten this. With the launch of the new salon next week, they are planning a catered open house to welcome clientele to the location, but Hannah has yet to decide on a menu. Party planning is more Sophie’s thing, so she asked her partner to join her. “I’ll see you at three, then.”
    “Two, actually,” Sophie says gently, and Hannah smiles.
    “What would I do without you, Soph?”
    “Good thing you don’t have to find