All Chapters of FALLING IN LOVE WHEN YOU'RE TEXTING : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Tall, Dark & My Boyfriend: Goodbye, Hannah. I really do wish the best for you.That’s it?Goodbye, good luck, and thanks for everything?So he and his mom wanted me gone. Well, that solved that mystery.The brownie chocolate chunk ice cream turned to dust in my mouth reading the latest text from Lincoln. I had a shift at Paint It, Pal starting in an hour, but for the first time since I started, I planned to call in sick. But first, I needed to change Lincoln’s contact name in my phone. Maybe that would help me accept that Lincoln had broken up with me via text in the vaguest way possible. I mean, I knew he communicated better via text than in person, but I firmly believed some things should be said face to face.My phone rang, startling me as I hit save on Lincoln’s new name: Tall, Dark, & Silent Heartbreaker. It was my boss, Barb, the old lady who ownedthe paint store and who I hadn’t talked to since the first day she hired me. “Hello?”“Hannah? Is that you?” Barbara said loudly in

“Lincoln, slow down please. This isn’t the Solano Creek Grand Prix.” Mom’s voice carried all the annoyance and irritation she’d had for me all day, and I knew that I should have cancelled our post-birthday lunch plans, given my crappy mood.We’d been arguing through most of the meal, Mom trying to get me to talk about Hannah, about feelings, about life—and me trying to forget seeing the clear evidence of Hannah moving on without a second thought.I knew my life experience had been limited. I knew I wasn’t the most emotionally savvy of guys. But it still hurt to have the evidence of my own shortcomings thrust painfully in my face, and the last thing I wanted to do was chat about it with my mother—or with El’s mom, who had mysteriously joined us for lunch, though I sure didn’t remember inviting her.And I thought lunch had been bad, but at least I’d survived the prying questions and then the irritable silent treatment Mom had given me as we’d finished up. Robin, who had never even heard

Mom, Robin, and Jacques all stood staring over my shoulder at my phone, which lay silent and cold in my hand.“She’s not going to say yes,” I told them, my heart hammering in my throat. “She’s already made up her mind. She’s leaving. I saw the moving truck.”“I’m telling you,” Robin said, “you don’t have a clue what you saw. I talked to the girl myself.”By the time we’d finished hashing out what Robin and Hannah had talked about and Robin had insisted I give her ‘my side,’ so she could play Judge Judy and pass judgment on the fate of my non-existent relationship with Hannah, the woman had imbibed at least one full bottle of Mom’s chardonnay on her own. And that was in addition to whatever had been in that flask. I wasn’t certain she was the person I wanted to rely on to save my relationship with a woman I was fairly sure I was in love with.Mom’s hand was on my shoulder, and I could feel her tension. I didn’t have children, but I knew enough from having my parents in my life thatmot

Tall, Dark & Silent Heartbreaker: They say you need to take a leap. Will you leap one more time for me, Hannah?A section of my hair fell out of my ponytail and slid in front of my face. I pushed it quickly behind my ear and read the message a second time. Then a third. It still made no sense.“Take the leap, sweet girl,” Pam whispered.My head flew up and I saw her push something across the table toward me, that same hopeful smile on her face. She stood and left without another word or a backward glance. My gaze fell on the table.A frog.One of Lincoln’s blue frogs that he’d painted at Paint It, Pal. And there was something stuck to the bottom.I picked it up carefully and flipped it over to see a picture of Solano Bistro. My heart thumped so loudly I thought the whole town might hear it. I flopped back against the chair to think. What was this? It felt a lot like some sort of crazy scavenger hunt with half clues and a prize at the end. Could this be the opposite of a breakup?Could

Hannah’s smile faded for a second before she tilted her head and asked, “Me?”“You were beautiful and friendly, and seeing you every time I went on one of those stupid dates was the high point of my day. I could tolerate just about anything if it meant getting a couple minutes to interact with you.”She shook her head slowly. “You never said anything.”I pressed my lips together and then let out a sigh. “I should have,” I told her. “I should have said something to my mom to make her stop, I should have asked you out after the first time I saw you. But I’ve never been the most confident guy when it comes to words. They don’t come easily to me, and so often, the ones I come up with are the complete opposite of the ones I need.”“You’re doing okay so far,” Hannah said, one of her hands landing on mine as it rested on the counter. Her encouragement and willingness to listen to me work things out warmed my heart, calmed my nerves.“But you saved me,” I went on. “From the bad dates, but als