# Chapter 23: Lessons from G-Ma's Wise Heart
Hello everyone, it's me again! How are you all doing? Today I will continue to walk with you and review Chapter 23 of *Married at First Swipe* — and oh, what a tender, eye-opening chapter this one is. If you've ever found yourself stuck in a silent standoff with someone you love, this chapter will speak directly to your heart. Let's dive in.
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When Hannah woke up on Thursday morning, she was surprised to discover that she actually felt somewhat refreshed. The day before had been emotionally draining, to say the least — first the heartfelt phone call with Jess, and then that wrenching conversation with Tom that neither of them had expected.
She still couldn't shake the memory of Tom appearing at the summerhouse door, looking so utterly shattered that she barely recognized him. He asked if she wanted a coffee, and then — almost helplessly — he spilled his pain out to her. He was miserable. He and Jess had hit a rough patch so deep he wasn't sure love alone could save them. Hannah listened, then instinctively pulled him into a hug.
"You have to fix it, Tank," she said fiercely. "You don't have any choice. You know even better than I do that the two of you belong together — you're a team. Plus you have the twins to think about. You can't throw all of that away because of one rocky patch."
Tom shook his head miserably. He loved Jess, of course he did, but he wasn't sure that was enough anymore. Hannah banged down her coffee cup in frustration.
"Then make it enough," she insisted. "Make her see how much you love her for being an amazing wife, a brilliant mum, a successful businesswoman, a ridiculously good friend. And for being as flawed a human being as you are. Neither of you are perfect, but as long as you're both determined to try to make things better, then maybe love is enough."
Her words landed somewhere deep — she saw her own tears mirrored in the ones rolling down his cheeks. For a beat, they sat in silence, both pulling themselves together. Then, an idea struck Hannah. She sniffed, grinned, and told Tom about Jess's long-held dream of renewing vows and throwing a party to celebrate their ten-year marriage. Tom looked uncertain at first, worried he'd make things worse. But Hannah convinced him that while it wouldn't solve everything, it was a powerful way to show he cared. One warning: Jess was a total control freak, so Tom absolutely could not let her organize it herself.
"I think it's a great idea," Tom finally said, and that first real smile in a long time crossed his face.
Hannah stepped off the bus outside G-Ma's sheltered housing block, feeling nervous in a way she hadn't expected. When she'd called her grandmother the night before to invite her to an early lunch, G-Ma had immediately sensed something was off and subjected her to some robust questioning. But Hannah had managed to brush her off, at least for a little while.
When G-Ma buzzed her in, Hannah found her grandmother looking smart and ready — coat, bejeweled brooch, and the LK Bennett handbag Hannah had saved up to give her for her eighty-fifth birthday. G-Ma fixed her with a beady eye.
"You're looking lovely this morning, G-Ma," Hannah said, bending to kiss her cheek, breathing in the familiar scents of Nivea and powder.
"And you're looking rather shifty, my darling. I knew something was going on. Out with it!"
Hannah laughed, but she knew she'd be interrogated until the truth came out. She wheeled G-Ma down the road to the garden centre café, a favorite haunt of the residents because it served excellent scones with clotted cream — and was licensed to sell alcohol.
"I've been dreaming about a nice big glass of Chardonnay all morning!" G-Ma sighed, sipping the large white wine Hannah had immediately ordered. "Now, young lady, are you going to tell me what's going on? Is it that handsome husband of yours?"
Hannah admitted it was. She explained that she was waiting for a message from Jess, but the real trouble was Toby. He seemed unable to talk to her about anything important. When things got weird or awkward, he just glossed over them and pretended they hadn't happened. When she questioned him or disagreed with something he'd done, he'd shut down and refuse to speak to her.
"And what was it you disagreed with?" G-Ma asked keenly.
His parents had invited them for the whole of Christmas, and Toby had immediately said yes without even asking her. Hannah had been planning to go to Australia to see Dee. He simply didn't understand why she was so annoyed.
"And what did you say when he didn't understand?" G-Ma asked.
Hannah took a long swig of her wine. "I may have said I was beginning to think the whole marriage thing hadn't been the best idea."
"And what did he say to that?"
"That's the problem — he didn't say anything. And I've heard nothing from him since. He just won't engage when it comes to anything important."
G-Ma gave her a thoughtful look. "Did you ever ask Toby if he wanted to come to Australia with you?"
"Well, no. He seemed very clear we were spending Christmas with his parents."
"So you didn't actually suggest that both of you went to see Dee?"
"No. It didn't really cross my mind to."
G-Ma paused. "And do you not think it should have crossed your mind to invite your husband on your travels?"
Hannah shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and she was grateful when the waiter arrived with their lunch. But G-Ma wasn't finished. Over their meal, she told Hannah about the first argument she and Gramps ever had — which surprised Hannah, who had grown up thinking her grandparents never really argued.
"Oh, we argued, darling! We were like any other couple — neither of us were saints," G-Ma admitted. "And yes, we learned the art of compromise over the years, but my goodness, we had a few humdingers to start with!"
Hannah put down her knife and fork, stunned. Her grandmother sighed softly.
"Hannah, darling, I fear I may have presented a somewhat idealized view of my marriage to you as you were growing up. Don't look like that — Robbie and I were just as much in love as I've always said we were. But I never wanted you to think we had some miracle relationship where we never disagreed or I never thought he was being foolish or selfish. Of course I did. And he thought those things of me too. But we got through those times. And the more we did that, the more we realized we didn't need to have the argument in the first place — if we'd told each other how we were feeling from the beginning, more often than not, we could have saved ourselves the row further down the line."
Hannah stared at her grandmother, thoughts whirling. "How did you know?" she asked simply.
"You mean how did I know Robbie was The One?" G-Ma replied astutely. "I had a feeling deep in my chest from the first day I met him at the village fete. It was like my heart was telling me not to let this man leave."
Then her eyes grew watery, and she reached for Hannah's hand.
"But, Hannah, just because you didn't have that feeling doesn't mean Toby isn't The One. Everyone is different, even the time we live in now is different. The important thing is that you're happy. You have to find your own path to that happiness, and that might be a different path from the one I travelled with your Gramps. Maybe Toby isn't The One for you, but also maybe he is. Only the two of you can work that one out.
"But I'll tell you this: I may have known Robbie was The One that very first day, and that never changed. What did change was my love for him — it grew every single day we were together. That's because we both put everything we had into it."
She squeezed Hannah's hand. "Can you hand on heart say you've put everything you've got into your relationship with Toby?"
Hannah looked down at her plate and was silent. Finally she answered, "No. But neither has Toby. I can change how I go about things, but if he refuses to talk to me, what more can I do?"
"How hard have you tried to talk to him in the last few days?" G-Ma asked quietly.
Hannah's eyes fell. "Well, I... Fine, I haven't tried to talk to him either."
"Hannah, darling, you are sometimes more like your mother than you imagine. The only person I've met who is more stubborn than her is you! Are you really going to give up and run away from something so important? Either you or Toby has to be the one to make the first move — and why shouldn't it be you?"
The silence stretched between them as Hannah wrestled with her thoughts and fought against the stubbornness her grandmother knew so well. Finally, she sighed. "Fine, okay, I'll be the one to make the first move! But what if he still refuses to talk about the important things?"
"Tell him how you feel," G-Ma said simply. "And don't use any of that iMessage or Skype rubbish. You need to speak to him face to face. Allow yourself to be vulnerable. You can't let your worry about him rejecting you stand in the way of your happiness."
"I'm... I'm scared," Hannah whispered. "I don't know if I can do that, G-Ma."
"You can and you must," G-Ma said firmly. "Promise me, Hannah darling. Promise me you'll at least try."
Hannah sighed and knew when she was beaten. "I promise," she said quietly.
Her grandmother's hand relaxed in hers, and in that moment G-Ma looked every one of her eighty-eight years, which made Hannah feel terrible. She shook herself and suggested they head back to the flat for coffee — she might even let G-Ma beat her at her terrible quiz show. But G-Ma's cheerful reply lacked its usual vigor, and Hannah felt guilty as she watched her grandmother doze off in front of the television an hour later.
As she washed up their mugs, she reasoned that her grandmother hadn't seemed too fragile to offer some challenging truths. And, she had to admit, a weight had lifted from her shoulders. She kissed G-Ma gently, made sure her tablets were on the table for the carer, and quietly let herself out.
On the musty bus ride home, Hannah rested her head against the window. She had never broken a promise to G-Ma in her entire life. So she reluctantly pulled her phone out and composed a text. Twenty minutes later, as the bus pulled up at her stop, she jabbed the "Send" button and quickly shoved the phone back into her pocket — determined not to check it for at least the five minutes it would take to get home.
But when she finally dared to look at the screen, she saw a notification immediately.
Toby had replied.
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## Reader's Impressions & Star Rating
This chapter is a beautiful blend of emotional depth and honest introspection. Watching Hannah navigate her own stubbornness, receive hard truths from her wise grandmother, and then actually follow through with a first step toward Toby was genuinely satisfying. G-Ma's candid confession about her marriage adds such a warm, human layer to the story, reminding us that real love isn't about perfection — it's about showing up and trying again and again. The quiet cliffhanger at the end — Toby's reply — leaves us on the edge of our seats. This one gets a solid:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4.8 / 5 Stars
## Next Chapter Prediction
Now that Hannah has finally broken the silence and reached out to Toby, I predict the next chapter will feature them meeting face to face — and possibly having the very kind of honest, vulnerable conversation Hannah has been longing for. G-Ma's wise words may have opened the door, but whether Toby can meet her halfway with an open heart is another question entirely. And with Jess and Tom's vow-renewal party on the horizon, there's likely more emotional turbulence, and maybe some hope, brewing for everyone.
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