“I actually did have a reason for stopping by.”
“No,” she said in mock surprise. Her sister was as transparent as a snow globe.
Hannah made a face but spoke in a low voice. “I wanted to give you the heads-up. McKenna Dodd told me Troy and his new family are back in town. Apparently they arrived last night. She bumped into Brittany at that cute gift store over in Haven Point.”
She froze, one arm snagging inside her coat sleeve. Seriously? She wasn’t upset that they were here. The wedding was in two days, so she knew they would be arriving soon.
No, she was angry that Troy apparently had been in the area nearly twenty-four hours and hadn’t tried to connect with the daughter he hadn’t seen in two months.
“Has he reached out to let you know he’s back?” Hannah asked.
“Not yet. I’m sure he will as soon as he gets the chance.”
She tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. Troy paid child support every month exactly on the first and he did call every few weeks to talk to Lydia. He would reach out soon, she was certain.
“Are you okay?”
She took her sister’s hands. “Hannah. I’m fine. I wish everyone would stop treating me like I’m a victim in this situation. I’m not. I’m perfectly happy with my life right now. I am certainly not pining for my ex-husband.”
No. She was pining for the man out front on his phone right now.
“Good. Because he’s a sleaze bucket who was never good enough for you anyway.”
“He’s not a sleaze bucket. You know he’s not.”
Hannah narrowed her gaze. “I disagree. What else would you call a man who walks out on his amazing wife and his beautiful daughter to hook up with someone who is nearly a decade younger than he is, with fake boobs and a spray tan?”
“I don’t want to talk about Troy or Brittany tonight, okay?”
“Neither do I,” Hannah growled. “If I had my way, we would never talk about him again.”
“Unfortunately, he will always be Lydia’s father.”
“Don’t remind me,” Hannah muttered.
She hugged her loyal sister, so very grateful for her support. “Thanks for letting me know he’s in town.”
“You’re welcome.”
Hannah looked as if she wanted to say more but their mother came out of the break room with a now adequately bundled-up Lydia.
“We do need to go. Your father is making dinner tonight and I don’t want to miss his amazing lasagna.”
“Is he?” Hannah said with interest. “Maybe I’ll swing by for dinner.”
“You’re always welcome. All of you are.”
Holly hugged her mother and sister one more time. When they left, Holly drew in a deep breath and faced Ryan, who was watching her with an unreadable look in his eyes.
How much of her exchange with Hannah had he heard?
“I think we’re ready. I only have to arm the alarm.”
“What about my backpack?” Audrey asked. “Should I take it to the market?”
“My truck is parked out front,” Ryan said. “We can leave it in there on the way to the market.”
She set the alarm and opened the front door for them all, then locked it behind her.
