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The kind of man her mother had always warned her about.
Bryson spentway too much time at Hadley’s.First with the dog, then helping her clean the paint off the old wood floors.
His typical workday was almost over so he called it a wash.Once the last of the paint drips were cleaned up and Hadley had excused herself to shower, he left to retrieve the supplies to start on the fence.
Zack stopped to help and dusk was setting by the time they called it a day.Zack left while Bryson gathered up his tools and locked them up for the night.
He’d made a second trip when a car pulled into Hadley’s driveway, and he turned to find Hadley’s mother glaring at him.Bryson dipped his head in greeting and waited for the woman to emerge.“Ma’am,” he said once she did.
“You’re here again?”
“Yes, ma’am.I’m installing a fence,” he said, even though it was none of her business.
“I see,” she said with a lift of her pointy chin.“Well, you can get back to it.”
Yeah, because that’s all he’d ever be to people like Cheryl Dummit.The hired help.“You have a good evening, ma’am.”
Bryson started to make his way through the hedges once more but paused to watch as Cheryl’s knock went unanswered.She tried to open the locked door, then used one of her keys to let herself in.
Bryson had just taken a step to continue on when Cheryl’s shrill screams filled the air.He dropped his tools and ran for the house, entering the same time Hadley came running down the stairs clutching a towel to her wet body.
Hershey barked nonstop in the kitchen, the dog’s fear and panic tangible.
“Hadley!Hadley,help!”
“Mom?”
“Get this creature away from me!”
Bryson tried and failed not to take in every aspect of Hadley’s damp towel as he followed her into the kitchen, where Cheryl Dummit cowered in a corner, shooing the dog away with a kitchen chair.
“Mom!Put that down.Hershey isn’t going to hurt you.”
“Get that mongrel away from me!”
Hershey let out another bark that changed into a whining growl as she looked to Hadley as though for instruction.
Bryson silently praised the dog while stepping toward her.“Hey, Hershey.Come here, girl.Come.”
Hershey turned her head toward him and Hadley and, after a last glance at Cheryl, moved to sit by Hadley’s bare feet.
“What on earth is that thing doing here?”Cheryl asked.“And why are you naked?”
Bryson watched as Hadley blinked and drew back at the barrage.
“Hershey is my dog—and I was taking a shower behind a locked door.What areyoudoing here?”
Hadley slid Bryson a glance over her shoulder and hitched the towel higher on her chest.
“Do you mind?”Cheryl said to him.“You can leave.”
Dismissed, Bryson ran a hand over Hershey’s head, patting her.Good girl.
“Mom, why are you here?”Hadley asked in a measured tone.
“I came to finish our discussion about Kyle.I’m glad I did, too, so I can put a stop to this nonsense.A dog, Hadley?You think you’re going to replace your husband with a dog?”
“Well, at least she’s loyal and isn’t going to screw around on me,” Bryson heard Hadley say.
