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“Hey, you.I’ve missed you.Both of you,” Hadley said.
“And Dad, too, right?”Abby asked, halfway up the steps to the door.
Hadley took one of the duffle bags from Max’s shoulder.“Let’s get inside, shall we?”
“Is that MeMe?”Abby asked, lifting a hand to cover her eyes as she gazed next door.
Hadley turned in that direction and frowned.ItwasMary Elizabeth.But what was she doing next door?
Hadley paused on the porch and stared across the yard, noting Mary Elizabeth didn’t so much as look over but hurried toward her car looking a bit upset?
The older woman climbed in and sped away in a matter of seconds.
Could this day get any weirder?
Max slid by her and joined Abby inside, their voices excited as they met Hershey for the first time.When Hadley moved to join them, Kyle blocked her way.
“Haddie,” Kyle said softly, “I know Abby came on strong right out of the gate, but I’d like to talk.Really talk.I messed up big, and seeing you at the house the other day, packing up… It’s like it all hit home and got real.”
“Really?It took that long?”she asked.“I would’ve thought sitting in divorce court would’ve done that.Or when you went to bed with another woman instead of your wife.”
“Haddie,please.I just want to talk and see if we can work this thing out.”
Work this thing out?Now?Was he serious?
“Dad!Come look!Hershey is so cute,” Abby said from inside the house.
Kyle stared at Hadley for a long moment and then stepped back to open the screen door for her to precede him.
“Just think about it,” he murmured as she walked by, feet so heavy she felt they were encased in psychological concrete.
Hadley crossed the threshold and forced a smile at the kids, welcoming Hershey’s immediate rush to her side as her number one person.
Hadley ran her fingers over the dog’s soft, fuzzy head and met Hershey’s eyes.The dog seemed to sense Hadley’s unease and the doggie smile and wagging tail lessened.Especially when she spotted Kyle.A low growl emerged from Hershey, and Hadley immediately set about soothing the dog in a gentle voice, using the time to process the last few moments.
She’d begged Kyle to reconsider his desire for divorce.Begged him to work things out.But he’d wanted nothing to do with her anymore.In his words, he was “done with” her because he’d found someone else.Just like that, she’d been set aside.
Butnowhe wanted to work it out?
Why couldn’t he have done that a year ago?Two years ago when she’d discovered his affair?
Why now—when she’d finally managed to let go and take the first steps to moving on?
It took nearlyan hour to get everyone settled into the upstairs rooms and find the right linens for another bed.Hadley would’ve normally made it up herself, but she refused to play hostess to Kyle when she hadn’t invited him as a guest.
In a childish act of defiance, she left the folded linens on the bed for Kyle to make up himself, knowing without a doubt he’d be irritated at the fact it hadn’t been done for him.
As a surgeon, Kyle was catered to on every level.At his job, in the OR, at home.But this wasn’t his home.And she wasn’t his wife.
Abby had followed Hadley around like a puppy, no doubt out of wariness for what she’d instigated.But during her daughter’s many apologies and whispered pleas, Abby managed to layer on the guilt by stating Kyle would always be involved with their lives, and if nothing else, her parents needed to find a way to get along for the years and events to come.
Hadleyreallywanted to send Kyle to her parents’ house to stay, but she worried her mother would somehow make things worse than they already were.
When her mother set her mind to something, she was a force to be reckoned with, but for the first time in a long time, maybe the first time in her life, Hadley felt ready to take on the challenge.Enough was enough.Boundaries had formed whether her family knew it or not.
The moment she was able, Hadley escaped and hurried next door to see Bryson since he worked on the house.To warn him of the unexpected development in their plans.The house was locked, and no one answered her knock despite the fact Bryson’s truck was in the driveway.
She pulled the phone from her rear pocket to text him, desperate to temper any further shocks.
