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“I’m glad you had a friend,” he said softly.
“Me, too.”The words emerged thick and full of emotion.
“Is that yours?”Max asked, indicating the shell.
Glad to have something else to focus on, she swooped down and lifted it from the sand.“Yeah, isn’t it beautiful?”
“It’s broken.”
Hadley laughed softly, tears flooding her eyes once more as she cradled the whelk in her hands.Broken shells really were the most beautiful.“No,” she murmured huskily as she held it up.“See how the light gets in?”
Thirty minutes later,Hadley stared at her reflection in the mirror.
Make a choice and see where it leads, she thought, paraphrasing Bryson’s advice.
She’d taken extra care with her appearance, picking Kyle’s favorite color on her, a light periwinkle-blue spaghetti-strapped dress that V-ed deep in the front and flowed all the way to the floor.She added wedges and a silver necklace Kyle had purchased for her many years ago for her birthday, the delicate sapphire catching the light from the window.
That done, she pinned her hair up and took another long look at her nearly perfect appearance.
Like her mother?
Hadley inhaled and pressed her hands to her stomach, her gaze locking on the rings she’d removed the day she’d told her parents the truth.They sat in a pretty dish atop the dresser, gathering dust like all the knickknacks remaining in the house.
Tonight would be a test of sorts.A trial run to see if she and Kyle could begin anew.Get through a dinner without thinking bad thoughts or experiencing the anger that often caught her by surprise when it appeared like a sucker punch to her stomach.
A soft knock sounded on her door and she murmured a distracted, “Come in.”
She turned to find Kyle leaning against the doorframe.“Oh.I was expecting Abby.”
“She and Max already left.You look beautiful, Hadley.”
“Thanks…wait, what?They left?”
“They’ll meet us at the restaurant.”
She glanced at the clock and realized she’d taken longer than intended.“I see.I’m ready to go.”
She crossed to the bed and plucked up the thin, gauzy scarf and a beaded purse of a sea scene with the ocean and palm trees and sand on one side.
“Haddie…”
Hadley turned so fast she almost plowed into Kyle.His soft hands gently gripped her bare shoulders as he steadied her, and she caught at the instant comparison to Bryson’s deliciously calloused ones.“We sh-should be going.We don’t want to be late.”
Kyle lifted one hand and gently stroked his fingers over her jawline, stopping at her chin to nudge her face a bit higher.“Kyle…”
“Shhh,” he said, lowering his head.
His lips brushed over hers and she froze, unable to move, unable to respond.Memories bombarded her.Good and bad.But the familiarity was there, the comfort of time, the feel of her husband, the scent of his cologne.
By the time Kyle lifted his head, Hadley considered herself more confused than ever, though she supposed her response—or lack thereof—was understandable due to the trauma they’d endured.“We should g-go.”
Kyle gave her a handsome grin and wrapped his arm around her shoulders before sliding his hand down to the small of her back.
Hershey raced down the stairs ahead of them, and Hadley gave Hershey a treat and said goodbye while Kyle waited impatiently.
“I still can’t believe you got a dog.Can you give it back?”he asked as he used her key to lock up behind them.
“What?”she asked, aghast that he’d even ponder such a thing.“No, I can’t give her back.”
