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Hailee frowned. “Aiden?”
“Yes?”
“That’s really sad.”
“Life can be sad sometimes.”
“But most people wouldn’t know it if they were around you, huh?”
I laughed. “I guess not.”
“Are you acting right now? With me?”
“No. All shields are down right now.”
She looked down at the glass of champagne in her hands and bit her bottom lip. I was fascinated by every small movement Hailee made. The way her teeth tugged on her bottom lip made me consider tugging on it, too.
“Tell me something hard for you right now,” she said, snuggling up in the blankets.
“Well”—I scratched the bridge of my nose—“the other day, my mom gave me a letter from my biological mother.”
Her eyes all but popped out of their sockets. “Wait, what? Oh, my goodness. Are you okay? What did it say?”
“I have no clue. I haven’t opened it yet.”
“Why not? I know how long you’ve wanted to know more about her.”
“Exactly. So once I open that letter, it’s as if everything becomes real, and I’m not exactly sure if that’s a good or bad thing.”
“Does it scare you? Knowing that she’s reached out?”
“Um, it doesn’t scare me, but it makes me question the timing. It’s no secret that I’ve been successful. So for her to come around now as opposed to when my career hadn’t taken off just rubs me the wrong way. Then again, who knows? I won’t really know what she has to say until I read the damn letter. And I’m not ready to read said letter yet.”
“If you ever need someone in your corner when you open that up, I can be there for you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Because we’re friends again?”
She snickered. “Is it important for me to say that?”
“No, but I think it’s important for me to hear that.”
She placed her glass of champagne down and looked up at the star-drunk sky. “You never stopped being my best friend, Aiden. I like to think we just had a bad cellular connection over the past five years.”
“I told you years ago to switch to Sprint,” I joked.
“You know me.” She wrapped her arms around her knees. “I’m a terrible listener. What about you and your dad? Have you two talked since you found out what happened all those years ago?”
My jaw tightened at the mention of it. “No.”
“Aiden, I know you probably want to stay mad at him for what he did, but I do know that he did it from a place of love.”
“Or a place of selfishness and greed. Guess it depends on how you look at it.” She went to say something else, but I stopped her. “Conversation shift?”
She took note. I wasn’t ready to talk about Dad and what he’d done. “Okay, shift it.”
“How have the past five years been for you?” I asked her. “How are you?”
“Okay. I’m okay.” She looked up with a soft smile. “I’m good, actually.”
