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She was working days; he was working nights like he always did.
Maybe Sunday they could work something out in the morning for a few hours, as she was scheduled to go in at noon.
“I know you went on a date with Hadley a few days ago,” Stan said.
Which was what he figured though he had to admit he was surprised Hadley would tell her father. “Last I knew she was an adult,” he said.
“She is. She’s always been very private about her life. If Louisa and I weren’t sitting on the deck when she returned wearing a dress, then we wouldn’t have realized it.”
“You asked her?” he asked.
“Louisa said she looked pretty. She did. She looks very healthy. Physically and mentally. More so than she did when she returned a month ago.”
“Was she sick?” he asked, frowning.
“No. But she’s had a very difficult year and my guess is you don’t know anything about it.”
“She mentioned an ex,” he said. “But again, we just had one date. Nothing more. We have an agreement. Nothing is going to affect her job, she knows that. But I know this isn’t what she is looking to do long term anyway.”
“No,” Stan said. “It’s not. She needs to get back to what she went to school for.”
He kept his mouth shut. It appeared to him that Hadley was happier doing a mixture of things than when she sat in an office, but since he only knew her for a month he wasn’t an authority on it either.
“I think that is up to Hadley to make that decision,” he said.
“It is,” Stan said. “But since I know she is private you need to know what she has gone through. If she won’t tell you, then I’m going to. A parent always watches out for their children and maybe we felt we didn’t do it enough since she wasn’t around.”
“If you think telling me will upset Hadley, then maybe it’s best you don’t,” he said. Though he did want to know, the last thing he wanted to do was get in the middle of a family dispute.
“It will upset her, but I don’t care. You need to know. I’m not positive her dating right now is the best thing for her. Maybe it’s not the best thing for you.”
There was a lot he wanted to say to that comment but chose not to. “If you feel you must, then tell me. I doubt anything you tell me is going to change my mind on how I feel about your daughter.”
Stan didn’t say anything and only looked at him. “You said it was one date. Now it’s how you feel?”
“A figure of speech,” he said.
“Hadley’s last boyfriend, Eddie, passed away a few months ago. It’s not an ex. Not like you might think. He’d gotten seriously hurt in an accident early into their relationship and then she cared for him for months. After everything they’d gone through, he died when his life was just getting back on track. I guess she didn’t tell you that.”
“No,” he said. “She never said a word.”
“It wasn’t just a physical and emotional caring she did, but financially too. We had no idea. She didn’t tell us. She never would ask for help from us or anyone. Eddie got better, but the bills were piling up. Then he passed away suddenly when he was out with friends one night.”
“Oh,” he said. Not only was she grieving the loss of the man she must have loved, to care for him as she had and stay by his side, but it sounded like she put herself into debt doing it.
“Anything Eddie had went to his family after his death. Nothing to Hadley. She was left alone and in debt and barely keeping her head above water. She needed to leave and had enough and came home. I just want you to know there is more going on than an ex. I’m happy to see her getting her life together, but the last thing we want is for her to be dragged back down emotionally.”
“I’m not dragging anyone down,” he said. But he wasn’t so sure he wanted to be any kind of rebound for someone either.
Though he had to remind himself that it was only one date. There was no way to know how anything was going to turn out.
He wasn’t even thinking along the lines of anything other than another date.
But now he had to figure out if maybe it wasn’t the right time for Hadley.
Could she just be trying to move on with someone else before she had time to grieve?
“I’m not saying you are. It’s more like Hadley might not know what she wants right now.”
