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Jesus, even her name sounded like mine.
I shook off the creepy-crawly sensation inching down my spine and pasted on a smile for the woman standing at Keith’s side. I thrust my hand forward, determined to make this meeting as pleasant as possible. “It’s nice to meet you, Hayley.”
The woman looked me up and down in a way that told me she was sizing me up. Her expression gave nothing away, not even the slight smile on her lips. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking, and that was more than a little disconcerting.
“It’s good to see you again, Hardin.”
My chin jerked back at her response. “Uh... I’m sorry. Do we know each other?” Now that I was studying her more closely, there was something about her that niggled at the back of my mind, a hint of familiarity, but I couldn’t place it.
“We were in the same grade all through middle and high school. I went by Rebecca then. Rebecca Duvall? Hayley’s my middle name. I started using it in college. It’s been a while. I’ve changed a bit.”
My eyes flared with recognition.A bitwas an understatement of massive proportions. “Yes, of course! Rebecca. Didn’t you used to be blonde?”
She lifted her hand to pat her long, nearly black hair, a flash of self-consciousness flitting across her face, there and gone in an instant before her mask slipped back into place. “Oh, yeah. I dyed it a while ago. Just felt like a change, you know?”
I kept that smile pinned to my face, hoping it didn’t look as fake as it felt. “I can see that.”
I tried to force my mind back in time. It wasn’t hard to draw up the memory of Rebecca Duvall. Like she’d said, we’d been in the same grade for years, and Grapevine was a small town. Everybody knew everybody. We didn’t run in the same crowds, so we hardly ever talked. I remember her being really shy and quiet, basically a loner. I remembered thinking it was kind of sad that she didn’t really have anyone to talk to, so I’d gone out of my way a couple times to be nice. I’d invited her to sit with me and my friends at lunch or asked if she wanted to go with us to catch a football game. She always turned me down, so I eventually gave up. I still smiled and waved at her in the halls, greeting her by name when we passed by each other, though.
I vaguely recalled mention of her going off to college somewhere out of state, and after that, other things had taken priority in my mind. I had to admit that until this very instant, I hadn’t given another thought to Rebecca. And I barely recognized the woman standing in front of me as the girl I’d gone to school with for years.
“Should we sit?” Keith cut in.
“Yeah. Of course. Have a seat.” I waved them toward the bench Asher and Sloane had vacated a minute ago and resumed my seat. The minute my butt hit the dark red leather, the phone in the back pocket of my jeans started to vibrate. The polite thing to do would have been to ignore it, but as a parent, that wasn’t an option. “Sorry. I need to check this really fast in case it’s Hazel’s school.”
“Yeah. No problem.” Keith waved me on.
I pulled the phone out and swiped the screen. It wasn’t a text from my daughter, but from Sloane.
Sloane:OMG!!!!!!! It’s super freaking creepy how much she looks like you!
I had to choke down the bubble of laughter that wanted to burst from my throat and ended up making a choking sound.
I typed back a quick reply.
Me:Will you two get the hell out of here already? Or no more pizza for the rest of your lives!
I watched discreetly from the corner of my eye as my two friends bent over Sloane’s phone, giggling at my response before hopping off their stools and heading for the door, the threat of no more pizza too serious to ignore.
“Everything good?” Keith asked as he watched me from across the table.
“Oh, yeah. Good. It’s all good. Nothing that can’t wait,” I said awkwardly as I stuffed the phone back into my pocket.
Two minutes in and this already felt awkward as hell. “So, uh... do you guys want to order something? I haven’t eaten yet if you’d like to share a pizza or something.”
“Sounds good, Hardy. I’m starved,” Keith said as he pulled one of the menus from the holder at the end of the table. He seemed oblivious to the fact he’d just used the nickname I’d asked him a million times not to use, but I sure as hell didn’t miss the way Rebec—Hayleywhipped around to look at him, her features turning to stone for a beat before she seemed to catch herself and wiped her expression clean. It all happened so fast I was halfway convinced I’d imagined it as she suddenly melted into his side, snuggling in until he smiled and lifted his arm to loop around her shoulders.
I took a beat to study them together as they shared an affectionate look that didn’t quite feel genuine. At least on her end.
For the first time since they walked in, I noticed the differences in Keith’s appearance. For as long as I’d known him, he’d always worn his hair overly long, the ends curling and flipping around his collar, but it was shorter now, cut in a way that seemed to be the trend for men lately, and instead of finger combing like he’d always done, it was styled... with actual product.
His jaw was still coated in a layer of scruff, but it wasn’t the same I-couldn’t-be-bothered-to-shave five o’clock shadow. It actually looked like he’d gone to a barber to have it shaped and trimmed properly.
He’d always lived in old, faded concert tees and jeans that had seen better days, but today, he was in a pressed button-down that was tucked into a pair of newish-looking dark washed jeans, complete with a brown leather belt that matched the boots on his feet. It was almost as if I were looking at a stranger.
I swallowed down the retort I wanted to make on his appearance and chose to stick with a more neutral topic of conversation. “Do you guys want to split a pizza? I was thinking pepperoni, but I’m open to suggestions. As long as meat is involved,” I finished with a laugh.
“That sounds go—” Keith started, but Hayley jumped in before he could finish.
