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“But Olivia laughed with him. I thought she was my friend!”
“I know it’s hard to understand but…sometimes, people do things for all the wrong reasons. I bet you right now Olivia is feeling pretty bad for laughing along with Ricky. But you saw how the other kidsdidn’tlaugh, right? The ones who stood up for you?”
My brows pulled in tight as I wondered what happened to my daughter.
“Yes.”
“Those are your true friends, Hadley. Olivia might tell you she’s sorry, and she should, but remember the friends who were there for you. The ones who stood by you and didn’t believe Ricky when he said all those mean things.”
“Ms. Lacey says Ricky said those things because he likes me and that’s what boys do.”
What in the hell?
Why would a teacher say that? I balled my fists and wanted to storm out and ask Emma exactly what happened, but something held me back.
“No, that isnottrue. Hadley, you listen to me right now. If a boy likes you, he willnevertreat you that way. He won’t pullyour pigtails or push you into a pool and tell everyone you can’t swim. If a boy likes you, he’ll help you out of the pool. Give you a towel to dry off. He’ll pick you a flower and give it to you just because he wants to see you smile. He’ll tell you that you’re pretty, and he won’t make fun of your beautiful curly hair. Do you understand the difference, sweetheart? And sometimes boys can start off being nice, and then they turn mean for whatever reason. Those are not boys who like you.”
My heart ached in my chest, and I squeezed my eyes shut. She was so obviously speaking from experience, and the image of Emma’s ex hurting her nearly made me want to scream.
“Why do they do that?” Hadley asked in a small voice.
“I don’t know. But never,everlet a boy be mean to you, Hadley. Never let him yell at you, or push you, or tell you that anything about you is wrong. Okay?”
“Okay. But my feelings are still hurt.”
“I know they are, sweetheart. And I have the perfect way to make it better. I have a favorite song, and when I get upset about anything, I put it on and dance around like crazy. Then all those bad feelings go away, and I feel better.”
“I want to dance! Can it be my song too?” Hadley cried out.
“Of course! Come on.”
They sounded as if they were walking into the family room, so I slipped out of the hall and into the kitchen.
A minute later, Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” started playing. I watched as Emma sang the song and danced. Hadley laughed, and Emma grabbed her hands and they jumped up onto the sofa, dancing like their lives depended on it.
Moving into the doorway, I leaned against it and watched as Hadley tried to mimic Emma’s moves. I smiled, grateful to Emma for making my daughter feel better. The tightness in my chest in moments like these was still hard to ignore, but it was slowly easing up.
They hopped down, and when Emma picked up Hadley and spun her around, both of them laughing, my knees went weak. My daughter had fully given her heart to Emma, and Emma had done the same.
When Emma jumped back onto the sofa for her solo performance, she finally caught a glimpse of me and stumbled. She lost her balance, and I knew she was going over the back of the couch. I dashed forward and caught her, breaking her fall as we both crashed to the floor with Emma on top of me.
Hadley ran over, jumped on Emma, and the three of us broke out into laughter.
“That was fun!” Hadley exclaimed, rolling off the pile we’d created on the floor. Emma tried to move, and it was then that we both noticed I was holding her tightly in my arms. Our eyes met, and for the briefest moment, our lips moved closer to one another.
That was until Hadley shouted, “Daddy, you’re home early!”
Emma jerked back and scrambled to her feet. Her cheeks were the most beautiful shade of pink I’d ever seen. I stood and reached for Hadley, pulling her in for a hug before kissing her on the forehead.
“I am. What are we going to do tonight?”
Clearing her throat, Emma said, “I’m so sorry, Aiden. You said you’d be working late, so Tammy asked if Hadley could go to a movie with Jennifer and spend the night over there. I didn’t think you’d mind, and I said she could go.”
“Daddy, please, can I?”
“Of course, you can go.” Glancing up at Emma, I asked, “So is this the age where sleepovers are a thing? She hasn’t really been interested before, and now it’s twice in less than a month.”
She shrugged. “I suppose so. I’m pretty sure I was a bit older when I started sleepovers, but she’s so close to Jennifer’s family.”
