stiffens.
“I like this song,” I say, rolling the volume knob up.
“Me too,” she says.
I raise an eyebrow. “You like country?”
She touches the hem of her shorts. “Sure I do. Is that surprising?”
“Nah. Just different.”
“Different good?” she asks, smiling.
I shrug, barely able to contain my grin.
She chucks me in the arm. “Jerk.”
I tap my fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the song and Hadley hums along with it. She wasn’t lying about liking it. After a few minutes the song ends and a commercial comes on. I lower the volume a few notches.
Hadley whips around in her seat to face me. I glance at her as I turn the corner.
“Can I say something?” she asks, her fingers tangled in her lap.
“Yeah.”
She pushes her hair across her shoulder before speaking. “I want to discuss the elephant in the room. Or—” She opens her hands. “Truck, I suppose. I’m not going to ask you about leaving, that is, unless you want to tell me.”
I clench my jaw, but she carries on quickly.
“But if we’re going to work together this summer, I think we should try and get back to that place we were before you left. Professionally, I mean.”
My mind flashes to the night I left, the better part of that night where our friendship had transformed into something more. But she wasn’t talking about that.
My fingers twitch to touch her, reassure her somehow, but instead I keep them firmly planted on the wheel. “Yeah. I can do that.”
She exhales deeply. “Great.”
The air between us has shifted and my shoulders relax, letting go of the nightmarish parts of my past. Lily’s warning is fresh in my mind but Hadley seems to have grown up a lot. This summer is going to be easier than I thought.
***
Rock music blares from my phone. I roll over onto my side and fumble over the smooth surface of the side table. I click the button and the alarm ceases. Falling back onto the bed, I rub a hand over my face, my cheeks still raw from shaving last night in the coldest shower I’d ever experienced. The rest of the night was spent making a list of all the parts and projects I needed to do over the next couple of weeks before any chance of an open house. Or at least a successful one. And we needed as much for the house as possible.
I grab my phone and dial Mabel.
She picks up on the second ring. “Good mornin’, sweetheart!” Of course she’s wide awake.
“Mornin’.”
“Six in the mornin’ you’re callin’ me. You slept in,” she jokes.
“That’s what driving three days does to you.”
“Well, you needed it. I was worried sick that you’d drive off the road. Next time take someone with you and I’ll pay for their flight home.”
“Okay.” I slide off the bed. My feet touch the cool floor. She can barely afford to keep the place afloat, I wouldn’t let her buy anyone’s ticket let alone take anyone with me. When I was out of here, I was out for good.
“How was yesterday?” she asks.
I imagine her moving around the kitchen as I go through the activities from the day before, specifically not mentioning Hadley.
But of course she’s one step ahead of me. “That’s all well and good sunshine, but tell me about Hadley.”
A choked sound escapes my mouth.
She clucks. “I may be old, but I’m not daft. Don’t think I fell for your hemmin’ and hawin’ over leaving. You couldn’t stay away from your home forever.”
“This isn’t my home—”
“Oh hush now,” she interrupts. “You need this, sweetheart. You need it more than you know. Take this time to get everythin’ out of your system. If you want to say goodbye that is up to you. But if you end up wanting to stay, you know what you should do.”
“I don’t want to be here,” I say weakly, betraying how I truly feel. “And I don’t want to see him. Ever.”
She sighs deeply and I can see her shaking her head.
“And you better not tell him I’m here,” I add.
“Will Carson, are you telling me what to do?”
Two names. She’s not happy. “No ma’am.”
I hear the smile in her voice. “That’s what I thought.” She exhales again. “It’s only your first day. Can you just do me a favor?”
“What’s that?”
“You have two months to make the most of this second chance. I know you regret everything that happened with your father but this is your opportunity to live the rest of your life without regret. Summers are magical in that way. Don’t take it for granted.”
I peer over my shoulder. Is Hadley up? She was always an early riser. Something I quickly had to get accustomed to working on the ranch.
“You there?”
I turn away from the window. “Yes.”
“I know I’m an old woman, but I do know what I’m talking about.”
“Love you,” I say.
“You too, darlin’.”
I toss the phone onto the bed as I walk to the window. Pushing the curtain aside, I peer up at the still-dark sky. I can’t see the stars clearly here, the streetlights cast a glow blocking their light. I open the window and a light breeze moves over my arms. The screen is missing, another thing to add to the list, so I stick my head out the window and close my eyes, inhaling. The air is different here, something out of a deep memory.
A dull whooshing sound makes me open my eyes. Hadley stands behind the screen and her eyes widen. Her gaze moves down over my bare chest then back up.
“Good mornin’,” I say.
She blinks. “Mornin’.”
“I can’t help it,” I say, laughing.
“It’s cute,” she says and shakes her head as if scolding herself.
“I was going for ruggedly handsome but I guess cute will do.”
She’s already dressed in the counselor uniform, dark green shirt with khaki shorts.
