ChapterFourteen
So, you and Bryson, huh?”Izzy asked as she helped Hadley carry a small fold-down side table down the stairs.
“Yeah, me and Bryson.”They took a rest at the bottom before picking it up and continuing on through the kitchen and out toward the shed.
“Can’t say he isn’t pretty to look at with all that muscle,” Izzy said.“I can’t believe I haven’t seen him around.”
“You would’ve snapped him up pre-Everett, huh?”Hadley asked.Izzy’s gorgeousness allowed her pretty much her pick of men, and Hadley couldn’t help but feel a bit of unease at the thought of Izzy pursuing Bryson.Thirteen years younger at thirty-two, Izzy represented all the women still young enough to have the family Bryson had missed out on.
Which meant what?That she was jealous?Afraid Bryson wanted a family more than he let on?
“Maybe,” Izzy teased, winking.“You two look perfect together, though.Really.Quite the stunning couple.”
“Thanks,” she said, thoughts dark as she backed her way along the grass toward the shed.
Hadley and Bryson had spent the weekend emptying the shed of the rest of the items she wasn’t sure what to do with, adding them to the dumpster next door because Bryson insisted it was okay.
Then they’d turned the entire shed into a painting area, and he’d shown her the basics of sanding and prepping and using the sander and paint sprayer she’d purchased.
She’d followed those lessons up by bingeing an online class from someone creating remarkable painted furniture that earned top dollar and prayed she could work her way to that level of expertise.
Now it was Wednesday, and she and Bryson had spent every evening together after he finished working on the three-story house next door.
Hadley and Izzy entered the small outbuilding and Hadley led the way to the plastic-draped painting corner.Once the table was in position, Hadley propped her hands on her hips and caught her breath.“Time for some lemonade?”
Isabel grinned and nodded, and the two talked about the upcoming Labor Day weekend two weeks away.Hadley was beyond excited because Max and Abby were coming to visit her for the long weekend.
“I can borrow Mom and Dad’s Jeep and Everett could take us all out on the South end,” Izzy said.“We could pack a cooler?Spend the day?”
“Oh, that sounds fun.They’d love that.”
“You can invite Bryson, too.”
Hadley inhaled, faltering at the thought.“I dunno.Is it too soon?”
“You tell me.How serious is it getting between the two of you?”Izzy asked.
Hadley poured them both a tall glass of lemonade, and Izzy rolled her eyes and moved to look beneath the sink for Nan’s not-so-secret stash.
“Ah.Here we go,” Izzy said, holding up the bottle of vodka in triumph.
“Isn’t it a little early for that?”Hadley asked.
“Not when you’re on island time.Besides, it’s for you, not me.”
Hadley laughed at her friend’s grinning statement, grasped her glass, and held it out for Izzy to pour.
They carried their lemonades out onto the porch, and Hershey paced for a while before finally settling down, panting from the heat of the day despite her spot in the shade by the door.
“So?”Izzy said, bringing them back to the topic at hand.“Bryson?You?Fill me in.”
Hadley couldn’t stop the flush that raced up her neck and into her face.
“Ohhhh, girl!That look says it all!”
“It saysnothing,” Hadley countered.“Bryson and I are taking things slow and…getting to know each other.”
“Uh-huh.”