“And Hadley?Will you tell her or…would you like for me to do it?”
Hadley… What would this mean to her?“I’ll do it.”Maybe.
Because he couldn’t help but wonder… Would knowing he was Mary Elizabeth’s son change things between them?
Labor Day weekendHadley rushed to the front door the moment she heard a car in the driveway, Hershey scrambling after her like the ever curious dog she was.
Hadley spotted Max’s sporty Jeep outside the window and yanked the door open, heart bursting with happiness—until she saw Max, Abby,andKyle getting out of the vehicle.
What on earth?
“Hey, Mom,” Max called out the moment he spotted her.
Hadley saw him make a face and tilt his head in his father’s direction, and she got the feeling Kyle’s presence might have been Abby’s idea.
Hadley shut Hershey inside the house and moved down the steps into the yard, her legs feeling as heavy as her heart now felt.
“Mom, wow, you lookawesome,” Abby said.
“That you do,” Kyle added, giving her one of his charming, patented smiles.
She’d taken special care with her appearance today in her excitement for the kids to arrive and her planned dinner with Bry— Oh, nooo.
How was she going to deal with BrysonandKyle?What was he evendoinghere?
Abby left the guys to get the bags and came running up to Hadley.Her daughter gave her a tight hug, whispering, “Please don’t be mad.You invited us to come and it’s our house, too, right?”
“Abby—”
“They broke up,” Abby said quickly, ending the hug to give Hadley a sharp look.“It’s over with them.And you always said you didn’t want the divorce.”
Her stomach knotted up and then knotted up some more.“Oh,Abby—”
“Dad’s sorry, Mom.And Grandma told us about that guy who’s after the house and money Nan left you and… Just give Dad a chance, please.It’s going to be okay.You’ll see.”
Her insides threatened to revolt and revisit the breakfast she’d stuffed down knowing she needed to eat something, and anger filled her.Obviously she should’ve told the children about Bryson before now, because instead, her mother had filled them in onherversion.“Abby, you shouldn’t have done this.You should’vetalkedto me.”
“Grandma said Dad could come.That it would be good for both of you.”
Yeah, well, Grandma needed to be smacked.“Abby, this isnotokay.And your grandmother is dead wrong about Bryson.”
Abby glanced over her shoulder toward Kyle and back again.“Mom, please?It’s just a weekend.He can sleep in one of the spare rooms.”
Well, he certainly wasn’t sleeping with her!
“Hadley,” Kyle said as he slowly approached them.“Thanks for letting me come along.I was relieved to hear you’re okay with me being here.”
Okay?No, it wasn’t okay!It put her in such a difficult spot and even more unbelievable was the fact he’d deliberately ridden with the kids, which meant to leave he’d either have to take Max’s Jeep—which no one drove but Max—or have the kids drive him back to Raleigh—angry with her for ruining their weekend at the beach.
Hadley fisted her hands and swallowed hard, reminding herself that words said in anger would come back to bite her.“I’m not sure who told you that but…I guess we’ll have to work something out.”
Since her mother was so fond of Kyle, maybe he could staythere.
“I can’t believe Nan left the beach house to you,” Abby said, cheerful and smiling like she hadn’t just dropped the most epic emotional time bomb.“Is that Hershey barking?”
Blasted by emotions from every direction, all Hadley could do was nod.“Yeah, she’s… Let’s go in.”
“Hey, Mom,” Max said as he joined them, wrapping his impossibly muscled arm around her to give her a hug.