Hadley met my stare, not looking away. “I don’t answer to you.”
The roaring in my ears intensified.
“Dude, maybe you need to take a breather.”
I took in the boy-man next to Hadley. Toby Jacob hadn’t changed a bit. He’d stirred up trouble all through high school, and it seemed he was still doing it today. I thought he worked part time at a bike shop in town and lived above it. I took a few steps forward. “Don’t tell me to take a breather,dude.”
“What’s your problem?” Hadley huffed.
“My problem? Oh, I don’t know. Maybe you tearing down that trail like your ass was on fire and then launching yourself into the air. You could’ve broken your neck.”
Saying the words aloud had my rib cage tightening around my lungs, making it hard to suck in air. The girls would’ve been devastated if something had happened to Hadley. As strained as things had become between Hadley and me, she’d never let it affect her relationship with Birdie and Sage. But she put that in jeopardy by doing stuff like this.
“Newsflash, Officer Safety, I know what I’m doing, and I wear protective gear.”
The other man-boy next to Hadley snickered. His name was Josh, but his friends called him something idiotic I couldn’t remember.
My jaw ticked at Hadley’s less-than-affectionate nickname. “None of that shit protects you from a broken neck.”
Hadley strode forward and shoved me towards the parking lot, away from her so-called friends. “For your information, I wear a neck brace. And I practice a trick in a foam pit dozens of times before I try it on land.”
I took in the woman in front of me. My gaze traveled over her face. Those piercing, ice-blue eyes. Her pale skin now flushed pink around her cheeks. “When did you start all of this?”
We’d done our share of riding over the years, even pulled some tricks on mountain bike trails, but nothing like this.
She looked out to the forest beyond us. “It’s been years. You just didn’t care to know about it.”
That cut more than it should’ve. “If you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been a little busy. I have two daughters who count on me.”
That blue heat flared as she turned her gaze back to me. “Don’t you dare put this on Birdie and Sage.”
Hell. She was right. That wasn’t fair. “I don’t want you to end up hurt.”
“And I don’t want to play it safe.” Hadley’s eyes pleaded with me. Begged for understanding. For a little bit of that thing we’d once shared.
But I couldn’t give it to her. Not anymore. “You don’t know what it’s like to almost lose the people you love most in the world. I do. That’s what will kill you. Not taking up a normal sport that won’t get you paralyzed.”
Hadley looked as if I’d slapped her, but I couldn’t let her hurt sink in. Instead, I stalked towards my truck, climbed in, and slammed the door. The roaring in my ears didn’t let up even as I pulled out of the parking lot and headed out onto the dirt road that led to Wolf Gap.
I checked my odometer as I pulled onto the two-lane highway and eased off the accelerator a bit. I cracked my neck in an attempt to relieve a little of the pressure that’d settled there. I hated fighting with Hadley. Everything about it felt wrong, but it seemed it was all we were capable of anymore.
I slowed my speed even more as the highway brought me downtown. I could’ve made the rest of the drive with my eyes closed. I liked that kind of familiarity. It was reassuring, somehow. I’d never understand how my parents left this community behind, even for sunshine and sandy beaches. Even now, they rarely left Tampa to visit.
I shoved down the flicker of annoyance. I’d tried more than once to get them to have a better relationship with their granddaughters, but nothing I said seemed to penetrate. Luckily, the girls had the Eastons. I’d spent so much time at Hayes’ house growing up that it shouldn’t have surprised me that Julia and Gabe had stepped in for Birdie and Sage in such a massive way. But it did. They were the grandparents the girls deserved.
I turned off Aspen Street, leaving behind the shops with the Old West façades and lampposts that had recently been decorated for spring with hanging pots of flowers. As I did, the mountains came into full view. I’d never get tired of the sight. Those epic peaks and the lake that lay at their base were just a few of the many reasons I felt grateful to raise my girls here.
Wolf Gap was a town where people looked out for their neighbors and did anything to help if someone was down on their luck. Most residents didn’t even bother locking their doors. I didn’t have to worry about the girls playing in the front yard or even walking to school themselves someday.
I pulled into the driveway of our gray two-story. The front porch had sold me on the place. I could picture watching the girls playing in the yard from that very spot as they grew up. Birdie and Sage must’ve heard my truck because the screen door banged against the frame. I took a long breath, rolling my shoulders back. I wouldn’t let any of the stresses of my day leak into my time with my daughters.
I climbed out of my truck and started up the steps to the front yard. Birdie hit me on the fly, her arms wrapping around me. “I thought you weren’t coming home till later. That’s what Addie said.”
“I decided to bail on my run.” More like Hadley had stolen that plan out from under me. She might be free to put her life at risk, but I didn’t have to watch.
“Yay!” she cheered.
Sage smiled up at me as I ruffled her hair. “Hey, Daddy.”