“A man with questionable moral fiber won’t stop with a single offense.”
“I’m not sure I believe that.” I’m sensing I should be insulted, but I can’t put my finger on why. “People can change. For better or worse.”
“Hmm.” Her tone says she doesn’t agree. She’s touching her ring, the one on her pinky. That thin silver band that looks dinged-up and cheap.
“Where did that come from?”
Hazel looks up in surprise. “The ring?”
“Yeah. It’s different from everything else you wear, but you never take it off.”
She blinks. “Nobody’s ever asked about it. Not even Lucy remembers.”
“Lucy?”
She looks down at the ring. When she doesn’t speak, I figure I’ve reached my quota of personal details from Hazel. I pushed it too far and she’s done now.
“Lucy and I turned twelve the same summer,” she says softly. “Lucy in June, me in July. Our grandmother took us out for a special ladies’ lunch at Weirdoughs. She saved up for weeks so we could order whatever we wanted.”
“This was your dad’s mom?”
“Yes. I guess you could say she was more like a mother than my actual mom. And my cousins were kinda my siblings.”
“So Grandma took you to lunch,” I prompt. I picture it in my mind, pre-teen Hazel reverently nibbling those tiny French pastries.
“Yes. Lunch and then to one of those trinket shops by the beach.” She’s still touching the ring, and her voice becomes husky and wistful. “We each got ten dollars to spend, which was a lot to my grandma, but my mother found it appalling and cheap.”
“Your mom sounds like a treat.”
Hazel frowns. “She wanted me to have the best of everything. Anyway,” she says before I can pick on her mother. “I chose this little silver ring. Lucy bought crystals, I think. I’ve honestly forgotten, and I’m sure she forgot what I chose for myself. But I’ve worn this every day since.”
“That’s really sweet.” I wouldn’t have pegged Hazel Spencer as sentimental.
“It’s special to me.” Touching the ring, she gives me a limp little shrug. “Dad offered to buy me a nicer one later that summer. Mom moved away before the year was over. Every time I see her, she still insists it ruins the look of my outfits. Nobody else ever noticed before.”
“May I see it?” I expect her to slip it off her finger. To let me inspect it from a distance.
But she holds out her hand, and I’m left with no choice but to take it. To capture those delicate fingers with mine, wrapping my palm around hers. There’s something familiar in the feel of her skin touching my skin A chatter of sparks, some singing electrical current.
Her sharp inhale says she feels it, too.
“Beautiful,” I murmur, not looking at the ring.
Hazel looks into my eyes. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you. For sharing all that. You didn’t have to. We’ve agreed to co-parent, but you don’t owe me anything beyond that.”
Her eyes dart away. “Sometimes I’m not sure that’s possible.”
“Really?” I’m still holding her hand, and now I catch myself holding my breath. “Hazel? Are you having second thoughts about co-parenting?”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Talk to me, Haze.” I stroke my thumb over her knuckles, and she shivers. “Whatever it is, you can say it.”
“It’s nothing, Luke. Drop it.”
Not when I’m this close to knowing her. “Hazel?—”
