“We built a life together. Or at least I thought we had. We both had the same goals and convictions. Everything about our relationship lined up the way it was supposed to.” She paused, her gaze drifting toward the fire. “Then we had a baby.”
Max’s grip on her hand tightened. Hadley had a child? He’d had no idea.
“A girl. Emma Joy.” Hadley’s voice cracked. “But . . . she was stillborn.”
A lump formed in his throat, and he squeezed her hand more tightly.
“We didn’t handle the loss well. Ethan and I both grieved differently. Instead of leaning on each other, we pulled away. We were living in the same house but in completely different worlds.” She swallowed, her voice steady but softer now. “Then Ethan . . . well, he cheated on me with another vet at the clinic where we worked.”
The muscles across Max’s chest stretched tauter at her words. That was low. Scum of the earth low.
“When I found out, I was furious, of course. But I was still determined to fix our relationship. I begged Ethan to go to counseling with me. I suggested we could even move, go somewhere new to get a fresh start together. Whatever it took.”
“Did he agree?”
“No, he wasn’t willing to do any of those things. He didn’t want to put things back together. He wanted someone new, someone that would help him forget about our loss.”
“He sounds like a fool.”
“He filed for divorce and decided to stay with the woman he’d cheated with.” Hadley shifted her gaze back to Max. “That’s part of why I came here. I needed a fresh start, somewhere that didn’t remind me of all my plans that didn’t work out. So much was out of my control. I never wanted to be divorced. To lose a child.”
Max nodded as understanding settled in.
“I guess you could say that life didn’t turn out the way I thought it would.” Hadley paused, her fingers tracing the edge of her sleeve as her thoughts settled. “For a while, I was angry and hurt. I didn’t understand why God would allow all of that to happen.”
She let out a quiet breath.
“But God didn’t leave me. Even when I couldn’t see it at the time, He was still there—steady when everything else felt like it was falling apart.” Her gaze lifted again. “After being consumed by grief for so long, I realized I had a choice. I could keep looking backward . . . or I could trust Him with what was ahead, even if I didn’t understand it.”
A small, tentative smile touched her lips.
“So I started trying to look forward instead. I found so much comfort in the thought that one day I’d see Emma again—in heaven.”
Max sat with her words, his thumb brushing her hand again as he considered what she’d shared. Despite the tremendous loss she’d been through, there was an admirable strength in her tone.
“You didn’t deserve any of that,” he finally said.
Hadley shrugged. “Maybe not. But it happened. I thought Ethan was a better man than he turned out to be. We were raised the same way. We had the same values. But grief changed him.”
“Still . . .”
Her expression softened. “I’m okay. Or at least . . . I’m getting there.”
“You’re a strong woman, Hadley.”
Hadley’s gaze held his, the firelight reflecting in her eyes. “Maybe.”
“Not maybe. You are. Never let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Relief settled over Hadley as the silence returned.
She hadn’t expected to feel refreshed. Opening up usually led to too many questions, too much analysis, or worse, pity she didn’t want.
But Max hadn’t done any of that. He’d just listened. He’d been steady and present. He’d made her feel like what she’d said mattered.
Her chest loosened at the thought.
She glanced at him. “How about you? How did you end up here? I mean, you told me a little bit already.”
