“Is everything okay?” she asked.
Swallowing hard, I nodded. “Yes. Hadley said goodnight…and that she…she loves you.”
Tears filled Emma’s eyes, then she quickly looked away. “Would you like for me to spend less time with Hadley?”
I pushed off the door with a frown. “What?”
“It’s just, I know your fear of her becoming too close to me and…”
Making my way over, I stopped in front of her. Damn it all to hell if I didn’t want to pull her into my arms and tell her everything was going to be okay. Or maybe I neededherto do that forme. I wasn’t sure.
“Don’t stop what you’re doing, Emma. You were right. Hadley won’t forget her mom. She needs you, and so do?—”
I caught the last word before it was out of my mouth.
Emma took a step back, and I did as well.
With that sweet smile of hers, Emma softly said, “Thank you for a lovely afternoon. I enjoyed it. Good night, Aiden.”
“Good night, Emma.”
She walked out to the elevated deck as I followed behind her to lock the door. I watched as she crossed the deck and went into her apartment.
I wasn’t sure how long I stood there before I finally made my way downstairs to my own room. I took a shower and climbed into bed and willed myself to stop thinking about Emma.
* * *
Almost two weeks had passed since the hike. The pattern we’d fallen into with Emma being here came so easily and seemed so natural, I kept waiting for the sky to fall. Hadley was thriving. I had gained six pounds from all the good food she’d made…and Emma seemed to be avoiding me ever since she’d told me about her miscarriage. Well, not really avoiding me. She avoided us being alone.
Stepping into the house after work, I headed straight to my bedroom and removed all of my work gear, putting the gun and taser in my safe. It was a rare occasion that I worked on Fridays, but when we got the call about a missing couple, I prepared myself for a possible long weekend of work. I’d called Emma and told her I most likely wouldn’t be home for dinner. By a stroke of sheer luck, we stumbled onto the couple within an hour.
That meant I could now surprise Hadley and Emma with dinner. I quickly changed into jeans and a long-sleeve T-shirt, knowing they’d be home soon. It was Hadley’s second day at swim practice and so far, she was loving it.
As I made my way out of the bedroom, I heard Hadley and Emma coming in from the garage.
“I don’t know why he’d say such a mean thing, Emma.”
I stopped short of the kitchen and stepped back into the hall.
“Well, for starters, some people just have meanness in their hearts, Hadley. For whatever reason, they’re hurting, and theythink it’s okay to hurt other people to make themselves feel better.”
“But Olivia laughed with him. I thought she was my friend!”
“I know it’s hard to understand but…sometimes, people do things for all the wrong reasons. I bet you right now Olivia is feeling pretty bad for laughing along with Ricky. But you saw how the other kidsdidn’tlaugh, right? The ones who stood up for you?”
My brows pulled in tight as I wondered what happened to my daughter.
“Yes.”
“Those are your true friends, Hadley. Olivia might tell you she’s sorry, and she should, but remember the friends who were there for you. The ones who stood by you and didn’t believe Ricky when he said all those mean things.”
“Ms. Lacey says Ricky said those things because he likes me and that’s what boys do.”
What in the hell?
Why would a teacher say that? I balled my fists and wanted to storm out and ask Emma exactly what happened, but something held me back.
“No, that isnottrue. Hadley, you listen to me right now. If a boy likes you, he willnevertreat you that way. He won’t pull your pigtails or push you into a pool and tell everyone you can’t swim. If a boy likes you, he’ll help you out of the pool. Give you a towel to dry off. He’ll pick you a flower and give it to you just because he wants to see you smile. He’ll tell you that you’re pretty, and he won’t make fun of your beautiful curly hair. Do you understand the difference, sweetheart? And sometimes boys can start off being nice, and then they turn mean for whatever reason. Those are not boys who like you.”
