My heart ached in my chest, and I squeezed my eyes shut. She was so obviously speaking from experience, and the image of Emma’s ex hurting her nearly made me want to scream.
“Why do they do that?” Hadley asked in a small voice.
“I don’t know. But never,everlet a boy be mean to you, Hadley. Never let him yell at you, or push you, or tell you that anything about you is wrong. Okay?”
“Okay. But my feelings are still hurt.”
“I know they are, sweetheart. And I have the perfect way to make it better. I have a favorite song, and when I get upset about anything, I put it on and dance around like crazy. Then all those bad feelings go away, and I feel better.”
“I want to dance! Can it be my song too?” Hadley cried out.
“Of course! Come on.”
They sounded as if they were walking into the family room, so I slipped out of the hall and into the kitchen.
A minute later, Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” started playing. I watched as Emma sang the song and danced. Hadley laughed, and Emma grabbed her hands and they jumped up onto the sofa, dancing like their lives depended on it.
Moving into the doorway, I leaned against it and watched as Hadley tried to mimic Emma’s moves. I smiled, grateful to Emma for making my daughter feel better. The tightness in my chest in moments like these was still hard to ignore, but it was slowly easing up.
They hopped down, and when Emma picked up Hadley and spun her around, both of them laughing, my knees went weak. My daughter had fully given her heart to Emma, and Emma had done the same.
When Emma jumped back onto the sofa for her solo performance, she finally caught a glimpse of me and stumbled. She lost her balance, and I knew she was going over the back ofthe couch. I dashed forward and caught her, breaking her fall as we both crashed to the floor with Emma on top of me.
Hadley ran over, jumped on Emma, and the three of us broke out into laughter.
“That was fun!” Hadley exclaimed, rolling off the pile we’d created on the floor. Emma tried to move, and it was then that we both noticed I was holding her tightly in my arms. Our eyes met, and for the briefest moment, our lips moved closer to one another.
That was until Hadley shouted, “Daddy, you’re home early!”
Emma jerked back and scrambled to her feet. Her cheeks were the most beautiful shade of pink I’d ever seen. I stood and reached for Hadley, pulling her in for a hug before kissing her on the forehead.
“I am. What are we going to do tonight?”
Clearing her throat, Emma said, “I’m so sorry, Aiden. You said you’d be working late, so Tammy asked if Hadley could go to a movie with Jennifer and spend the night over there. I didn’t think you’d mind, and I said she could go.”
“Daddy, please, can I?”
“Of course, you can go.” Glancing up at Emma, I asked, “So is this the age where sleepovers are a thing? She hasn’t really been interested before, and now it’s twice in less than a month.”
She shrugged. “I suppose so. I’m pretty sure I was a bit older when I started sleepovers, but she’s so close to Jennifer’s family.”
My hand ruffled Hadley’s head of curls. “What time are you supposed to be over there?”
Hadley looked to Emma for the answer.
“Oh my goodness, soon,” Emma said after a glance at her watch.
“I need to pack all my stuff!” Hadley cried out as she raced past us and up to her room.
I stared after her with a sigh. “Why does she feel so much older than what she actually is?”
Emma chuckled. “She does act more mature than the other kids her age. There’s no doubt about it.”
The doorbell rang, and Emma turned to get it. A few seconds later, I heard my parents’ voices before they stepped inside.
With a smile, I said, “Hey there. What are you guys doing here?”
My mother walked over and kissed me on the cheek. “I ran into Tammy at the store, and she said Hadley was staying the night there. Your father and I are going to salsa night at the community center. We thought you and Emma might like to come.”
