Page 19 of My Three Hometown Hard Hats

Austin scoops Evelyn up, putting her on his shoulders, before we meet Brooks at home plate as he rounds the bases.

“It’s a sign,” he shouts. “I know what I’m doing before every game now.”

Okay, then…

We all celebrate for a few minutes and shake hands with the other team. With all our stuff packed up, we head toward the parking lot.

“So, what are you going to do before every game to keep playing like that?” Austin asks.

“What was your good-luck charm?” Evelyn chimes in, running circles around all of us.

“A very pretty girl,” he says wistfully, swinging his bag into his truck.

A girl? Since when is he seeing anyone?

I freeze, connecting the dots of everything he’s said tonight.

Is he talking about Hadley?

CHAPTER NINE

Austin

“Daddy!”Evelyn screams when she sees my truck in the pick-up line outside of her school. She sprints over, climbing into the back seat and getting situated in her booster. “I thought Grandma was picking me up today.”

I love my parents for being so helpful with Evelyn, but I pick her up as much as I can. “She was, but I missed you too much.”

“I missed you, too,” she says as I pull out onto the street. “Where are we going?”

“We’re going to Maggie’s house. We’re building a ramp on her porch.”

“Are Con and Brooks there?”

“Yeah, they are,” I say, peeking at her in the review mirror.

She bites her lip, contemplating something she clearly wants to say. “Is Hadley going to be there?”

Oh, man.“She was there when I left to come get you. I’m sure she will be.”

Evelyn stares out the window, smiling from ear to ear, and starts to unbuckle as soon as I pull to a stop at the house.

“Hey, you know the rule,” I tell her.

She grunts, waiting until the car is in park before unbuckling and catapulting from the vehicle to sprint toward the twins.

She squeals as Brooks picks her up and tosses her in the air. When he sets her down, she walks over and hugs Conrad.

I’ve only ever been away from this town for four years when I was in college. During that time, those two knuckleheads became like brothers to me, and we decided to start our own business in the town I had always called home.

At first, we all lived together out of financial necessity, but we all make enough money now that we could live on our own if we wanted to. All of us living together might not make sense to others, but to us, it does. We’re family.

Evelyn has me, but she also has two other men in her life who would do absolutely anything for her.

Before I can stop her, Evelyn slips in the front door.Dang kid.

“Evelyn, you can’t just run into people’s houses,” I holler, chasing after her.

I catch up to her in the kitchen, where I find her talking to Maggie and Hadley.