Page 37 of My Three Hometown Hard Hats

“Oh, right.” She runs over, stepping up onto her stool. She uses one of her kid knives to keep chopping up a cucumber.

“Sorry, it took me a few minutes. I had to run home and check on my mom, and I figured I should get out of my clothes that were covered in cat hair,” Hadley says, setting her purse down on the counter.

I hold up my hand. “Hadley, you’re fine. We’re just happy to have you here.”

“Yeah, so happy,” Evelyn says, dropping her cucumber pieces into the big bowl.

“Can I help with anything?” Hadley offers.

I point to the cabinet where the plates are and the drawer with the silverware. “You can set the table if you want.”

“We need five plates. Four grown-ups and one me, so four plus one that’s five,” Evelyn says, holding up her fingers.

Hadley and I glance at each other, trying not to laugh. “You got it. Five it is,” she tells her.

She moves about setting the table while I get the pasta in the boiling water and stir the sauce. Her smaller frame steps in beside me at the stove.

I switch the spoon from my right hand to my left, so I can wrap my arm around her shoulders.

“Anything else I can do?” she asks, looking up at me with her gorgeous brown eyes.

There are a million things I want to tell her—some of them appropriate with Evelyn right behind us, others not so much.

“You and Evelyn can get the salad on the table. There’s a bunch of dressings in the fridge.”

The back door slides open as she steps away. I hear Conrad and Austin walk in, followed by Nova. She sniffs around the kitchen, pausing when she gets to Hadley.

Hadley crouches down in front of the old chocolate lab.

“Your name’s Nova, right?” She gently pets Nova’s head as she continues to smell her. “I know I probably smell like a bunch of other animals. I’m sorry, girl.”

Nova nuzzles her face into Hadley’s hand, so Hadley gives her more scratches down her back.

“You better be careful with that,” Austin says. “She’s never going to let you stop.”

“That’s okay. I like her,” Hadley says, standing up, staring right at Austin. Their eyes stay locked on one another, but neither says anything else.

Con helps me get the rest of the food on the table. Evelyn insists Hadley sit next to her, and Nova curls up on the floor between the two girls.

Evelyn dominates most of the conversation through dinner, talking about the jazz routine she’s learning for dance class and what they’re doing in school.

When the rest of us finish our food, Evelyn still has a mostly full plate.

“Evelyn, let someone else talk for a minute. You focus on finishing your dinner,” Austin tells her gently.

She huffs but goes about chowing down on the rest of her food.

“Did you like living in New York?” Austin asks Hadley.

“You lived in New York?” Evelyn manages through a mouthful of spaghetti.

“I did,” Hadley tells her. Her eyes move over to Austin. “Yes and no, I guess. I don’t think I realized how little I was living until everything exploded and I ran away.”

“What do you mean?” Con asks, from my side.

“You know I got laid off and broke up with the cheater all in the same day, but even before that, I wasn’t happy. I was just going through the motions.”

“What about now?” I ask.