Page 38 of My Three Hometown Hard Hats

She takes a moment, her eyes softening as she glances around the table. “I think I’m starting to find things that make me happy again,” she says with a smile.

“Done,” Evelyn says, holding up her empty plate. “Can we go outside now?”

“It’s all ready, so after we get dinner cleaned up, we can head out,” Con says.

Together, we quickly get it all cleaned up, and it feels so normal to have Hadley here for something as mundane.

I wish she was here for every meal.

I retrieve one of my hoodies from the back of the couch before grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the backyard.

“Come on, Trouble. We have a surprise for you.”

“Surprise?” she asks, stepping out onto the back deck. “Wow, it’s gorgeous out here.”

We chose this house a little way outside of town because it has a huge sloping backyard with a killer view of the mountains.

We lead her down the stairs toward the fire pit. The guys set up everything out here while I was making dinner with Evelyn.

“Are we going to have a campfire?” she asks excitedly. “Oooh… and s’mores?” she adds, eying the spread they set out on a folding table.

“That's the plan.”

“I haven’t had a s’more in forever.”

“I’m sure you haven’t, city girl.”

“I’m not a city girl,” she retorts, pulling her hand from mine.

“Maybe not anymore.”

She takes a deep breath. “I never was. I was just somewhere I thought would give me a big life, but I’m realizing you don’t need a big city to do that.”

I hold out the hoodie toward her. “Even with the fire, it’s going to get chilly out here.”

She gets a smirk on her face that I don’t quite understand before sliding it over her head. It’s way too big for her, but damn if she doesn’t look good in it.

If only she was wearingonlythat right now.

With the kindling in hand, I start the fire and glance over at Hadley. She’s settled into one of the chairs, and she has the collar of my hoodie pulled up to her nose like she’s smelling it.

I crouch down beside her. “I’m not getting that hoodie back, am I?”

She hesitates but shakes her head.

I chuckle. “And Austin isn’t getting his shirt back either, is he?”

“Nope. I’ve already slept in it, so…”

My eyes pop wide. “Are you going to sleep in that tonight?” I gesture toward my hoodie she’s wearing.

“Maybe,” she says with a wink.A fucking wink.

Evelyn takes that moment to make her presence known as she sprints to her swing set on the other side of the yard. Knowing her, she wants to get her last minutes of playing in before the sun goes down, and she has to hang with us by the fire.

Con and Austin join us, taking the seats on either side of Hadley. Nova lies down at her feet.

“She likes you,” Austin says.