Page 55 of Hello Trouble

My eyes stung again, and I looked away from Dad, blinking hard. “I’m too old to be doing this now,” I said, angry with myself. “I’m not a little kid anymore.”

“You’re never too old to be afraid,” he said softly. “All these years later, and I’m afraid too.”

I knew he was talking about Agatha. The woman at the diner we all knew he loved. But he wasn’t giving her a chance with his heart. “You’re happy by yourself,” I reminded him. “Why take the risk?”

His lips wore a wry smile. “I am happy...” He looked down at his hands and then added, “But I could be happier.”

I looked at him, saying what we were both thinking. “You could be sadder, too.”

28

DELLA

I walked into my house after work Monday, hanging my keys on the hook by the door—it was a row of golden cats with their tales looping to form hooks. Seeing it brought a smile to my face. Swinging my gaze around my home, I noticed something out of place: a neat stack of boxes on my coffee table.

A pink sticky note stood out against the brown cardboard, and I went to get it, recognizing my mom’s perfect cursive handwriting.

Let’s fill these up on Wednesday. We need to get started, or it’s going to be way harder come moving time. Love you. - Mom

The back of the note stuck to my fingers. I could practically hear her stress through the note, see the way her head would tilt with concern and a little furrow would form between her pale-brown eyebrows.

Sighing heavily and shoving the note in my pocket, I picked up the boxes and brought them to my guest room. I didn’t want to think about moving right now. I wanted to think of my date with Hayes tonight. It was a simple meal at the diner, but my heart was soaring with so much hope.

Going to the spring festival with him had made the annual event infinitely more special than years before. Especially with that kiss in the rain. I found myself wanting to experience even more of Cottonwood Falls through his unique lens. How special would a trip to the diner be with him sitting across from me?

A small smile crossed my lips as I brushed my hands together to rid the dust from the boxes. Hayes would be here in an hour. But since I couldn’t speed up the clock, I spent some time scrolling through unique sourdough recipes online. And then I went to my bathroom and touched up my makeup, hoping Hayes would like what he saw when he picked me up.

That cliché about women always being late was totally false, because I was ready ten minutes early, sitting on my couch with my phone on my lap. It was taking just about all my strength not to peer out the crack in the curtains to watch his truck drive up.

A message in the group chat with my girlfriends interrupted my scrolling, and I switched over, seeing more texts coming in.

Henrietta: Good luck on your date tonight, Del! :)

Maggie: Send us a pic of your ‘fit! Bet you look gorgeous!

Larkin: Hoping you have a great time! Knox says Hayes is nervous! Hayes! Nervous! *mind blown emoji*

I smiled at that message, then held up the phone to snap a selfie. As the image was loading, a new message came through.

Liv: He better be nervous. He’s going out with the best catch in Cottonwood Falls. <3

I smiled at the thread, my eyes threatening to water. I had the best friends ever. The thought of leaving them made a lump form in my throat. Swallowing it down, I tapped a response on the screen.

Della: Thank you all <3 I’ll let you know how it goes!

I was about to click away to social media, but in a separate text thread, a new message came through.

Liv: Can you call me?

My eyebrows drew together as I tapped on her name to make the call. After a few rings, she answered, and I said, “Hey, everything okay?”

She seemed to hesitate for a moment. While I usually would have heard her children playing in the background, it was silent, like she’d stepped out just for this call.

“What?” I asked, growing more concerned. Was there something she wasn’t telling me?

“I know you’re excited to go out with Hayes...” She trailed off.

“But?” I prompted.

---