Page 41 of Single Glance

“I heard, bug,” I said as I took a seat at their side. “What else do you have in there, Hadley?”

Her eyes softened as she looked over at me, almost relieved to tell more of her story. This woman didn’t get it, did she? I was already falling for her, and I wanted to know everything about her, discover every part of her past she was willing to share. As Hadley turned the pages of the book, she explained every single one, opening us up to her world before we’d met in college. She’d recorded her life inside of the album—her memories, both good and bad, wrapped up in a bow.

When she got to the end of the book, Emilia frowned. “Why don’t you have any pictures of your dad?”

“Oh, umm…” Hadley’s face drained of color as she trailed off. “My dad wasn’t around a lot when I was a kid. It was just my mom and me.”

“That’s sad.” Emilia pouted. “Don’t you miss him?”

“Nope. You can’t miss someone you’ve never really met. Besides,” she held Emilia a little tighter, “I have the best family in the world. I have you, your mom, Adam.” Her eyes met mine. “And your dad.”

Emilia stared at the picture for a little longer, then shrugged her little shoulders, satisfied with that answer. She turned toward me. “Can we have ice cream for dessert?”

“You got it, Em.” I lifted her from Hadley’s lap and pulled her into my arms. She squirmed, trying to get down as I planted kisses on her chubby cheek. I placed her back on the ground and nodded toward the playroom. “Why don’t you grab your paint stuff? Hadley needs a few new decorations for her room.”

With that, my daughter hurried off. Maybe I’d regret the request later, when she’d covered the kitchen with globs of paint, but Emilia’s creations always made Hadley smile. And right now—with the way she still ran her fingers along the pages of the album—it seemed like she needed it.

“Hey,” I said as I sat down next to her. My fingers wrapped around hers and guided them away from the photo album. “You okay, Hadley?”

She nodded, but a sheen coated her eyes. “It’s hard to look at some of these. They might paint a pretty picture, but my childhood…” She let her voice trail off. “It wasn’t the best.”

I squeezed her hand. “You don’t have to talkabout it, not if you don’t want to. But if you do, I’m always here to listen.”

She gave me an apprehensive smile. “It might change the way you see me.”

My hand grasped her chin, forcing her eyes to meet mine. “I don’t think you understand what I meant when I said you’re mine, Hadley McKay. It means I want all of you, even the things you hide in the dark. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is going to change how I feel about you. No matter what happened when you were a kid, it made you the woman in front of me, and I think she’s fucking incredible.”

Hadley searched my expression, almost as if she wasn’t sure she believed me. But whatever she saw written on my face must have been enough to convince her, because she leaned forward, lightly kissing me. It differed from any other kiss we’d shared. Don’t get me wrong—those were amazing, full of fire and longing and everything we refused to say aloud just yet.

But this?

This kiss was quiet, comfortable. It tugged at that knot in my chest, binding me to Hadley just a little more.

“My mom wasn’t the best parent. She tried—at least she did at first. But after years of thinking the world owed her, she got mean and started to drink. At first, it was a couple of extra sips at dinner, a bottle of wine when she was watching TV.” She exhaled a shaky breath as she stared down at the picture. “It didn’t take long for those to spiral into benders. Then one day, she just…disappeared. No call, no note. I thought she was dead. But I kept waiting, hoping there was another explanation.” Hadley laughed bitterly. “And when she finally stumbled into our apartment, she didn’t even acknowledge what happened. Never apologized. She just patted me on the head and told me to keep quiet so she could get some sleep.”

My jaw tensed. “How old were you?”

“Eight.”

A curse flew out of my mouth. That was only two years older than Emilia. I wanted to scream, wanted to rage, to track down her mother and unleash all kinds of hell on the woman. But I kept my mouth closed, letting Hadley continue.

“Eventually, I stopped keeping track, just trying to get through each day on my own. My upstairs neighbors helped. I’d spend a lot of nights at their place, and they always made sure I had enough to eat.” Hadley brushed the page with her fingertips. “But then someone called CPS. After they found me alone and hungry because my mom had been missing for almost a week, they had no choice but to put me in emergency foster care.”

“Shit, Hadley.“ I took her hand again. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she said. “I got lucky. My foster parents were amazing, and not everyone gets that. They took good care of me, but it was hard to understand what was happening. I was so angry—at my mom, at the people who’d called, even at my foster parents. They took me to a therapist to talk about why I’d been removed, and after a good number of sessions, it helped. I let go of some of that rage, so thankful I had people who cared enough to stick with me during the hard times.” She scoffed. “Until my mom got out of court-mandated rehab. Almost a year of stability, and the judge ripped it all away and dropped me back into her house.”

Hadley turned to me and softly smiled. “I wish I could say I hate her, but it’s so much more complicated than that. No matter what she’s done, she’s the only parent I have. Nomatter how tempting it might be, I can’t cut her out of my life. I don’t like to let most people in about my past. It warps their perception of me, like somehow, my mother’s shitty behavior is a mark on my record.”

“Hadley,” I said as I shifted closer to her. “Nothing’s changed for me. If anything, I’m even more amazed by you.”

She rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to say that, Cam.”

“I mean it, Hadley. You’ve overcome so much, and you didn’t let it harden you. Instead, you use it to bring love to everyone you care about. People are better when they have you in their lives.” I brushed her hair away from her face. “I am.”

Hadley let out a damp chuckle. “Damn it, sarge. You’re making a girl swoon.”

“About damn time, woman,” I laughed as I pulled her into a hug. As she nestled into my lap, a packet hanging out of one box caught my eye. It was bound in a spiral coil, a sleek blue cover surrounding the document. Without jostling Hadley in my lap too much, I reached out and plucked it from the box. “The Sunshine Academy?”

---