Page 67 of Spencer and the Younger Girl
Hadley
Being in the Lee house after the things Hadley said to Mrs. Lee didn’t feel right. Part of her wanted to take the words back just to soothe the silent woman beside her. That’s who Hadley had always been. A soother. Every time her mom broke up with some cheating guy, it was Hadley who made it all better.
When Charlotte stressed about life as a figure skater, Hadley took her out to have fun.
Even Roman. She’d invited him to live in her house so he could date the girl he’d fallen in love with.
Everyone looked to her to make things better, but she’d only had her grandfather to rely on. A grandfather who lied to get her to this ranch.
But the other part of Hadley, the one still out in those fields with Spencer… that part wanted to stick by every word she’d said.
Because none of them were false.
The Lees had what she’d always wanted. A full family unit. Two parents who cared. Siblings who’d do anything for each other.
And they didn’t even realize how lucky they were. Sure, she saw signs of struggle across the ranch in the dying grove and neglected buildings, but that was just land, things.
Hadley stopped inside the mud room, not wanting to dirty the rest of the house.
Mrs. Lee still hadn’t said a word. She hung her umbrella by the door and removed her jacket.
Damien poked his freshly showered head into the room. “There you two are! You find Stammer?”
“Yeah.” Hadley couldn’t help but snicker. “He… uh… decided to take a nap in Spencer’s bed.”
Damien’s disbelieving expression blossomed into a grin. “Bet he loved that. He’ll have to scrub down his bed now.”
“Damien,” Mrs. Lee said. “Show Hadley where she can shower. Get her some of your clothes.” She rushed from the room.
“Sure thing, Ma!” Damien eyed Hadley’s muddy boots with one eyebrow raised. “Well, when you and Spence search for goats, you go all out. I don’t think there’s a clean patch on your clothing.” He laughed. “You can leave your boots in here.”
Hadley toed out of her shoes and held up the ends of her pants to avoid streaking mud across the floor.
“There’s a shower in here.” Damien led her to a bathroom off the mud room. “Ma added it when we were kids and always coming in dirty.” He reached in and flipped the light on. “I’ll leave some clothes outside the door. Towels are underneath the sink.”
“Thanks, Damo.”
He shot her a closed-mouth smile and left her in peace. Closing the door, she eyed herself in the mirror. Mud streaked across her skin and into her hair, caking around her hair line.
“Well, this is attractive.” She peeled the heavy, mud-sodden shirt off over her head and dropped it into the shower. Her jeans stuck to her legs as she tried to yank them off while falling sideways into the shower.
She yelped as she hit the tile floor with a thud and pain rocketed up her spine. Apparently, she couldn’t do anything without falling. At least Spencer wasn’t there to see her this time.
She managed to get to her feet and finish undressing before stepping under the hot spray. Her muscles relaxed in relief. Brown water flowed toward the drain, clearing with every passing moment.
A knock sounded at the door before Damien called to her. “I’m putting the clothes out here.”
She didn’t respond as she bent to squeeze the muddy water from her clothes.
Once she was satisfied, she turned off the water and wrapped herself in a towel. Bunching her hair, she tried to rid it of as much water as she could before combing her fingers through it.
She opened the door and reached for the clothes Damien brought her. They were big on her, but comfortable all the same. A pair of black sweatpants sat low on her hips. She pulled the drawstring tighter before slipping on the oversized t-shirt.
Her wet hair hung in curls around her shoulders. She usually straightened out the curls, but there was no helping it now. Taking the hairband from her wrist, she pulled her hair back into a ponytail.
She hung her sopping clothes over the shower rail along with the towel and stepped from the bathroom.
The clatter of someone cooking came from the kitchen, and she padded on bare feet toward the noise, finding only Mrs. Lee.
