Page 96 of Spencer and the Younger Girl
Hadley
For the first time since day one of her suspension, Hadley was not looking forward to working on the ranch.
She’d spent the afternoon before at the beach with Charlotte, having the kind of girls’ day they used to have before boyfriends got involved. It should have been perfect with the warm March weather, but all she’d been able to think about was the look on Mr. Lee’s face when he caught her kissing his son.
Walking into the kitchen, she expected to find her grandpa, but instead saw the note he’d left her sitting next to a plate of homemade lemon muffins.
Unwrapping a muffin, she bit into it and opened the note.
Went for an early walk on the beach. Love you, kiddo. Have a good day.
--Papa
P.S. Wake Roman up before you go. Don’t let him sleep in on such a beautiful morning.
A smile tilted her lips.Ever since his early retirement a few years before, her grandpa walked on the beach every morning unless it was raining. Even then, it had to be pouring buckets to stop him. She figured he’d been waiting for her to leave to journey out during the earlier part of her suspension.
He may not have been one for traveling, but he enjoyed his life in other ways. Besides, he’d worked enough for two lifetimes, never stopping in his younger years. It was the reason they had so much opportunity now. He built the wealth and reputation of the Gibsons in Gulf City as a respected lawyer.
While her mom tried to tear it down.
Finishing her muffin, Hadley shuffled through the mail on the counter. There was a letter from the law firm bearing her mom’s name, the one she’d basically become a silent partner in.
Hadley shoved that aside as her fingers found the stiff edges of a postcard. The Eiffel Tower taunted her from the front of it, a reminder of where she should be.
But was it where she wanted to be anymore?
It no longer felt like such a loss to be kicked off her spring break trip, not when she got to live in a different world right here in town.
Flipping it over, she took in her mom’s familiar scrawl.
Extended my trip. Be back next week.
That was it. Information she could have called to tell them. Hadley stepped on the foot pedal of the trash can, prepared to throw the postcard away. At the last moment, she slipped it into her back pocket and threw the muffin wrapper away.
Leaving the kitchen, she stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “Yo, Rome!”
No answer.
“Roman,” she yelled.
“Huh?” Sleep clouded his voice.
“Get your lazy butt out of bed.”
“Go away. Don’t you have horse crap to clean?”
“It’s called mucking, dipwad.” She said it with the utmost affection, of course.
“Go muck then and let me sleep.”
An idea came to her. “Come out to the ranch around lunch today.” She wanted to show her friend the place that had come to mean so much to her. “I’ll introduce you to Harbinger.”
“That is… an awesome name for a horse.”
“Be there around noon.” She didn’t give him a chance to answer as she grabbed her keys and skipped out to her car.
Not even thoughts of Mr. Lee could bring her down as she thought about seeing Spencer again, of kissing him.
