Page 198 of Huckleberry Hill
“You really think Declan would do that?” I asked, turning and raising an eyebrow.
“Never doubted him for a second,” Muddy said with a grin.
“Neither did I,” Dad admitted. He stood up. “I’m going to go check on the puppies. Jane, you want to come with me?”
“Sure. Right after I help clean up.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Muddy said. “You go snuggle some puppies.”
“They’re so sweet,” Jane said.
“We still need names for them,” Dad said.
“How about Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Gryffindor?” Jane suggested with a smile.
“Those names sound familiar,” Dad said. “But I’m drawing a blank.”
“They’re the Hogwarts houses,” I said with a laugh.
“They don’t roll off the tongue easily, though,” Muddy said. “Can you imagine yelling, Hey Ravenclaw stop eating cow shit!”
“Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy?” Jane pivoted. “The Pevensie siblings from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.”
Dad’s face paled and he made a hasty retreat.
Jane frowned. “What did I say?”
“My mother used to read that book to my sister and me when we were kids. The whole series, actually.”
“Oh.” Jane chewed on her lip. “I didn’t know.”
“Of course you didn’t,” Muddy assured her. “You’re just bringing a lot of stuff to the surface. Stuff that Connor has never really dealt with.”
She rubbed the back of her neck. “Just when I think we’re about to make a real stride forward . . .”
“Keep going,” Muddy told her. “He needs you. He needs to open up again.”
Jane looked at me, and I nodded in agreement. “I think you’re wonderful, and you make him smile in a way I haven’t seen in a long time. You’ll get no argument from me. And you’re welcome at all our family dinners.”
“Thanks, Hadley.” She squeezed my hand. “I better go talk to him.”
She went in the direction of my father and disappeared.
Muddy stood up. “She’s good for him.”
“I think so.”
“Have you told Salem about her?” She began loading the plates into the dishwasher.
“No, I haven’t. I don’t really know what to say.”
“How about the truth?”
“Yeah, but this isn’t my thing to share, you know?”
Muddy was quiet for a moment and then she said, “She’s going to lose her shit when she finds out.”
“Yeah, she will,” I agreed.
