Page 68 of Watching Henry

“Ah, well, one of the kids broke his arm, so of course the parents came home,” Hadley said.

“Ah, yeah, I guess I would have too. What the hell happened? Is the kid okay?”

“It's a long story,” said Hadley. “But yes, Henry's fine. Listen, I was wondering if you wanted to do a celebration dinner, you know, since I'm back and all?”

Her father laughed. “I guess I could. Want to meet at the steakhouse on fifth in an hour or so?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

She hung up. An hour to get ready, that wasn't bad. Except she hadn't unpacked any of her stuff.

She started on a hunt for a clean outfit and tried not to wonder what Florence was doing.

Where was she going to go? Was she just going to disappear out of her life forever? Not that Hadley could do anything about it. She didn't even have Florence's phone number, she realized. Which at least stopped her from changing her mind, she guessed.

Because she couldn't do it. Not in the end. If she'd thought that she could, she'd have stayed. But begging wasn't her style. Being disbelieved wasn't her style. How could she have thought that she was falling in love with someone who couldn't even see the real her? Who just made a shallow judgment based on how different she was from Florence herself?

“I'm better off without her,” she grumbled as she finally pulled a decent enough dress out of the back of her closet. “I really am.”

Better without someone to boss her around, someone to judge her, someone to constantly nag her. Of course she was better off.

Her old life had been a happy one, even if it was a little precarious from time to time. She was young, she had time to figure out what she wanted in life. All she needed to do was pretend that Florence had never happened.

All she needed to do was forget the softness of her skin, the warmth of her breath, that one, incredible night in the kitchen.

To Hadley's surprise, tears were forming in her eyes. She sniffed and blinked them away again.

No. She wasn't going to cry again. She was going to ignore all of this and go on with her life. Just like before.

She dressed herself and made herself up and was presentable and ready to go. Except she couldn't find her damn keys.

She searched high and low, the treacherous voice in the back of her head telling her that Florence would know where the keys were. Florence always knew where everything was. It was like her superpower.

Finally, Hadley decided that she just didn't care. She'd call a locksmith when she got home if she had to. But when she slammed the front door behind her, she saw her keys swinging in the outside lock where she'd forgotten them.

“Idiot,” she told herself, locking the door and pulling out her keys.

Yeah, that wouldn't have happened to Florence, said the voice in the back of her head.

Hadley grimaced and rushed off to meet her father.

HADLEY RAISED HER wine glass and clinked it against her father's.

“Welcome home,” he said.

“It's good to be back.”

The restaurant was humming, but they had the best table. Her father always got the best table. He was looking at her now, studying her.

“Was it worth it?” he asked. “All this tough love? Forcing you to hold down a job for the summer and all?”

She laughed and nodded, though the laugh felt hollow. Hell, everything felt hollow. She drank more wine. It was normal, she told herself. Perfectly normal to feel a little... not herself. She just had to ignore the feelings and they'd go away.

“I'm proud of you, Had,” her father was saying. “And I understand that you didn't quite meet your end of the bargain, what with leaving early and all. But I also understand that it wasn't your fault. It wasn't a case of you quitting or changing your mind or finding something more interesting to do.”

A woman walked past with dark hair slicked back against her head and for a painful instant Hadley thought it might be Florence. But it wasn't.

“Given that,” her father continued. “I think it's only fair that I reinstate your allowance. What do you say?”