Chapter 18
HADLEY
Pride hits me as I watch little girls in tutus and bumblebee wings wobble back to their parents after having performed to a crowd of awws and ohs.
We performed in the outside theatre here in Lake Spark for the summer festival.
I somehow knew the little kids would be the ones to steal the show.
The teenagers on their ballet pointe shoes performing elegantly to a Midsummer Night’s Dream theme didn’t really hold a candle to the cuteness overload of bumblebees twirling.
Still, I made sure we performed five numbers of various dance genres to please the crowd on this weekend mid-afternoon.
One of my girls was sick, so I had to fill in on the dance front too.
I was kind of hoping to have stayed choreographer today, because I didn’t want my dance company to feel like I was stealing their thunder. I did my best to stay in the back.
A pair of hands that I’ve become accustomed to and that blaze excitement at every touch sneaks up around me and winds around my waist. Like always, I sink into Connor’s touch. What a wild contrast to before Vegas.
“These are for you,” he murmurs against my cheek before placing a respectable peck on my lips. His other hand holds out a single peach-colored rose. “Well done.”
I gladly take the flower and feel my cheeks blush at the same time.
Sweet Connor is, well, cute, but strangely eerie in a wonderful way.
I’m not used to him this way, but it’s nothing to complain about, especially when my eyes trail up to watch him lift his sunglasses off his eyes.
Gosh, he is extra sexy when he’s been sitting in the sun all day.
“Thank you.” My eyes travel back to the rose that I twirl between my fingers. “I’m all done here. Dancers have been returned to their respective owners,” I joke.
He raises a brow and a gleam that melts my panties graces his face. “Including you? I’m on board with being your respective owner.”
I chuckle at his ability to send us on a train of dirty thoughts. “Easy there. My parents are somewhere around here.”
“I know. I was sitting with them. We were thinking instead of going out for dinner that maybe we just pick up some takeout from Catch 22 and head to our house for dinner. Sound good?”
“Perfect. I wasn’t really in the mood to sit in a restaurant all night.”
He brings his arm around my shoulders, and we begin to walk side by side. “Cool. I’ll call them with our order, and we can pick that up on the way back. Your parents will grab the wine.”
“You bet we will,” my mother announces. My parents and little brother walk toward us with bright smiles on their faces.
I’m quickly met with hugs. “You were magnificent as always out there,” my dad mentions.
“So beautiful,” my mother adds.
The compliments stop when I look at my brother who is busy on his phone. It only makes me smile, though. I bet this was his idea of the worst Saturday ever. Ashton is at that funny age where you’re no longer a kid but hate being a teenager.
“Thanks for your kind words,” I tease him.
He glances up from his screen with a scowl. “I didn’t say anything.”
“I know,” I deadpan.
“Hey, can you help me with my biology project later? Won’t take long,” he requests.
I shake my head that we fly past into new subjects. “Sure,” I promise.
“How about we meet in an hour or so?” Connor suggests while he studies his watch.
“Sounds good,” my father agrees.
“I’ll send you the alarm code in case you get there before us,” Connor adds.
My eyes whip to him with an awkward look plastered on my face. “Do we really want them to have the code?” I mumble, knowing my parents can hear, and they’re entertained.
My mom gives me a fake unimpressed look. “You mean so we can unexpectedly show up at random times and ruin your newlywed phase?”
“Yeah, I think you guys can wait a few minutes. It’s lovely weather,” Connor comments.
After one more round of hugs, we divide up. Connor and I are on our way to the parking lot, but he takes hold of my hand and yanks me in another direction.
“What’s up?” I wonder.
“We have a few minutes to spare.” He begins to tow me in the direction of the Ferris wheel, and a twinkling star inside of me travels from my heart to my stomach. “Come on. One time around.”
It would be impossible to scrape the giddy look off my face, from the time he suggests his romantic scene to the moment that I’m sitting next to him in one of the cars on our way up to overlook Lake Spark.
Interlinking our arms, I cozy up close to him and rest my head against his shoulder and a deep long relaxing breath escapes me.
“Connor Spears, what am I going to do with you?” I say softly, with my words sounding floaty. Probably, because I need to pinch myself that this isn’t a dream.
“I could give you a list of about a hundred options if that helps you,” he offers.
I rest our connected hands on my lap and admire our wedding rings. A happy accident in the end. I was supposed to be watchful and cautious around him, but I only seem to be falling in the best possible way.
“It’s not so bad… being married… to you,” I state flatly, but I mean so much more.
His deep, smooth chuckle rumbles in the back of his throat. “Why thank you, I think.”
We glance briefly at one another with sheepish smirks. Then our balloon that kept us at a distance bursts when he leans down to kiss me like it always matters. Soft to start, then his lips take me on a journey to being commanded. I love every second of it.
“Mmm,” I hum because I feel as though I’m drowning in a pool of glitter. Inside, everything sparkles. We’re being sappy, but our nights in bed are anything but.
Getting comfortable in my seat, we approach the top of the wheel and both look out ahead when the car stops. Something tells me he may have bought us a little extra time up here.
“It’s hard to imagine living anywhere else,” I note. Connor makes a sound but doesn’t answer, and I feel his muscles tighten slightly. I realize why. “If you transfer teams in a year, then… we will figure it out.” That’s the best that I can say.
He kisses the top of my head affectionately. “Someone is thinking long run,” he teases, but I hear the vulnerability.
“Maybe I am.” It comes out faint.
“You know, the off-season is when I should be relaxing and resetting my mind and body for next season. I was deeply concerned when we woke up in Vegas that plan went out the window.” I hear the humor drenched in his sentence.
“But I think it’s worked out quite all right.
” Now that part was just honesty, and it causes me to ensure our eyes meet and lock.
“I think so too,” I agree.
We both lean in, with our foreheads touching, and I’ve never felt so alive.
“What kind of guy would I be if I don’t kiss you at the top of a Ferris wheel overlooking the lake?” The desperation in his voice causes my cheeks to heat up.
“I don’t know, you’ve been the guy to not kiss me before,” I taunt him.
His response is to growl and bring his hand to cup my cheek, demanding my full attention. “That was another time. Tell me we’re past that.”
I slowly nod without hesitation that we are. It must make him happy because before I can register, his lips are on mine, and I’m certain it’s his way of sealing my confirmation.
No going back.
But it doesn’t cross my mind anyway.
Sitting outside at the table on the deck of the house, we all are in a filled-belly slumber. Dinner was delicious, partly because I didn’t have to cook, and the bottle of wine that my mom picked out was a perfect pairing.
Now we’re taking a rest before ice cream for dessert.
My eyes break away from the candle keeping mosquitos away and draw a line to my mother.
“Okay, so I’ve planned for a wedding dress fitting in Chicago just in case, and of course, your grandmothers and Isla could join us,” my mom casually mentions.
I squint an eye, debating if she is just riling me up or if she is dead serious.
“Already married,” I say one-toned.
“But don’t you want a princess wedding dress?”
I look to my father for help and to simmer her down.
He gets the clue and touches my mother’s arm.
“Relax. Tonight is just dinner, no party talk.” I mouth thank you.
“So, what’s the plan, kiddos? For the rest of the summer before hockey season?
With the summer show out of the way, you have fewer dance classes to teach. ”
“I just want to take it easy,” I say before taking a sip of my wine.
Connor squeezes my other hand that he hasn’t let go of. “We should go somewhere for vacation. I’m thinking island, tropical, cocktails, bikini—”
“That’s my daughter,” my father adds on the list in a stern voice.
I can’t control my grin because these two together are kind of hilarious. A perfect team if they allow it.
“We’ll see. Also, depends on if we adopt a dog or not,” I add.
My mom holds up her hand. “I’m all for babysitting the pooch, but we’re just not keen on getting a dog right now.”
“I know. Besides, I could use some company when Connor is off on the road for games. Maybe a dog is exactly what we need. If he’s calm enough, then he can come to the studio with me.” I flash my eyes at Connor, as I’m sure that news will make him happy.
I can see the hint of a victorious wry smile on his lips before they wrap around the rim of his beer bottle.
Looking around, I feel lucky in this moment. Or at least content. We’re all enjoying the little things in life, with some form of elation on our faces. It’s a perfect night too, as we can see the stars.
“Hadley, come on,” my little brother groans from the patio door.
I stand, holding onto my wine glass because no way am I forfeiting this delicious vino for a biology project. “I’ll be back. I promised to look at his project for summer science club,” I announce.
I quickly lean down to kiss Connor’s cheek and leave them to talk amongst themselves. I hear the mention of visiting a casino for the bachelor party, and it only makes me grin more.
Walking into the house, I head straight to the sofa where Ashton is scrolling on his tablet. I flop onto the cushion next to him and prepare myself for a doozy.
“All right, show me your wizardly knowledge,” I tell him.
He begins typing away with his finger. “I need your blood type,” he orders.
“Oh, uh… I don’t know… wait, actually, I do know. I had bloodwork done recently for my allergy tests.” I grab my phone that’s resting on the charging station on the side table. “Can I see what you’re working on?” I ask, curious.
“Nothing special. We’re going over blood groups and pairings. I’m filling out a family chart. I’ve just been waiting on you, but you’ve been too busy being married.”
I roll my eyes because he loves Connor. Who wouldn’t want a superstar hockey player as their new brother-in-law?
“Mom told me hers, and dad’s I found in his wallet,” he further explains.
“You were snooping again?” I call him out on his admission.
He is quick to defend. “So? It’s educational.”
I shake my head as I pull up blood test results that produced nada on the allergy front, which is a good thing.
“I’ll be back, nature calls.” He hands me the tablet and disappears down the hall.
My curiosity gets the best of me, and I begin to look at the chart. There is a list of possible and impossible combinations. Huh, interesting. I remember studying this all back in middle school, but it is purely a blip in my memory.
Reading between the tablet and my phone, I search for my blood type then return my sight to the scientific table on the screen. I double-check then triple for good measure.
But my face falls, right before my heart quickens and an uneasy feeling stirs in my stomach. I freeze, and it feels like a crack is forming somewhere.
It must be a minute or two until I’m shaken out of my daze. I peer up and find Connor looking down at me.
“I’m just grabbing dessert. You okay?” His relaxed facial expression disappears when he looks into my eyes.
I toss the tablet to the side and stand up, ignoring Connor. I walk into the kitchen and begin to pace.
“What’s wrong?” Concern is apparent in his voice.
“The mosquitos are getting vicious,” my mother points out as she and my father enter through the sliding door.
The mood vanishes when they notice me standing in the kitchen, mostly in a bewildered state.
“What’s up?” my father asks.
I stare at him for a long second. “Ashton’s biology project. Have you seen it?”
He shrugs. “No, he mentioned it, but I haven’t seen it yet.”
I’m unable to blink or move, I just stare at him.
“It’s about blood types. How if your father is one type, your mother another, then their kids will have X type.
” I study him to see if his eyes change, but it feels like we’re in a standoff.
“I got my blood type the other week when I went to the doctor, routine tests, nothing really. Surprised it never came up before, actually.” There it is, a heaviness glazing his eyes, fear combined with revelation.
A bitter laugh escapes me. “According to my little brother’s project, you have type O blood, but the thing is… ”
I vaguely hear my brother walk into the room, but my mother ushers him away to somewhere else, grasping the gravity of this situation.
“Hadley.” My father says my name as if he’s carrying the weight of years on his back.
Connor steps closer to me, but I step back, as I need space to process.
“If both parents are type O, they can never have kids who are type A. Since my birth mom did do something right and left us with her medical history, then we know her type, which means it can’t be possible that I’m type A… but I am.”
I never knew it was possible to hear glass breaking if no glass is even present. But that’s what is happening in this very moment as my father’s face falls and tears pool in his eyes.
“It’s not what you think,” he says, his voice breaking.
Connor steps closer to me to touch my arm. “Hadley, why don’t you sit down.”
“Sit down!” I squeak out with so much strain inside my body. “Oh my God, it’s true, isn’t it? You’re not really my father.” I begin to lose my footing as panic takes over.
“I am. It’s complicated,” he admits.
I shake my head in disbelief. This isn’t happening. “No, no, this is some joke.”
“Hear him out,” Connor pleads softly.
My eyes snap to him in surprise, why would Connor say that? He should be as astonished as I am. I yank my arm away from his touch. Something clicks in my head. “You knew!”
The immediate pain in Connor’s face is my answer.
“Since when?” I ask, with a tear falling down my cheek.
Connor swallows and his fists hang by his sides. He glances to my dad then back to me. “For a while.” He’s avoiding the answer.
I push him out of frustration. “Tell me the truth.”
Connor grabs my wrists, softly, tenderly, as if he can see I’m fragile and he won’t be the one to break me. “A few years.” His jaw tightens. “The morning after we…” he whispers.
But his attempt fails because I break.