Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Hadley
It’s been one full week.
Seven days of waking up and putting on a face full of makeup, curling my hair, and putting together the cutest outfits I can find.
I even went shopping with Penelope one afternoon to find some more outfits.
One hundred sixty-eight hours where my heart lands in my throat every time the door opens or my phone buzzes or someone walks into the bookstore.
The other day, I ran into Easton returning from practice and put on lip gloss really quick just in case. I’m a complete basket case.
But it’s been seven days of nothing, and I’m growing irritated now.
I’ve started to think Jagger changed his mind.
Or Easton talked him out of it. Or maybe the whole thing got buried under the start of the season and the Colts winning their first two games, and I am genuinely off the hook and can just go to the courthouse and sign my marriage certificate like a normal fake bride.
So today, I just threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and did my usual lighter makeup. No fake lashes, no eyeshadow, and no lip liner. Mostly because Easton told me he’s going to be late tonight for some fundraiser thing he has to go to.
The Story Jar is warm and smells like new books and coffee from the little machine Vera keeps behind the counter that she claims is only for employees but shares with the moms who look as though they’re having a rough day and need a little pick-me-up.
Felix comes over and pushes the stroller by the window. “Tanner needs the vitamin D.”
I don’t bother arguing with the man. He has opinions about everything.
Book orders, shelf placement, which story time voice works best for which age group.
Supposedly, he’s been lobbying for a specific beanbag chair for years, and now that Mae is gone, he’s sent me four separate links to the same one.
Little does he know we can’t afford his beanbag chair.
Although I wish we could. He’s so good with Tanner.
He’s read Tanner four books in the past three days and refers to him as his little library apprentice, carrying him around as he does things, always talking to him as they go down the aisles.
Tanner loves him back. He reaches for Felix every time he comes to work, and Felix acts as if he’s Tanner’s uncle.
I watch them from behind the counter, where I’m going through the financials Whit left me, which is about as fun as it sounds.
If I thought Vera and Pete were reasons to keep the doors open, Felix and his partner, Marco, are right next to them.
He’s worked here for over a decade, and he and Marco finally got their adoption application approved and are now waiting for a match.
Which means Felix needs to stay employed.
Focus, Hadley.
I scour the spreadsheet.
Red… so much red.
It’s like a bloodbath.
The door chime rings.
“Oh, we got some regulars today. What’s up, Monty and Fitzy?” Felix puts his hand in the air, and the two boys jump up to smack it. “You know the drill.” He theatrically bows and holds his arm out in the direction of the mat.
The kids laugh, and another girl comes in.
“Gus!” Felix smiles wide.
“It’s Augustina,” the little girl says.
“That’s what I said, no?”
One by one, the kids come in. He knows them all and has nicknames for the majority of them. Sure, I ran into Felix a few times over the years, but he was an addition after I decided Chicago wasn’t where I wanted to be. I understand now why my grandma would always say he keeps things young here.
Monroe and Hazel arrive together, which isn’t unusual. They come in with Leighton and Callie every Tuesday, but today Penelope joins them. I smile and say hello. Callie and Leighton sit on the mat with Ellis and Flora in their laps.
I go back to the boring spreadsheet.
“Can’t have story time without our little mascot.” Felix wheels Tanner closer to the circle before sitting in the rocking chair.
Felix starts story time. He’s reading a book about a bear who opens a bakery, and he has a different voice for every customer, and the kids are losing their minds with laughter.
I’m listening to him and smiling at the spreadsheet when I should be concentrating, but this is my favorite time of the day.
He’s a natural.
When he finishes, they all clap. I look up because seeing how much the kids enjoyed being read to is my favorite part of the day.
Monroe lifts her hand.
Felix points at her. “Yes, Mayor Monroe?”
“Can Miss Hadley read the next one?”
Felix pouts and puts his hands on his hips. “You don’t like me?” He pretends to wipe tears.
“Oh, Felix, you can read another one,” Hazel says.
“Thank you, General Hazel, but I’ll gladly step down for Miss Hadley.” He snaps out of it fast when the kids seem concerned. “Miss Hadley, you’re being summoned!” Felix turns and looks at me over the heads of the children.
I shake my head. “I’m doing the—”
“Financials will be there in ten minutes.” Felix makes a silly face, and all the children laugh. “The children want you.”
I come around the counter and go to the story time circle, settling into my grandma’s rocking chair. The wood creaks the way it always does. The kids scoot to make room.
Monroe and Hazel are in the front row as always.
Hazel reaches into her bag. She produces a book I’ve never seen before and holds it out to me with both hands as though she’s presenting something at a ceremony. “Can you read this one?”
The Prince Who Kept His Promise.
I look at the cover. A prince crossing a field toward someone waiting in the distance. “Sure, I’ve never read this one before.”
I open the book.
Felix props himself on Mae’s shelf beside me. I feel the weight of something on my head and reach up without thinking.
A plastic princess crown.
“Obviously,” Felix says and pushes the stroller back and forth.
I start to read.
I do the voices.
I turn a page.
I continue to read.
Then the door opens, bringing with it a gust of fresh spring air.
I glance up, expecting to see a kid who is late to join us, but that’s not what I find.
Easton is in the doorway.
Behind him, Decker, Hayes, and Foster file through the door in a single line, and none of them go to their wives or fiancées. Instead, they pull their phones out of their pockets.
My stomach drops.
Monroe whispers something to Hazel that’s not quite a whisper. Her smile takes up her entire face.
I look at Hazel. She giggles, and they both give Easton their full attention as he walks closer.
Oh no.
Oh no oh no oh no.
It’s happening.
Easton crosses the room. He saunters as though he has all the time in the world, through the story time circle—the children parting for him with great interest until he’s standing right in front of me.
He crouches until we’re eye level.
He gently takes the book from my hands.
The children are completely silent, which is probably the first time in history that’s ever happened in this store.
Felix sniffles next to me. No surprise, he cries at the end of every story.
Easton sets the book on the floor beside him.
“Hadley Hargrove.” He appears so calm, while I’m pretty sure my heart is going to catapult out of my chest. “I’ve been trying to figure out the right words for a week, and I still don’t have them.
All I know is I don’t want to do any of this without you.
Will you marry me?” He reaches into his jacket pocket.
The ring box is small and navy blue, and when he pries it open, I want him to shut it. Because the ring looks real. Because this proposal feels real, even though I know it isn’t.
Why would he get me a real ring? A cubic zirconia would have been fine.
I glance across the room.
Felix is standing at the edge of the story time circle now, holding Tanner against his chest. His hand is pressed over his mouth. His eyes are wet.
“Hey, remember me?” Easton whispers.
I look down at him.
He’s still on one knee, waiting for my answer. The ring box is open in his hand, the diamond catching the light from the window.
Our eyes lock, and he smiles. It’s that same smile he won me over with the first time I met him. The same smile I came back to again and again because it always made me feel at peace.
“Yes.”
Monroe erupts with a squeal, and soon the entire room is filled with cheers and clapping, even if some of the kids might not understand exactly what just happened.
Easton slides the ring on my finger.
It fits perfectly.
“Kiss!” Monroe shouts.
Easton rises from his knee, placing both of his hands on my cheeks, and tips his head, placing his lips on mine. I sink into him, my body remembering exactly why I kept coming back to him.
Then he pulls back. “Surprise.” His smile morphs into his cocky one that my libido loves the most. Then he takes the crown off my head and examines it for a beat before putting it back on. “Perfect touch.”
And the fact this is all fake, that it’s for social media and to appease Jagger Kale, comes rushing to the forefront.
Felix appears at our sides, Tanner still against his chest, one hand wiping his face. “You have no idea how lucky you are, little man,” he says quietly. Then he looks back at me with wet eyes and a full smile and holds out Tanner. “Your son, Mrs. Bailey.”
I take Tanner from him. The little guy grabs the crown immediately, tugging it from my head, and Easton pries it from his grip.
Someone tugs on my jeans, and I glance down to see a little girl.
“Miss Hadley? Does this mean you’re a real princess now?”
I look at the crown in Easton’s hands. At the ring on my finger.
“Yes, it does,” Easton answers for me.
And then we’re alone for a second in our three-person bubble while the parents step away, the kids shop, and our friends talk among themselves.
“Took you long enough.” I smack him in the chest.
He laughs. “I had to surprise you, and I wanted it to be natural, so when you left the house today looking like you, I knew this was the day. This is all produced enough. If I’m going to propose to a woman, I want it to be when you’re looking like yourself.”
I shake my head.
“But gear up, soon-to-be Mrs. Hadley Bailey. You still have to meet the family.”
Right. Because saying yes to him was the easy part.