Page 109 of Take My Hand

Me: He’s doing okay. And yes, we fly out first thing in the morning. Before you ask, we don’t need a ride ;)

“Sorry, that was my dad,” I tell Helen, feeling rude for texting in the middle of our conversation but she waves me off.

“Don’t apologize. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, he was just checking in.”

“Hayden told me he’s been helping him with some of his renovations. You’ll have to thank him for us. Hayden’s good at a lot of things, but power tools were never one of them,” she says to me with a playful wink.

“Oh, trust me, he’s happy to help. Especially when it’s for someone with a good vision like Hayden, but doesn’t quite have the skill of execution.”

“Are you close with your parents?” she asks, but by the way she used the plural version of that word, clearly Hayden hasn’t filled her in.

“I’m very close with my dad,” I say, playing with the ties on Hayden’s sweatpants I’ve been wearing for the last two days. “My mom passed away when I was young, though.”

Helen’s face falls, and before she can spout the usual type of responses I typically get when I tell people that, she instead rounds the counter and pulls me in for a hug. She runs a comforting hand over the top of my hair and my throat seizes at the motherly gesture.

Is this what it could’ve been like?

“I’m sorry, hun. I’m sure your dad has more than done his job, but if you ever need some girl talk, I’m all ears. Trust me.” She pulls back and rolls her eyes dramatically. “I could use some with all these boys around here.”

I laugh, and it feels good, clearing the heaviness that threatens to sink in whenever I think about what I’ve missed out on my not having my mom around. I don’t like to dwell on it though, because for one I can’t change it, and two, my dad has been more than enough for me.

“Thank you,” I tell her.

Hayden, Scott, and Lucas all barrel into the kitchen, hungry and ready to eat. Lucas lets everyone know that Will knocked out in the middle of the last episode they were watching and they didn’t want to wake him. Everyone moves over to the table and by the way each of them beeline for their chairs, it’s clear they all have set spots.

Hayden pulls out the seat next to his for me, planting a kiss on my cheek as he does so.

The food gets passed around while everyone’s chatter fills up the air around us. I get sucked in to settle a debate between Hayden and Lucas about what kind of proposal he should do for his girlfriend. Lucas wants to make it a big spectacle, and unsurprisingly, Hayden is trying to talk him into something more low-key. My agreement with Hayden has Lucas grumbling about how I would of course take his side and both of his parents laugh at the whole exchange.

Hayden asks his parents about their respective jobs and both are going well. When Lucas tries to bring up the band, I help divert the conversation when Hayden tenses beside me, clearly just wanting to enjoy this time away from the stress that awaits back in LA.

Ice cream is scooped out for dessert, cooling all of us on this warm evening. We must sit around the table for almost three hours, everyone catching each other up and laughing about old memories, including some embarrassing ones that Lucas shares about Hayden that has Hayden threatening to share similar ones with Lucas’s girlfriend.

Helen cuts the two of them off and recruits Scott and Lucas to help with the dishes while dismissing me and Hayden for the night. I try to argue, but Hayden takes the ticket out and pulls me upstairs. We brush our teeth together after I wash my face, and we call it a night.

“Tonight was great, sitting around at a dinner table together. Was it always like that for you?”

Hayden snuggles up behind me, not that there’s much of a choice in this small bed. The first night we were here, I thought I might have to sleep in a separate room, not knowing how his parents would feel about it. But Hayden didn’t hesitate pulling me into his childhood bedroom and neither Helen or Scott made a comment about it.

“Yeah, pretty much. If everyone was home, it was expected that we ate dinner as a family. Including when the band would be in the middle of our rehearsals.”

I snort, picturing the teenage version of the guys getting all grumpy at the interruption to their practice for a family dinner.

“I can see the four of you stomping upstairs, irritated at having to stop, only to shut up the moment you all were seated and scarfed down the food your mom lovingly prepared.”

Hayden laughs behind me, pulling me tighter into his chest so my back is flush to his front. “You pretty much nailed it.”

“Have you heard from any of them since we’ve been here?” I ask.

“Yeah, they’ve all been checking in.”

All?

As if hearing my silent question, he says, “Reid included. He loves Will, so even if he’s done with me, he still cares.”

His tone is melancholy, and I rub my fingers across his forearm.

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