Page 62 of (Un)Spoken

“Oh my God!” she said, almost dropping her full plate when she ran to hug me. “I have missed you so, so much! Ican’t believe you didn’t tell me about this place sooner. It is adorable. Your brother owns the whole thing?”

“Yup,” I said, my chest filling with pride at all of Cole’s hard work. “He runs it with his wife.”

“I can’t get over how much I love it here. I can see why you’d want to come for a visit.” She tugged my hand before realizing I was still in my robe. “Shoot, I didn’t realize how early it was. Sarge over there made us take the red eye, so my sense of time is all thrown off.”

“Some of us have a schedule, Menace,” Cam called out from the stairwell. “Is it cool if we head to your place? I’m dying to see Em.”

“Of course,” I chuckled, leading them up the stairs to my apartment. But as Cam went through the door, Hadley held me back. “I want every single detail about you and Adam Rice. Leavenothingout.”

“Never going to happen,” I chuckled, wrapping her in another hug. As much as I loved it here, my world wasn’t right without Hadley at my side. “But you can tell me how you survived an entire plane ride without murdering Cam.”

“Trust me,” she groaned, “it was the biggest challenge of my life. But it was worth it to see you and Emilia again. I missed you so much.”

“Missed you more.”

An hour later,we all sat at the island in my kitchen, listening to Emilia tell tales of our trip. She spared no details, making sure Hadley and Cam knew precisely what they had missed out on. As she told yet another story featuring Adam, Cam arched his brow at me with a slysmirk. “Seems like you two have been hanging out with Adam a lot, huh, Em?”

“Oh yeah!” she exclaimed. “He’s the bestest. He got me all the paints, and we’ve hadsomany tea parties.” She leaned in to whisper, “And he told me we’re going to see horses soon.”

“Oh, he did?” I mused, hiding my smile behind my coffee mug. Adam had gone all out this weekend, not only making sure that there would be ponies at Fall Fest, but also offering a donation to make sure Emilia’s dreams come true. He’d even given them extra to make one look like a unicorn, complete with a purple felt horn.

I looked up, finding Hadley and Cam staring at me with twin smiles. While Hadley knew all too well how much time Adam and I were spending together, Cam could probably tell from the look on my face—definitely a downside to our almost lifelong friendship. The man knew me way too well.

“And what about you, Vic?” Cam smirked as he leaned back on his stool. “Do you think Adam is thebestest?”

Before I could answer, a knock came from our front door, and the man of the hour stepped in. Adam’s face practically glowed when he spotted me, and he held up his usual breakfast treats. I swore, the man was trying to spoil us, not realizing we didn’t need any perks to stick with him. Both my daughter and I were head over heels for Adam.

As Adam turned to greet us, his face fell slightly when he realized we weren’t alone. His false smile was back in place as he stepped up to my side, dropping the bag on the counter. He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. “Sorry, Tor. Didn’t realize you had company.”

“No worries. We were just talking about you,” I chuckled. “Adam, you remember Cam, Emilia’s dad.” I nodded down the island. “And this is my best friend, Hadley.”

“Charmed,” she smirked as she held out her hand. “And yes, we’ve heard all about you from Emilia.” She turned that saccharine smile toward me. “Tori’s been a vault, however.”

My eyes narrowed at her as Adam chuckled. He placed his hand on my lower back, “Glad to hear someone is singing my praises.” He smiled down at me. “Maybe if you try some of these new pastries, you’ll have nicer things to say about me.”

“Oh, she hasn’t saidanything,” Hadley teased, pulling the bag over to her to look inside. “Maybe you’ll be willing to spill more secrets than your friend here.”

Cam rolled his eyes. “Ignore the menace, Adam. She’s only happy if she’s torturing an innocent soul.”

“Aww, Cammy baby, are you feeling left out?” She booped his nose. “I’d ask you questions about your love life, but frankly, I don’t think anyone could stomach you long enough to date you.”

Just as Cam was about to snap back, Emilia’s voice rang out. “What’s a love life?”

I glared at Hadley as I turned back toward my daughter. I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s another word for dating. You know how some of the ranchers have partners back home?” She nodded. “So that’s their love life—who they’re with, if they’re married, something like that.”

She furrowed her brow then stared at me. “Like you and Adam?”

My eyes widened as I looked at him over my shoulder. He just shrugged and mouthedno idea. Still, he had a smile on his face, probably ecstatic that our secret was finally out in the open.

Cam met my eye and gave me a subtle nod, as ifencouraging me as well. As I stared back at him with uncertainty in my eyes, he chuckled, grabbing Hadley’s arm. “C’mon, Menace. Let’s give them some space to talk.”

“Boo,” she sighed. “I want to see how this plays out.”

Despite everyone else’s reassurances, for a moment, I debated lying to my daughter. I hated to do that, only lying when it was entirely necessary. And even though I knew she loved Adam like family, it was hard navigating dating as a single parent. All the books had mixed responses in terms of a timeline, but most stated it was best to wait until you were sure the person would be a long-term partner, not a passing entity in your child’s life. And no matter what other questions I might have had about our new relationship, one thing was for sure: Adam fell into the former category.

“Yes, baby,” I said, exhaling slowly with each word. “Like Adam. He’s my boyfriend.” I ran my fingers through her hair. “Are you okay with that?”

She scrunched her nose and turned toward Adam. “Does that mean you’re going to come to dinner every night?”

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