Page 32 of Love Like This

“Someone posted a flyer on the bulletin board in Pajamas.”

“That could be something fun to do together. I don’t know muchabout whiskey, but Spencer ordered something boozy at the jazz club the othernight, so she might like that. I’d be playing to my audience!” she said withexuberance, really finding her momentum now. Her papa had always instilled inher the importance of playing to her audience whenever possible. It had paidoff so far in life. “Do you realize you and these babies might have saved me? Ifeel so much better with a direction to head in.”

Autumn held up a finger. “Let’s not go crazy with creditplacement. These munchkins stared in awe as I solved your destination dilemma.Me. Do not give this goofy twosome points for being handsome and beautiful.”

“Too late!” Hadley said, kissing little Will’s cheek. “This guy islooking sleepy.”

“That’s because he blew off his nap two hours ago. Almost time totry again, isn’t it, little guy?” Autumn asked, taking him from Hadley, whomissed his cuddly warmth almost instantly.

“I guess that’s my cue to get out of your hair and let themsleep.”

“But you better be around tomorrow with an update.” Autumn set thebaby into his Rock ’n Play and took Hadley firmly by the shoulders. “I’misolated here with people who do not speak and rarely allow me to sleep. I needthis. Do you understand?”

Hadley, caught a little off guard by Autumn’s uncharacteristicintensity, nodded back like an agreeable soldier.

“Good,” Autumn said, releasing her, though her stare remainedunrelenting. “I’ll be waiting.”

Hadley passed Gia in the courtyard on the way back to her ownapartment. “Hey, G. I’m a tad worried about Autumn. I think we may need to giveher a break from the twins at some point soon.”

Gia nodded, her eyes full of fear. “Did she grab you and look atyou like she could see right to your soul?”

“She did.”

“She did that to me yesterday, and I haven’t forgotten it. What dowe do?”

“I’ll see if we can schedule an outing for the two of them thisweekend. I think Kate has Saturday off from the station. Want to help me watchthem?”

Gia looked like a tiny animal caught in a trap. “I’m not sure I’mqualified.”

Hadley punched her arm. “We got this. Besides, you’ll have me.”

“If you say so,” Gia said. “In the meantime, I need to work outharder than Elle is. She’s ridiculous and lapping me. Cannot happen.”

Hadley winced. “Best of luck. I’ve seen her in action.” Gia andElle often battled it out on the Women’s Pro Surf Tour. After Elle finished theprevious season ranked second in the world, and Gia fourth, they were trainingwith a new kind of vengeance that seemed to be paying off. They’d learned howto juggle love in the face of competition quite effectively over the last fewmonths. Both had their eye on number one by season’s end. While they loved eachother relentlessly, they also stoked the fires of competition.

“You think I haven’t?” Gia asked. “Her stamina is terrifying. Herabs alone should make me quit the sport altogether.”

“Who has great abs and terrifying stamina? I need to meet thiswoman,” Elle called down from the second-floor exterior railing.

Caught! Gia and Hadley exchanged a wide-eyed OMG stare.

Gia glanced up. “No one you know,” she said, in the worst displayof lying ever. She was simply awful at it, which made her awesome. Hadleycovered her smile.

“Is this because I kicked your ass on that last sprint thismorning?” Elle said playfully.

“You took off early and you know it,” Gia said.

“Did not. And if I remember correctly, the winner was supposed toreceive a victory massage. I secured that vanilla lotion and everything. I’vejust been up here, all by myself, waiting for the hands that would take meplaces. Still waiting.”

Gia relaxed into a lazy grin. That had done it. Competition spellbroken. “Yeah, you probably won fair and square.”

Hadley decided to get out of their way, noticing the moment seemedto be shifting to the private variety. She took the stairs to her own apartmentquickly, high-fiving Elle as she passed and then waving at Stephanie downbelow, her stoic neighbor who dressed daily in all black. Stephanie, all eyelineredup, just stared back at Hadley as if she were invisible. Nothing new. Didn’tmean Hadley would stop greeting her in the future. It simply wasn’t in her DNAto be unfriendly.

She dressed quickly in white capris and a royal blueoff-the-shoulder top she knew would bring out her eyes. A small silver necklacewould accentuate her neckline and a pair of tan slingbacks with a small heelwould elongate the lines of her legs. If there was one thing Hadley foundconfidence in, it was putting together the right outfit for a given physique,and she was intimately familiar with her own. She bolstered her perceivedstrengths and minimized her weaknesses. All in a day’s work.

She spent the remainder of the early evening going over Spencer’ssketches, making notes along the way. Most everything she had to say wascomplimentary, however, as Spencer had taken her notes from their last sessionand run wild with them, adding touches, details, and textures Hadley would havenever dreamed up—yet all in the right direction for high-end retail.“Gorgeous,” she muttered to herself, and dropped the sketch pad into her bag tomeet Spencer below.

She’d only been waiting in the courtyard for a few minutes whenthe woman she couldn’t stop thinking about appeared. Right on cue, every partof her sighed dreamily and she stood, bag on her shoulder. As their eyes met,Spencer broke into a million-watt smile.

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