Page 55 of Love Like This

“We’re more than a big bang kiss,” she murmured when they came upfor air. She hadn’t intended to say it out loud, but it was as if the wordsflew from her lips, refusing to be suppressed.

“Is that good?” Spencer asked, dreamy-eyed and gorgeous. Hadleywould never tire of looking at her, kissing her, or talking to her.

Hadley nodded, too trepidatious to explain any further. Spencerdidn’t buy into forever, so how would she possibly understand Hadley’schildhood fantasy come to life? And how was Hadley supposed to reconcile thefact that Spencer might never share in the sentiment, no matter how strong herfeelings for Hadley might grow? Nope. She wasn’t doing this tonight. They’dagreed to keep open minds, and that was exactly the plan she would stick to.Plus, she wasn’t willing to do anything that would put a damper on her big bangrealization. She would tuck it away and keep it safe.

Spencer took her hand. “What now?”

“Chicken soup,” Hadley blurted.

“You’re hungry?” Spencer asked. “If you’re hungry, girl, I willhappily feed you.”

Hadley laughed, and gave Spencer’s arm a tug. “No. I need to pickup some chicken soup for Gia at this little deli. They’re known for miles fortheir delicious, not to mention comfort-inspiring soup, and Gia isn’t feelingso great, so she needs the best soup possible, posthaste. She needs to be comfortinspired.”

“Posthaste sounds important.” Spencer tugged back. “So, let me getthis straight. You just spent two hours babysitting infants for one friend, andnow you want to head out into the night for soup for another without so much asbeing asked?”

“Well, yeah. I can’t let Gia feel awful without a helpful remedy.Soup will make her feel better, at least temporarily while she’s eating it. Weshould probably pick up some Nyquil, too. I don’t know if she has any.”

Spencer went soft. “You put nuns to shame. Do you realize that?”

Hadley grinned. “I like nuns, so I’m going to embrace thatcomparison. I just feel it’s important to look out for the people I care about.I always make sure I do that. Always.”

“That’s an honorable trait. Don’t ever change it.”

“You’re on, because I’m not sure I’m capable.”

Spencer stole another kiss. “All right, then. I’m in. Take me tothe soup,” Spencer said. “A sick woman needs us.”

Hadley grinned and tugged on Spencer’s hand once again. “Followme.”

“Anywhere.”

* * *

Hadley hadn’t been lying. The soup in question came from a tinyunassuming deli in Franklin Village, about fifteen miles from Venice, but tookway longer to reach in LA traffic. The small shop had a green neon sign infront that let everyone know they were open until midnight, and that was a goodplan, because there were four people in line when they arrived at just afterten. The little man behind the counter couldn’t be less than seventy years old,and he smiled and nodded to them when they entered the closet-sized shop. Therewere exactly seven items on the menu board that hung over the register: fourdifferent sandwiches and three kinds of soup: vegetable barley, cream ofbroccoli, and as promised, chicken noodle.

“Slim offerings,” Spencer whispered.

Hadley shrugged off the comment. “No, no. Nothing slim about thisplace. You’ll see. That’s Saul, and he puts care into everything he does.There’s love in those soups and sandwiches, and you can’t dilute love just tohave more menu offerings. It’s not worth the trade.”

Spencer shook her head. “I wouldn’t want Saul to dilute the love.”

“Me neither.” She said it as if it would be the most dire ofconsequences ever. Just thinking about it brought a melancholy expression toHadley’s face. “Good thing that’s not our reality.”

“Agreed,” Spencer said, as they stepped forward in line, and morecustomers filled in behind them, keeping the room fairly tight.

When it was their turn, Saul smiled at them warmly. “Hello again!”he said to Hadley, as if they were long lost friends. “I never forget a face.You have a pretty one.”

“Thanks, Saul. We’ve met once or twice before. My name is Hadleyand we’ll need a large chicken soup to go. A friend of mine is sick, and sheneeds it to get better.” He pointed in question at Spencer. “Oh, no. This is myfriend Spencer. She’s well.”

“Hello! I’m glad you’re feeling okay,” Saul said, and offered herthe same warm smile.

“Thank you. Me, too, Saul.”

He rang up the soup and packaged it up in a nice sturdy containerwith a bag full of homemade crackers to go with it. Impressive, and all madewith love, apparently. She could get behind that kind of extra service.

“See you soon, Hadley!” he said, handing her a receipt with awave.

They headed to the door, and Spencer noted that the line now hadeven more patrons than when they’d arrived. Apparently, lots of people knewabout love-filled soup and demanded it. Where had she been?

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