Page 5 of Hung Up on the Hacker

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The moment Cash spotted Hadley’s familiar, purple-streaked espresso brown hair, everything inside him lifted and brightened with relief. He itched to cross the room, haul her into his arms and erase the distance he’d put between them. Somewhere, deep down, a part of him had watched her walk away yesterday and worried she wouldn’t come back. People had done that often enough in his life.

But not Hadley. Never Hadley.

She was bold and brash and unapologetic in how she lived. Cash recognized that if she was really through with him, there’d have been a declarative announcement about it at earsplitting decibel, probably with considerable profanity and significant possibility of projectiles of convenience.

Instead, she was here.

Oh shit. She was here.

Did this mean she’d come around to his way of thinking? Recognizing that they had to clear the air with Holt if they were going to continue? Or had she driven all this way with some intention of stopping him?

There was no way to ask her, and her very presence threw a big ass monkey wrench into his plans.

“—daughter, Maddie. And my wife, Cayla.”

Cash dragged his focus over to the pair of pretty blondes, the one in Holt’s arms, a miniature of the woman beaming in his direction.

He plastered on a smile to hide the inner turmoil. “Nice to meet you both, finally.” And he meant it. These two might have become Holt’s family through a marriage of convenience meant to protect Cayla and her daughter from the ex-husband that had been released from prison back in the spring, but they were truly his now. They’d given his friend a place to land, and Cash would be forever grateful for that. Holt deserved that kind of happy ending after all the shit he’d been through in his life and his military service.

And so did he. Cash couldn’t stop his gaze from shifting back to Hadley. He wanted to be her safe place to land. Wanted her to be his. It took all his training to bury that emotion down deep instead of reaching out to touch her, claim her, anything to reassure himself that she was still his.

“Didn’t know you were coming down.”

Her gray eyes sparked with mischief rather than temper, and that was enough to tell him she wasn’t here to fight. “It was spur of the moment. You know me.”

He certainly did. Far better than her brother could possibly be aware.

“Too bad you didn’t communicate,” Cayla said. “Y’all could’ve carpooled down together.”

Hadley scoffed. “And let Mr. High and Mighty control the stereo? No, thank you. Seven hours of the same three bands is not for me.”

“And seven hours of eighties throwbacks is better?” Cash shot back, relieved to fall into the familiar dynamic.

She gave an imperious lift of her chin. “It was the best music decade. Full of power ballads and full-bodied rock and roll.”

“You keep telling yourself that, sweetheart.”

Holt rolled his eyes and set Maddie down. “They’ve been having this argument for fifteen years.”

“Two words.” Cash pointed to Hadley. “Tone. Deaf.”

She sniffed. “You just can’t appreciate my vocal stylings.”

“Is that what you’re calling your caterwauling now?” Holt asked.

Maddie tugged at his pant leg. “Daddy, what’s caterwilling?”

Daddy. Damn. Holt really had landed himself a real live nuclear family. It wasn’t something he’d had growing up. Wasn’t something either of them had had. It meant something to Cash to see it was possible. That it could really work. It made him feel like this thing he wanted wasn’t so insane or out of reach as it had felt on the drive down.

“Caterwauling,” Holt corrected. “You ever hear a couple of cats fighting?”

Maddie shook her head. “Uh-uh.”

“Well, it’s not a pretty sound. That’s what your Aunt Hadley sounds like when she sings.”

The subject of their teasing stuck her tongue out.

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