Swiping (Mr.) Right

3: New Friends

For the second morning in a row, I was woken up by a finger in my eye. Luckily, I wasn't as hungover, so I immediately recognized Madison dressed in a Minnie Mouse today. A headband with mouse ears pushed back her soft blond curls from her pudgy cheeks as she watched me in amusement. As much as I wanted to yell at her, I didn't, instead choosing to glare at her and pointing at her to get out.

She giggled before skipping out of my room. I gave myself time to regain focus before shuffling into the bathroom down the hall.

As I walked into the family room, the delicious smell of something being baked greeted me. My eyes landed on Madison, who was too busy singing along to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, her polka-dot dress swishing around her, to pay attention to me.

I followed the smell to the kitchen, where Mom was busy fanning away the steam from freshly baked blueberry muffins. She momentarily stopped her fanning to open the kitchen window, letting the brisk autumn breeze flow in.

"Nice of you to finally rise from your coffin," Mom commented without looking in my direction. "You missed breakfast."

"I also missed the part where having my eye jabbed again was okay." I yawned, putting the kettle on the burner to boil water for tea.

"I'll talk to Madison about not going into your room again. Although, she had the right idea that it was time for you to get up." I opened my mouth to argue, and she raised her hand to silence me. "You've had a month to sleep in, Abby. I know you're depressed about losing your job, but you can be productive in other ways."

"I know; I need to unpack my stuff," I sighed, eyeing the delicious-looking muffins that Mom was putting on a platter.

"And help your father fix that hole in the wall."

Shame washed over me as if I was a 5-year-old again. I hoped neither Mom nor Dad would come to my room and witness the large dent, but my luck ran out.

"How did that get there, by the way?" I asked, purposely avoiding eye contact as I began making tea.

Mom let out a strangled noise as she whirled on me, the bag of flour in her hand sending out a cloud of white as she squeezed it. "Excuse me, Abby?"

"Madison could've put that hole in the wall," I shrugged as I hastily grabbed my cup of tea and tried snatching a muffin.

"That's not for you, you garbage disposal," Mom scolded as she smacked away my hand. "I made these for Hunter and the girls."

I rolled my eyes, ignoring the fluttering feeling in my stomach at the mention of Hunter. He used to be my childhood crush, and I tried desperately to catch his eye, but I would always be known as his little cousin's annoying friend. The things I did to get his attention were absolutely cringeworthy and needed to go back into the deep, dark recesses of my mind.

"He has another daughter?"

Mom sighed and shook her head. "His parents passed away last year from health complications, so he's responsible for his younger sister, Rosie." Mom explained.

I vaguely remember his parents from my childhood. I didn't interact with them as much as with Shannon's parents because he always tried to avoid me. "Didn't he get married? I remember Shannon talking about his wedding a few years ago. Isn't his wife around to help?"

Mom rolled her eyes and muttered some curse words under her breath. "She ran off two years ago because married life wasn't for her. Abandoned Hunter and Madison before the ink was even dry on the divorce papers."

I glanced at Madison, who was oblivious to our discussion. An excited squeal followed by laughter rang throughout the house, emitting a sad smile from Mom. "Does she remember her mom?"