Thirty minutes later Hadlee was still chatting, and he wondered if she had an off switch. She twisted the handle of the apartment door, and it didn’t budge.
She frowned, “she locked it. Mom?” She knocked on the door. “What time is it?”
He looked to his watch. “It’s nine-twenty.”
Hadlee dug around her little backpack and pulled out her key. “I have my own key.”
“Does she leave you home alone?”
“No!” she giggled. “Mom has locked us out or left her keys at the community center more than once and instead of walking back, it’s easier for me to keep a key in the bottom of my bag. She might be lying down. She did say earlier she was tired.”
They entered the house and Hadlee took a deep inhale and groaned, “oh man. She made beef stroganoff.”
He chuckled. “You just had a four-course meal, a
