by Lee Hollis
Sheila noticed Hayley’s slight frown. “I just thought you might appreciate a healthier option than what you normally have for lunch.”
Hayley bit her tongue, not wanting to start an argument. “That’s very thoughtful. I really should be getting back to the office.”
“I’ll drop you off if you don’t mind. I’d like to take your car to Ellsworth and do a little shopping. Just hang on while I run upstairs and freshen up.”
Before Hayley had the chance to respond, Sheila spun around and flew down the hall and up the staircase.
Hayley bent down to pet Leroy, who excitedly wagged his tail and licked her hand. Blueberry was nowhere to be seen, not even bothering to make an appearance to acknowledge Hayley’s presence.
Standing back up, Hayley reached in the bag, grabbed the apple and took a bite. Suddenly she heard a blood-curdling scream from upstairs.
“Mom!”
Hayley dashed past Leroy and raced upstairs to the bathroom, where she found her mother with her back pressed against the open door, a hand to her mouth and her eyes widened in shock as she stared at Bruce, who was stark naked and dripping wet, a towel held in front of his midsection in order to give himself a modicum of cover.
“Bruce, what’s going on?” Hayley gasped.
“I was taking a shower and your mother just barged in as I was getting out and—”
Hayley turned to Sheila. “Did you see—?”
“Everything!” Sheila wailed, now covering her eyes. “I will never be able to unsee it!”
“Bruce, what are you doing home?” Hayley asked as he hurriedly wrapped the towel around himself.
“I’ve been putting off cleaning the gutters and it’s supposed to rain this weekend, and so I came home during my lunch hour to get it done. I got all grimy and so I decided to take a shower before heading back to the office . . .”
“I had no idea he was in here, let alone in his birthday suit!” Sheila cried defensively.
“It’s okay, Mom, why don’t you go downstairs?” Hayley said.
“The reason I came up here is because I need to use the bathroom!” Sheila barked.
Hayley nodded and turned to Bruce. “Are you done?”
“No, but I can wait in the bedroom!” Bruce snapped, charging past Sheila and Hayley and disappearing into the master bedroom.
“I’ll just be a minute,” Sheila said, closing the door.
Hayley followed Bruce into the bedroom and shut the door for some privacy.
“I’m sorry about that,” Hayley said softly.
Bruce sighed. “Hayley, I’ll never understand how you raised two kids in this tiny house!”
“Three, if you count my ex-husband.”
“It’s too crowded, especially with her staying here!”
“Shhh, keep your voice down. She’ll hear you.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to flip out, but I’m a little disturbed by the fact that I just flashed your mother!”
“Calm down, I know it’s been a little stressful having her here, but remember, we are leaving in three days for our honeymoon, an all-inclusive cruise where we won’t have to worry about anything. And it’s a big ship, huge in fact, where we’ll have lots of room to move about and not feel crowded!”
This seemed to placate him momentarily. He took a deep breath and exhaled. He looked Hayley in the eyes. “And you promise she’ll leave when we get home?”
“I promise,” Hayley reassured him.
He kissed her softly on the lips. “It’s ten minutes to one. We could do a lot in the time before we have to be back to the office from lunch.” He pulled her closer and went to drop his towel. She hooked an arm around his neck and they were about to fall back on the bed when there was a loud knock on the door.
“I’m done, Bruce! Bathroom’s all yours!” Sheila yelled.
Hayley grabbed Bruce’s towel before it fell to the floor and kept it wrapped around him. “She’s right outside.”
Bruce sighed again. “Three days . . . three days . . .”
Chapter 11
Sheila sullenly twirled her spaghetti onto her fork, stared at it listlessly for a few seconds, and then with a heavy sigh, shoveled it into her mouth. The tension in the air was palpable and Hayley and Bruce exchanged furtive glances, not quite sure what the problem was. After sitting down at the table for dinner and thanking her mother profusely for the Italian meal she had whipped together before both of them had arrived home from the office, Hayley quickly sensed that something was off. There was a profound, obvious sadness about her mother, who shuffled around the kitchen, shoulders slumped, half-heartedly stirring the marinara sauce, which included her homemade meatballs, and checking on the garlic bread baking in the oven. Hayley had asked several times what was bothering her, but Sheila had simply shrugged and said under her breath, “Nothing.”
But now, the silent treatment was reaching a boiling point and Hayley had suffered enough. She slammed down her utensils and cried, “I can’t take this anymore! Something has upset you and I want to know what it is, and please do not say ‘nothing’ again, because it is so clearly something!”
Sheila stared at Hayley, then at Bruce, and then back down at the pile of spaghetti on her plate. “I really don’t want to get into this right now!”
“Well, I’m sorry, Mom, but you are just going to have to because you are a guest in our house and Bruce and I deserve to know if there is a problem!”
Hayley watched her mother, who sat up in her chair, mustering up her courage, and then announced, “I heard everything.”
“Heard what?” Bruce asked.
“Everything you two said about me,” Sheila mumbled. “How you hate having me here and how much you want me to leave.”
“How could you have heard us? We were in the bedroom with the door closed,” Hayley said.
“The walls in this house are very thin,” Sheila said quietly.
“No, you had your ear pressed up against our door, and neither of us ever said we hated having you here,” Hayley argued.
“Well, you might as well have,” Sheila snorted. “I had no idea what a burden and an intrusion it is having me here, and what a pain I am to have around.”
Hayley grabbed her glass of merlot and chugged it down.
She needed it now more than ever.
Bruce leaned forward. “Sheila, I am so sorry you got that impression. I never meant to imply I don’t like having you around. I was just surprised when you walked in on me in the bathroom, and I probably overreacted. This is a small house, even for just Hayley and me. But you are family, and you are always welcome here.”
Hayley set down her wineglass and looked at Bruce, more in love than ever. She marveled at how he had just expertly and shrewdly brought the temperature down on the situation.
Sheila nodded and then reached over and took his hand. “I like you.”
“So do I,” Hayley said with a smile.
“I accept your apology,” Sheila said before picking up her fork and cutting into one of her jumbo meatballs.
Bruce opened his mouth to correct the record that he did not exactly apologize, but then snapped his mouth shut again, thinking better of it.
Sheila ate the piece of her meatball and then wiped the sides of her mouth with her gray cloth napkin as she chewed and swallowed. “You’re a thousand times better than the last one.”
Hayley eyed her mother warily. “I beg your pardon?”
Sheila was twirling more spaghetti onto her fork and smiled innocently at Hayley. “What?”
“The last one?” Hayley asked. “What last one?”
Sheila, who Hayley could sense suddenly regretted the comment, decided to focus on her pasta dish. “I made the meatballs with beef, pork, and chicken. Do you like them, Bruce?”
“They’re delicious,” Bruce said, looking at Hayley nervously.
“What last one?” Hayley asked again.
Sheila sighed. “I was just trying to pay Bruce a compliment. Am I not allowed to
say nice things about your latest husband?”
“Latest husband?” Hayley asked. “You make it sound like I’ve been married more times than Elizabeth Taylor! Twice, Mom! I’ve only been married twice!”
“I know that! I was talking about Danny. He was never a reliable husband, always had some scheme up his sleeve,” Sheila said before turning to Bruce. “I tried to warn her, but she was young and rebellious and was not going to listen to anything her mother had to say.”
Hayley popped the last piece of her garlic bread in her mouth and said, “Danny had many faults, but we made two great kids, and for that I’ll always be grateful to him.”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Sheila said absentmindedly.
Hayley swallowed, grimacing. Then looked at Bruce and smiled. “But this time I got it right.”
“You did indeed. And it was worth taking a few swings and misses before the home run . . .”
“What do you mean by that?” Hayley asked, stiffening.
“Just that it took a few tries to find Mr. Right. Like that veterinarian you dated for five minutes . . .”
“You mean Aaron, and we dated for a while . . .”
“Not a long while. I never met him in person. You two broke up before I even had the chance.”
Hayley bit her tongue, trying to ignore the comment. “Bruce, could you pass the garlic bread?”
Bruce reached for the basket and handed it to her, studying her face to see if she was about to explode.
Hayley saw her mother open her mouth to speak but cut her off. “If you say anything about me eating too many carbs, I will leave this table.”
“I was not going to say anything like that,” Sheila said, obviously lying. “I was just going to mention the man you dated that I did manage to meet . . . but just once in passing when I was in town one summer. The handyman. What was his name? Lou?”
“Lex, and he was not a handyman, he was a caretaker on the Hollingsworth estate in town . . .”
“Yes, Lex, that’s right. He seemed nice.”
Hayley seethed, but decided to just let it go.
“Didn’t he serve time in prison at some point?”
Hayley threw her fork down. “Yes, he did! Is this your way of saying you don’t approve of my past choices in men?”
“I just asked a question!” Sheila gasped. “Why are you attacking me?”
“Because you keep finding little ways to belittle me and criticize me, and I’m getting sick and tired of it!” Hayley shouted.
Sheila sat back in her chair, stunned. “Is that what you think I’m doing?”
“Yes!” Hayley yelled.
“What kind of monster do you think I am?” Sheila cried, her eyes welling up with tears. “All I was trying to do is tell you how much I love your new husband! I’m sorry if you think I’m being cruel and heartless!”
This stopped Hayley in her tracks.
She began to question if she was getting too far inside her own head. She turned to Bruce, who was laser focused on his empty plate, scraping the last of the marinara sauce onto his spoon and eating it, hoping they would not draw him back into the conversation.
Hayley glanced back at her mother. “Mom, I’m sorry . . .”
Sheila was using her napkin to dab away her tears. Then she tossed it down on the table and stood up. “I think it would be better if I just left.”
“Back to Florida?” Hayley asked.
“No, I made a commitment to feed your pets while you’re away on your honeymoon, and so I will stick around until you come back, but I am not staying here.”
“Mom, don’t be ridiculous . . .”
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable . . .”
Bruce also stood up, crossed around the table and put an arm around Sheila. “Please, we don’t want you to leave . . .”
“I think it’s best . . .” Sheila said, sniffing.
“We’ll feel awful if you go,” Bruce said.
“I saw a vacancy sign outside that new inn on Mount Desert. I can go there. I can pack my things and be out of your hair in an hour, let me just clear the dishes first.”
“No, Sheila, we can do it,” Bruce said. “But I wish you’d reconsider . . .”
“Thank you, Bruce, but I’ve made up my mind,” Sheila said before fleeing the dining room and going up the stairs.
Bruce turned to Hayley. “We can’t just let her leave like this . . .”
“You heard her. She’s made up her mind. There is nothing we can do. She is so stubborn!”
“Now I know where you get it from.”
Hayley glared at him.
Bruce’s eyes widened. “Did I just say that out loud?”
Chapter 12
“Mom, please call me back. I want to apologize for last night,” Hayley said as she sat behind her desk at the Island Times office the following day. “And I want you to come home. I hate the idea of you sleeping at a B and B when you should be staying with us. Okay, I know I’ve already left you a few messages, but I hope you get in touch with me soon.”
Bruce wandered in from the back bull pen and poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot sitting in the maker on top of a small mini fridge next to the supply room. “Still no answer?”
Hayley shook her head. “No, and I called the inn and the receptionist told me she doesn’t want to be disturbed.”
“Maybe you should just go on over there and bang on the door until she answers,” Bruce suggested.
“No, I know my mother. She will call me back once she feels I’ve been punished enough and have suffered the appropriate amount of guilt. That could be today, tomorrow, or after we return from the cruise. I just have to let her work through her anger, but she’ll come around. She always does.”
“It may take her a while. She looked pretty hurt when she left last night,” Bruce commented, taking a sip of his coffee.
Hayley raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying I was too hard on her?”
Bruce realized his mistake. He clutched his coffee like a lifesaver as he nervously contemplated his next move. “No . . . ?”
Hayley sat back in her chair and folded her arms, waiting to hear more.
He was really sweating now. “I’m just saying . . .”
“Yes?”
“I’m saying . . . mothers are going to be mothers. It’s in their DNA to nag their daughters about everything. Sheila is no exception. But she obviously loves you.”
Hayley wanted to lay into Bruce and berate him for taking her mother’s side, but deep down she knew he was right. Despite the sometimes combative nature of their relationship, she really did care deeply about her mother and felt bad with how the dinner had so quickly devolved into a heated argument the night before.
Hayley reached for the phone. “I’m going to call her again.”
Before she had the chance, the front door flew open and Caskie Lemon-Hogg flew into the office. She looked harried and tired and her usually perfectly coiffured hair was a bit of a mess. She obviously had not been to Julio’s hair salon in a while.
Caskie’s tense face melted into a look of relief. “Hayley, I’m so glad I found you here . . .”
“I’m right here every day from eight to five, five days a week, forty-nine weeks a year . . .” Hayley said, then hoped she had not sounded bitter about it.
Bruce excitedly chimed in. “Not next week! Next week we’ll be tanned from the scorching Caribbean sun and buzzed on fruity drinks that come with our all-inclusive cruise package!”
Caskie stared at Bruce for a moment, not quite comprehending, then quickly turned back to Hayley, and with a fiercely determined look, said, “I’ve done something I regret and I want to try and make things right.”
Hayley suspected she knew what this was about. “The restraining order?”
Caskie’s face fell. “Oh, you already know about that?”
“The police chief is my brother-in-law . . .”
“I see . . .” Caskie mumbled. “I feel terrible ab
out it . . .”
“Caskie, I was at the bar the night of the reunion, and although I admit my mother, Jane, and Celeste said some cruel things that may have upset you, they in no way were physically threatening to you . . .”
“I know that. I shouldn’t have done it. It was in the heat of the moment . . . I’ve already been to the town hall and put in a request to cancel it. I wanted to tell Sheila myself and apologize for overreacting,” Caskie said, appearing genuinely remorseful. “I just stopped by your house and she wasn’t there.”
“She left . . .”
“Back to Florida?” Caskie gasped.
“No, we had a disagreement . . . actually it was more of a fight . . . and, well, she packed up and left and has checked in at that new inn on Mount Desert.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that . . .”
Bruce set his coffee cup down and circled around behind Hayley and gently put his hands on her shoulders. “Once Sheila has a chance to cool down, I’m sure they will work everything out.”
“Yes, let’s hope so . . .” Caskie said. “Do you think she’s over there now?”
“I’ve been trying to call her, but the desk clerk says she doesn’t want to be disturbed, so I’m assuming she’s hiding out in her room,” Hayley said.
“Thank you, Hayley, thank you,” Caskie blurted out before blowing her a kiss. “I’m going to head over there right away.”
And then she flew back out the door as a gusty wind blew her hair into even more of a mess. If she had been holding an umbrella she probably would have lifted off the ground like Mary Poppins.
Hayley turned her head and reached down and softly kissed Bruce’s hand, which rested on her shoulder. “We better make up with Mom before we leave, or there will be no living with me on the cruise.”
“I know . . .” Bruce said absentmindedly before catching himself. “I mean . . . as I said, I’m sure it will sort itself out soon.”
Chapter 13
Ten minutes later it was finally quitting time, and Hayley and Bruce drove home from the office to finish packing for their long-awaited trip. Hayley couldn’t believe their honeymoon had finally arrived after such a long wait. It had been a busy summer season at the paper and Bruce had been putting in longer than usual hours covering the spike in local crimes due to the influx of tourists. But now, in less than twenty-four hours, they would be on a plane to Florida, where they would meet the ship and set off to the Bahamas.
