Haley gestured to the shelves that held items waiting to be painted. “We choose the one we want and—”
“May I help you?” asked a cheery feminine voice from behind them.
Haley turned to see Gretchen, the owner. She looked exactly the same with her dark blonde hair in a loose bun and wearing a smock. The woman smiled, showing new lines around her eyes and mouth. “Haley Faraway! I haven’t seen you in years!” The sweet, rail-thin woman wrapped her arms around Haley. “How are you? What brings you back?”
She returned the embrace. “Family stuff. I’d like you to meet Sullivan. He’s new to the process.”
Haley excused herself while Gretchen explained the process to him. She went into the bathroom to catch her breath and calm down. In the mirror, she caught sight of the new necklace. It was gorgeous. She studied it, fighting the memories trying to surface.
Why was this so hard? She hadn’t even seen Dad in ten years, yet things he’d done surfaced, and it felt like she was suffering them all over again. They were in the past and her dad was dead. Why couldn’t the memories just leave with him? Why did she have to fight with them so much? Wasn’t counseling supposed to have fixed all this?
Tears blurred her vision as she studied the beautiful necklace picked out with no strings attached. Hopefully she could pull herself together and have the fun date with Sullivan she’d envisioned earlier.
Twenty-Two
Sullivan glanced over at Haley, painting a coffee mug light purple. She was laser-focused, seemingly unaware of anything around her. The necklace was tucked underneath the red smock she wore.
He hoped she liked the necklace. Her reaction hadn’t been at all what he’d expected. Sure, her eyes had lit up, but they seemed to hold terror rather than excitement. Fear instead of joy. Or maybe he was reading too much into it. Whatever was on her mind probably fed into her reaction. Maybe her sister was giving her trouble again.
“How’s Jensyn?” he asked.
Haley turned to him, surprise in her expression. “She’s doing better, actually. Helping out around the house and taking her job seriously. I told her as long as she stays out of trouble, she can have friends over whenever she wants. Maybe that was the motivation she needed.”
“I bet having her big sister back is part of it.”
“You think so?” She didn’t appear convinced.
“Yeah. I always looked up to Logan growing up. There were a couple times in my teens he set me straight when no one else could, and it was because he was my hero. In my eyes, no one was cooler. But don’t tell him that—it’ll only inflate his ego.”
She smiled, and her entire face lit up.
“Keep that in mind.”
Haley’s smile faded. “I doubt Jensyn sees me that way. I abandoned her.”
“What?” Sullivan exclaimed. “Abandoned her? You fled your dad. I’m sure she knows that. In fact, from the times I’ve talked with her, she has nothing but respect for you.”
Her expression clouded over, and she turned back to her mug.
Sullivan’s heart sank. Had he said something wrong? It was beginning to feel like he couldn’t get anything right this evening. He picked up his ice cream “cup” shaped like a waffle cone and added a lighter shade of brown than he’d already spread on it. The contrasting hues made it seem more realistic.
The silence between them began feeling like a heavy, wet blanket. He set his waffle cone down and watched her again. Now she was spreading a coat of glitter over the purple.
“That’s pretty,” he said.
“I had one like this years ago.” She held it higher and turned it slowly. “It got broken and I always wanted to replace it. I think I added too much glitter, though.”
“Maybe this one doesn’t need to be exactly the same.”
She turned to him and arched an eyebrow.
“It’s a new you, a new mug. If this one’s exactly the same, it’ll only make you think of the sadness of your old one breaking. This one will remind you of our date.”
Haley looked deep in thought for a moment. “That’s a good point.” She picked up the paintbrush and slathered on more glitter with a stark determination in her eyes. He watched her, trying to figure out what she was thinking, but then gave up and turned back to his project.
“Half-hour warning,” Gretchen called out. She gave instructions on preparing items for the kiln.
Sullivan hoped he had enough time before closing. There were a few finishing touches he wanted to make before adding the glaze. He worked feverishly, and finally added the last stroke as Gretchen announced it was closing time.
“If you haven’t finished, you’re more than welcome to come back—you aren’t charged for the amount of time spent here.” She laughed and headed for the shelves nearest the kiln.
Haley held up her coffee mug and narrowed her eyes. “It’s ugly.”
“What?” Sullivan exclaimed. “It’s awesome. Not that I’d keep it at my work desk—it’s too girly for me.” He chuckled, waiting for her to crack a smile. She didn’t. “In all honesty, if I didn’t know better, I’d think it was from the store.”
She sighed. “We’d better get these put on the shelf. Is yours done?”
“As done as it’s going to be.” He held it up and spun it around to make sure.
Haley got up and took her project to the shelf. Sullivan followed and set his next to hers.
As they were cleaning their supplies, he turned to her. “Looks like we’ll need another date to pick these up.”
She nodded and seemed to try to smile. The corners of her mouth budged, but barely. Why was it such an effort? Had he said something wrong?
The ride back to his house was quiet, other than the music playing. He tried to engage her in conversation, but just like a bad day of fishing, she wouldn’t bite.
Once parked outside of his house, he turned to her and took her hands in his and held her gaze. Her hands were like ice and she squirmed in her seat. He grasped her hands a little tighter, trying to warm them. “That was fun. I can’t remember the last time I did something artistic.”
Haley nodded. “It’s good for the mind. Well, I should let you go. It’s getting late.” She took a deep breath. “Thanks for the necklace. It’s really pretty.”
“I’m glad you like it. It looks beautiful on you—but you’re always stunning.”
She continued looking at him, but didn’t say anything.
“Have a good night.” He brushed his lips across hers. “If you need anything, call me. Doesn’t matter what time it is.”
She swallowed. “Th-thanks.”
Something was obviously wrong, but whatever it was, she wasn’t going to tell him. If he’d said something wrong, he wished she’d at least let him know what, so he could try to make it right. He squeezed her hands. “Can I do anything now?”
Haley shook her head. “I should get home to check on Jensyn.”
“Tell her hi for me.”
She nodded and turned toward the front of the car. Sullivan kissed her cheek and got out. She pulled away, and he waved. Haley didn’t wave back. He let out a long, slow breath and remained on the sidewalk until the car disappeared from sight.
What had just happened? He trudged to the front door and ran through every word they’d spoken since she’d shown up. As he unlocked the door, he was certain he hadn’t said or done anything to warrant her shutting him down. Inside, he washed spots of brown paint from his hands, going over the date again.
She’d been fine until he gave her the necklace. Her entire demeanor had changed then. But why would that upset her? She couldn’t have been offended that it wasn’t nice enough? Or did she think he expected more from the relationship now?
What was it? He slammed his fist on the counter. Dating was so frustrating. All the stupid mind games. Why couldn’t women just tell him what they were thinking? Was it really that hard? He’d always been up front with all of them.
He really thought Haley was different.
Everything was great until things start to get a little serious. Then the mind games start. Nothing he does is good enough anymore. But the worst was definitely the whole stupid game of I’m not going to tell you what’s wrong until you figure it out.
What kind of idiocy was that? How could he figure out what was going on if they wouldn’t tell him?
Sullivan paced the kitchen. He’d really thought Haley was different. Maybe all relationships were the same. Well, not all. He’d never seen any of this crap from his parents in all of his years. Maybe it was because they grew up in a different time. Lucky them.
He grabbed a beer from the fridge, sat on the couch, and turned on the TV. An old sitcom played, but he couldn’t focus. Something even more ridiculous ran through his mind—his previous girlfriends. Those gold diggers who thought he was worth a fortune because he had a nice house, an expensive car, and a good job.
It gave him a headache just thinking about them. Kayla had thrown a bracelet at him because the diamonds were too small. Emilia had yelled at him in front of his friends for not reading her mind and buying her something she’d wanted. Chloe had called him cheap for not taking her to Roosevelt’s often enough. Bella had dumped him for not remembering the one-month anniversary of their first date.
His blood boiled just thinking about it. No matter how hard he tried with women, once things started going well, they always turned things around on him. Regardless of how much thought and heart he put into the relationship, it was never good enough. And unfortunately, his hopes of things being different with Haley were dimming.
Sullivan downed the rest of the drink and slammed the bottle on the coffee table. He tried to focus on the show, but the canned laughter grated on his nerves. He leaned his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes.
Images of his time at the beach with Haley popped into his mind. He remembered Haley opening up to him, tears shining in her eyes and then spilling onto her cheeks. Then he had held her as she sobbed, soaking his shirt.
All of Sullivan’s anger melted away. That was the real Haley. She was kindhearted and wounded. Given everything in her life, whatever had been bothering her earlier, it probably had nothing to do with Sullivan.
He stood up and stretched. Hopefully the space of a few days would help her to work through whatever was bothering her. She knew he was there if she needed him. He could always send a bouquet of flowers to her home to let her know he was thinking about her.
Twenty-Three
“Who was at the door?” Haley broke an eggshell and let the inside fall into the bowl. She stirred the cookie batter and added some sugar.
“Something for you.” Jensyn’s voice had a song to it.
Curious, Haley turned while stirring.
Jensyn held a bouquet of what had to be two dozen roses of every color.
Haley nearly dropped the glass bowl. She steadied it and stared at the rainbow of flowers.
Jensyn pointed to a card tucked among the stems and smiled giddily. “‘For the beautiful and talented Haley. Love, Sullivan.’ He’s got to be the perfect guy, I swear. Want me to put these in a vase? Mom has a huge one that’ll be perfect.”
Haley tried to recover from the shock. “Yeah, sure. Thanks.” She turned back to the batter.
What was Sullivan trying to do to her? First the necklace, now the flowers. Something bad had to be coming. No matter how much she tried to talk herself out of believing otherwise, she kept coming to the same conclusion—she’d been infinitely stupid to trust a man. She had been mesmerized by the gorgeous eyes and mind-melting smile. Wooed into a false sense of security and bared her soul. She’d stood before him, emotionally exposed.
She shook as she continued mixing the batter. Tears threatened.
Why had she opened herself to him? Even worse, why had she allowed herself to think anything would be different with him than it had with any other guy she’d ever been close to?
Haley took a deep breath and added a few drops of blue food coloring to the mixture. They had always liked their snicker doodles colored. It was one of the many little ways Mom would find to bring a little joy in the otherwise tense household.
“How does this look?” Jensyn’s voice broke through Haley’s thoughts.
She turned around. Her sister had arranged the flowers beautifully and set them in the middle of the table. “They really brighten the room, don’t you think?”
Haley swallowed. “They sure do.”
Jensyn arched a brow. “You okay, sis?”
Haley cleared her throat. “Of course.”
“You don’t like the way I arranged them?”
“No, I do. It looks great.”
“What’s wrong, then?”
Haley sighed. “He keeps giving me gifts.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
Haley didn’t respond. Why was it that Jensyn, who had grown up with the same parents, wasn’t bothered by the gift-giving?
They both studied each other, neither saying anything.
Maybe Haley was making too much out of the gifts. Or maybe Dad had stopped giving fake-apology gifts in the ten years Haley had been gone.
“You don’t think it’s sweet?” Jensyn asked.
Haley sat in a chair and stared at a yellow rose. “Dad used to give gifts before a huge, raging fit.”
Jensyn sat next to her. “You think Sullivan’s going to do that?”
Haley shrugged.
“He seems like the complete opposite of Dad. I think Sullivan just wants to make you happy.”
Haley turned to her sister. “You really think so?”
“Yeah. He totally adores you.”
Maybe her sister was right. Haley got up without a word, put the cookie dough on sheets, and into the oven. When she turned around, she had the kitchen to herself. It was just her and the flowers. She walked over and studied them. They were perfect—there wasn’t a single flaw on even one petal.
Haley closed her eyes and breathed in the sweet scent deeply. She did love the smell of roses. Haley pulled the card out and read it. It did say ‘love, Sullivan.’ It was in his handwriting, too.
Her heart fluttered.
What if she really was making too big of a deal about the gifts? Even Jensyn thought they were nice. She just needed to find a way to get over everything her dad had done to mess up her view of men—especially since she’d managed to find a guy who was nothing like him. She was so sensitive to anger, maybe she had been projecting all of her bad experiences onto Sullivan.
Haley froze. Maybe that was it. She needed to look at him with a fresh set of eyes.
She cleaned the counters as the cookies finished baking. Once they were cooling, she went back to her room to get ready for their lunch date. They were going to pick up their projects and then eat somewhere near the studio. Haley hoped her mug turned out better after being heated because the way it looked the other night was a poor replacement of the one Dad had smashed so long ago.
As she changed out of her flour-splattered clothes, her gaze landed on the necklace box. Her chest constricted. She really should wear the necklace to show gratitude for the kind gesture. It wasn’t Sullivan’s fault she had so much baggage.
Haley held the delicate necklace in her palm and studied it. It really was lovely—especially if it came with no strings attached. She slid it on and admired it in the mirror. Pushing aside all her emotions, she actually did like the way it looked on her.
In the kitchen, Jensyn was eating a cookie. “These are great. Hope you don’t mind I’m eating one already. They smelled too good to pass up.”
“That’s why I made them.”
Jensyn held one out to her.
Haley shook her head. “I’ll have one later. I’m headed out for lunch.”
Her eyes lit up. “With Sullivan?”
“Who else?”
“Sky, maybe.”
Haley shook her head. “She’s planning on moving to someplace called Indigo Bay. Too many people recog
nize her here, and she gets stopped everywhere to answer questions about Aspen.”
“People suck. Where’s Indigo Bay?” Jensyn bit into another cookie.
“I think she said South Carolina. Some quiet little town where she hopes to be left alone. Save some of those for me.”
Jensyn laughed. “Don’t worry. Have fun with Sullivan.”
“I’ll try.” And she really would.
“Try? Just look into those eyes.” Jensyn sighed, a dreamy expression covering her face.
“You need a boyfriend.”
“Only if I find someone as hot and sweet as him.”
“There’s no one at your work?”
“All the guys working at the Chateau are either married or not interested.”
“I’m sure you’ll find someone.” Haley spun around and grabbed her purse.
“Hey,” Jensyn called. “You should bring some of these cookies for him. Especially after he sent these flowers.”
That was actually a good idea. It would not only show appreciation, but giving him something would get her mind off how uncomfortable his gifts made her. She headed into the kitchen and gathered some into tinfoil, wrote his name on it, and wrapped a ribbon around it.
Jensyn’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen and then to Haley. “Have fun!” She swiped the screen and left the room, answering the call.
Haley’s heart warmed. Things really were turning around. She and her sister were getting along—better than that, building a relationship. Jensyn was growing more responsible, and they were both moving on from their dad in their own way. The flowers caught her attention. And then there was Sullivan. Her heart fluttered. She held the cookies close for a moment, closed her eyes, and took in the sweet scent of the roses.
She hurried to her car and drove to the art studio, barely aware of being on the road. All she could think about was his heavenly smile. When she arrived, he was already there. He leaned against his car, talking on his phone, looking the other way. She parked at the other end of the lot—the studio was busier than she’d expected.
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