He handed the phone to Victoria. “Hailey loves her very much. Lori thinks she hung the moon. The side of Hailey you’ve seen is the expert lawyer who believes you’re the one person who can take away the child we both adore.”
Victoria stared at the screen for a good thirty seconds before handing the phone back. “She’s beautiful. She looks like you.”
“Thanks.” He resisted the urge, but then gave in and said the one thing he’d never told another soul. “She has your eyes.”
She waved a well-manicured hand in front of her face, seemingly brushing off his words. After another sip of her coffee, she appeared to regain her composure. “Your bride is beautiful too. Have you known her long?”
“Most of my life.” He pushed a couple of buttons and pulled up the picture he’d save as his wallpaper. “We went to school together.” He paused to drag the back of his hand against his chin. What had inspired this change in her? What did Victoria want to hear? “We have something real and lasting. I love her with everything I am, and I know she loves me and Lori in the same way.”
Victoria rubbed her temple, seemingly struggling with her decision. After a moment, she pulled the papers out of the envelope and unfolded them. As she flipped to the last page, Nate could see she had not signed them, the way she’d professed the night before.
He opened his mouth to protest, but his phone rang—surprising him. He looked down to see Hailey’s name flash on the screen.
Chapter Five
“Daddy, c-c-can I please wear heels t-t-today?”
Hailey’s attention snapped from her cousin—who rolled her damp hair into curlers. “Lori, what are you doing with my phone?”
“I c-called D-daddy.” She held up the small white pumps with slight heels. “Rhonda got me shoes that look just like yours. But remember Christmas? You wanted to buy me those pretty red shoes to go with my dress for church, and D-d-daddy said n-n-no heels.”
Rhonda laughed. “Sweetie, if you don’t ask, you never hear the word no.”
Hailey playfully swiped at her cousin. “She does not need advice from you.” She turned her attention to Lori and extended her hand. “Give me my phone.”
“You are not t-t-talking to him. Rhonda says it’s b-b-bad luck.”
Hailey laughed, “The superstition says I can’t see him. It says nothing about speaking to him.”
Lori turned her attention back to the phone. “They are p-p-pretty shoes. P-p-please let me wear them!”
Her smile widened. “Thank you!” She looked at Rhonda. “It’s okay t-t-to ask. He says it’s a sp-special d-day and I c-can.”
Hailey stuck out her hand again. “My phone.”
Lori handed it over, a frown replacing her smile. “I had t-t-to ask.”
“I know, honey. I’m not mad. I just want to talk to Daddy.”
The child’s bright smile returned.
“I think Anna’s probably ready to wash your hair, so that Rhonda can curl it.” As Lori scurried off, Hailey put the phone to her ear. “You’ve made our little girl very happy.”
Nate’s soft laugh tickled her ear. “How could I say no? She’s so excited to be dressed just like Hailey.”
“Don’t worry. They are a very slight heel.”
“I’m not. I can’t wait for this afternoon.”
“Me either.”
Rhonda’s voice dampened the soft mood. “Wrap it up! Come on.” She raised her voice. “If I’m going to turn her into a stunning bride, I need time to do my magic.”
Hailey laughed, “I have to go.”
“I’ll talk to you soon.”
As she lowered the phone to turn it off, she heard a woman’s voice in the background. Not any woman’s. Victoria’s.
She couldn’t make out the words being said but would know her tone and timber anywhere. She quickly disconnected the button on the phone and dropped it to the table, taking a deep inhale to pause the tears pressing to the surface.
It’s New Year’s Eve.
Our most important day.
Our wedding day.
What is he doing with her?
“No-no-no-no!” Rhonda stepped away from the table to close the kitchen door. She dropped to the chair and took Hailey’s hand. “No crying on your wedding day. At least not until the pictures are done.” She dropped her voice. “What happened? What did he say?”
Her chest heaved with another sharp inhale. “He’s with her.”
“Who?”
“Victoria.”
Rhonda scowled. “Why?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t tell me he was, but I heard her voice.”
“Are you sure? I bet he’s at the church getting ready and you heard his mom or one of his aunts.”
She shook her head and bit her lip. “I know that voice. I’ve had the distinct displeasure of talking to her too many times to mistake it for someone else.”
Rhonda’s eyes lit up, and she smiled. “The adoption papers. He knows how important it is to you.”
“If it were that, he would have told me. Wouldn’t he?”
Rhonda squeezed her hands. “You can’t really think he doesn’t love you or he wants to be with someone else? Come on.”
Rhonda’s words made sense. Nate did know what the paperwork meant. He was acutely aware of how losing her parents had wounded her. He’d been by her side, comforting her through her father’s declining health, and Nate was equally devastated Bill Lambert wouldn’t be there to walk her down the aisle. Still, she couldn’t shake the bad feelings churning her gut.
If it was simple as meeting her to pick up the signed documents they’d been waiting for months to receive, why wouldn’t he tell her?
They didn’t hide things.
Open communication meant too much to them given their rocky past.
She’d left early for college without saying goodbye to him all those years ago, creating a divide she still wasn’t sure how they’d managed to cross. “I was the one who hurt him. Maybe it’s some epic payback.”
Rhonda’s face contorted again, and she squeezed Hailey’s hands tighter. “Yeah. That makes sense. A year ago, he chased you to New York and brought you back home, let his daughter get crazy-attached to you, spoiled you rotten so you would fall madly, deeply in love with him, just so he could turn the tables on you. Come on! I’m not convinced you heard Victoria’s voice, but if you did, there is only one explanation for it.”
She bit her tongue and nodded. Logically, everything Rhonda said made sense, but her heart still whispered doomsday messages. No good could come from his spending time with Victoria, Hailey was sure.
Rhonda reached for her phone. “That’s it. I’m calling him and straightening this out right now.”
Hailey covered her hand. “No! Let’s just finish getting ready and go to the church. I need to ask him about it in person.”
“At the altar, because he is not seeing you in your dress before then.”
“Then I’ll talk to him before I get dressed.”
“You’re being ridiculous!”
“I’m allowed. It’s my wedding day. Right?”
Rhonda nodded and checked her watch. “We have to be headed to the church in an hour. Are you sure you’re not going to cry? Can I do your make up?”
“I’m ready.”
“Lori will be down here any minute, and I have to roll her hair in curlers.”
Lori!
Nate would do anything for his daughter. If Victoria had decided she wanted her family—and Nate thought it would make Lori happy—he’d take the woman back in a heartbeat.
Rhonda seemed too intent in applying foundation to Hailey’s face to notice the wheels of her mind were spinning in her murky fears.
Nate loves me.
I don’t doubt that.
It seemed—as of late—those she loved left her behind. Maybe the universe was trying to tell her something.
Chapter Six
Damn this stupid truck!
Nate slammed his
hand against the steering wheel as he muscled the vehicle to the side of the road.
Of all the times to end up with a flat tire.
It was his wedding day.
He was still thirty miles from the church.
And he was supposed to be ready for pictures in twenty minutes.
Thanks, Victoria.
He slammed the door to the truck and rounded to the back, pulling the jack and the spare free from their confines. After he put the jack in position and began pumping the handle, he pushed the button to dial Hailey’s brother then balanced the phone on his shoulder.
“Where are you?” Jake’s terse voice sounded in Nate’s ear.
“On my way.”
“Like…around the corner? My sister just called to tell me the photographer is on his way to the church. It’s going to mess up Rhonda’s schedule if you’re not here.”
Detail-oriented Rhonda had planned the last week down to the minute, it seemed. Until today, everything had flowed smoothly, and he was grateful for her precision. At this moment, he had so much more to worry about than her schedule. “As soon as I get this damn tire changed, I will be there. I can make up some time on the back roads. I should be there in thirty.”
“Tell me you got the papers signed.”
“Dammit to hell, Jake! It’s why I went. If I didn’t, it would mean the whole trip was a waste of time.” He pulled the phone away from his ear, turned it off, and shoved it into his jean pocket, so he could begin unscrewing the lug nuts.
He shouldn’t have blown up at Jake. None of this was his fault. Nate believed the interchange would be quick and easy, but he should have known Victoria would have to put her crazy stamp on it.
Why couldn’t he follow the advice he’d given Hailey—let the woman do it on her own time—and just go on being the family they were destined to be?
It was easy to say he’d done this for his bride—to give her peace of mind—but if he dug deeper, he knew the truth was buried beneath the surface.
Contacting Victoria after all these years had twisted his gut. He’d never understood how the woman could just walk away from her child and he wanted to look in her eyes one more time.
Sort it out.
Understand it all, so he could better answer Lori’s questions.
He’d expected to see a dark soul and wasn’t prepared for the pain. Now, he wished he could go back to believing Victoria was heartless. Knowing the loss of her daughter stung her, rattled him.
We should have left this door closed.
He pulled off the old tire and slid on the worn spare. He’d been burning through tires lately because the front end of the old truck was disintegrating. There was no repairing the alignment, yet he’d struggled with replacing it.
Not for financial reasons, but for all the memories it held.
After putting his tools away, he hopped back into the cab.
None of it mattered. Maybe this old pickup wasn’t as reliable as it used to be, but he could count on Hailey.
So could Lori.
She would be there—forever and always—and nothing or no one was going to stand in the way of him marrying his soul mate. Not even Victoria could damage the family they were becoming today.
****
Hailey paced back and forth in the chamber she and the other ladies had dressed in. The rest of her bridal party was still in the sanctuary getting pictures taken.
Rhonda had sent her back to the dressing room, assuring her Nate would arrive any moment.
Everyone tried to act as if nothing was wrong, but the cement block in her stomach told a different story.
There was a light knock on the door, and then it opened. She turned, hoping to see Nate. Instead, it was her brother.
When he first entered the room, he seemed set on a task, but one look at her and his feet froze and his mouth dropped. After a few silent seconds, he spoke. “You’re beautiful. An absolutely stunning bride.”
“Tell me, Jake. Do I have a groom?”
He leaned back, putting all his weight on his heel and crossing his arms in front of his chest. It looked to Hailey as if he were trying to pull himself out of the conversation—out of the room. “Of course you have a groom. Why would you ask such a thing?”
“Where is he?”
“Getting pictures done.” Jake’s eye twitched, and his hand clenched—sure signs he was lying.
She hardened her gaze.
He threw his hands in the air. “He’ll be here.”
“Where did he go?” She knew the answer, but wanted him to confirm it.
His hand twitched again. “I promised I wouldn’t say.”
“I know he was with Victoria.”
Jake’s chest deflated, and his shoulders folded inward. “Then you know he went for you.”
Her jaw set, and she felt her eyes welling up. She turned from him—toward the window—to shield her emotions. “I don’t know anything! He didn’t tell me. Lori called him this morning. When I was talking to him, I heard her voice.”
Jake came up behind her, resting his hands on her shoulders. “Last night, she said if he came to the city she’d give him the signed papers. He wanted to surprise you today.”
“It was hours ago. It’s a forty-five-minute drive. Where is he?”
“When I last talked to him, he was changing a flat tire.”
“That damn truck. It’s literally rusting away, and he refuses to replace it.”
“You know why, don’t you?”
She did. He’d had the truck since they dated in high school. They’d first made love in the bed of it. The next day, her fears about a future stuck in this small town had sent her packing. She’d ran away fast without explaining why.
Still, he’d held onto the truck and the memories of her.
When she’d come home years later, they found each other again, despite the pain and unspoken words between them. “Left at the altar. Pretty damn fitting after what I did to him.”
Jake gently turned her to him. “Stop it! He’s not leaving you.”
“What if he does?”
“He loves you, Hailey. Always has.”
Her hands began to tremble. She shook them out in front of her chest. “If I start crying, Rhonda is going to kick my ass.”
He leaned in and touched a strand of her hair. “You’re a beautiful bride, and your groom will be here. He’d never leave you, especially for her.”
“They share Lori. And that girl is his heart—as she should be.”
“What they had together was an evening that resulted in Lori. I don’t mean to downplay it, but your fear is blowing the relationship out of proportion. You’ve been there for that child more in the last year…”
The sound of a truck backfiring turned Hailey away from Jake. Through the window, she saw Nate get out of his beat-up pickup truck and kick the door of it. He then seemed to curse and spun on his heel, before running toward the steps of the church.
“Bring him to me. I have to talk to him.”
Jake shook his head. “Are you kidding me? You’re already in your gown. Rhonda will skin me.”
“I’m not walking down the aisle until I talk to him.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“No. We made a promise to each other a year ago today. No more unspoken words between us. He should have told me he was going to see her. He will tell me what happened before I marry him.”
Chapter Seven
“What the hell?” Rhonda blocked Nate’s entrance into the foyer of the church. Her hands placed firmly on her hips, her scowl could melt ice.
Lori slapped at Rhonda’s thigh. “Don’t yell at my daddy!”
Nate couched down. “Hey, pretty girl! You look beautiful!”
“I l-l-look j-j-just like Hailey.” She flipped her attention back to Rhonda. “You’re being mean!”
Nate laughed. “Daddy deserves to be yelled at. I’m very late.” He stood and met Rhonda’s glare. “I need to talk to Hailey.”
>
She shook her head. “No way!”
“Bad luck!” Lori’s hands were now on her hips too, looking like a replica of Rhonda.
“I don’t believe in that garbage.” He pointed himself toward the hallway and tried to move past the girls.
Rhonda grabbed his elbow. When he faced her, she pushed an open hand toward him. “Do you see that? Blisters! Do you know how many hours I have in her dress? I don’t even want to count them. You will not see it before the ceremony.”
His knees buckled, and his shoulders sagged. “Rhonda, I need to talk to her.”
Jake entered the vestibule. “She’s demanding to talk to you too.”
“No!”
He could hear tears in Rhonda’s voice, and his heart softened. The last thing he wanted was for her to think he didn’t appreciate everything she’d done to make their wedding beautiful and special.
He took two steps to her and reached out his hands. “I won’t see her okay. We’ll talk through a crack in the door.”
“Call her,” Rhonda offered.
He shook his head. “I won’t look at her, but we have to talk. It’s our thing.”
“I don’t want you to have bad luck, Daddy!”
He slid a hand under Lori’s chin. “I promise. Nothing bad is going to happen today.” Turning to Jake, he said, “Take me to her.”
****
Nate hesitated in front of the door. In the hall, Jake had given him the quick version of Hailey’s mindset. Learning she’d heard Victoria’s voice crushed Nate. He hated she’d worried about what he’d been doing even more than he hated having kept his errand to himself.
His light knock was answered by her sweet voice.
“Come in.”
He pushed the door open just a crack. “I promised Rhonda and Lori I would stay in the hall. They both insist I can’t see you yet.”
She wrapped a hand around the edge of the door. And he couldn’t resist laying his over her finely manicured nails.
“Why?” Her voice cracked with sorrow.
He reached inside his coat and pulled out an envelope. “My plan was to give this to you tonight, but…” He slipped it between her hand and the door.
Nate and Hailey: The Sunnydale Weddings Page 3
