by Krystal Wade
“Didn’t know. Just thought it would be a nice place to go.” Haley draped her arms over Chris’s shoulders without thought, just a natural reaction to the way he held her hips, the way he looked ready to claim her lips, to the exhilaration being this close made her feel. All that on top of her racing heart, the dread of what could happen to Dad and Joce, and Haley could barely hold herself upright.
Chris leaned closer, pressed his fingers against her lower back—
And Haley stepped away, shaking her head. “Sorry.” And she was so utterly sorry. Never had she wanted someone to kiss her as badly as she did then. Never had she needed it, wanted it with every piece of her soul. And never had it been so wrong.
Chris cursed. “You have nothing to be sorry for. That was…”
Amazing—or would have been under any other circumstances.
“Come on, kids.” Mrs. Charming spread out the blanket on the ground next to the pavilion, stating she preferred the feel of the cool September grass under her over the hard picnic tables. “John and I used to come up here all the time when we were in high school. Of course, we hated each other back then. I thought he was the world’s most pompous, jerky—”
“Hey, now,” Mr. Charming snapped, “You did marry me.”
She handed him a sandwich. “Only after you went to college and learned some manners.”
Haley rubbed her palms and chewed her lip. She wanted nothing more than to run from this place, find another place and tell them everything. She wanted nothing more than to hide from Chris, from the devastated look in his eyes when she backed away from him. Why did the one good thing that entered her life have to be tainted with evil?
“You know that your mother and John accepted positions at Berkshires at the same time?” Mrs. Charming asked.
“No. I didn’t know. How long were you two friends?”
Mr. Charming’s eyes lost some of their twinkle; his shoulders sagged. “From day one, Haley. And just like Mrs. Charming here, I hated your mom for how quickly she climbed the ladder, always one rung above me. But when she was appointed CEO, that’s when my work experience was at its greatest height. She was an amazing boss.”
“And mom,” Haley added, knowing she needed to just man up and tell them but finding every excuse not to. What if the psycho really could hear Haley in this place? Then what? “And she liked you too. She used to joke that she needed to watch her back with you around.”
“I never…” He held a hand over his heart.
Haley laughed, tears springing into her eyes. “I know. She knew, too.”
“Your mother is the reason John and I are married. She offered me a job in accounting, and that’s how he and I met the second time.”
“Ooh, Mom, you never told me that Dad was your boss. How scandalous.” Chris popped a grape in his mouth, a hint of his earlier happiness sweeping through his smile.
“Not much different from you and Haley, dear.”
Chris choked. “Excuse me?”
Oh God.
“Oh, come on, Chris. You two hanging out almost every day. She works the store front; you manage operations of the store.” Mr. Charming sat up straighter. “Which we’ll have to be careful about if this moves any further.”
“Further?” Haley knew her cheeks matched Chris’s. She knew they were just as red, just as embarrassed.
“You didn’t try to hide what almost happened a minute ago,” Mrs. Charming said, fanning herself—oh God, oh God, oh God. “And it’s okay. We’re happy you two are finally getting to know one another. You have so much in common.”
Like what? Chris jumped from planes, had several more zeroes at the end of his bank account, attended an amazing school, and had parents who loved him. Haley’s Dad loved to abuse her, Joce enjoyed reminding Haley of everything she hid about their mom, and Haley’s bank account? Nada.
She bit her tongue.
“How are your father and sister doing, Haley?” Mr. Charming asked, glancing at Chris, then quickly back to Haley who returned to rubbing palms together. “Have you heard from your dad lately? I checked around the office, and a couple of the mailroom clerks said they’ve seen him.”
“They have? Where?”
Mr. Charming frowned. “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but they said they’ve seen him in the pubs.”
Pubs. Doubtful. Maybe the psycho found a way to get to more people. Maybe this scheme of his involved so many innocent lives, lives Haley was responsible for. “Haven’t seen him.”
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Dad must still be alive. Had to be. Haley couldn’t live without that hope, that stupid hope that always let her down. But not this time. She needed it. Wanted it. God, please, please let Dad be okay.
Chris brushed his hand across Haley’s, the gentle touch sending thousands of tiny bolts of electricity into her skin, and thousands of pounds of guilt to her heart.
“We’re going to take a short walk before it gets dark.” Mr. Charming noticed their closeness. “Behave, you two.”
Mr. and Mrs. Charming held hands and headed down one of the hiking trails.
“He popped the question somewhere down there. Said he’d show me one day, but I think I already know.” Chris leaned back on his elbows, tugging Haley down beside him. “Truth?”
“Maybe.” If it didn’t cost too much.
“Why do you have such a hard time talking about your dad? What’s he like? Does he treat you all right?”
Danger. Danger. Danger. Too many questions. Too much truth. “Yeah. Fine.”
Did Chris know something? See into Haley, the pain and fear and guilt and nerves, straight to the demons in her closet? Or did he know something he refused to share? Maybe Dad’s abuse wasn’t such a secret. Maybe the whole town knew about the way he treated Haley and Mom. But none of the pain he inflicted, none of it compared to the situation Haley found herself in now.
“If you ever want to tell me the truth, I’ll listen.”
“I know.” And just like that, Haley admitted there was more to tell. No fight. No fear. Just… comfort. So dangerous. “Thank you.”
They lay on the blanket and stared up as the sky changed acts, the blue curtain disappearing, a black one taking its place, full of bright stars and hope for a new day. No, that was Haley’s hope, hope that things could change. Be better. That she could find a way to tell the Charmings without surrendering the lives of her family.
“Hey, kids.” Mrs. Charming stood by their feet, smiling down at them, still linked to her husband. “We should head out. Park closes at dark. Plus your dad and I have a movie to go see.”
Chris drove Haley back to his house; both sat quietly, leaning somewhat toward the center of the small Porsche. He pulled up next to Dad’s truck and sighed. “Thank you for being so good to them.”
“Chris—”
“No, I mean it.” Chris opened the truck door for her, then closed it as she slid onto the cold leather seat.
Haley rolled down the window and leaned on her elbow, so close to him, so freaking close. “They’re good people.”
And deserve better than me in their life.
“Most people treat them as if they’re just money bags from which to draw upon when they have a need.”
“I don’t need anything from them. I just want your family to be happy, you to be happy, Chris.”
“You’re different, Haley Tremaine.”
“So are you, Chris Charming.” Haley turned the key in the ignition, but the truck wouldn’t start. Cold, stabbing panic ripped apart her lungs. “Guess I’ll need to walk.”
“You’re nuts if you think I’m letting you walk. Murderer on the loose, remember?” Laughing, Chris opened the door and took Haley by the hand, then guided her to the driver’s side of his car. “In fact, I’d really like you to drive.”
She smiled and snatched the keys. “Okay. Fine, but you better wear your seatbelt.”
He did, and she drove, and they laughed, winding down country roads
, passing cars as though they sat still and Chris and Haley were in a speeding bullet. Haley downshifted and squealed the tires as she stopped in front of her house on Main Street. But when she glanced at the front of the house, her heart skidded to a halt.
Niles sat on her porch, bouquet of flowers in hand, scowling.
hris,” Niles spit out, wearing a black hoodie and blue jeans, looking broody as hell with his bouquet of roses and narrowed eyes as Haley and Chris joined him on the porch. “I’d expect this from you, but not Haley.”
“Say that again, jackass.” Chris tucked Haley behind him, but she slipped from his protective embrace and pointed at the house door.
“Just go inside. I’ve got this, Chris.”
Chris didn’t budge. Stubborn male. She had enough problems with Dad and Joce and a psycho. The last thing Haley needed was two guys fighting on her front porch.
“You’re protecting him, Hales?” Niles tossed the roses against the sidewalk. “How could you? You told me you couldn’t be with anyone. Couldn’t dedicate yourself to anyone. And here you are, with him. Chris Charming, ladies’ man. Is it that you couldn’t be with anyone, or that you couldn’t be with anyone worth a damn?”
“Niles, I think you need to leave.” Chris stepped closer to Haley’s ex-boyfriend, chest puffed out and arms crossed.
“You going to make me?”
“Please, Niles.” Haley touched his arm, but he swatted her off like an annoying bug. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”
“So are the rumors all true? You two… you know?”
Haley knew everything anyone ever said about her, about Chris, and probably about Niles had been lies on top of lies fueled by jealousy, boredom, or something she wasn’t quite sure of. In this moment, Haley understood why Chris let people believe the rumors. Letting people believe was so much easier than defending.
She nodded.
“So you’re a liar.”
A thick layer of testosterone built an invisible wall between the boys, Chris growling and nearly clawing to get at Niles.
Haley pushed Chris back. “Call me whatever you want, Niles, but you can’t keep popping up.”
“On our anniversary! How could you? You said you’d never love anyone else. And you let this asshole woo your panties off. How many others? And why can’t I keep coming over? If this is how you’re going to act, you’re probably letting anyone in—”
Chris threw a right hook and clocked Niles in the jaw. Niles stumbled back, then laughed. Chris punched him again, again, again.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
“Stop,” she whimpered, tears flooding her eyes. Haley had witnessed too many fights, too many punches thrown, some of them at her—like that time she called out of school for a week with a broken rib because she fell down the stairs. A.k.a, Dad was the stairs and she didn’t want anyone to ask questions.
When Niles kept laughing and Chris kept punching, pinning Haley’s ex between his knees, she ran inside and locked the door, trying desperately to shake the image of Chris tensed and sneering out of her mind. She didn’t want to think of him that way, or anyone.
“You fucked up, moron.” Niles chuckled dangerously low, dangerously quiet. “Haley hates violence, and you just showed her exactly how violent you can be.”
Sliding to her butt, back against the door, hoping her “visitor” hadn’t chosen this moment to break into her room, or Dad’s, or Joce’s, and leave any more notes, Haley pulled her cell from her jeans pocket and dropped her phone twice while pulling up her text messages.
I’m sorry 4 leaving u outside with him, but watching 2 people go at it isn’t something I can handle, especially when it’s about me. Thx for trying 2 defend me. Please don’t ever do it again.
The guys stayed outside a little longer and talked in muffled voices about stupid boy things, then drove off, leaving a layer of tire tread on the asphalt.
Heart still racing out of control, Haley pushed the fight from her thoughts and went from room to room, checking windows, looking for notes, for creeps hiding under beds, for anything, even a shoe print that would give her something more than a few letters written in her sister’s handwriting. But all was quiet, too quiet, and empty, and she had nothing more to go on than a dead cable guy, a finger, some connection to the Charmings, and… and what? A threat to act normal.
Would she ever find a way out of this?
A few hours later, after Haley had calmed her anxious nerves enough to lie down, her phone buzzed. She picked it up off her nightstand and read the message:
I’m sorry 4 hitting him, not for defending you. Won’t let idiots get the best of me next time.
Haley took a deep breath and wiped away tears with her already soaked tissue, then closed her eyes and managed to get a few hours of dreamless sleep before school the next day.
She drifted through the house, emptiness gnawing at her belly, then grabbed her school bag and headed out.
Dad’s truck sat parked at the curb. Haley raced down the sidewalk and found a note under the windshield wiper. Not a note—a service ticket from Beck’s Automotive that stated there had been water in the gas lines, they repaired the lines, and the bill was paid in full.
Charmings or Psycho?
Haley shuddered.
Had to be the Charmings, or they would have called and asked Haley how she managed to get the truck home.
“Wow, Haley-loo-boo, you go out with the dude a couple times and he fixes your dad’s truck for you.” Christine bumped Haley’s hip, smiling, brown hair tied up with a rubber band.
“How’d you know?” Haley tucked the invoice into the back pocket of her skinny jeans and took off toward school. The maniac didn’t ask for anything this morning. No notes. No strange voices over the phone—not that she’d picked it up. Maybe Haley truly fucked up yesterday by taking Chris’s family out to Sugarloaf Mountain.
“Saw a man meet with the tow truck driver early this morning and decided to be all snoopy for my best friend, who’s clearly got some batshit crazy things going on in her life—don’t think you’re getting off without explaining, either—and asked him who the hell he was.”
“Stalker.”
“Damn straight.” Christine lit a cigarette. “So, I’m trying something new.”
“That is?”
“No pot. Well, no joints. I’m re-rolling my cigs with a little in there.”
“Why?”
Christine narrowed one eye, trying desperately to lift the one eyebrow—and failing. “Did you not hear me? Something very odd is going on with you. I can’t have you running around and acting all weird without being able to protect you.”
“You’re going to get stuck that way.” Haley held back a laugh, even though her stomach was on the verge of dry-heaving. The psycho would have called if he’d killed Dad and Joce, right?. “And does this mean you’ll return to your high-all-day ways as soon as I’m myself again?”
Shrugging, Christine said, “Or as soon as my parents return from Jamaica. Can you believe they left their whore all alone?”
Such an awful word.
“When did they leave?”
“5:00 a.m.”
“That’s why you were up early. Doesn’t explain why you were so upset yesterd—”
“Not talking about it. Just know that laws were constructed through careful yet horrible means, and I am not to break them. So, I’m sober… for you.”
“Assholes.” Haley frowned although she’d attempted to smile; as soon as they walked into the school, Richard rushed by with a group of girls and pointed at his eyes then at her, and hushed whispers echoed down the hall—had the whole school heard about the fight already? “But welcome to the land of sober people.”
“So boring here.” Christine closed her locker with extra emphasis. “So, as your boring best friend, may I escort you to class? Possibly carry your books? Because I so don’t like the way half the football team is staring at you.”
“Carry my books?” Haley laughed, checki
ng out the hall to see exactly who stared: pretty much everyone. “Boyfriend or best friend?”
“I can handle both.” Christine snatched the bag from Haley’s shoulder. “I’ve got to be better than the two dipshits who fought on your doorstep last night.”
“Oh God.” The whole school had heard.
Christine spun around. “How may I help you?”
“Did you see them?”
“I came out as soon as I heard the shouting, just about the time you were bailing. I called your house, but the line was busy. Tried your cell, too, but you ignored me.”
Pulling the cell from her pocket, Haley checked the missed call log. Three from Christine. “I must have been asleep.” Or staring at the texts, waiting for Chris to respond.
“Well, here you are, Haley-loo-boo. Calculus. Enjoy the hell out of this hideous beast of a class.” She picked up Haley’s hand and kissed it. “Love you, babe.”
Laughing to herself, Haley watched Christine bound down the gray hall—why can’t we have any classes together?—then settled into a desk at the back of class. Haley’s legs bounced, her heart raced, and she spent the entire block of Calc chewing her nails.
She made a point to stay awake during English, unable to handle any more stress or talks with Mr. Thompson. He watched as she left the room when the bell rang. So interested in everything she did. So curious about her life. So wanting to help… just like Psycho said he wanted to help.
“Haley, wait up,” Amanda called, pushing through the crowd of students with books clutched to her chest and a gift basket in her other hand. She caught up to Haley and then worked to catch a breath. “A bunch of us girls made Jocelyn a get well card and put together this care package. We know she’s in quarantine, and no one will even release the name of the facility she’s in, but we kind of hoped you could get this to her.”
Quarantine? Care package? Psycho! “Thanks. I’ll do what I can.”
“My mom said if you need a place to stay, so you’re not alone, you can come over. You’re always welcome at our house.”
