The red velvet couch that greeted her for the February backdrop was a bit garish, in Bree’s opinion. Though she liked the smart black tux draped over the back. Nice touch. She and Damian had argued about the placement of the model on this one. She felt that Foster should be seated on the sofa, surrounded by roses, chocolates, and a Valentine’s greeting card, almost like he was taking stock of what he’d need for his date that evening. Damian wanted him draped across the couch cushions with the card and a single red rose, having fallen asleep dreaming of his love. Grudgingly, she knew the photographer would get his way.
March was set up for Lucas and his little Dalmatian friend with a picture of a fire engine. April was a workbench with soil, assorted pots, and lots of fresh flowers they’d had to struggle to find in winter. While she had originally pictured Dean with a surfboard, she had to admit that Damian’s placement was better. Dean approached, offering her a comfortable grin and a friendly wave. He wore a pair of tight, grubby jeans with holes in the knees, and a liberal dousing of potting soil. Though it killed her to leave it alone, she imagined the smudge of dirt across his left cheek was deliberate. Bree gripped her clipboard to keep from messing up the makeup artist’s work and headed for May.
A bike rider, a picnic scene, and a hot summer day by the pool. Check, check, and check. Oh my! She’d told Doyle to plan on swim trunks for his portion of the photo shoot. The man wore Speedos and a smear of zinc oxide down the strip of his nose. Nothing else. She never would have guessed he had quite so many tattoos. She mumbled a quick “good morning” and moved on.
Using her clipboard for a fan now, she hurried to the August set just in time to hear Damian and Jonah arguing over how he should pose by the ladder.
“You have the ass for it. Just trust me on this. Place one foot on the first rung and let’s see you strain those back muscles.”
“Jesus, isn’t it enough that I’m wearing my frickin’ tool belt and barely anything else? Leave me a little dignity, will ya?”
Seeing the two men square off in what could turn into a nasty showdown, Bree was quick to step in and alleviate the building tension.
“Jonah, if your back is to the camera, you won’t have to worry about your face even being in the shot. The women of Scallop Shores may not even realize that it’s you.” Who was she kidding? The great ass? The tool belt? Hands down, one of the tallest men in town? How could it be anyone else?
“I hadn’t thought of it like that. You’re right, Bree. Thanks.” He smiled gratefully and she fled before he could see she wasn’t exactly being honest with him.
“This is just like old times, isn’t it, Ry?” Bree overheard as Haley giggled and gave her ex a squeeze.
“Yep. A little too much like old times. I feel ridiculous.” Ryan tried to shrug out of his ex-wife’s reach.
Squaring her own shoulders, she marched in. Show time.
“Now, I’ve got to tell you, Ryan. Yours was the only shoot I didn’t have control over. The board members wanted it just like this.” Ignoring Haley altogether, Bree gave Ryan a sympathetic smile.
The backdrop was a football field, with a patch of Astroturf to match. Damian wanted his ex-quarterback sprawled on the grass, letterman’s jacket hooked on one finger and draped over his shoulder. A come-hither look in his eyes. He wore a pair of tight white uniform pants and a Wildcats helmet had been placed beside him.
“Not blaming you. Just don’t like it.” His words were terse, his back muscles tense.
“Hi there. I’m Haley, Ryan’s wife. Oops, I mean ex-wife. How silly of me!” Haley held out a hand in greeting.
Oh, no she didn’t! Several of the models had been standing near enough to hear Haley’s introduction. Now they all waited, with bated breath, to see how Bree would handle this. The woman wasn’t stupid, she was calculating. But why pretend she didn’t know Bree? What was her game?
“We’ve met.” Bree wasn’t going to indulge Haley by explaining any further.
“Oh, yes. I saw you last night. You’re Ryan’s neighbor.”
Yeah, his neighbor. She’d seen them practically screwing against the side of his truck and that made her just ... his neighbor. Awesome.
“Haley, this is Bree. Remember Bree from school? You asked her to tutor me.” Ryan, it appeared, was the only one who didn’t see this slight for what it was.
“The mousy little bookworm? No way! You look so different now. Almost ... pretty.” Haley tried to reach for Ryan again but he stepped up beside Bree.
The woman had gone too far. Ryan’s friends had turned narrowed eyes on her and started mumbling amongst themselves. An apology in his eyes, he settled a hand on the small of Bree’s back and tried to guide her away from Haley. But Bree stood her ground. If she didn’t say anything now, she’d be labeled weak.
“Hey, easy mistake. I looked a lot different in high school. We all did, though, didn’t we?” Let her take that one how she would.
“But I’m really liking the new look. Makes me feel sexy, you know?” She took a step closer to Haley. “And I hope you don’t find it too awkward that Ryan’s dating the mousy bookworm.”
She settled her back against Ryan’s wide chest and tried to pretend she wasn’t about to hurl. Lucas, Doyle, and Chase were clearly enjoying the exchange. Ryan’s heart beat rapidly enough for her to feel it through her shirt. He knew, as she did, that Haley was probably not done with her. She needed to show Ryan’s ex that she was not intimidated.
“Oh, sweetie, I have the best idea! Since Haley is staying with you guys for the time being, why don’t you let her and Wes have a little bonding time? I bet it’s been ages since she’s seen her own son. You’ll be right next door if they need anything.” Game. Set. Match.
By the nasty look in Haley’s eyes, it was high time for a hasty retreat. This time Bree let him drag her to a quiet corner of the warehouse. Without a word, Ryan wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head as he rubbed her back in wide circles. They were quiet for a moment before he finally nudged her chin up with a finger so they were eye to eye.
“I feel like I’m on some freakin’ reality show. Tell me Haley is not back in my life.”
“Wish I could, Ryan.” She stepped up on tiptoes and brushed her lips against his.
“Then tell me you meant what you said about having her spend time with Wes tonight. We can pick up where we were so rudely interrupted.”
“Are you sure? Do you trust her with him?” Selfishly speaking, it had sounded like a great idea at the time. But the more she thought about it, the more Bree began to have doubts.
“You mean, am I worried she’ll run off with him? Hell no! She never wanted him in the first place. She won’t know what to do with him tonight. But she doesn’t really have a choice. He deserves to get to know his mother, the good and the bad. And he is old enough to pick up on vibes. He needs to understand.”
Bree liked to think that even Haley wasn’t so cruel as to pass up the opportunity to play the role of “fun mom” for an evening. If she didn’t intend to have a permanent place in her son’s life, she could at least entertain him with the grand adventures she’d been having while Ryan was being a stickler about homework and brushing teeth. She wouldn’t have to break Wesley’s heart.
“You’ll be right next door if he needs you.”
He rested his chin on top of her head and let out a gusty sigh.
“I haven’t gotten the whole story out of her yet, but I’ll figure out why she’s here and how to get rid of her. She may be Wesley’s mother, but there is no reason for Haley to have any role in my life, whatsoever.” Ryan kissed her again and headed back to the September backdrop, where Damian was waving his arms madly.
What a crazy nightmare! But they were facing it together. Confident that the doubts her imagination had conjured overnight were unfounded, Bree smiled a genuine smile for the first time that day. Whistling to herself, she headed for the October set.
Ryan’s friend and former teammate, Jamie, was
a mountain of a man. Which made the kittens in the basket on his lap look all the more tiny. It was an adorable juxtaposition and one that would have the women of Scallop Shores sighing as they forked out their cash.
Note to self, she thought. Make sure the Dalmatian puppy does not see those kittens.
• • •
Because his mother raised him right, Ryan helped Haley out of her coat before tossing it in the closet along with his and storming into the living room. Thank God Wesley had spent the night with his grandparents. Haley settled comfortably into a corner of the couch, her high heels kicked off and her bare feet curled under her.
“Seven years. No contact in seven years. And just to clarify, I am not complaining, merely stating a fact. But my kid is due home from school in exactly half an hour and he’ll be expecting some sort of explanation for your presence.” She may have given birth to him, but seeing as she’d signed her rights away all those years ago, he was perfectly justified in reminding her that Wesley was his kid and his alone.
“Rowr. Easy, Tiger. You’re awfully sexy when you’re worked up.” Haley watched him with playful eyes.
“Could you be serious for one minute? Why here? Why now? Your parents are just a few streets down. Why couldn’t you stay with them?”
“You’d think that would be the obvious choice, wouldn’t you?” She studied her red lacquered nails, avoiding eye contact.
“Are you in some kind of trouble? Wait, are you pregnant?” Ryan stopped pacing and whirled on his ex-wife.
“Oh, please! Do I look like a stupid sixteen year old? The one and only time I ever got pregnant, I did it for you.”
Ah, yes, the selfless martyr. He rolled his eyes, waiting her out. Haley squirmed around on the couch.
“They wouldn’t take me in. They’re a little fed up with my choices.” She made finger quotes as she spoke.
“You were going to be an actress. You’d done some modeling. I know it’s a tough business to break into, but I thought you were getting somewhere.”
“Headshots cost money. Agents cost money. Schmoozing and being seen in the right places. You get the picture, Ry.”
“Your parents were footing the bill for all of it.” Ryan groaned, kneading the muscles at the back of his neck, sore from a night spent on the couch.
“It wasn’t like I didn’t try to help out. I’m not completely selfish. But you never know when auditions will come up and it’s really hard to get a boss to juggle your schedule at the last minute.”
“You got fired.” He began to pace again.
“The catalyst in a series of unfortunate events.” Her delicate sigh held just enough drama to remind him of her true calling.
Ryan had to admit that Haley made a damned fine actress. Even if she’d considered herself too pretty to hang out with the drama club kids in high school. Relying on her looks to get her where she thought she needed to be, Haley turned her nose up at high school roles. Her sights were set much higher.
“What happened, Hal?” He used the nickname she’d barely tolerated when they first started dating.
Her eyes snapped to his and for the first time he could see the turmoil. She was frustrated, angry, and upset. That was understandable. Haley was used to getting her way. But she was also scared. And this was a side of his ex-wife that he’d never seen before.
“Let’s just say I couldn’t afford the lifestyle I’d chosen for myself.” She hung her head, picking at the knee of her skintight leopard-print leggings.
“I’m assuming you were still waiting tables at that joint all the Hollywood muckety-mucks frequented near the studios?” He pressed his lips together when she merely shrugged. “So you were fired from your job, then you were kicked out of your upscale apartment because you could no longer pay the rent. Am I close?”
“I lost the Prius too,” she pouted.
“My alimony checks are still getting cashed. You got a hell of a deal on that. What, exactly, am I paying for if you don’t have an apartment or a car?”
“How do you think I could afford to fly back home? Thank you for that, by the way.” She had the audacity to sound cheerful, like he had bought her a gift.
“And now you’re here to mooch off me. Live rent free. Eat my food. Use my washing machine and shower. How did you even know I was back in town? Or did you try looking for us in Cali first?” It didn’t matter. If she was desperate enough, it wouldn’t have been hard to find him.
“It’s not like that. Give me a little credit. Is our getting back together so far out of the realm of possibility that you can’t even imagine it?” She stretched her long legs out on the couch in her classic “Come and get me, Tiger” pose. Years ago, that would have had him rock hard and salivating in seconds.
“I’m with Bree now, Hal.” He could have added, “Like I should have been all along,” but that would have been unnecessarily cruel. No sense kicking his ex while she was already down.
“And besides, I’m not stupid—or blind. I saw the way you were ogling every single guy at that calendar shoot today. Why did you even come with me to that, if not to hook up? Whose number did you score? Hmm?”
She had the good grace not to deny it.
“You need money. You need to pay your parents back for all the help they’ve given you. You need to get back on your own two feet and support yourself, and you need to give up the idea of your own talk show.”
“Reality show. And I will make it someday. Jesus, you’re worse than my parents! Where do you get off telling me I have to give up my life’s dream? It’s not like you’re some huge NFL All-Star with your own bobble head and T-shirts.”
“Classy. Yeah, throw that in my face, why don’t you? That hasn’t been my dream in a long time. As a matter of fact, it was more your dream than mine. I just wanted to play ball. You wanted me to be the big household name.”
“You have to admit that would have been a helluva premise for a reality show. The Hollywood starlet and her big, hunky pro-football husband.”
Nope. He didn’t care for it any more now than he did back when she’d first suggested it in college. In fact, the idea made him throw up in his mouth just a little. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell his ex that this just wouldn’t work, but she must have sensed that. Haley flew off the couch, gripping his forearms and fixing him with an award-winning look of pure desperation, complete with tears.
“I have nowhere else to go, Ry. My parents are through with me. My brothers and sisters won’t answer my phone calls or emails. I burned too many bridges trying to get what I wanted. And now I have to face the consequences.”
Haley’s family was a great group of people. Patient and caring, he couldn’t imagine what it would take to get any of them to give up on one of their own. She might think that being broke, with no place to live, was bad. But if she’d alienated people that Ryan honestly couldn’t see turning their backs on anyone, then Haley had much bigger problems than she realized.
“Do you think I want to be here? It’s humiliating, having to admit that I need help. But this could be a good thing, Baby. I can help you out with Wesley. He deserves to know his momma. We have years of catching up to do.”
Ryan tried not to flinch at the feel of Haley’s fingers wrapped tightly around his arms. He wasn’t sure when, but at some point, a long time ago, lust had turned to disgust and he could barely stand being this close to the woman. But she had a point. Wesley was her son, too, and even though he could legally tell her to screw off, he just wasn’t that kind of guy. This was the part of parenthood where he had to do what he should, even if it wasn’t what he wanted.
“Bottom line, Haley: you want to stay here, then you get a job. You put twenty-five percent of your earnings aside to pay your parents back. The rest you save. I won’t make you contribute to rent or food, but I need to know you’re socking everything away. And this situation is temporary. As soon as you are making enough to support yourself, then you find your own apartment and you become the woman your
parents know you can be.”
“I’ll be your live-in babysitter, but I refuse to be your maid, as well.” She’d let go of him to fold her arms across her chest and thrust out her pointed chin.
“You abandoned Wesley once before, but he is your son by blood, and as long as you live under my roof you will treat him like one. You’re the damned actress. Pull out those skills and pretend you know what the hell you’re doing.” He threw her a hard look that dared her to argue.
“I’m not a ‘kid’ person, but I’ll try. I don’t know what to say to him. What’s he into? What if he hates me?”
She paused, racing for the suitcase she’d set up beside the couch when he'd told her that was where she was sleeping last night. Digging around, she pulled out a package of airline snack mix and a pair of airline-issue throw-away headphones. She held them up triumphantly.
“Here. I got him a gift. What do you think?”
I think you’re giving him the crap you didn’t want from the plane ride, he thought, snidely. But he gave her points for trying. She wrung her hands and sent panicked looks out the window, waiting for the bus to drop Wesley off at the end of the driveway. She quickly chewed her bright red lipstick off her lower lip. A part of him wanted to feel bad for her. A very tiny part.
“Bree was right. This will be good for you guys tonight. I’ll be next door, but he’s eight years old, Hal. Unless the apartment is burning down, I don’t want to hear about it. I’ll be your buffer through dinner, but then you’re on your own.”
“What do you see in her anyway? She’s a geek. A librarian who loves her books and probably has at least ten cats. She’s so far beneath you, Ryan.” Haley stopped worrying over the bus’s arrival to look over her shoulder with a sneer.
Always My Hero Page 13
