He opened his mouth to speak, but Haley interrupted him. “I’m headed up to see Sam right now. And I swear to you that if you call and warn him or get to him before I do; I will completely and metaphorically castrate you. Any questions?” He shook his head, eyes wide in shock. “Good.” They had arrived at her floor. She stepped off the elevator and turned around to face him. “Nice seeing you again.” Jake merely nodded.
As Haley entered the office, one fact became quite clear very quickly. She had been replaced. There was a woman Haley didn’t recognize sitting at the desk that just over a week ago had belonged to her. The woman was young and quite attractive. She wore form fitting clothing and impossibly high heels. And the minute she opened her mouth, Haley loathed her. She had a voice that simply oozed sensuality. For a moment Haley wondered how long he had waited before replacing her. Part of her wanted to find out. The other part of her was distracted by a sudden burst of noise coming from Sam’s office.
Apparently he was fighting with Adam. He hadn’t done that…ever. She stood and listened before deciding how to react.
“You need the help,” Adam argued. “I can do this. I’m a Davenport, too.”
“Need I remind you that you hated this job?” Sam roared.
Adam made a dismissive sound effect. “I didn’t hate the job. I hated you. Get it right. We’ve been over this.”
Sam hit the desk with his open hand. “Well, that’s much better. We’ll have a great time working closely together all day then, won’t we?”
“Hated. Past tense,” Adam said. “Now…you are mostly tolerable. Only lately…”
“What about lately? Lately I’ve been overworked. Lately I’ve been overwhelmed with last minute holiday campaigns. Lately I have been grossly understaffed and…”
“So hire me. You already pay me. Let me work for it!” Adam sank into the couch, the challenge of standing and arguing with Sam had taken a toll.
“Look at you!” Sam shouted. “You can’t even stand up for any length of time. How are you going to last an entire day here?”
“I can do this. And as I recall, this is mostly a desk job. Or that’s all you ever entrusted me with!” He glared at Sam and raked his hands through his hair in frustration.
This was getting them nowhere fast. Time was short, not quite as short as Sam’s temper, but still pretty short. Arguing hadn’t worked. Maybe humor would. “Sam, I am handi-capable.”
“For the love of God.” Sam walked around and sat heavily on the desk. “Really? Is that what you are going with? You still have physical therapy. How do you think you’ll continue that so you heal properly?”
“I can go after work or before.” He crossed his arms over his chest to show his determination.
Sam shook his head. “I just don’t see it, Adam. And I can’t have you flaking out on me mid-way through the holidays.”
Adam stood suddenly. “This isn’t just your decision, Sam. We own this together. It was left to both of us. I swear…I’ll…”
With a bored expression, Sam looked Adam over. “You’ll do what?”
Leaning heavily on his good leg, he picked up his cane and shook it at Sam while he yelled, “I’ll sue! I will!”
And that’s when Haley finally acted. She brushed past the woman at the desk and stormed through the door. “Enough,” she said simply, like a mother scolding her children.
Sam’s office instantly went silent. He froze. Adam collapsed back onto the couch. And Haley had her hands on her hips, daring either of them to challenge her. When they didn’t, she relaxed some and continued. “You two are brothers. Start acting like it.”
Adam shot Sam a smug look. Sam opened his mouth to argue. Haley held up a finger and addressed Sam. “No. He has every right to work here. And you have every right to doubt him. Only this time Adam won’t let you down. We’ll get the company attorney to create a legally binding agreement.” Sam smiled at Adam. “And Adam, it’s time to grow up. It’s time to shoulder some responsibility for the company that bears your name and affords you the lifestyle you so enjoy.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glanced at Sam. He still looked miserable.
Raising his hand, Adam looked every bit the student he was pretending to be. Haley sighed. “Yes, Adam?”
“Are you back?” He asked quietly, doing his best to look contrite.
“Well, Sam and I have a lot to talk about…” She would have said more, but Sam let out a hollow laugh. Haley looked at him and tried to assess the situation. “Are you telling me we have nothing to talk about?”
“Not exactly.” Sam shrugged. “I just doubt we’ll ever talk about anything because your first instinct is always to run away.” Whether he knew it or not, he was testing her. He was pushing her to see if she was even capable of staying or if this time, just as she had done in the past, she would flee to avoid conflict, to avoid hurt, to avoid pain, while giving little consideration to the pain she might be causing others.
Instead, Haley leaned against the conference table. She was wearing a form fitting suit…conservative but with a hint of sexy…especially with the exposed leg and sexy black shoes. Her makeup was very natural looking, and her hair was loose, just the way he liked it, a wave of copper curls flowing to her shoulders.
“It seems like you are currently desperate for help. I thought I might throw my hat into the ring to work on some campaigns.” She studied him for a reaction, but he gave nothing away. “After all, my track record should speak for itself.” She smirked at him.
Sam shook his head. “With a team like this,” he gestured at Adam and Haley, “the business could be in ruin in no time.”
Haley stood up straight. “Wow. That may be the meanest thing you have ever said to me.” She was quiet a moment. “Yup. It was.” She took a few steadying breaths. She closed her eyes a moment. She avoided looking at the door. She wasn’t running any more. She was staying put. He could test her all he wanted. He could push all her buttons. He could hit every nerve. Still, she was sticking it out until he told her there was nothing to stick around for.
“I came here on New Year’s Day looking for a fresh start. I still want that. Only now, I’ve faced my past to get it. You want to know where I was?” She studied Sam as she awaited his response.
He shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter. I’m just your employer. And you were just a temp. I guess you decided your time here was over.” He tried to look at some papers on his desk, but since he couldn’t concentrate, he was essentially just moving the piles around.
Adam was in shock, glaring his brother down. He hadn’t left. They hadn’t asked him. Still, he couldn’t sit through this. They had to work it out on their own, if they could work it out. Right now Sam seemed determined to mess it up and permanently. “This is like watching a train wreck,” Adam complained as he struggled to his feet. “I can’t watch any more. I can’t be a casualty of your spat or a silent observer. Sam, I’ll be here before 9am tomorrow.” Sam started to argue, but Adam had already turned toward Haley.
Taking her hand in his, Adam gave it a squeeze. “You look amazing. I’ve missed you so much. We all have. Ignore him. He’s an ass. We’ll talk soon.” Then he limped out the door and closed it behind him.
As soon as the door clicked shut, Haley started speaking once more, picking up where they left off. “You don’t care? Well, I’m going to tell you anyway.” She inhaled deeply and stared at him while she spoke. “I went back to Philly. I went back to press charges against the man who raped me.” She saw his head shoot up. “Yeah. I faced my past, head on. All by myself.”
“You didn’t have to,” he said quietly, turning toward her. “I would have been there for you. All you had to do was say the word. I would do anything for you, Haley. You should know that by now. You didn’t have to run from me.” He started pacing while he spoke, trying to reason out loud what was going on in his head. “We went on that trip and I gave you that necklace. Forever, remember?” He paused and glanced at her.
&nb
sp; Haley nodded and tears welled up in her eyes. She waited for Sam to finish speaking so she could answer for her actions.
“I tried telling you every way I knew how that I love you, that I wanted a future with you. And you accepted the necklace and said you understood. I had no idea forever was so…short. It wasn’t nearly long enough. And you run and hide so well…I don’t even know your real name!”
“My name really is Haley. I’m Haley Daniels.” She stuck out a hand as if they were meeting for the first time. Slowly, he shook her hand. “And Sam…I didn’t run from you. I ran for you, for our future. I love you, too. But look at how much hurt and pain my past has caused you. I had to fix it, some way, somehow. And I did.” She was talking quickly now, all the thoughts in her head coming out in one rapid jumble. “I know I hurt you. I hurt your brother. But you know what…you hurt me, too.”
Sam looked at her in shock over her accusation. And yet the more she spoke, the more the realization seemed to dawn on him.
“The deception, the lies, the plotting and planning to spend time with me. You couldn’t be open and honest about your needs and wants because you had been hurt before. How could you expect me to be? So I wasn’t ready to face my past. Yeah, I ran from it. But you can’t play hide and seek with the past. It always finds you. And you can’t play sardines because soon you’re squished and can’t breathe and have no room for the future.” She walked into him. And soon his arms were around her waist. “So, I had to stop playing games. I had to be a grown up. I had to go to the DA and speak to the police and press charges. Soon, he will be arrested and then I’ll go to court. I’ll stand up for myself in a way that I wasn’t able to that night.” She exhaled, worn down from the emotions and waited for his response.
Sam was having a hard time concentrating with Haley so close. It had been too long. And all he could think about was how amazing it felt to have her in his arms again. Still, he felt rotten. He swallowed. “And you did all that on your own, without me. Did you not trust me to be there for you? Did you not want me to be there for you?” He wanted to see that future so badly, but he had to know if there was trust, if they could be honest with one another.
Haley looked up at him and smiled. “Sam, by now you should know that we all have business we need to handle on our own. That was mine. And it’s handled. Chase is going to jail. His future is ruined. He will have learned a lesson the hardest way possible. I almost feel sorry for him.”
Sam inhaled sharply and was about to speak. It was the first time he had heard her attacker’s name. Suddenly, the nightmares made sense. His heart hurt for her. And he couldn’t imagine that he would ever feel sorry for the guy who had hurt her.
She could feel him tense up. “Almost. How could I really feel sorry for him? After what he did to me? After all he took from me?”
He let out another hollow laugh. “You with your big heart. I don’t think it’s such a stretch.”
“And I want you to know that we do have one more battle to fight, this one together. Chase must be punished for hurting Adam.” She looked at the cold stare in his eyes. Haley couldn’t read him. She couldn’t tell if he felt anything for her anymore. She wouldn’t blame him if he decided to never trust her again. “And I guess I’m being punished for hurting you. If you don’t want me to work here, if you no longer want me in your life, I understand.” Haley backed out of his arms then, backed out and sat on the couch. She couldn’t think of another thing to say.
So Sam spoke. He felt empty without her near. There was so much he wanted to tell her. And as much as he carefully lived his life, thought everything through, and planned it to the extreme, this time, he had to let loose and speak from his heart.
“How could you ever think that? How could you think I don’t want you here or in my life? It has taken everything within me to keep it together now. It is all I can do to not rush to you, wrap my arms around you and never let go. If I let go, I have to worry that you will abandon me again. I have to worry that the first woman I’ve ever truly loved will break my heart.” He walked nearer to her, knelt in front of her, and forced her to look at him. “There was only one way I could think to keep that from happening. One way I could keep from losing you ever again.”
Sam pulled out the Davenport Diamonds. She gasped and struggled to stay seated, to not run, to remember that with Sam she didn’t have to be afraid.
He knew it. He closed the box and pushed it back into his pocket. “I can’t do it, Haley. Not yet. Not now. Oh, but I do want to marry you. I want a life with you…a forever together life. I want a family with you. I want everything I never knew I could possibly have in the truest sense, with an equally true woman.” Haley was smiling shyly. He pushed her chin up with his finger.
“Make no mistake about it. One day these rings will be on your finger. One day I won’t have to worry what last name you are going by at the time because it will be Davenport. And I won’t have to worry where you are at night because you will be tucked into my side. And I won’t have to worry if you are safe and loved and happy because with me, you’re safe, and together we’re happy, and forever…it is only you that I will love.” His words flowed naturally, despite the lack of a plan.
He stood and offered her his hands. She accepted and he pulled her off the couch and into his arms. “For now, let’s focus on prosecuting Chase and healing Adam. Let’s work on being a couple and building the company. Let’s recover from this and forgive each other.” Sam hugged her tightly and relished the feel of her pressed against him once more. He could feel her nodding. “One last question. Still want the job?”
Haley leaned back so he could see her face. She nodded.
He shrugged. “Good. It’s yours.” He glanced at the clock. It was after five o’clock. “Now let’s go out to eat. Fighting with you really gives me an appetite.”
Just then, Haley’s phone rang. It was the DA. Chase failed to turn himself in. There was a warrant out for his arrest. She looked at Sam and sighed.
Adam was waiting for them. And when he saw them exit the office with their arms around each other, he all but cheered. “Great. So now what?” He asked. He wanted to hear that Haley was moving back in, that life was finally going to return to normal.
“Now we eat,” Sam said jovially.
Adam shrugged. For now that was enough. “So, where are we going?”
It was Sam’s favorite restaurant. And to him, it seemed the perfect place for the three of them to celebrate Haley’s return. It was the perfect place for them to celebrate Adam’s recovery, the healing of their relationship, and that the Davenport Agency was going to truly be a family owned and run firm.
“Here, really?” Adam asked when they pulled up to the restaurant. “Aw hell. What are the chances I’d get hit here twice?” He thought for a moment. “But just in case, what if we use valet parking tonight? I would feel safer staying on the sidewalk.”
Sam chuckled and they pulled up at the booth. Haley was relaxed and happy, despite the news she had just received. And Adam was his usual self, carefree, playful. It made for a great meal. The food was perfect. The company was ideal. And it felt as though they were falling back into the natural rhythm they had once shared. They felt like a family once more. Reaching out, Sam grabbed Haley’s hand.
“I’m so glad you came back to us.” He picked up her hand and brought it to his lips for a soft kiss.
“I never planned to leave you in the first place, but it had to be done. You understand, right?” She looked at him hopefully.
He nodded just as the waiter came over to offer dessert. They declined and asked for the check.
“I’m just going to powder my nose before we leave,” she said delicately.
Adam looked at him. “Her nose doesn’t need powder. She must have to pee.”
Haley messed up his hair playfully as she walked by. And to Sam she gave a kiss on the temple, which was one of the many reasons he was happier than he had been in a week.
“So, good
talk?” Adam asked once they were alone.
“Yes. Great talk,” Sam responded. He looked at Adam with a smile. “I even told her I planned to marry her. She swore there would be no more running. She wants a future with me, too.” He felt as though the mere idea was incredulous. Someone as wonderful as Haley was going to build a life with him.
“That’s great,” Adam said. Just then something caught his eye outside. “Ah, but if that’s the case, what is she doing out front? And who’s that guy?”
Sam glanced out the window and rose immediately, to rush from the restaurant.
Hiding Out Page 23
