Last Chance Baby

by Gallegos, Ashley

  Speaking of allies, could she really trust Chuck? He clearly wanted her to and he seemed to want to help her. But was it fair to bring him into this nightmare? Could she really ruin one more life or, worse, chance someone else losing a life? No, she couldn’t have that on her conscience. She would tell him just enough to get him off her back and then find a way to slip out and move on before someone else got hurt.

  She could hear Gram moving pots and pans around in the kitchen - the universal sound that it was time to get up and about. Hailey glanced out the window and was surprised to see that there was a light dusting of snow. Weather in New Mexico had always been erratic but she had forgotten how easily it could be hot one day and snowing the next. So much for the light tank top Hailey had planned on wearing. She pulled on a hoodie and was grateful that it still fit as she headed out to the kitchen.

  “Hey there, sleepy head. Maggie called this morning to see how you were. Something about how you passed out after dinner? You okay, Hailey bug?” Gram came over and put her hand on Hailey’s forehead as if Hailey had a fever. Hailey removed Gram’s hand and gave her a little hug.

  “I’m fine, Gram. Just got a little tired, I guess. Ooh, is that bacon?” Hailey moved over to the stool to grab up some bacon and avoid Gram’s look. She knew that Gram was still trying to visually assess her health.

  “Just be careful at the store today. If you feel tired at all, just call me and I’ll come over. Or maybe you should just stay here and rest. Cooking a bun in the oven is hard work.” Gram poured herself some coffee and eyed the Bailey’s as if she was deciding whether or not Hailey would judge her for adding a little pick me up to her coffee. She took the bacon out of Hailey’s hands and added it to a plate with scrambled eggs and toast and passed it over to her with a fork.

  “Thanks, Gram. I’m fine, really. Plus you have a Lifetime movie marathon that you’re working on. Have you made it to the one about Jodi Arias yet?” Hailey polished off the last of her breakfast as she saw Chuck coming in through the back door, shaking off the snow.

  “Oh, they made a Jodi Arias movie? That sounds like a good one to start with this morning. Oh, hi, Chuck! Thanks for taking care of Hailey last night. I heard you had quite the eventful dinner.” Gram passed coffee and breakfast to Chuck as he took the stool next to her. He gave Hailey a reassuring smile and turned his attention back to Gram.

  “Theresa, it was nothing. It’s my fault actually. You know how the women swoon with my good looks.” Chuck gave a shit-eating grin to Gram until she rolled her eyes and hit him in the shoulder. Everyone laughed as they finished breakfast and Chuck and Hailey headed out to start the day. They were quiet the entire short drive over to the store and Hailey thought maybe he would drop the questions for the day. But when he dropped her off at the store, instead of heading out to the farm, he shut off the truck and followed her in and took a seat.

  “So tell me what you know about Christopher Dalton. Did you know he was embezzling from the Dalton Enterprises corporation?”

  Ten

  It was the day after New Years and Seattle was quiet with all of the snow. Erin and Hailey had decided to meet up at Hailey’s small apartment and indulge in hot chocolate with marshmallows and facials. Suddenly, Erin started crying. She loved her husband Christopher of just two years so much and was worried that he was cheating. He seemed so distant and wouldn’t give her a straight answer as to why.

  Erin had met Chris at a charity function and fell for him almost instantly. He had gone all out with wooing her - flowers, champagne, boat rides, etc. For her birthday, he flew her to Paris and proposed under the Eiffel Tower, just like every girl secretly dreams of. He had always been attentive and romantic with surprises and little trips. But now Chris was distant and almost mean at times. Erin didn’t understand the change but she was desperate not to lose him.

  Hailey didn’t have much experience with men. She had lost her virginity at prom and that was about as romantic as it got for her. Hailey came from a whole town of “tied down” and longed for the single, independent female life but she knew that she would support her friend no matter what. Despite the sheer number of people living in Seattle, it had been hard to make friends and Erin was almost like a sister. So they sat and drank hot chocolate and watched chick flicks.

  Suddenly Erin sat up and grabbed Hailey. Her face was simply glowing from excitement. She was giggling and smiling - a far contrast from just a few minutes ago when she was sobbing over her fears of losing Chris.

  “That’s it! I know exactly what to do. I know how to make Chris happy again!” Erin clapped her hands together and Hailey waited with bated breath for the answer. “We’ll have a baby!”

  Hailey sat down and looked at Chuck. How could he have gotten that information? Did the police know? Was it being reported on the news?

  “What are you talking about? Are they saying that on CNN?” Hailey did her best to look shocked but she was never a good liar or actress so there was a slim chance that Chuck would actually buy it. From the look that Chuck was giving her, she was willing to bet that he wasn’t.

  “No, it’s not on the news. But I called one of my former SEAL buddies who is a detective in Seattle. He has his suspicions.” Chuck watched her for her response.

  “You called the police in Seattle? Do they know about me? Did you tell them that I am here?” Hailey clutched her stomach, ready to run depending on Chuck’s response.

  “Of course not. I’m not an idiot. As much as I trust my buddy with my life, you never know who could be listening in. I simply said that I saw him on the news in the background and was calling to check in. Then he actually brought it up to me and asked for my take on things.” Hailey relaxed her shoulders and her grip. If they hadn’t found out about her yet, maybe they could keep everyone busy enough in Seattle with the investigation to give her a running start. She started mentally calculating how much money she had access to in untraceable cash to make a run for it. It wasn’t much but if she got desperate it would have to do. She also had the emergency credit card that matched her fake ID but she wanted to save that until she had no other options. She looked up to see that Chuck was still watching her, waiting for her to give herself away through word or expression. Well, he could just keep waiting.

  “Wow. He must trust you a lot to give you all that information and ask your opinion.” Hailey tried to look doe-eyed but wasn’t sure if it was working. Maybe if she could get him talking about himself he would get distracted and drop the subject of Chris Dalton.

  “He does. I was his superior for many operations and had to interpret several situations to find the cause of why people acted a certain way to eliminate the cause. Which means that you can try to distract me as much as you want but I will continue to ask you what you know about Christopher Dalton embezzling from Dalton Enterprises.” Well, crap. Clearly Hailey’s attempts to thwart Chuck were not working. Maybe her old standby the half-truth would be more successful.

  “I wasn’t friends with Chris. I was friends with Erin. We met at yoga.” Hailey turned away from the inquisition and started the straighten up the produce and jams before the people of the town started to come in to get their goods. It was Friday and that meant that Gram had her famous tamales in the fridge so it was set to be a busy day and Hailey did not need Chuck’s questioning this morning.

  “I hope so. Because if you aren’t honest with me, Hailey, I can’t protect you. So just think about that.” And with that Chuck got up and walked back out to the truck before Hailey could turn back around.

  Eleven

  Just as Hailey predicted, almost the entire town of Corrales came out to get a dozen of Gram’s famous tamales. Long after the tamales were gone, people continued to shuffle in and buy jams and salsas. Hailey was beginning to think that word was out that she was back and she herself had become just as much of a draw as the tamales. Small towns were not known for their excitement and having one of their own come back, pregnant no less, was about as exciting as it go
t. Hailey was just surprised that they had waited this long to come by and try to get some good gossip to share with their friends over the weekend.

  After lunch, Hailey smiled to see a familiar face pop in. Maggie pushed her way through the small stalls and the lingering locals still deciding what to take home to make with dinner. She politely said hello to everyone she passed as Maggie was clearly popular as the wife of the police chief. Finally she made her way to Hailey and sighed in relief.

  “Based on the fact that it looks like everyone in town turned out today, I’m guessing I’m too late for some of Theresa’s tamales.” Maggie looked in the fridge behind Hailey with a hopeful face.

  “Normally, that would be the case. But I had a feeling you might stop by so I saved you a dozen of each.” Hailey reached back and pulled out the prized tamales and watched Maggie’s face light up with excitement.

  “Awesome! John and I could live on these if Theresa would make them daily for us. I swear it is the food of the Gods.” Maggie eagerly handed over the requisite cash to pay for the tamales and moved them into her reusable shopping bag. “They sold out so fast today! Theresa must be making a killing having you here in the store. If people are going to be nosey, at least she can profit off of it!” The girls laughed and commiserated together. Then Maggie stopped and moved behind the counter with Hailey to look her over.

  “Are you feeling okay today? I still don’t understand why you wouldn’t go to the hospital last night. I would feel so much better if you would get checked out.” Maggie put a gentle hand on Hailey’s stomach and looked at her imploringly. Hailey knew where she was coming from but it just wasn’t something she could risk.

  “Oh I’m fine. More embarrassed than anything.” Hailey shrugged and then was saved by another customer coming up with an armful of chile powder and salsas. “Mags, I’ll have to catch up later. Can’t keep the people waiting.” With that the girls said their goodbyes and Hailey couldn’t help but feel like she had been saved from further discussion by the customer. Could she continue to tell these half truths to protect the people she loved?

  As the day ended, Hailey looked around to see the shop completely picked over. The people of Corrales were good people. They had good intentions coming to see her and see what was going on there. But they didn’t leave without armfuls of goods and Gram’s bank account would be happy. It was a good day of work and it felt good to get it done.

  Hailey looked up when she heard footsteps at the backdoor followed by the creaking of the door being opened. Then she saw Chuck coming in. The drive back to Gram’s was less than five minutes but it would feel long today if Chuck insisted on keeping up with the questioning.

  “No more coat?” Hailey raised her eyebrows at his short sleeve shirt when it had been snowing just this morning.

  “The snow melted away about noon and now it’s like 80 degrees out there. Haven’t you been outside at all?” Chuck moved into the store and began to survey how empty all the shelves were. “Or maybe you haven’t been outside. Did you get mobbed today over jam and tamales?”

  “Well, coming home pregnant with no explanation is a big draw for the town gossips. But Gram will be happy that we sold so much. And it was nice to see so many people from my childhood. Everyone looks different yet the same.” Hailey grabbed her purse and the remainder of her lunch bag. “You ready to go? It’s Friday night. I’m sure you’ve got some hot date waiting for you.” Then Hailey immediately cringed inside at the idea of Chuck kissing some gorgeous, perfect local girl without all the emotional baggage that she herself was currently carting around. As they made their way out the back, she slammed the door extra hard before locking up. She never should have brought up dating. Whatever Chuck did was his business and she didn’t the visual.

  “Would it bother you if I had a date?” Chuck raised an eyebrow in question as he helped Hailey get into the truck. But instead of making his way around the truck to get into the driver’s side, Chuck seemed happy to stay right by Hailey’s side and torment her.

  “Nope. Not at all. It’s your life. I just meant that we should get back. I’m sure Gram is waiting for us.” Hailey crossed her arms impatiently and looked towards Gram’s house to further make her point.

  “Whatever you say, little mama.” Chuck gave her a knowing wink and closed her door. He chuckled to himself as he made his way to the driver’s side of the truck and Hailey hated that she was so transparent with this little crush or whatever it was. She just hoped that was where the transparency ended.

  Twelve

  Hailey walked into Gram’s kitchen and expected to smell something delicious cooking for dinner. Instead there was no sign of Gram and nothing on the stove or in the oven. As a last resort, Hailey walked over to the microwave as her stomach began to growl. Nope, even the microwave was empty. She looked back at Chuck, who seemed just as confused as the lack of cooking. Gram was known for always having food going and since Hailey had come home, it seemed like there was food available round the clock.

  “Gram…” Hailey called as she walked down the hall towards the bedrooms. She stopped when she saw Gram sitting on her bed with curlers in her hair. She had never seen Gram do anything remotely girlie before and curlers were a shock. “Hey, Gram. Are you going somewhere special tonight?”

  Gram turned to face Hailey while humming to herself. “Oh, yes, actually. Since it’s Friday night, Aida thought us old ladies should get to her house for Cosmopolitans and Chinese takeout. We’re going to watch some movie called Sex and the City. Since I heard you made a killing today at the store, I thought maybe you and Chuck could go out to dinner to celebrate.” Gram smiled a knowing smile at Hailey and then turned back to mirror to put on some lipstick. Hailey couldn’t picture Gram having a Sex and the City night but to each their own. She backed out of the bedroom and headed back to the kitchen.

  “Is Theresa feeling okay? Usually there’s enough food cooking to feed an army in here.” Chuck was leaning against the wall but his eyes said that he was clearly concerned about Gram.

  “Actually, Gram has a date with Sex and the City and the Corrales old broads.” Hailey shrugged. “She said we are on our own for tonight. She suggested we go out but I’m sure we’re both tired. I can always just order a pizza for each of us and send yours out to the casita if you want to call it an early night. I’d kill for a bubble bath right about now.” There was no way Hailey was going to invite Chuck out for a night on the town. “That is, of course, if you don’t already have a hot date planned. If so, I can make myself especially scarce so she doesn’t think this is yours.” Hailey pointed to her stomach and wiggled her eyebrows. Hopefully a little humor would keep Chuck from seeing what she was really thinking, which involved that same bubble bath but with the two of them together in it.

  Chuck gave her a look that said he wasn’t buying it. “Nope, no hot date tonight. Pizza sounds great actually but why don’t we make our own movie night out of it? It’s rare to get Theresa away from the TV with her Lifetime movies and I’ve been dying to see that latest Liam Neeson movie. Could be fun…”

  Hailey wasn’t quite sure she could behave herself alone with such a handsome man without a chaperone but what the heck, she was already pregnant. What’s the worst that could happen? “Works for me.” Hailey threw her purse on the counter. “Why don’t I order it and we meet back here in twenty to eat and get a little action on?” Chuck moved forward and began to grin when Hailey realized her mistake. “Action movie, I mean. Movie because Liam Neeson always does action movies, get it?” She laughed uncomfortably and hoped she had played it off.

  Chuck was pretty sure you could see the sexual tension in the room from Mars at that point but he wasn’t going to pressure her. Clearly Hailey had secrets and a past she was trying to escape. First he needed to be her safe place and protect her. He couldn’t do that and seduce her at the same time. So he mercifully took a step back and said, “You’re on!” Then he grabbed his truck keys and headed back to the casita for a t
wenty minute cold shower before the pizza arrived.

  Thirteen

  Hailey slipped into her clawfoot tub, filled to the brim with bubbles, and sighed. It was the reason she picked the overpriced, 500 square foot apartment. She was just about to melt into the tub itself from pure pleasure when her cell phone started to ring. She lifted herself out of the tub just enough to see who it was. She saw Erin’s name and number flashing across the screen and made the effort to grab the phone. Erin had another hard week with putting up with Chris’ sulking moods and she was worried about whether or not her marriage could be saved. She reached the phone and hit the button to accept the call as she settled back into the bath.

  “Hey, Erin. How was your day?” Hailey asked as she played with the bubbles. She could hear sobbing in the background. She immediately sat up and paid more attention. “Erin? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

  “Hales, it’s bad. I went to the doctor today. I told him how important it is that I get off birth control and get pregnant. I told him how bad my marriage needs this.” Erin was blowing her nose now and Hailey was worried. She had never heard Erin so upset. She had heard Erin sad before but Erin was always one of those girls who could formulate a plan in the midst of her sadness and find a way to fix whatever it was. She would find her own hope. “We did a sonogram to make sure everything was okay and it’s not. I just can’t have kids.”

  “What do you mean you can’t have kids? Can you try invitro or one of those other fancy new techniques? Surely there is something they can do.” Hailey knew there had to be a way. Erin was an heiress to a fortune of several million dollars. Hailey had never asked exactly how much because frankly that’s not what she was interested in. She saw Erin as a best friend and not a cash cow, which is why they were able to have a genuine friendship. Erin had had many so-called friends who ended up just wanting to get some of the shine from her socialite status. It made Hailey sick.