“Will do.”
“And thanks for doing this, Daniel. I mean it.”
“Well, I had to do something nice today, because my gal is totally going to whup your guy tomorrow night on Nashville’s Next Idol.”
“Is not. My guy rocks.”
“Nope. My gal is going to smoke your guy.”
Hayley paused, laughing. “You do hear yourself, right?”
“Yes, and I’m completely, utterly disturbed.” Daniel smiled. “So I’m going to hang up now, and wish you a last happy birthday. Talk to you soon.”
He winked, then disconnected, but Hayley sat there for a full five minutes.
Then, since her laptop was open anyway, she mindlessly typed in an airline site and started to type in information, just to see what it would cost to fly back to Montana at Christmas.
After all, his gal totally had smoked her guy last week.
And maybe she wasn’t quite ready to call off the bet after all.
Chapter 22
The night after Hayley’s birthday, Daniel practically staggered into his mom’s kitchen to pick up the girls after a grueling day with an extra topping of five o’clock emergency. Before he could even speak, Mom was setting a plate at the table in the breakfast nook and motioning him to sit down.
“Here, dear. Have some meat loaf. The girls are fine upstairs. You look exhausted.”
Daniel sighed. “I should get them home, Mom. It’s late.”
Mom picked up the plate and slid it back and forth under his nose, smiling, and he was powerless to resist. He kissed her on the cheek, then sat down. “You play tough.”
“Well, you may be big and strong and all grown up, but you’re still my little boy, and I’m allowed to feed you once in a while.” She poured him a tall glass of milk and set it down. “I did the girls’ baths earlier, so all you have to do is tuck them into bed when you get home.”
“Thank you. Can I hire you?”
Mom ruffled his hair like he was indeed a little boy.
“If I didn’t need my real job, I’d take you up on it in a second.” She sat down across from him in her breakfast nook, wrapping her hands around a pottery mug. “So how are the interviews going? Is there an end in sight to this crazy schedule of yours?”
“I don’t know. Hard to say.”
“Any promising candidates yet?”
Daniel took a bite, delaying his answer. “Three of them. All good.”
“Well, that’s a nice problem to have. How will you decide?”
“I don’t know. Not sure any of them are right for the job.”
“Why not?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. There’s nothing obvious. Just a feeling, I guess.”
A feeling that only one particular vet will actually fill the bill, and so far, she’s not interested.
“Well, you can’t keep doing this by yourself, can you? How many hours have you put in this week?”
“Too many.”
“You’re not at all concerned how Evelyn’s going to spin the situation when she comes up for Christmas? If you’re still working these kinds of hours that week, it’s not going to look good.”
“I’m completely concerned. I just don’t know that I have a solution. Even if I thought one of these candidates was a perfect choice, there’s no way I’d get anyone started by Christmas.”
Mom shook her head, sipping her tea. “With all that woman’s putting you through, I can’t believe you’re even letting her come up here at all.”
“I know, and believe me, I considered buying three tickets to the Bahamas so we could be out of reach for the holidays. But then I realized it would just give her more ammunition. She’s determined to prove that she doesn’t get to see them enough, so my best defense is to make sure she gets to see them anytime she wants to.”
“I get it, but I don’t know whether I’m going to be able to pretend to like her while she’s here.”
“You don’t have to. Maybe you won’t even see each other.”
Mom raised her eyebrows. “One can hope, right?” She got up and pulled a pot off the stove, spooning more mashed potatoes onto Daniel’s plate. “So when are they coming?”
“The day after Christmas. She really wanted us to come down there this year. You know, do the whole holiday thing, Evelyn-style.”
“Let me guess. Christmas Eve service, then caroling through the mansions, then home for a nine o’clock goose dinner that the girls will hate and be too tired to eat.”
“Exactly. Followed by Christmas Day services.”
“Followed by the annual Look-How-Amazing-I-Am bake sale afterward? Yes.” Mom set down her cup and shook her head. “We’ve done the Evelyn-style Christmas before.” She looked out the window. “Children belong in their own homes at Christmastime. I’m glad you didn’t agree to go to Denver.”
“That would be taking the cooperation thing a little too far, even for me.”
“And did she argue?”
Daniel stopped chewing. “Not like she usually does, no—which is suspicious, actually.”
Mom’s face grew serious. “So where are things at with the case?”
“Stacey-Lynne’s trying to delay them as much as possible, but they’re still pushing forward. They’re determined, Mom. And once Evelyn sets her heels into something, she doesn’t back down all that easily. I just wish we could have the holidays without this hanging over everything.”
“So what does Stacey-Lynne think you need to do in order to make this go away once and for all?”
“Ha. Well, I could take off for a country without an extradition agreement, but that might be extreme. If that’s not an option, she suggested I get married.”
Mom just about dropped her mug.
“What?!”
“Apparently it’s almost impossible to yank kids out of a stable, two-parent home where one of the parents is the real parent.”
“Oh.” She nodded casually. “Well, then. Do you have any candidates for that job in mind?”
“Good God, no.”
The words flew out because they were automatic, but as he said them, Daniel was less sure than ever that he actually meant them. When he’d seen a tired, frazzled, trying-to-pretend-she-wasn’t-lonely version of Hayley on his laptop screen last night, it’d been all he could do not to hop a plane this morning and go find her in Boston.
What he would have done when he got there, he had no idea, but the urge to go to her, to comfort her—to see more of her city life than the four-foot square section of wall he could see behind her on the computer screen—was a strange and terrifying feeling.
“So who’s Hayley? I heard a lot about her this afternoon.” She raised her eyebrows. “The girls said they made her cupcakes and you talked to her on the computer last night? And that she might be coming to visit for Christmas?”
“She’s—a friend of Kyla’s back East. She was in the wedding last summer. She was going to be alone for her birthday, so we just did a little goofball party for her over at Whisper Creek. The girls insisted on the cupcakes.”
“Huh.” She tried to hide a smile. “They actually told me the cupcakes were your idea.”
“She has a thing for cupcakes.” He shrugged. “And the girls love baking, so—cupcakes.”
Mom nodded, the same smile playing at the corners of her lips. “I see.”
“Just cupcakes, Mom.”
“All right, all right. I just couldn’t help but wonder.”
“She’s just a friend, Mom. More Kyla’s than mine, by far. And she lives in Boston. And I don’t think she’s coming out for Christmas, despite Kyla’s invitation.” He put his hand over Mom’s. “So stop with the wondering. I appreciate you being concerned, but we’re fine.”
“Except for the part about you apparently needing a new wife?”
“It’s not the only way to win this thing. I’m not looking for a wife, Mom. I’m pretty sure the girls have suffered enough upheaval for one childhood. I can’t imagine bri
nging another woman into their life.”
Even if, you know, it was someone they have already completely fallen in love with. Right? It would be bad, right?
“Well.” She got up from the table and took his plate. “Sometimes when we’re not looking is when we do the best finding.”
Chapter 23
“Ha. I told you your gal was going down.” Hayley spoke into her phone before Daniel even had a chance to say hello. She’d answered his call on the first ring Thursday night, smiling as she did so. Nashville’s Next Idol was on commercial break, and in five minutes, they’d know who this season’s winner was. She was dead sure it was her guy. Brutus lifted his little head from her lap, but since she apparently wasn’t going anywhere, he settled back down.
“Are you kidding?” Daniel laughed. “She was awesome tonight!”
“So predictable. Stayed right in the box.”
“Oh, because stepping out of the box was such a great plan for your guy?”
“Hey, at least he was brave enough to take the risk.” Hayley shuffled the couch pillows and made herself more comfortable.
“He took on Elvis. And it wasn’t pretty.”
“Points for courage, okay? At least he knows who Elvis is. Your little pixie probably doesn’t even know what state Graceland’s in.”
“My little pixie’s going to be a millionaire. Like, tomorrow. When she signs her shiny new contract and takes Nashville by storm this spring.”
“Daniel?” Hayley bit her lip, trying not to laugh.
“What?” His voice was suspicious.
“You’re totally into this show.”
“I am not.”
“You have watched it every Thursday for more than a month straight. And you’re smack-talking my guy. Who is about to win. You’re totally invested.”
“I’m not. I don’t even like country music. Or these stupid reality shows.”
It was true. He didn’t like the music or the show, and yet he’d been watching it for over a month and calling her every Thursday night to talk about it.
Hayley smiled. “Ooh! Wait! It’s back on. I’ll call you to gloat when it’s over.”
Ten minutes later, Hayley finally picked up her phone and reluctantly pressed the answer button, but didn’t speak. Daniel’d been calling her for five minutes straight, but she’d been pressing decline every single time.
He was laughing his fool head off on the other end of the line.
“Jeez, Hayley. You didn’t call me back!”
“I think maybe I’m not speaking to you right now.”
“She won fair and square.”
“She won because she’s blond, five-foot-eight, and double-D.”
He laughed again. “Are you insulting the talent?”
“It does not take talent to grow those. It takes a good gene pool.”
“She has a great voice.”
“Oh, please.”
“Wow, Hayls. You are not a very good loser, are you?”
“Not when the competition is unfairly—stacked. They totally got out the fraternity vote on this one. My guy should have won.”
“You heard the announcer. America spoke.”
“America’s been drinking too much moonshine.”
He laughed. “So you know what this means?”
“That I’ve lost all faith in voting reality shows?”
“No, though that’s probably a side effect. What it means is you lost the bet.”
“I do not lose bets.” Hayley shook her head.
“Do you have your laptop open?”
Hayley pushed herself up on the couch. “I’m not Skyping with you right now. You’re doing a good enough job rubbing this in my face over the phone.”
“No Skyping. Just check your email. I sent you a little something.”
“A consolation card?” She pulled her laptop to her and clicked the email icon. She scrolled through her messages and inhaled sharply when she saw his message in her inbox. Why did the mere sight of his name give her the quivers?
“Just look.”
She clicked the message, and then felt her mouth drop open. “Are you kidding me? You sent me a plane ticket?!”
“You lost the bet, remember?”
“Only five minutes ago!” She scrolled through the ticket information. “Wait. You bought this two days ago!”
“This is how confident I was that you were going to lose.”
Hayley laughed. “You can’t buy me a ticket, Daniel.”
“Too late. It’s a belated birthday present. We all chipped in.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. Kyla misses you like crazy, Ma’s still desperate to teach you to cook, and the girls would love to see you.”
Her smile felt wobbly as she tried not to ask the obvious question on the tip of her tongue. But out it came before she could stop it.
“And what about you, Daniel?”
“Well, I did send you a ticket. I’ll even pick you up at the airport, though I’ll have to sneak out of the house before dawn if I want to do it alone.”
Hayley laughed. “Bring them. I miss them.”
“Do you?”
“Yeah.” She took a deep breath. “I do.”
“So you’ll come?”
“You sent me a non-refundable ticket.”
“Right. So you’ll come!”
Hayley’s brain scrambled to corral the to-do list already forming, but her anxiety over getting everything taken care of was quickly extinguished by her excitement over the tickets in her inbox.
“Okay,” she answered. “I’ll come.”
—
Two weeks later as Hayley walked through the airport toward the huge glass doors where Daniel and the girls were probably waiting, she held her stomach, her insides quivering like she was about to go on stage at the Opry.
“You okay?” Jess leaned toward her.
“Yup.” She looked out the windows at the snow-capped mountains in the distance. “I don’t know.”
Jess squeezed her hand. “It’s going to be awesome.”
“That’s kind of what I’m afraid of.”
“Stop being afraid. Embrace whatever happens and ride the wave.”
“Easier said than done, but I’m determined to try.”
“Good girl.”
Hayley stopped. “Hold on a minute. I’m not ready.”
Jess stopped and turned around to face her. “If we wait until you’re ready, it’ll be Memorial Day before we leave the terminal.”
“I think you’re losing sight of what a big deal it was for me to agree to come out here.”
“You lost a bet and had a non-refundable ticket. Not sure you’re going to get as much mileage out of that as you’re hoping, hon.”
“Touché.”
“Come on, Hayls.” Jess looked over Hayley’s shoulder. “I see your Prince Charming, and it looks like he’s brought the mini-princesses with him.”
Hayley took a deep breath and turned, feeling her pasted-on smile turn real as she spotted the girls plastered against the glass, then looked up and saw Daniel. He was dressed in jeans and a dark brown winter coat, and she could see one of those fisherman’s knit sweaters underneath.
His dark hair looked freshly cut, but his face sported a delicious five o’clock shadow. Just seeing him through the glass, her fingers already itched to touch him, her head wanted to nestle against his chest, her feet wanted to drag his somewhere dark and warm and alone.
When she walked through the glass doors, Gracie and Bryn leaped toward her, throwing their little arms around her legs and almost knocking her off balance.
“Hayley!! You’re here!”
She felt a huge smile take over her face as her anxiety suddenly fled. She let go of her carry-on suitcase so she could lean over to hug both of them at the same time, and then she scooted them toward Jess. “Save some hugs for Jess, okay?”
Jess crouched down to talk to the girls, freeing Hayley to stand back up and face Daniel
for the first time in four months. His casual stance made him look like he did this sort of airport meet-and-greet every day, but she could see a tiny tic at the top of his jaw. Was he actually nervous, too?
“Hey.” Her voice came out all weird.
“Hey yourself.” He winked. “Any hugs left for me?”
She smiled. “I think I could fi—” Her last words were muffled by his chest as he pulled her into his arms. “Oh.”
He held her for what felt like an entire minute before his arms loosened and he backed up a bit, keeping his hands on her upper arms. His eyes were still that impossibly deep shade of green, his lips still—
“How was your flight?”
She did an internal headshake, trying to gather herself. “Um, good. Long. Three legs. Felt like a carnival ride coming into Denver, but we made it.” She swallowed, looking up into his eyes. Was it possible they were darker than she remembered?
“I’m glad.”
“Me too.”
He smiled affectionately and pulled her close again. This time she slid her arms inside his coat and around his midsection, like she’d been doing it forever. Like she had a right to, which was too strange a feeling to contemplate right now.
His chest was so warm, the yarn of his sweater soft and deliciously scratchy at the same time. If she could just stay in this position until the plane left in a week, she might be perfectly happy. Food and water were entirely optional.
Long before she was ready, he pulled back again, an amused expression in his eyes. “It’s good to see you, Scampini, even if I had to use your questionable taste in country star wannabes to get you back out here.”
She laughed. “You know you loved it.” Reluctantly, she let go of him and turned toward Jess and the girls. “Are we ready?”
“Ready.” Jess’s expression matched Daniel’s, but Hayley didn’t want to think too hard about why. Jess took the girls by the hand and headed toward baggage claim, leaving Daniel and Hayley to follow with the carry-ons.
As they started after Jess and the girls, Daniel took Jess’s carry-on with his left hand, then slung his right arm casually over Hayley’s shoulder. She smiled, loving the weight of it, the natural way he did it, even the proprietary way it sent a message to anyone who might be looking.
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