Operation: Married by Christmas

by Debra Clopton

  “Hey, buddy, you okay?”

  Will glanced at Brady as he took the stool next to him at the counter. Turning away from watching Haley, Will picked up his coffee and nodded. “Yeah, I’m just suffering from aftershock.”

  “By the frown on your face I’d already figured that one out.”

  Will met Brady’s sympathetic gaze. “That obvious?”

  “’Fraid so.”

  “Brady, can you tell me why I came here this morning?”

  “I could make an educated guess if you want me to.”

  Will shook his head. “Forget I asked. That’s a can of worms I’d rather not open.”

  “I can tell you from experience that unfinished business has a way of catching up to you at one time or another.”

  Will drank his coffee instead of trying to come up with an answer. He could deny it all he wanted, but he’d come here this morning because every man had his weakness.

  His happened to be Haley Bell Thornton.

  Haley made it through the whirlwind of welcomes as she was led around the room by Applegate. His obvious joy at having her home was making her feel so ashamed. It had been six years since she’d been here for her grandmother’s funeral.

  She was a skunk, all right.

  A selfish skunk.

  Spotting Will sitting at the counter didn’t help matters. It took every bit of her self-control not to turn around and run out of the diner. She didn’t have the energy to face him this morning. This homecoming was hard enough on her guilt-ridden heart without having to face him, too. Especially in front of everyone.

  “Will, here she is,” Applegate called out before she could figure a way around facing him again. She was appalled at Applegate’s proclamation as he directed her toward Will.

  “Haley,” Will drawled, tipping his head toward her in greeting while his eyes bore into hers.

  He wasn’t wearing his hat and she couldn’t help noticing that he still wore his thick sable hair in a traditional cut, parted on the left and combed back off his face. The cut accentuated the strength of his jaw and the prominence of his cheekbones. She was certain looking at him made women other than herself forget to breathe when looking at him. But enough of that.

  She forced a smile and was certain it came out looking as if she’d swallowed a tablespoon of castor oil. “Will,” she gritted out as Applegate looked expectantly from one to the other. His smile, so big that every tooth in his mouth showed, was the only reason Haley maintained her position.

  She was shocked when suddenly Applegate slapped a hand on Will’s shoulder, the sound cracking through the room like a backfire. “That ain’t no way to say hello to the person what was almost yer intended. Give her a hug, son.”

  Stunned, Haley stared at her grandpa. How could he? Will had always been a gentleman, and Applegate was taking advantage of that fact. “That’s okay,” she gasped. “You don’t have to get up.”

  A gleam she could only read as a challenge flashed through his dark gaze, and to her horror he stood up.

  “App’s right, Haley. The least I can do is give you a hug.”

  Before she could do anything to stop it, she found herself wrapped in Will’s arms. Oh my. If she’d thought she was confused before—well she was a mess now. Because though it had been ten years since she’d left him at the altar, she had never forgotten how right it felt to be held in his embrace.

  “See thar, ain’t that nice,” Applegate thundered.

  As quick as it happened, it ended. Will suddenly dropped his arms and stepped back. Haley had been so stunned by the embrace that her arms remained limply at her sides. Where they belonged, she reminded herself.

  His expression was unreadable and though she knew he’d hugged her to pacify her grandpa, the oddest sensation came over her when she looked into his stony eyes. Had those eyes really once looked at her with love? They were so distant now that it was tough to imagine such a thing.

  “So how’s your new ex-fiancé?”

  His clipped words were spoken in a low voice, but those standing around watching them had no problem hearing them. Like a deflating balloon, Applegate’s smile drooped into a heavy frown and a ripple of gasps could be heard behind her.

  Startled, but not really surprised, she met Will’s unflinching gaze with one of her own as she straightened her spine. If she’d learned one thing over the last few years, it was to stand her ground.

  She lifted her chin. “I’m fairly certain that Lincoln is celebrating at this very moment. After all, he dodged a bullet.”

  Will lifted his eyebrow. “I can understand that perfectly. As I’m certain fiancé number two would, as well.”

  So he wanted to make a scene. So much for him being a gentleman, she thought, as her blood pressure inched upward. “Is that so?”

  Not breaking eye contact with her, Will pulled money from his front pocket and slapped it onto the counter by his plate of uneaten eggs and bacon. “Believe me, darlin’, the day you walked out on me was the best day of my life. I figure it saved me a costly divorce and a valley of trouble in between.”

  Haley’s hands knotted into fists to keep them from shaking as darts of anger and humiliation shot through her. Other than the pounding of her heart that Haley hoped no one else could hear, the room had become as silent as a tomb. Why had she come home? It certainly hadn’t been for this…this melodramatic confrontation.

  With one last cold stare Will walked through the small crowd as it parted to make way for him. He never looked back as he hit the swinging door and disappeared into the cold morning light.

  Which left Haley at the counter to face her friends alone.

  As mad as she was at Will, she couldn’t help thinking that it was about time she was the one being walked out on. She’d be the first to admit that she deserved it. At least in part. But that didn’t mean she liked it, and it certainly didn’t mean she was going to take that kind of treatment like the timid little mouse she’d once been.

  “Ha!” she huffed in delayed reaction, then stormed out of the diner after him.

  He was opening his truck door when she buzzed down the steps toward him. The loud shuffle of feet could be heard as the diners filed out onto the sidewalk behind her.

  “Will Sutton,” she snapped. “You can judge me and be angry at me if you want to because I left you standing at that altar ten years ago. But hey, guess what? I didn’t see you coming to get me.”

  She’d almost gotten married three times, and the truth was that the only man of the three she’d expected or wanted to come after her had been Will. And he hadn’t.

  Why was that? He’d said he loved her. If you loved someone, didn’t you try to hang on to them? Didn’t you fight for them? Despite their argument and her bruised heart, she’d expected him to care enough to come after her. To try and make things right.

  His cold stare raked over her. “It wouldn’t have mattered if I came after you. You’d made your choice.”

  Speechless at his coldness, Haley watched him climb into his truck, back out onto Main Street then drive away. “It might have,” she whispered into the chilling wind, knowing it was true. She’d been a young woman struggling with self-esteem and identity issues everyone around her seemed oblivious to. Especially the man who professed to love her. Despite what he thought, his coming after her would have mattered. That he didn’t think so still stung. And, amazingly, proved he continued to have the ability to hurt her. Even after all these years.

  Chapter Four

  Haley bit her lip as she realized she’d just made a scene in front of everyone standing behind her. How could wounds so old feel so raw and fresh? She closed her eyes and struggled for calm. She and Will had planned to marry a week before Christmas ten years ago. Their almost wedding anniversary was coming up and, truth be told, there hadn’t been a Christmas season that didn’t pass without her thinking about what might have been…if only he’d cared enough.

  Reeling in her emotions, Haley clasped her palms togethe
r and plastered on a smile as she watched him disappear down the street. She was determined that no one would know just how much she’d been shaken by Will Sutton’s condemnation.

  Condemnation.

  Just who did the man think he was? She frowned, and her temper started escalating again. Sucking in a cleansing breath of cool air, she had to really concentrate to put on her saleswoman’s face—the everything’s-going-my-way face.

  It was hard to do sometimes, but she wasn’t making her way up the ladder of success by accident. Nope, she’d faced harder people than Will over the last few years, kept her wits about her and come out on top. She learned early on that many of her fellow real-estate agents would weasel and lie and connive to take her sales at every opportunity. Five-and six-figure commissions tended to bring out the worst in people. It had taken being tricked out of a few commissions and having to eat peanut butter for a month, but she’d finally smartened up and shucked the small-town gullibility…on the inside. On the outside she learned that her open and friendly face was her number-one moneymaker. Once she’d learned to watch her back and not trust anyone but herself, things had started to happen. Haley could smile with the best of them and charm her way right to the bank. The saying Don’t Get Mad, Get Even went a long way toward the truth.

  Haley spun around, smile in place. “I don’t know about all of you, but a good fight in the morning makes me so hungry I could eat a bear. How about it, Sam? It’s been far too many years since I had your bacon and eggs.”

  To her surprise, everyone was smiling at her even before she’d turned around. It was a bit disconcerting, but instantly her fake smile turned genuine. She had forgotten just how sweet Mule Hollow residents could be.

  “One plate of eggs and bacon coming up, Haley Bell,” Sam said, holding the door for her as everyone parted and let her enter the diner first.

  “See, what’d I tell y’ all,” she heard Applegate say to Norma Sue and Esther Mae as she passed by him. He was grinning, and Haley’s heart felt good in that moment. Since her grandma Birdie had died, he just hadn’t been the same. And though he didn’t say much about it when they talked, Haley knew he missed her something fierce. Again, guilt settled on Haley’s shoulders.

  Before she could sink with the weight of it, the majority of people started telling her goodbye, streaming back out of the diner on their way to work. The exuberant salon owner, Lacy, whom Haley would easily have recognized from Molly Popp’s description in the newspaper columns, threw her arms around her and hugged her. Then she dashed off. It was as if she were standing there one minute and—poof—she was gone with only the swinging door to prove that she had indeed been there. Haley was completely taken by surprise, and she couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her. So that was the woman who’d helped bring about this amazing change in Mule Hollow and its Main Street.

  Haley decided then and there that she would make it a point to meet Lacy again.

  “She’s always like that,” Esther Mae said. “We get a real kick out of that one.”

  “She seems really fun,” Haley said and started to follow her grandpa back to his table.

  “Oh, no you don’t,” Norma Sue said, grasping her by both shoulders and aiming her toward a booth. “Haley Bell, you come sit with us.”

  Haley glanced at Applegate and he started to protest, but Norma Sue cut him off. “Now remember, Applegate, you and Stanley have a checker game calling your names. Besides, you and Haley Bell can visit after y’ all go home.”

  “That’s right,” Esther Mae said, pushing Haley into the booth then scooting in beside her so that Haley had to slide in fast or get sat on.

  Immediately, Adela and Norma Sue sat down across the table and looked expectantly at her. Haley was surrounded, plain and simple. She couldn’t have gotten away from their inquiring eyes if she wanted to.

  “I just have to ask,” Esther Mae cooed, leaning in and batting her lashes. “Who’s your favorite movie star that you’ve met out there?”

  “Well, I—” Haley started to answer but Esther Mae was so excited she kept right on going.

  “I just love that Paul Newman. Cool Hand Luke. You know, that movie he was in, Cool Hand Luke. Oh, he just makes my heart pitter-patter thinking about it. Did you get to meet him yet?”

  “Esther Mae,” Norma Sue snapped. “Calm down, and let the girl talk. So did you? Did you meet Paul Newman? My favorite movie of his is Hud. You know, he was such a good bad boy. Just made you want to reform him yourself.”

  Esther Mae harrumphed. “Talk about hogging the conversation. How’s she supposed to answer with you going on like that? So did ya?”

  Haley met Adela’s laughing blue eyes and smiled. “Yes. His main home is in Connecticut, but actually I did meet Mr. Newman and his lovely wife at a charity that I was attending just last month.”

  “No you didn’t!” exclaimed Esther Mae. “You really did?”

  Haley laughed and nodded. “I really did.”

  Norma Sue sighed and her eyes got all dreamy for a minute. “Was he as cute up close as he is in the movies?”

  Haley assured them that he was.

  “How about that Sean Connery?” Esther Mae asked.

  Haley then gave the ladies a rundown of whom she’d met, who was nice and who she hoped to never have to see again. She was thankful when Sam ambled over with a pot of coffee and her plate of eggs and bacon. It smelled fabulous. Haley had tried becoming a vegetarian when she first left Mule Hollow, but her Texas roots went too deep. She loved bacon and steak, and though she usually ate chicken or fish, she planned to enjoy Sam’s cooking to the fullest while she was here.

  “So tell us about this last man you walked out on—”

  “Esther Mae,” Adela said in her soft voice. “Let’s not pry into Haley’s business.”

  Haley gave Adela a grateful smile, took a bite of crisp bacon and realized that at some point she would have to explain her actions. It was either get it out now or spend the rest of her visit dodging the subject.

  “It’s okay,” she said, wiping her lips with her napkin.

  “See,” Esther Mae said, beaming. “I knew she’d tell us. We’re practically family. Besides, all it takes is a good look at her to know she needs somebody to talk to. And that she’s been working herself to the bone. Really, honey, you’re so thin. You haven’t had any of that liposuction, have you?”

  Haley chuckled. She couldn’t help it; the out-spoken Esther Mae cracked her up. “No lipo for me,” she said, stirring a packet of sugar into her coffee. Thin was fashionable where she lived. To fit in she had to stay “spit-shined and polished,” as Applegate would have called it. “I work out regularly at the gym—I’m too chicken for anything else. Okay, here’s the lowdown. His name is Lincoln Billings, and I shouldn’t have agreed to marry him—”

  “Not that I’m judging or anything,” Sam said, coming over to top off her coffee and refill everyone else’s. “But just ’cause a man asks ya to marry him don’t mean ya gotta say yes.”

  “Sam,” Norma Sue said, frowning and waving him off. “This here is woman talk, if you don’t mind.”

  Sam bristled. “All I’m saying is Haley needs to learn to say no. Seems it’d save her on wedding dresses—”

  “Sam, dear, it’s okay.” Adela placed her hand on his. “You have a very valid point. But we don’t want to overwhelm Haley when she’s only just come home. Especially after going through what she went through.”

  Sam looked down at his wife and melted before Haley’s eyes. The man absolutely adored Adela.

  “You’re right.” Beaming, he patted her hand then strutted toward the kitchen. For a tiny man, he suddenly looked nine feet tall.

  “He is such a dear,” Adela sighed, watching him go before meeting Haley’s gaze. “You know, Haley, one day there’s going to be a man who can truly win your heart and you won’t want to run away anymore. I’ll pray for you on that one.”

  Haley sobered, thinking that one already had won her hear
t. He’d also broken it. And though she’d tried to force her heart back together, she was starting to think it couldn’t be done. She wondered if her hardened heart would ever truly let a man in again. She couldn’t help thinking that it might be too late for her. Maybe that was why she’d said yes to Linc when she’d known better. He’d caught her on a low night, during a beautiful candlelit dinner, and for a little while she’d let herself be…different. She’d pretended that her heart wasn’t jaded and cold.

  But in the end it just hadn’t been enough.

  Three hours later, back at her grandpa’s house, Haley put a call in to her office. It wasn’t pretty.

  “Haley, what is the matter with you?”

  “Sugar, I’m tired. I told you that.” Haley had just finished talking to Linc. It was just as she’d suspected—he was okay and already moving forward.

  Unlike some people she knew, like her assistant, Sugar. There was silence over the telephone line, and she braced for more questions. Sugar didn’t give up easily. That was one reason she made such a great assistant.

  “Look, Haley, you are delusional if you think I’m buying that bit of nonsense. Something is up, and I know it. Look, I know you didn’t love Lincoln, but, girl, I have never seen you pass up a good deal. And Lincoln Billings was a great deal. I don’t mean to hurt your feelings, but I think you must be sick. I mean really sick. This isn’t like you.”

  “Sugar, we’ve already been through this. It was exactly like me. I walked out on two other men before Linc. It’s a pattern.”

  “True, but they weren’t Lincoln Billings. With Linc you had it made.”

  “Sugar, stop it, you’re not selling me a house. The only reason Linc wanted to marry me was because I was a challenge and he was bored. Once the challenge wore off he’d have grown bored again and I’d have joined the ranks of all his other exes.”