Operation: Married by Christmas

by Debra Clopton

  “Hey, Will, what’s up?” Sheri Gentry said, sailing past him to grab the coffeepot. Will sidestepped out of the way. Everyone knew that Sheri, the local nail tech and co-owner with Lacy of the salon Heavenly Inspirations, was a coffee-drinking dynamo. She and her husband, Pace, had just arrived back from a trip to Australia and like Haley, Sheri had a tan that wouldn’t quit.

  “Not much, Sheri. How’s life treating you?”

  She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Peachy.”

  Will chuckled then found himself glancing back toward Haley. He was so surprised to find her walking his way that he almost dropped his cup. He’d been out of line at their last meeting. If they were going to be working together, he had to be a man about it and act like an adult. That meant holding his tongue and keeping the past in the past.

  Haley stopped beside Applegate, resting a hand on App’s crossed arms and lifting an eyebrow. “Interesting group we have for the prop production.”

  It wasn’t a question but a forthright statement that said she, too, hadn’t missed that they were on the same team. And she had her suspicions. Applegate’s expression didn’t change at all. He looked from Haley to Will. “We needed persons with creativity and abilities, and the two of you fit the bill purdy perfect. I ’spect the good Lord was smiling on us when He brought the two of you back here. So, of course, I picked the both of you fer the design team. Now, I got me a good group of painters and such, but seein’ how the two of you is so good at drawin’ I figured y’ all kin git in here first, draw up the different sets Lacy’s askin’ fer and then we kin pull the others away from their other projects to paint.”

  Will met Haley’s gaze and couldn’t miss her look of displeasure. Well, he wasn’t any more thrilled at being thrown in with her than she was. All the years since she’d abandoned him at the altar had left him with emotions he tried to keep buried deep. There was no way of getting around the fact that he’d thought all these years that he still loved her. But he’d realized just this week that there was indeed a fine line between love and hate. And though he didn’t hate Haley, these feelings he’d been carrying around couldn’t still be love. More likely they were a mixture of hurt, loss and longing for what she’d left behind.

  Those feelings seemed to be bubbling to the surface as raw today as they’d been the day he’d met her gaze across the church full of wedding guests and seen her shut down on him. He’d known in that instant that he’d lost her. When she’d turned and run from the church, he hadn’t moved. He’d locked up, knowing she’d made her choice.

  Back in those days Haley had had the most expressive eyes Will had ever seen. They’d had their first fight over his decision not to leave Mule Hollow only days prior to the wedding, and he’d read in the flare of her gaze that she’d chosen to follow her heart. And her heart hadn’t included him. If it had, she’d have respected his decision to seek a simpler life in the town he loved. She’d have chosen to marry him, raise a family and build a quiet life in a place with values—the place he’d felt in his heart was the right place to be. Haley had made it clear that their vision of life was not the same, so he’d let her go.

  Yet all these years he’d thought he still loved her. He must have been wrong. He didn’t even know her.

  How could you love someone you don’t even know?

  There he went, looking at her as if she were gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe. Haley had a bad feeling about this entire setup, and with the way Will was looking at her, it was easy to see he thought this was all her idea. Well, if he thought she was any more pleased at this turn of events than he was, he had another think coming. The last place she wanted to be was spending the time with him that it was evident this project was going to require. This had not been in her plans for returning to Mule Hollow.

  There was no way she and Will were the only semi-artistic people in this entire room. Applegate had something up his scrawny little sleeve. The fact that he suddenly wouldn’t look at her was a big clue. But why? That was the question. What could he possibly gain by throwing her into a situation that required her to work so closely with Will?

  “So,” she said. “It seems we are on the same team.” Like she’d acknowledged earlier, she was taking steps forward and if that meant spending time around Will then so be it. Meanwhile, she needed to keep her cool around Will so that no one would get any silly ideas that she was nervous or fluttery around him. Fluttery, an odd word, but it fit because her insides were feeling like the wings of a thousand butterflies. Maybe Will Sutton made her nauseated.

  “And you two are going to have yor work cut out fer ya. That’s why I picked ya. Haley, we were picking teams the day you drove into town—like I told y’ all, if that ain’t a God thang then I don’t know what is. Instantly, I remembered that time back when you was in high school and y’ all built that puppet set for the elementary school. You remember that?”

  Staring up at Will, Haley couldn’t help remembering how much fun they’d had coming up with the design and building it together. Will had been home from college, and she’d come up with the idea and he’d jumped right in to help her. “We did have fun,” she confessed, knowing there was no way to deny it. The admission startled Will. It showed in his eyes and the way he shifted his head to the side as he studied her. Haley liked that she’d surprised him. He needed to realize she was capable of moving on.

  “Didn’t we?” she asked him, lifting an eyebrow when it suddenly occurred to her the feeling could have been one-sided.

  He nodded first, then answered, “Yes, we did.”

  Applegate snorted. “Yup, this’ll work. I kin tell these thangs.”

  Haley wasn’t so sure about it, but she couldn’t help smiling at the satisfaction radiating from her granddad.

  It was nice to see she was at least making him happy—even if it left her feeling, well, fluttery.

  Chapter Seven

  The following day, with a mixture of dread and an undeniable nagging sense of curiosity, Haley pulled up the drive to Will’s house. She kept reminding herself that she was making her grandpa happy and doing Mule Hollow a service while she was in town relaxing. Relaxing, ha!

  She hadn’t known just how much she’d needed a break until now. Her life had become a whirlwind of meetings and showings, a race to secure the right clients and sell the right properties. After only a few days in Mule Hollow, with its slow pace and country charm, she was startled to see just how much she’d needed to slow down. At least for a few weeks. And she was relaxing…when she didn’t think about Will.

  She could help with the props for the production even if she wouldn’t be around for opening night. Already, her bosses were pushing to know when she was coming back. She’d hedged, but she didn’t know how long that could go on.

  She pushed that aside, though. Today, she was here to discuss sketches. Leave it to Applegate to suggest she and Will work alone the first week designing the sets. When they were ready they could call the rest of the team in for the actual building and painting. Haley wanted to protest, but she kept her mouth shut. Will hadn’t protested or made any kind of complaint, so she certainly wasn’t going to say anything. She didn’t want it to look as if she had any reason for not wanting to work alone with him. So here she was at his house.

  About to be alone with him.

  She wouldn’t focus on that. Instead, she studied his house and tried to settle down. White sandstone with cedar posts and a green metal roof. It was the same home he’d grown up in, but she could see that it had been updated. The metal roof replaced the more traditional shingles, and the room that was lined with floor-to-ceiling windows along the right side of the house was also a new addition. She studied it as she followed the drive around the house. When they’d made plans to meet today, Will had told her to pull her car around back to the shop. The concrete drive spread out into a large round circle at the back of the house. The “shop” turned out to be a smaller version of the house. It sat on the far side of the drive faci
ng the back of the house. Its two garage doors stood open despite the cold.

  After parking her car, Haley climbed out then walked toward the sounds coming from the shop. She found Will standing with his back to her as he worked, Alan Jackson’s song “Remember When” blasting from the radio speakers next to the door. Haley stood still, startled by the sight of Will and the poignant song. She could do nothing but watch Will for a moment.

  He wore boots, scuffed and worn, just like a cowboy liked them. His jeans were pale blue with a white crease line running up the back that marked many washes and stiff starches. She knew the same mark would run parallel up the front of the jeans, accenting the lean length of his legs. Legs that were still, after all these years, so perfectly proportioned with his trim waist and wide shoulders. In his hand he held a torch, and Haley watched as he used it to cut along the sketch on the huge sheet of steel. It was immediately apparent that he was far from a novice at using the flame like a scalpel. She was instantly fascinated watching him work his craft.

  It took her a moment to realize her heart was doing a drum solo inside her chest, completely at odds with the slow hypnotic voice of Alan Jackson imploring her to “remember when.” She readily complied, her memory tumbling back—easily remembering Will’s laugh as they raced along the dry riverbed during the first thunderstorm of the summer. The first feel of his arms as they came around her. The first kiss they’d shared…oh, she remembered all right.

  As if sensing he wasn’t alone, he turned around. Slowly, he lifted the protective glasses he wore and met her gaze with steady eyes.

  “Haley.”

  Haley snapped to, managing a tight smile. “I didn’t mean to startle you,” she said, her heart thundering.

  He shut down the torch and laid it on the steel beside the protective glasses. His hair was flat against his forehead, giving him a youthful appearance—just as she remembered…

  Haley pushed the memories away and walked over to look at his work, hoping her expression didn’t show that she’d just taken a long slow walk down memory lane.

  Looking at his art gave her the cover she needed. She was astounded by it. He’d always been creative and artistic, and she’d admired his own entrance gate when she’d turned onto his drive. Like the piece she was looking at now, she’d been blown away by the intricacy of it.

  “This is phenomenal,” she said, looking at the cutout of a cowboy riding a bucking bronc.

  He turned to stand beside her. “Thank you.”

  She couldn’t help reaching out to touch it, to trace the outline with her finger. “It’s round,” she said, stating the obvious. “What will you do with it?”

  “I’ll make a steel band that it will set in, and then I’ll mount it in that. Like a cameo.”

  He gestured toward a rectangular gate frame filled with bars except for the center. It was going to be a massive gate. A piece of art itself.

  To her relief, Will moved away from her. “I’ll set it today, then powder coat it black and mail it out next week.”

  Haley followed him with her gaze then studied the rest of the room. There were many of the rectangular frames already built in various sizes around the room. Though they were empty, she couldn’t help wondering what would end up in them.

  Applegate had told her that Will was very busy. She could see why. Her gaze boomeranged back around and met his.

  “Did you bring the play and Lacy’s wish list of scenes?”

  Unnerved by his closeness, Haley put on her game face and waved the notebook. “Where do you want to discuss it?”

  He continued to study her for another minute, his expression blank. “Come up to the house. It’s warmer there. I tend to work with the doors open.”

  She wanted to say no. That they should just get to work and get this over with. Instead, glad to leave the awkward moment behind them, she followed him in silence up the walk, past the flower beds that were brimming with pansies, their little purple and yellow faces calmly holding their own in the cold morning air. Will had always had a way with plants, a trait he’d inherited from his father. It was a quirk she’d liked about him. Not many young men actually enjoyed fiddling with flowers. Will hadn’t ever seemed to mind that the other cowboys teased him about it.

  Looking at his handiwork, Haley took heart from the strength of the dainty flowers facing the chill. “So,” she said, turning to the safety of small talk. “I love what you’ve done with the place. Where are your parents now?”

  “They moved to Austin a few years back. They wanted to be closer to my sister and her kids, and Dad wanted to get my mom closer to her doctors. She’s had some health issues.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” And she was. His parents were lovely people. His mother was an especially gracious and godly woman. “I’m sure being near Terri and the kids is good for her.”

  “We think so.”

  He held the door for her, and she brushed past him as she stepped into the kitchen of his home. It was an odd feeling to step into the house she’d thought she would share…. Haley pushed the thought away.

  She was a strange, strange woman. A week ago she’d been about to marry another man, and here she was now reminiscing about Will Sutton.

  “Can I take your coat?”

  She jumped at the sound of his voice so close beside her and at the touch of his hands on her shoulders. He was only touching her to help her out of her coat, for goodness sake.

  “Oh, sure. Thank you. It’s warm here…I freeze—”

  “I remember.”

  She met his gaze over her shoulder and a ridiculous little tremor raced along her spine. He remembered.

  “Yes, well,” she laughed, her nerves showing. “I’m sure you would. I complained enough.”

  Yanking her arms free of the coat, she all but ran away from him, totally mad at her weak knees. But he smelled so good. Always had.

  Lifting her chin, she walked to the far side of his kitchen, putting as much space between them as possible. She leaned her hip against the counter, wrapped her arms across her waist and watched him hang her coat on the rack next to the door. The room rang with the silence.

  There was nothing between them. Nothing.

  Hadn’t been for almost a decade, yet she was at a loss for words. She’d better get over it or this project wasn’t ever going to get finished. Besides, he wasn’t showing any emotion at all.

  “Can I offer you something to drink? Coffee, soda?”

  She shook her head. “No thanks,” she said, intent on getting to work. “How did you start doing gates?” That was not what she’d intended to ask. She’d intended to tell him it was time to get to work. She didn’t need to know any personal details about his life.

  He opened the refrigerator and turned his back to her as he studied the interior. “After you left, I went ahead and used my degree in architecture, but I wasn’t happy with my work. So, when I discovered a way out I never looked back.”

  “I see.” Haley nodded, thinking she heard a double meaning to the words never looked back. She decided now was a perfect time to put them back on track…before she said something she might regret. “I think the drawings will be fairly easy to sketch out,” she said, feeling stiff and awkward.

  He turned, holding a pitcher of tea. The man had always loved sweet tea. It was amazing with all that sugar that he’d kept such a sleek physique—that she had no business admiring. What a dope she was!

  She swung around, flopped open the notebook she’d laid on the counter and studied the first idea. She concentrated hard on it. They were going to open the story up with Mary and Joseph arriving home after becoming man and wife. They needed a backdrop of the interior of their home. There was also a small bridge in several scenes. “Have you thought any about the bridge?” she asked, listening to him fill glasses with ice and feeling as if she was coming down with a case of the shakes.

  “Actually, I already started it. I couldn’t sleep after the meeting last night so I went out to th
e shop, and the next thing I knew I was building a bridge.”

  She smiled at him over her shoulder, despite her growing discomfort. “You never were much of a procrastinator.” He didn’t smile, but the corner of his lips curved slightly. A frog suddenly settled in Haley’s windpipe, and she was grateful for the tea he handed her. Their fingers brushed as she took the glass, and Haley felt the touch all the way to her toes. Will pulled his hand away, seemingly unaffected.

  She was obviously crazy.

  “I don’t have a lot of time to waste,” he said, sipping his tea.

  The clock above the stove ticked the seconds out as they stared at each other. “Then we’re in the same boat. I have a job to get back to. So the sooner we get it done, the quicker both of us can get on with our lives.” There, she felt better. She met his steady gaze straight on.

  Tick. Tick. Tick.

  “Right,” he agreed.

  Haley watched his Adam’s apple bob.

  Tick. Tick. Tick.

  “Sooo, let’s get to it,” she said, swinging back toward the papers on the counter.

  When Will stepped up beside her, leaning over the papers to study them, her heart jumped—again. What was she doing? This was crazy. She couldn’t take it—“Okay,” she snapped, pushing away from the counter and the inch that separated their arms from touching. She stomped across the room to the far counter and swung around to glare at him. “I can’t do this.” No, Haley, no!