Bayside Promises

by Stacy Claflin

  The woman turned to her son. “Did you really do that?”

  “I, uh, well, see… Dylan, he said—”

  She grabbed his ear and pulled him toward the door. “We talked about this. You’re grounded, pal. No more video games all summer.”

  “Mom!”

  The teen smirked at her brother, and their dad turned to Sullivan. “Looks like we’ll have to skip the open house today.”

  Sullivan handed him a card. “You can always have a look when it’s more convenient for you.”

  “Thanks.”

  The oven timer dinged. Sullivan headed for the kitchen and took out the cookies. He went to grab the rest of his lunch when the front door opened and conversation drifted his way. It sounded like another couple.

  He went out to the entrance. “Hey, there. How are you two do—” His voice caught in his throat.

  Haley. She was with Emilio Herrera, who had been their homecoming king.

  Sullivan cleared his throat. “How are you two today?”

  Emilio dusted some rain droplets from his expensive-looking coat. “I’d be better if the sun would return.”

  “Wouldn’t we all?” Sullivan forced a laugh.

  Emilio turned to Haley and ran his hands through his slicked-back hair. “I’m going to look around on my own.”

  Haley smiled at him. She looked like an angel. “Whatever makes you feel most comfortable.”

  Jealousy gnawed at Sullivan.

  Emilio headed down the hall, leaving Sullivan and Haley alone. She looked around and studied a framed Monet print on the wall. Haley wore a simple green top with a long denim skirt, but she still managed to look stunning. His pulse raced.

  She was the competition, regardless of the fact that she hadn’t returned to town just to stick it to him. He needed to stay focused on business and remain professional.

  Her hair bounced a little as she tilted her head, continuing to study the painting. Sullivan remembered how soft it had been at the beach when he’d held it between his fingers. That only reminded him of how soft her lips had been…

  Sullivan cleared his throat. Before he had a chance to look away, she turned and met his gaze. She’d caught him watching her. So much for professional.

  “Yes?” Haley arched an eyebrow.

  He was as tongue-tied as the bully trying to explain his misdeeds to his mom. “How’s business?” he spit out.

  “Do you care?” Anger flashed across her face. She was beautiful, even when mad.

  “I deserved that,” he admitted.

  She nodded and turned back to the painting.

  “Are you a fan of Monet?”

  Haley spun around, her eyes narrowed. “What’s with you? You made it clear how you felt about me the other night.”

  Sullivan looked away. “I need to bring out the fresh cookies.”

  “Great.”

  He stood tall and took heavy steps into the kitchen, conflicted. He wanted to make things right, but he couldn’t bring himself to express his fault to her. Sure, she was well aware of what he’d said, but saying sorry out loud was more than he could do right then.

  Thirteen

  Haley struggled to breathe normally. It was so hard to stay angry around Sullivan. Yeah, he’d been a jerk—he was a man, what else could she expect?—but he’d also helped Jensyn not once, but twice. And good heavens, did he look good in that suit! It didn’t do anything to hide his muscular frame.

  Why had she agreed to take Emilio to the open house? She should’ve known Sullivan would be there—he was so proud about being the only realtor in Enchantment Bay.

  Where was Emilio? She needed to talk him into looking at another house. She could think of at least five reasons to convince him this wasn’t the home for him.

  Sullivan came into the room with a plateful of cookies. They smelled as delicious as he looked.

  Stop it.

  Haley glanced back at the painting. “Maybe I should check on Emilio.”

  “Okay. Would you like some free advice?”

  He was as annoying as he was attractive. She spun around. “What?”

  “When a client says they want to look on their own, they want to be left alone until they have a question. Then they’ll find you.”

  “I know that. He’s been gone a while. Maybe he’s lost.”

  The corners of his mouth twitched. She studied the molding around the door before she forgot to be irritated with him.

  “He’s only been looking for a little over five minutes, and it’s a rambler. Hard to get lost.”

  Haley’s cheeks burned. Had it only been five minutes? It felt like an eternity. Longer, actually.

  Her phone rang. Saved by the bell. She went to the hall and answered it. “Hello?”

  “Hales.” It was Jensyn, and her voice was strained.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “I fell and hurt my wrist. I think it’s broken!”

  Haley’s stomach twisted in knots. “Where are you?”

  “Home.”

  “I’m showing a house. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Haley ended the call, turned around, and nearly ran into Sullivan.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “My sister thinks she broke her wrist.”

  “Go help her. Don’t worry about Emilio. I’ll take care of him for you.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Sure you will.”

  “I won’t steal your client, Haley. I’ll tell him you had a family emergency and answer any questions he has.”

  “Even though I stole him from you by the simple act of coming to town?”

  He shook his head. “I know you didn’t come to town to ruin me. I was tired and upset when I said that.”

  She waited. He didn’t apologize.

  “Go and take care of Jensyn. Emilio will be fine, and I’ll explain that you had a family emergency.”

  Haley hesitated, still not sure she trusted him with her client.

  “Look. If he gets the house, we both win, right? I sell the house, your client buys it.”

  “That’s the way it usually works.”

  “Go. And if you need anything, let me know.”

  Right. “Thanks.”

  She hurried out of the house and sped back home, keeping an eye out for cops. Inside the house, Jensyn sat on the couch, icing her wrist.

  “What happened?” Haley rushed over and looked at her wrist. Other than being red from the ice, it looked completely normal. No swelling or anything. “Are you sure you broke it?”

  Jensyn grimaced. “It sure feels like it.”

  “What were you doing?”

  “Trying to clean the gutters. I slipped.”

  “Off the roof?” Haley exclaimed.

  “No,” Jensyn snapped. “Dad’s step stool.”

  Haley rose. “Let’s go. Do you have an insurance card? I never thought to ask Mom about that.”

  “In my wallet.” Jensyn got up and nodded toward her purse. “Can you grab that?”

  She did, and looked around for anything else they might need and helped her sister into the car. “Why were you cleaning the gutters in the rain?”

  “I was thinking about it.”

  “Maybe we can do that together later—when it’s sunny.”

  “You don’t have to convince me.”

  They made it to the Urgent Care in under ten minutes. Before long, Jensyn was checked in. They’d barely sat in the waiting room when a nurse called for her.

  “You want me to go with you?” Haley asked.

  “Nah. I’m okay.”

  For a few minutes, Haley watched a cartoon on the waiting room television, but she quickly grew bored and checked her messages. Nothing.

  “Sullivan had better keep his word,” she mumbled. Then she sent Emilio a quick text apologizing for taking off.

  No prob. Sully told me. Can we look at more tomorrow?

  Works for me.

  Cu then.

  OK.

  She sighed in rel
ief. Sullivan had kept his word. Maybe it would be possible for them to be friends—and only friends.

  Haley went back to her email to see if any of her clients had contacted her. She had a few messages plus some regarding clients back in Portland. A fixer-upper on a huge lot she’d been trying to sell forever finally had a serious offer from a developer. Her heart raced. If that went through, she wouldn’t have to worry too much about selling homes over the summer.

  Her fingers flew over the phone’s screen as she emailed her client, her boss, and the other typical people. Excitement ran through her. She’d thought that lot would languish forever because the house was so dilapidated. Now that someone was interested in the property, everyone would be happy—Haley, the couple in Montana who’d inherited the house, and the developer.

  “What are you so happy about?”

  Haley looked up to see Jensyn, now with a soft cast on her wrist. “Is it broken?”

  “Just a hairline fracture. Apparently it hurts bad, but is barely injured. I have to wear this ugly thing for two or three weeks to keep it from getting hurt again. It’s supposed to heal itself.”

  “That’s good news.”

  “It’s going to make everything difficult. How am I going to manage the trays at work?”

  “If you need to do lighter work, I’m sure they’ll understand.”

  “But I just started!”

  Haley rose and patted her shoulder. “It’ll all work out. You’ll see. Let’s get going.”

  “They want to talk to you.”

  “Me? Why?”

  “I guess to see if I was telling the truth.”

  “Why wouldn’t you be?”

  “Got me.” Jensyn took a seat and laughed at the cartoon.

  Haley went back to where a nurse stood.

  “Are you Jensyn’s sister?”

  “Yes, I—”

  “Come with me.” She led her past double doors and into a small exam room with smiling animals painted on the walls. “Were you there when your sister fell?”

  “No, I was working.”

  The nurse wrote on a pad of paper. “Doing what?”

  “Showing a house. I’m a realtor.”

  Her expression perked. “Do you work for Gary Hunter?”

  “No, I’m—”

  “When were you made aware of Jensyn’s injury?”

  “When she called me.”

  “What did you do?”

  Haley recounted everything between her call from Jensyn to their arrival at the clinic.

  “Did you know she was going to be cleaning the gutters by herself?”

  “No idea. She was sleeping when I left.”

  “Did you see the step stool she allegedly fell from?”

  Allegedly? “Yes. It was lying on its side in the yard.”

  “Okay. Thank you. Stay here.” The nurse left. Five long minutes later, another woman came in. She shook Haley’s hand. “I’m Dr. Amati. You’re Jensyn’s sister?”

  Haley took a deep breath. “Yes. My name is Haley.”

  Dr. Amati went through the same questions the nurse had asked, only worded slightly differently. Haley did her best to act natural as she replied, but she couldn’t help fearing family services would take Jensyn from the home—which would’ve been the ultimate irony considering she’d been in more danger when Dad had been alive.

  The doctor left, instructing Haley to wait again. She returned with the same nurse, and they asked the same questions again.

  Why not just give her a lie detector test? That would’ve been quicker than all of this questioning. Her story wasn’t going to change, no matter how hard they pressed.

  Finally, Dr. Amati shook Haley’s hand again and thanked her for her time.

  Haley couldn’t get to the waiting room fast enough.

  “What took you so long?” Jensyn asked. “That took longer than my x-ray and fitting for this stupid cast. They brought out one that was too big at first.”

  Haley’s nerves were shot. “Let’s just go home. Do you need anything? Did they give you a prescription?”

  “Just to keep this dumb thing on. I can have regular painkillers if I want.”

  “I don’t know about you, but I could go for takeout and a mindless movie.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “Just promise me one thing.”

  “What?” Jensyn arched a brow.

  “Don’t hurt yourself again this summer.”

  “Trust me, I don’t plan to.”

  Haley hoped this would be the last of the excitement anytime soon.

  Fourteen

  Sullivan ended the call and kicked his feet up on the coffee table. He, his brothers, and cousins were planning the ultimate guys’ campout in a few weeks. So far it looked like everyone could make it, so they should have a solid ten Hunter men. Dad and Uncle Robert had even expressed interest, though neither had committed.

  He grabbed a slice of pizza from the box and turned the TV on, looking for a game. Once he found one, he tried focusing, but his mind kept wandering to Haley. He hadn’t seen her for a week since she ran off to help Jensyn.

  He’d been tempted to call and see if everything was okay, but he was probably the last person she wanted to hear from—she certainly hadn’t been eager to talk with him at the open house.

  Planning the guys’ week had been the perfect distraction, but now at home—alone on a sunny Saturday afternoon—Haley seemed like the only interesting thing to think about. Sighing, he focused on the game. The other team had the bases loaded, but would still be behind even if they got a grand slam.

  Maybe he should just call Haley to see how she and her sister were doing. If she didn’t hang up on him, he could invite her—or the both of them—to lunch the next day. His heart skipped a beat at the thought. He didn’t realize until that moment just how much he wanted to see Haley.

  He grabbed his phone and called her.

  “Hi, Sullivan.” Conversation sounded in the background.

  She’d answered. That was a good start. He smiled, knowing it would come through in his tone. “Hi, Haley. How are you doing?”

  “Fine.” Her voice was so flat, she was clearly anything but fine.

  “Are you sure?”

  She sighed. “Yeah. Do you need something?”

  “Just calling to see how you are. How’s Jensyn?”

  “Fine.”

  Haley wasn’t hanging up on him, but she wasn’t giving him much to work with, either. “Do you need anything?”

  “Nope.”

  Shrieking sounded in the background.

  “Where are you?”

  “At the beach.”

  Sullivan got up and put the pizza box in the fridge. “Sure you don’t need anything?”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  “Okay. Nice talking to you.”

  “You, too.” The call ended.

  Sullivan headed upstairs to his room and changed into swim shorts and a t-shirt with a surfboard logo across the front. He was going to the beach, and if he couldn’t get that girl to smile, he would throw her into the bay. And if that didn’t work… Well, he’d have the car ride over to think about that.

  He threw a couple towels, some snacks, and a few other beach items into a bag and headed to his car. He stopped at his parents’ coffee stand and ordered two iced mochas.

  His mom raised an eyebrow. “Any chance you want to tell me about the double order? Or am I to assume you’ve developed a caffeine addiction?”

  Dad peeked around the corner and nodded for Sullivan to spill it.

  Sullivan sighed. There were no other customers for the moment, so what could it hurt? “It’s Haley Faraway.”

  Mom’s eyes widened. “She’s back in town? How is she?”

  “She was fine until I happened.”

  “Mind explaining?” she asked.

  Dad sat on a stool behind Mom, and he rested his chin on his palm.

  Sullivan leaned against the counter and explained the si
tuation, while Mom nodded in the right spots and stayed quiet.

  When he was done, she looked into his eyes. “Let me get this straight. You got ticked off at her because the client picked her?”

  “It sounds worse when you say it.”

  “Actually, it sounded pretty bad when you said it too, honey.”

  Dad nodded in agreement.

  “Fine, I was in idiot. I let my temper get the best of me. Again. Hopefully these coffees will help.”

  Mom rolled her eyes and shook her head.

  “What?” Sullivan asked.

  “Just be honest with her, Sully. Tell her you messed up, and you want to make it right. She’ll appreciate it.”

  “Maybe.”

  “She will. Now get outta here before the ice melts.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” He got back into his car and headed for the beach.

  The parking lot was even fuller after the previous weekend had been rainy and gray. Sullivan drove around, following a couple other cars. A full twenty minutes later, he had his parking spot.

  Hopefully, Haley was still there.

  He grabbed his bag and headed for the spot she’d picked before. She wasn’t there. He glanced around, not seeing her or her umbrella. She hadn’t headed out of town to a different beach, had she?

  Sullivan walked the length of the beach, stepping over and around people. Finally, he spotted her on the grass, away from the crowd, near the trail. He adjusted the bag over his shoulder, while balancing the two drinks, and marched toward her, ready for the challenge of cheering her up. He’d been somewhat of a clown as a kid, so he could draw from that. It was still in there somewhere, buried under paperwork, house listings, and crunched numbers.

  Haley sat on her blanket, half under the umbrella with her legs tucked up close and her chin resting on her knees. She was beautiful and mysterious, but she also seemed incredibly sad. Sullivan frowned, wondering how much of that he’d caused.

  He cleared his throat. “What a surprise running into you.”

  She glanced up, her eyes wide with surprise. “Is that why you brought two coffees?”

  “Hey, a man builds up a thirst at the beach.” He grinned. “But since you’re here, you may as well have one.” He held one out.