by Sharon Sala
“He was hanging a light fixture at his mother’s house and said it just broke. I need to move the car and then get inside. Thanks again,” she said, and jumped into her car.
“Slowly!” Bullard yelled.
Haley nodded, pulled out of the drive and into a nearby parking place, then jumped out and dashed past him through the door.
They’d cut the sleeve off Mack’s shirt and were cleaning out the wound when Haley flew into the cubicle.
“Make sure it didn’t cut—”
“Honey, I’m okay,” Mack said.
Haley sank against the wall as her legs began to shake. Now that his care was out of her hands, the adrenaline racing through her system was beginning to ebb, sending her crashing.
“Thank goodness,” she said. “I’ll just wait over there in that chair…out of the way.”
She stumbled out of the cubicle and into the chair across the hall, and sat down with a thump. Someone came over and slid into the seat beside her.
“Hi, Haley. It’s me, Myrna Fisher. I used to babysit you, do you remember?”
Haley looked at the nurse, then nodded. “Of course I remember you. How have you been?”
“About the same. Sorry about your father,” she said.
Haley nodded.
“Mack’s going to be okay,” Myrna said, then patted Haley’s arm. “I haven’t seen you since the night of your graduation. I was on duty that night when they brought all you kids in.”
Haley shuddered. Sitting like this in the E.R. had brought back all the bad memories. And then having Mrs. Fisher refer to it again just emphasized the unhappiness.
“I don’t remember,” Haley said.
“And no wonder,” Myrna said. “That was a bad night. Both boys hurt so bad. You were the miracle of it all. We couldn’t get over the fact that you’d walked in on your own steam when they were in such bad shape. You were blessed, honey…and meant to survive. You saved them.”
“Not Stewart,” Haley said. “Stewart died.”
“But not from neglect. You did your part. The doctor who operated was a genius. Everyone was donating blood to help. I remember the panic when we typed Stewart’s blood and found out it was AB negative. That’s pretty rare. Even though Mr. Brolin was a match and donated, it still didn’t save him.”
At first, it didn’t sink it. And then suddenly, Haley sat up. “Mr. Brolin donated blood for my brother?”
“Yes.”
“Not my dad. Not my mom. Mr. Brolin?”
Suddenly Myrna realized what she’d inadvertently revealed. Her face flushed, and she averted her gaze. “Oh. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. Please…I shouldn’t have—”
She jumped up and hurried away, but the damage had been done.
Haley’s thoughts had gone into free fall. Her mother used to date Tom Brolin. Tom Brolin, not her dad, had the same blood type as Stewart.
“Oh. My. God.”
Someone tapped Haley on the arm. “Mack’s getting stitches now. He’s asking for you.”
Haley hurried back into the cubicle as they were deadening the area to be stitched. Mack was white-lipped and pale, but he managed a crooked smile when he saw her walk in.
“There’s my girl,” he said softly, and held out his hand.
She clutched it gratefully, then stood by his side, watching intently as the doctor took fifteen stitches to close the cut.
After a bandage, a prescription for pain relievers and a reminder to call for an appointment to have the stitches removed later, they were ready to go.
“I need to move the car up to the drive-through,” Haley said, as an orderly went to get a wheelchair for Mack.
“Wait,” he said, and then tugged at her hand.
She leaned over the bed and kissed him square on the mouth, groaning beneath her breath as she pulled back.
“You scared me,” she said.
“Scared myself, too,” Mack said, and then frowned at her. “You know what this means, don’t you?”
Haley glanced at the bandage on his arm, then at his face. What had she missed while she was sitting outside? Her heartbeat skipped, then settled back into rhythm.
“What?”
“For a while, you’re going to have to be the one on top.”
Her eyes widened, and then she smirked.
“You’re impossible, and I’m going to get the car. Don’t do anything weird until I get back.”
“Then we can be weird together?” he asked, with an overly innocent expression on his face.
Haley was still laughing as she went outside to get her car.
Lord, please let this work the second time around.
Lena was walking in circles. She had been for hours. One of her friends had called telling her she’d seen Haley having tea with Retta and Judy. She kept telling herself it meant nothing. That the little bitch was only seeing an old friend before leaving town. Lena wouldn’t—couldn’t—let herself believe that, after all these years and everything she’d done to keep her secret, it might be coming undone.
But she knew how headstrong Haley was. If she said she wanted answers, she wouldn’t stop until she got them. Lena couldn’t let that happen. She had a reputation to maintain. Good women didn’t get pregnant without the sanctity of marriage. And then Stewart whispered in her ear. Good women don’t lie. Good women don’t kill.
She slapped her hands over her ears and turned frantically, screaming at a ghost only she could hear.
“Stop it, Stewart! Stop it! I didn’t know! It wasn’t my fault! She should have told me!”
She’s going to tell. She’s going to tell.
Lena screamed, then picked up a vase and threw it at Stewart, but Stewart wasn’t there, so the vase shattered against the wall.
She stared at the broken glass, then took a deep breath and went to get a broom.
“Waste not. Want not,” she mumbled, and began to clean up the mess she’d made.
Haley took Mack back to her motel, rather than his house, and with a lot less fuss than when they’d left. He needed to sleep, she said, and his house smelled like fresh paint. Normally he would have opened the windows and let the place air until the scent was gone. But he didn’t feel like any more discomfort, so he let Haley have her way. Besides, he liked being babied. It was a new and exciting prospect, being fussed over by the only woman he’d ever loved.
“Your shirt is a goner,” Haley said, as she helped him pull the knit fabric over his head, then dropped the bloody now-one-sleeved garment onto the floor beside the bed.
“The pain pills are kicking in,” he muttered. “My head is fuzzy.”
“Your head is gorgeous,” Haley said, as she pulled back the covers to her king-size bed, then unbuttoned his jeans and pulled them down to his knees. “Sit.”
Mack didn’t argue. “Are we making love?” he asked.
Haley snorted. “Eventually, but not right now. I do not intend for those stitches to pull out.”
“But you could be on top, remember?” he argued.
She bent over and pulled off one of his boots, then the other, grinning as she worked. Then she pulled off his jeans and socks, and stood.
“You can lie back now, honey,” she said.
Mack stretched out on the bed, wincing as he bumped his arm against the mattress, then closed his eyes and mumbled, “Have your way with me, woman. I’m ready.”
It was the last thing he said before he passed out.
Haley covered him up, then picked up his jeans and boots, and carried them to her closet. She paused a moment to watch him sleep and was unprepared for the surge of emotion that swept through her. Tears blurred her vision as she quickly turned away. She was still having trouble grasping the fact that she was no longer alone in this world, and that, if she wanted, she was about to embark on a life with this man—this crazy, wonderful, hardheaded man.
She started to take off her own coat when the cell phone in her pocket bumped against her leg. She thought of w
hat she’d learned. All it would take was a phone call and she would know for sure if it was the truth. Without taking time to talk herself out of acting, she took her room key and stepped outside to make one last call.
Lena was on her hands and knees on the kitchen floor with a toothbrush and a bucket of water, scrubbing at the grout lines in the white tiled floor. When the phone suddenly rang, it startled her. She started to let the answering machine pick up, and then she heard her daughter’s voice and hurried to answer.
“Hello? Haley? Is that you?”
Haley frowned. Her mother sounded strange…almost frantic.
“Yes, it’s me. Are you all right?”
Lena looked back at the floor. There were tracks all over it. How many times was she going to have to tell Judd and Tom to quit walking on her wet floors?
“I’m fine,” she said, and swiped a piece of hair away from her face. “What do you want?”
“I just wanted to tell you…I know.”
Lena’s heart stopped. She drew a deep, shuddering breath as her heart finally kicked back in.
“Know what?”
“About Stewart…and Tom Brolin.”
Lena’s ears started buzzing. She shook her head and then put the phone back to her ear.
“There’s nothing to know. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You and Tom Brolin used to date in high school. You were a couple, right?”
“Shut up,” Lena muttered, a strange light entering her eyes.
“The night of the wreck, Stewart needed a blood transfusion. Daddy’s blood wasn’t a match. Tom Brolin donated blood to try to save Stewart’s life, but it didn’t help.”
“Stop talking,” Lena said.
But Haley wouldn’t stop. There were too many years of lies between them. The truth had to come out to set them both free.
“Mother, it’s not the biggest deal in the world.”
“I told you to stop talking. You never listen to me, do you, Haley? No matter what I say, you always do the opposite. I have never been able to trust you…even now.”
She hung up the phone in Haley’s ear.
It wasn’t the abrupt click that bothered Haley as much as the odd, almost calm tone in her mother’s voice. But the ice had been broken. Before she left Stars Crossing, she would try to talk to her again. They would never be friends, but she would like this war between them to be over.
Haley couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d learned. When Mack woke up, she had to find a way to tell him, too. He deserved to know. She wondered if Stewart had known, and then guessed he hadn’t. Knowing her mother, that was a secret Lena had intended to take to her grave—until the night of the wreck. Then she’d probably been forced to sneak away somehow to tell Tom Brolin. She doubted that he’d known before. As close as he was to his children, she couldn’t imagine him denying his own son. Or maybe he’d never known. Maybe he’d just donated blood like everyone else had been doing that night.
Then it hit her. Had Daddy known? She would bet not. God, what a mess.
Mack woke in the middle of the night, needing to make a trip to the bathroom, trying to figure out why his arm hurt—and pretty sure he was dreaming, because Haley was asleep beside him. And then he remembered the events of the past thirty-six hours, his trip to the E.R. and the fact that he was coming down off pain pills, which explained his confusion.
As soon as he moved, Haley was awake.
“What do you need?” she asked.
“You,” he said, and leaned over for a kiss.
She kissed him briefly, then threw back the covers and flew out of bed before coming around to help him up.
“Honey, it’s my arm that hurts, not my legs,” Mack said.
Haley blinked. “Oh. Yeah. Right. I guess I woke up in ‘nurse mode.’ Do you need any help?”
“I’m going to the bathroom. You can come if you want.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you wish. Go do your thing. And bring back a glass of water. It’s time to take your pills.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Haley sat down on the side of the bed, shook two pills into her hand and then stared at the floor, unable to get her mother’s story out of her head. For the first time in her life, she thought she understood what had made her mother tick. Shame. Everything that had set her off had been related to gossip or shame. Haley’s shoulders slumped, as she wished she’d known all this years ago, but at the same time, wondering if it would have mattered. She still loved Mack Brolin with all her heart. Thank God it had been Stewart who’d been the cuckoo in the nest and not her. If she and Mack had turned out to be half brother and half sister, it would have killed them both.
She jumped as Mack appeared beside her.
“I didn’t hear you coming.”
“I noticed,” he said, took the pills out of her hand and downed them, then chased them with the water he’d brought. “Yum,” he said, as the last one went down. “I missed lunch…and dinner.”
Haley focused. “I have food,” she said, and got her carryall and dumped the junk food she’d picked up earlier out onto the bed. “Eat up.”
Mack dug through the assortment, and chose a package of peanut butter crackers and a package of Twinkies. “Don’t suppose you have a can of pop in there?”
“There’s a pop machine at the end of the walkway,” Haley said. “I’ve got change.”
“Honey, I was kidding. Water is perfect. Don’t go outside. It’s too damn cold.”
She stopped. “You’re sure?”
“Hell, yes, I’m sure. What’s the matter with you, anyway? I know you well enough to know something besides me is on your mind. Did you have another run-in with your mother?”
Haley sighed, then sat back down beside Mack, took the peanut butter crackers out of his hand, opened them for him and handed them back without thinking.
Mack smiled. She was something—still in nurse mode even when distracted.
“Thank you, baby,” he said softly, and began to eat.
“I know why our parents were at war. I know why my mother hated your family.”
“Really?” Mack asked, as he reached for another cracker, popped it in his mouth and started to chew. “Why?”
“My mom and your dad were once a couple in high school. Stewart was your half brother.”
Mack choked, then coughed as he reached for the water.
Haley waited. She knew exactly how he felt.
“What the hell?” he asked, when he finally caught his breath. “How do you know? Are you sure?”
“The night of the wreck, your dad donated blood, trying to save Stewart’s life.”
“Honey, lots of people donated blood,” Mack said. “You’re just reaching for—”
“Stewart’s blood type was AB negative. So was your dad’s.”
Mack froze. Holy shit.
“You’re sure Judd wasn’t also—”
“O negative…same as me.”
“And your Mom?”
“O positive.”
“Good God, Haley.”
She looked at him and then sighed. “I know.”
“How?” Then he grimaced. “I mean…I know how, but—”
“My mom and your dad used to date. They were quite the item in high school, until your mother moved to town. After that, it seems he only had eyes for her.”
“Who told you that?” he asked.
“Judy. Retta’s mom. I had tea with them this morning and started asking Judy questions. She told me all about their high school romance. Then today, when you were getting stitches, a nurse who used to babysit me started talking about the night of the wreck and let it slip about your dad’s blood type. The minute she said it, she freaked and left, but it suddenly all made sense, you know?”
“Do you think your dad knew?” he asked.
“I’m pretty sure he didn’t. He wasn’t the type to be long-suffering.”
“So now what?” he asked.
“Now
nothing. I have an explanation I can live with. Even my dad was second best, and I…I was nothing at all. I feel sorry for my mom, but not enough to try to be buddy-buddy. Besides, she’s the kind of woman who’s big on propriety. If she admitted that I’m right, she would never be able to sell her perfect persona anymore.”
“Are you sad?”
“About what? Nothing has changed. Except us. And that would never make me sad.” Then she smiled and leaned against him briefly. “Eat your Twinkies, Mr. Man. You need to lie back down.”
“Aren’t you going to open the package for me?” he asked.
Haley snorted. “Not if I have to be on top, too.”
Mack grinned. “God, I am so going to love growing old with you.”
Haley started to laugh and wound up crying. Mack looked horrified. She sighed, and took one of the Twinkies.
“It’s not you. It’s me. I’ve had too many shocks for one day…including the fact that you still want me.”
She held up her Twinkie.
“I propose a toast. To us,” she said, and tipped the end of her Twinkie against his, then took a bite.
Mack took a bite of his Twinkie, too, then kissed her. She tasted like sponge cake and sweet, sticky frosting. When he drew back, she sighed, then leaned against him and finished her snack.
Mack stuffed the last of his Twinkie in his mouth and then lay back down. Only this time, his eyes didn’t close.
“Have your way with me,” he said.
So she did.
Chapter 7
T he past six days had been a godsend. Haley quit fighting her hesitation to commit to Mack, and gave in to going to Frankfort with him and trying on a new love affair for size. All that was holding them up now was trying to finish his mother’s house.
She peeled the last bit of masking tape from the bedroom wall and then stuffed it in the trash bag.
“That’s the last of the tape. Are we done?”
Mack nodded. “That’s it. The house is finished, and none too soon. I need to be in Frankfort by day after tomorrow for sure. Have you emailed your boss yet?”
Haley grinned. “Yesterday. I am now officially unemployed. You’re going to have to take care of me or I’ll be homeless.”