Nate and Hailey
The Sunnydale Weddings, Book One
Constance Phillips
Copyright for Nate and Hailey, Sunnydale Weddings, Book One © 2017, Constance Phillips
Editor: Gilly Wright
Cover Artist: Aileen Harkwood
Cover Photo: Elizabeth and Aaron Lomax
All Rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage system without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used factiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The following trademarks appear in Nate and Hailey, Sunnydale Weddings, Book One. The authors acknowledge the trademarked status of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction: Jell-O, Starbucks, Google, Google Maps
Dedication
This book is dedicated to all those who step up to be parents—and create families—for the children who need someone.
And to all of those who read All That’s Unspoken and the other books in the Sunnydale Days series and wanted to know more about what happened to these couples. I hope you enjoy the
Sunnydale Weddings Series
When we last saw Nate and Hailey, she’d kept her promise to be the woman he kissed at midnight.
A year later, it is their wedding day—the day she, Nate, and Lori become a family…If only the woman who gave birth to Nate’s six-year-old daughter would sign the necessary paperwork.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Save the Date
Other Books By Constance Phillips
Chapter One From All That’s Unspoken
Chapter One
When Nate slid his mouth from Hailey’s, settling it on her chin, she immediately hungered for another taste. Gliding her hand behind his head, she tried to guide him back.
“I need to go,” he mumbled against her lips.
She pressed her forehead to his. “No!”
“Yes!”
She opened her eyes and gave him her best pout. “This whole idea was incredibly stupid. Why did I ever agree to a month of abstinence with you?”
“Because it will make the honeymoon more special.”
She stuck out her bottom lip again. “I miss you. Like crazy.” Her insides turned to Jell-O as his mouth grazed her neck again.
“Me too.”
After another moment, he sat up straight and pulled himself from the couch. “Rhonda and our sisters will be here with Lori soon, and your brother and my father will be waiting for me at the Blue Water Inn.”
When they left the rehearsal dinner an hour ago, Rhonda, Kelly, and Lori had disappeared to do what her cousin, her sister, and his daughter called, in unison, some last-minute wedding party errands. It was doubtful about how much errand-running Nate’s six-year-old Lori was interested in, beyond being allowed to stay out late with the big girls. Nate’s sister and mother had also claimed to have a couple of stops before coming to the house. Hailey had been suspicious but also grateful for some time with her soon-to-be-husband.
As much as she wanted to further tempt him to stay, she knew they both had long to-do lists to work through before they got married.
In the kitchen, they maneuvered the maze of boxes Nate had been bringing over from his house all week. As soon as they returned from their honeymoon, he and Lori would be living here at the farm with her full-time, something she’d impatiently anticipated for over a year.
As they neared the back door, she reached out and grabbed his hand. He turned back to her, pulling her into his arms. “I can’t stay.”
“I know. One more kiss.” She pushed up on her toes and puckered her lips.
He leaned down and gave her a quick peck as the back door opened and an icy breeze blew over them.
Rhonda grabbed Nate’s elbow and pulled him toward the door. “Oh geez! Come on! Get a room! On the other hand, don’t. We have too much to do tonight. Don’t you have a bachelor party to get to?”
“Something like that.” Nate spun to Rhonda, but when he saw his daughter struggling with three shoe boxes, his smile widened and he dropped to one knee. “Can I get my good night kiss, sweetheart?”
“Not yet!” Lori’s tone was more serious than he had ever heard, and he couldn’t stop a small laugh.
She stacked the boxes on the table and then turned to her father. “We have things to do, Daddy. Things you cannot know about.”
“Really.” He leveled his gaze on her, feigning irritation. “You’re going to keep secrets from me?”
She leaped at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “S-s-surprises, not s-s-secrets. It’s only until t-t-tomorrow, and you’re going to love them.”
Nate hugged the girl tight and kissed her cheek and then her forehead. “Are you going to sleep in your new bed in your new room?”
Rhonda laughed. “We’re not sleeping tonight. There’s no sleeping at slumber parties.”
Nate stood, lifting Lori to his hip as he did. “Rhonda, no!”
Hailey stepped forward, putting a hand on each of their arms. “She’s teasing you. We’re going to have fun tonight, but we are going to sleep.” She opened her arms to Lori, and the girl reached out.
Nate handed her over.
Rhonda’s tone softened. “Don’t worry, No one is going to have dark circles in the wedding pictures. I hope to use them to showcase my newest masterpieces.”
Hailey squinted at her cousin. “My wedding dress is going to be part of your new collection?”
Rhonda shrugged. “I haven’t done a wedding collection before, but you never know.” She turned back toward Nate and playfully pushed on his back. “It’s time for you to go.”
Nate turned to Hailey’s sister who—although she wore an amused grin—had remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the exchange. She sorted the boxes stacked on the table into piles. “No help from you?”
Kelly gave her head a shake, sending the stray hairs that had fallen from her bun flying. “Your dad, my husband, and my brother are waiting. Beep at your mom and sister when you pass them on the road. They should be here any minute.”
Hailey walked toward Nate and the door. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to walk him to the truck.”
Rhonda pointed to the clock over the door. “Three minutes. And don’t think I won’t come out there either. She then turned and reached out a hand toward Lori. “Help me find the DVDs, honey.”
Lori eagerly dragged her toward the living room. “I know right where they are.”
Hailey walked side by side with Nate through the mudroom and out to the driveway. “One more day,” she whispered.
He stopped, leaned back against his truck, pulled her to him, and touched her cheek. “Joking aside, I’m glad we took our time, and I’m glad I didn’t move in here before now.”
“It’s been good,” she answered. “It was important to give Lori a chance to really get to know me.”
“She’s so excited to be a family.”
Hailey couldn’t stop the instant frown. She wanted the family as much as Na
te and Lori did, but the lawyer side of her knew there was one loose end to tie up before she’d feel secure.
Seemingly reading her mind, he pulled her into a tight hug, laying his head on top of hers. “Victoria doesn’t threaten our happiness. She’s nothing to the three of us.”
“She’s Lori’s mother.” Saying the words sent shards of pain through her chest. Even though the woman had never once seen, touched, or held the little girl, Hailey still envied the perceived bond.
Nate slid a finger under her chin, lifting her gaze to his. “Giving birth is the only connection she has to Lori. She promised to sign the papers so you can adopt her. She’s never wavered on her choices. I don’t expect her to change her mind now.”
“But you don’t want Lori to call me mom until those papers are signed and in our hands.”
Nate leaned back against the truck again. “I don’t want to confuse her. I want her to understand—”
“You don’t want Victoria to turn her world upside down, and your afraid—just like me—until those papers are signed, it could happen.”
“She’ll sign the papers.” His mouth flattened to a thin line.
He didn’t deny her accusation, telling Hailey he believed it true. “I wanted it for tomorrow.”
“I know. We can’t push her hand though. She’ll do it on her own time.” He stepped forward, pressing his lips to hers. “Please, don’t spend a moment worrying about this. I love you. Lori loves you. Tomorrow, we become a family. All of Victoria’s stalling and bravado doesn’t change a thing.”
“I know.”
He leaned in for another kiss, but the porch light flickered on and off, distracted them both. Hailey glanced toward the door and saw her cousin, sister, and the daughter of her heart peeking out the window laughing.
“You better go inside.”
She pushed up on her toes, wrapping her arms around his neck, and kissed him one more time. “See you at the altar.”
She walked up to the porch as he began backing the truck down the long drive. She turned to watch and wave until he was headed down the road.
Alone, she fished her phone out of her pocket and dropped to the old chair. Her hand trembling, she called up her contacts and pressed down on the name Victoria Gerald.
When the woman’s voicemail announcement began in her ear, she dug deep for her most lawyerly voice. “Miss Gerald, It’s Hailey Lambert. I have yet to receive those documents you promised to have to us by today. Nate is anxious to resolve this matter…” Tears balled up in her throat. She stomped her foot against the old wooden porch. All the lawyering had done nothing to this woman, and Hailey was losing her patience. Maybe showing the vulnerability she felt would help motivate the other woman. “Look, Victoria, I’m marrying Nate tomorrow. I want very much to be a mother to the beautiful little girl you had with him. We want to provide a safe, secure future with no question of custody should anything happen to him. Please call me back and let me know the papers are in the mail. Registered mail, I hope. Thanks.”
She disconnected the call and sat there for a moment with her head in her hands, willing the tears sliding down her cheeks to stop. Nothing should cloud the joy of her wedding day. Yet, a woman from Nate’s past—one who didn’t give a damn about him or the daughter they shared—was finding a way to do so.
She heard the heavy door to the house open and the scuffle of Lori’s feet rushing toward her. She inhaled quickly and pushed the tears off her cheek with her thumbs. She looked up with a forced smile.
Lori jumped into her lap and she quickly wrapped her arms around the girl so she wouldn’t fall. “Don’t cry, Hailey. You’ll see Daddy tomorrow.”
“I know.” She kissed the girl’s forehead. “I’m so happy and excited for you and your dad to move in here.”
Lori laid her head on Hailey’s shoulder, making herself comfortable in the woman’s embrace. “We’re going to be a family.”
“Yes, we are. You, me, and Dad.” She swallowed her fears and angst. The last thing Hailey wanted was to upset Lori or tarnish the girl’s image of what tomorrow would be.
Rhonda’s voice came from behind the wooden screen. “Hey, munchkin, you were supposed to tell Hailey to get her bride-to-be-butt in here, not take a nap. No sleeping at slumber parties.”
“Are you ready to go in?” Lori asked.
“I’m ready.”
Chapter Two
Nate pulled the truck up into his usual parking place behind his diner. It was only two blocks from the Blue Water, and the temperatures were pretty mild considering it was the end of December.
He didn’t plan to stay at the bar long, but his dad, Hailey’s brother, and her sister’s husband had wanted to do something in lieu of a traditional bachelor party.
He picked his phone up out of the drink holder in the center console of his truck and stared at the screen for a moment. He didn’t want to make this call—wanted nothing to do with the woman from his past—but the look on Hailey’s face haunted him.
He knew the piece of legal paperwork said nothing about the relationship and bond the love of his life had formed with his daughter, but the lawyer side of her feared the unknown variable: Victoria.
The recent loss of both of her parents had left Hailey emotional. Though she hadn’t put the feelings into words, he was certain it only made her desire for this family greater. The signed paperwork would ease Hailey’s worse fears of losing someone else she dearly loved.
For Hailey, he pressed down on the name of the ghost from his past.
A moment later her voice came across the line. “Hello.”
“It’s Nate.”
Silence filled the air. He didn’t need to say anymore. She knew what the call was about. The same reason for every call he’d made to her in the last six months.
After several seconds, she responded. “You know, the way you and your lawyer-slash-fiancée keep calling me, I think I have a case for harassment.”
“Cut the dramatics. You promised twelve weeks ago you’d sign the papers and get them out to us. We still don’t have them.”
He heard her shuffling through papers. “I’m a busy woman…here they are. Nate, have I once in four years—”
“She’s six, Victoria.”
“Okay…six years…ever made you think I would disrupt our original agreement?”
“No.” She’d had always been clear about what she wanted—and didn’t want. Hailey, on the other hand, couldn’t imagine a woman who wouldn’t want their daughter. “This falls under estate planning and legal loose ends. I want to make sure Lori is always cared for, no matter what.” He rattled off the story he and Hailey had presented to Victoria. There was no reason to let the other woman in on the emotions involved.
“The papers are signed. I told you I would. I have no reason to lie to you.”
Not once in their short-lived relationship, or in the months and years that followed, had she ever been less than completely honest about her intentions. She never promised more than she was willing to give. When her infatuation with Nate wore off, she’d been more than clear about that too. From the moment she’d learned she was pregnant, she’d plainly stated her life plan didn’t include motherhood and only agreed to finish her pregnancy because Nate insisted she’d never have to be a part of their lives in any way.
She would eventually send the papers.
On her own time.
If this was just for him, he’d leave it at that and hang up the phone now.
But this was for his girls. The woman, who’d fought her way through the fortress he’d built around him and his daughter, and his baby girl, who didn’t deserve apathy from her mother.
Lori deserved the unfaltering love Hailey showered on her.
She deserved to call Hailey mom.
Nate couldn’t open a door allowing another ounce of heartache to fall on his daughter. The papers needed to be signed and in their hands. Before the wedding tomorrow evening.
“Are you in Sagina
w?”
“Yes. For tonight. I leave on a business trip in the morning. I’ll be in London for a month.”
“Can I come pick the papers up? Right now?”
“What would your fiancée-the-lawyer think about that?”
She’d hate everything about the idea. Especially the part about him going to see his ex. Alone. In the middle of the night. “Hailey trusts me. Can I come?”
She let out a frustrated sigh. “It’s after ten. It would be nearly midnight before you got here. No. You cannot come to my apartment tonight.”
“What time is your flight?”
“One-thirty.”
“From Metro?”
“MBS.” She exhaled again, her tone changing from mild irritation to something closer to anger. “What are you suggesting?”
“Can I meet you in the morning?”
“I don’t want you here, Nate.” Her ire showed clearly in her tone.
Nate didn’t expect the prick of pain from her declaration. He’d thought those wounds were long healed.
“Do you know the Starbucks on Bay Road? We can meet there at eleven.”
Could that work? It didn’t seem like a good idea to be meeting an ex-girlfriend—the mother of his daughter—an hour and a half away on his wedding day. But, their wedding didn’t start until four. He’d be back in plenty of time.
Having these papers in hand would erase the tears he’d seen in Hailey’s eyes, and nothing would make Lori happier than to have her mommy.
The perfect wedding gift for both his girls.
He didn’t know where the Bay Road Starbucks was, but he could Google map it.
“I’ll be there. Will you? Really?”
“Yes. I’ll have no time for reminiscing. I have a nine forty-five nail appointment a few doors away. I can pick up a mocha, hand off your papers, and be on my way to the airport.”
“Perfect.” He didn’t want to spend any more time than necessary with the woman any way. “Thanks.”
“Don’t be late. I’m not waiting around for you.”
Nate and Hailey: The Sunnydale Weddings Page 1