by Sonya Weiss
He made a kissing sound and hung up, then went to see what he could do to help Wynne. His step was light as he walked down the hall. He stopped abruptly when he realized he was smiling. Because he’d talked to Haley.
He swallowed. Maybe he enjoyed sparring with her a little too much.
Chapter Seven
Haley stirred the homemade stew she’d created using her mother’s recipe. “I can understand you telling me to call and invite Wynne over, but why Max when you know how much he irritates me?” She stooped to take a pan of cornbread muffins from the oven and set it on the cooling pad on the counter.
“I like Max.” Her father took a fork and stabbed one of the muffins, lifting it out and setting it on a saucer. “There’s something about him that’s different—”
“He’s an alien life-form.”
Her father ignored her jab and continued: “—than most men his age.”
“His horns? The smell of brimstone that lingers when he’s in the room?”
“He was a big help around here while you were gone.”
“You’re right, Dad. I should give him a hug and a huge kiss along with my undying gratitude. I think I will the moment he arrives.”
“Then he’ll die of shock,” her father said dryly with a shake of his head as he broke apart the muffin.
“Think I’d be convicted?” She sliced a lemon and dropped the wedges into a bowl. “Hey, I meant to ask when I got back home: I noticed the pantry was dusty like it hadn’t been used in a while. What happened in there?”
“No need to grocery shop. Other than the few times cooking here when I’d invite someone over, I mostly eat out when it’s just me. Not much fun cooking for one.”
The underlying note of loneliness threading through his voice made Haley’s heart clench. “Well, I’m here now, so I’ll dig out one of your ski masks for a little anonymous grocery-shopping trip tomorrow. If Tilton’s offered online shopping, I’d do that.”
He let out a sigh. “Give it time, Haley. All the tongues wagging about the video will eventually still. Besides, the people who love you are on your side. Speaking of love, I need you and your best buddy Max to handle our booth at the arts and crafts showcase.”
“Not funny.” Haley scrunched her nose.
“I’m serious. You know it takes two people to run it.”
“What? You and I are supposed to do that together.”
“That was the original plan, but five new sleigh orders came in this morning. We’re going to be pushing it to get them all done by Monday. I can’t take time off for the showcase.”
Haley put a minicupcake pan filled with chocolate batter in the oven and lowered the temperature. “I thought my coming back to work with you was going to ease some of your workload.”
“It is. Without you here, I wouldn’t get them ready to ship for another week.”
She set a timer for the cupcakes. “What if I make the sleighs and you and Max man the booth?”
“Because you’ve been away; you’re out of practice with the process. I’m faster.”
He had her there. “Fine. I’ll man the booth.”
“With Max,” he said.
“With Max,” she agreed. Maybe Tilton’s sold masking tape. A wide strip of that across Max’s mouth would make the arts and crafts weekend a lot easier to deal with.
“I heard a car. Bet they’re here.” Her father rose, dusted the muffin crumbs from his hands, and ambled out of the kitchen to get the door.
The sounds of company reached Haley as everyone greeted her father.
Cheerful voice: Wynne’s. Excited chatter: Lonnie’s. Pig snorts: Max. Quiet voice: Ripley. Removing the half apron, Haley set it aside and went out to the living room.
“Haley! You look so beautiful.” Wynne hung her coat on the peg rack by the door and walked over to hug her. “Doesn’t she look beautiful, Max?”
“Uh-huh.”
He wasn’t even looking at her. Haley and Wynne exchanged a glance and rolled their eyes in unison.
Haley bent over toward Lonnie. “I made tiny chocolate cupcakes just for you. We can frost them together when they’re done. I bought a bunch of different sprinkles for them.”
Lonnie gasped, eyes widening, and looked at Wynne.
Max stepped up beside Haley, his words for her ears only. “And for your uncle Max, she made some rat soup.”
“Tails and all,” Haley whispered back.
“Can I help you with anything?” Ripley offered.
“Thanks, but everything is ready.” Haley walked into the kitchen. “Wynne, you’re across from Max and me.” She’d set his place at the end of the table beside her and away from her dad so she could get an update on Dean without her father overhearing.
Max sat down, eyeing her warily when she leaned close to him. “What happened with Dean?”
He took one of the muffins from the platter Ripley passed before he answered. “I went to see Dean to drop off my sister’s car for repair. He invited me to the racetrack tonight, so I told him you were back in town and we’d love to come by right after we finished supper.”
“‘We’? You made it clear it wasn’t a you-and-me ‘we,’ right?”
“Pfft. He’s not thinking that.”
“How do you know?” Haley smiled at her dad when he told her the stew was great. As soon as he returned to eating and conversing with Wynne, she went back to Max. “How?”
“Why would he?”
“Because Dean has to have things spelled out for him when it comes to the opposite sex.”
“In his defense, most guys are slower than a herd of turtles when it comes to figuring out women. But eventually we get there.”
“I don’t have time for ‘eventually.’” Haley let out a soft groan. “I knew I should have called you to run this through.”
“If you don’t like how I’m handling things, next time, call and give me my lines first.”
“I tried to reach you, except the only number I have for you is the coffee shop. You weren’t in.”
He leaned up and took his phone from his back pocket. “Here’s my cell number.” He recited the digits for her. “And I’ll put yours in my phone.” He tapped the keys, grinning widely.
Haley leaned over to see the image he’d chosen as her avatar was a monstrous gargoyle with a snarling mouth pulled back to show massive teeth.
She huffed out a breath and showed him her cell with the dragon avatar for the coffee shop number.
Max put his phone up. “A dragon’s not that bad. Powerful, courageous. I can see why you chose it to represent me.”
“I picked that one because dragons are extinct. And I thought of you and figured a girl can dream, right?”
“You wouldn’t know what to do with all your spare time if you didn’t have me to think about.”
“I don’t think of you often at all, but when I do, you can be sure it’s not flattering.”
Max pretended to quietly sob. “Why’d you have to ruin my evening?”
Haley chomped on a carrot she spooned from her bowl to keep from saying what was on the tip of her tongue. After swallowing, she said, “I don’t know how the two of us are going to survive working together if you do get that partnership.”
“I’m getting the partnership,” he said without a trace of doubt in his voice. “As for working together, we’ll both suck it up and deal. It’ll take greater effort on my part—but then I am the more congenial of the two of us.”
Haley snorted in derision and stirred her dinner with a smile when everyone at the table looked at her. She kept her attention on the bowl long after she wasn’t the focal point anymore. It was easier to do that than shoot daggers at Max, the man who had all the appeal of a cluster of warts.
He’d shown up in a white button-down shirt like he’d shopped at Boring “R”
Us. The way he fills out that shirt is anything but boring. Haley slanted a covert glance at him. Okay, so she’d give that he had a nice physique. Great eyes, thick eyelashes. Hard jawline. Lips that—when they weren’t open, spewing nonsense—weren’t bad either.
And Max himself wasn’t boring. He was… She frowned. Interesting. But only because the stimulating conversations with him kept her on her toes. Stimulating? She wasn’t sure she liked that word connected in thought with Max.
After supper was over and the dishes loaded into the dishwasher, Haley set out the cupcakes and all the decorating ingredients.
“The race will start soon,” Max said.
“I promised Lonnie this first. It won’t take long.” Ignoring the way he watched her, like he couldn’t quite figure out what species she was, Haley set to work, guiding the little girl through frosting the treat.
…
“We’ll have to take your car,” Max said when he and Haley stepped outside after she finished the cupcakes. “Ripley will use mine to take Wynne and Lonnie home.” Max didn’t like the different light being shed on Haley as she’d helped his niece. With Lonnie, she had been…sweet. He had a spot on the shelf of his mind for Haley, and sweet didn’t belong there with her. Opinionated, pain in the butt, and irritating did.
She climbed into her car, and Max got in beside her.
As she pulled away from her father’s house, she said, “I can take you to your place after the race. As long as you don’t put the moves on me or try to invite me in.”
“My God, woman. You’ve read my mind.”
Haley nodded. “Your desire for me flashed like a neon sign on all your forehead real estate.”
Max put a hand to his head, then caught her grin. “Nice try. You can’t erode my self-confidence. I’m the most-wanted bachelor in Cherry Creek.”
Haley rolled her eyes. “You’re the reason I just couldn’t wait to get back home.”
Max laughed, then sobered. “I know coming home was tough for you, but I also know you’re strong enough to overcome anything.”
Haley made a show of flexing one arm. “That’s me. So tough.” She turned the car onto the dirt road leading to the racetrack and squeezed the car in between two pickup trucks with oversize wheels.
He suspected she was falling into their usual back-and-forth to avoid conversation about the video or the wound of losing her mom. Despite their differences, he really did want her to heal from all she’d been through.
She shut off the engine, then lowered the visor to inspect her reflection in its small mirror.
“You know…if you ever need to talk…”
“I don’t,” she said quickly.
“Well, if you do…”
“I’m good,” she muttered before retrieving a tube of lipstick and slicking it across her full, kissable lips.
Kissable? Max swallowed hard. The air in the car evaporated. The band around his chest tightened, squishing his lungs, forcing out the remaining oxygen in them.
In slow motion, she turned to him, pressing her lips together, eyes dark and smoky from whatever makeup she’d put on. Her dark-blue sweatshirt hid the sweet curves he knew she had as she leaned toward him, mouth open, calling his name.
He blinked. “What?”
“I can’t tell in the mirror. Is my lipstick smudged?”
“No.”
Satisfied, she hooked her purse strap over her shoulder and stepped from the car. It took Max a second to get out and catch up to the conversation she was having with him. His legs were jerky, his feet as heavy as cement blocks. He didn’t want to face what he’d thought about Haley in the car, but he’d always been honest with himself, and the truth was…was…she was hot enough to make his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth.
In the past, when he was attracted to a woman, he’d ask her out. But this was Haley Bowman, the woman who was born to be a thorn in his side. As they walked together to the attendant manning the gate, Max hated the way his thinking clouded, making him wonder if he was missing an important detail.
Max paid for their tickets because he knew Haley had yet to get her first paycheck from working with her father. He followed her up the cheap metal bleachers to the top row.
“Which one is Dean’s car?” Haley asked.
“Dean’s not racing tonight,” a woman beside them said. “He was injured before the race. You can find him probably hanging at the concession stand.”
Max led the way back down the bleachers and over to the stand. Dean—ponytail, backward cap, and all—was sitting at one of the picnic tables talking to a woman Max didn’t recognize. When the man saw Haley, he jumped up and let out a long whistle. “You sure are a sight for sore eyes. Come here, darlin’.”
He hugged Haley and then stepped back and made a sweeping gesture at the table. “Y’all join us. Haley, Max, this is my sister, Sally.”
Max sat across from Haley, watching the interest on her face. It was the interest of a friend. Polite but nothing more. As if she’d sensed this guy wasn’t the one for her either. Dean was no more her soul mate than he was.
As the other man talked about his life and what he’d been up to in the time that Haley had been gone, Max started to feel a little sorry for her. She was intelligent and beautiful, and none of the men she’d dated were right for her. He wasn’t sure how he felt about noticing that. When a man noticed things about a woman that went below the surface, it meant he was either spending too much time with her or too much time thinking about her.
“Someone said you’d been injured,” Haley said.
Dean nodded. “Broke my toe right before the race.” He lifted his hat up and rubbed the top of his head. “I pay close attention to signs, and that was a sign for me not to race tonight. Just like you coming home is a sign.”
“Huh,” Max said.
“A sign?” Haley asked after shooting Max a look.
“Yep. It’s a sign that roads in our past lead to our destiny. Which tells me I’m on the right one leaving Cherry Creek to open my own garage in Culvert. One returns, one leaves. It’s a balance of cosmic proportion.” Dean looked at Max. “Am I right, man?”
“Absolutely,” Max said, because it seemed more polite to say that than admit he didn’t have a clue what the guy was talking about.
Dean folded his hands on the table. “So you and Haley.” He shook his head. “Never would have guessed that one. But then again, I didn’t look at the path of your stars to see if they were in alignment with hers.”
“We’re not together,” Max clarified.
“Stars?” Haley asked.
“Astronomy shows us that humans are like stars, and certain stars are in the path of each other,” Sally answered before her brother could.
Dean nodded enthusiastically.
“You were never interested in astronomy before,” Haley said.
Dean shrugged. “I’ve changed a lot since you left. I have a mission in life now. In engines and oil, I can help people.”
“By fixing their cars?” Max asked, wondering if the guy’s brain was rattling around in his skull like a lone BB pellet.
“When you remove the oil from a car, you can see certain colors in the surface. That tells me a little about the people who bring them in. I can see their future.”
Max raised his eyebrows, and he and Haley exchanged glances. “I take it, then, that you’ve seen your future in oil, and you’re not interested in dating someone here?” Max asked.
“No. I discovered that when I changed the oil in my Honda. It was clear as day that I’m supposed to walk alone.” Dean slung an arm around Haley’s shoulder.
“At least until the next oil change tells you different,” Max couldn’t help saying.
“Right.” Dean gave Haley’s shoulder a squeeze. “I’m sorry. I’ll always be the one who got away, but that’s how it
has to be. Our destiny is not to be one.” He pointed to Max. “You understand, right?”
Max understood that this guy probably had enough alcohol in him to pickle an elephant.
“Well.” Haley cleared her throat. “We should leave. Max has a…thing in the morning.”
“Yes. That.” Max stood. “Good luck with the move.” He shook the other man’s hand and walked side by side with Haley as they left.
They reached Haley’s car. “Don’t.” She unlocked it and got in.
He climbed in beside her and held his silence until they were a few blocks from his place. “I can see why he’s on your list.”
Haley’s lips quirked; then she laughed until tears leaked from the sides of her eyes. “And all this time, I thought an oil change was so simple, and here it was telling my future.”
Max laughed. “Don’t forget the stars.”
She laughed harder. “Our stars being in alignment is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard. Like I’d want my future tied up with yours.”
“Or me with yours.”
“Because I hate you,” she said as the laughter died.
“Same,” he said, his heart taking off like a rocket when she glanced at his mouth for a beat longer than necessary for someone who was feeling hate.
Her breathing quickened.
His blood heated. She was going to ask him to kiss her. Or just lean in and make her move.
“Max?” She leaned in.
“Yeah?”
“Get out of my car.” She pressed the button on the seat belt, freeing him from the confines and the spell she was weaving. He scrambled from the car like he was escaping from imminent danger. Watching her drive away, he had an upsetting mental observation. He disliked Haley and always would but had wanted that kiss he’d imagined happening. Wanted it badly.
He exhaled sharply. Could his life get any stranger?
Chapter Eight
Haley left her father’s house at the break of dawn on Friday morning. She’d stayed up late last night going over lists Suzie had emailed to her and had ended up sleeping later than she intended. Now she had less than two hours to meet Max at the shop, get the delivery truck loaded, and set up the booth at the arts and crafts showcase.