Chapter Nine
Hailey woke up when the sun came to her eyes. Rolling over to check her phone, she jumped clear out of the sheets at the sight of a missed call from Dr. Martin Vorheim, the director of the Abernathy Museum of History and Natural Sciences.
“Yes, Lana, I just saw that he called earlier. Is he busy?”
“No, let me get him for you.”
“Great, thanks.”
Was it too early to start biting her nails? No. Not at all. This promotion was everything; it was the heart and soul of her ten-year plan. All those nights studying while her friends partied, all those days interning in the evidence and restoration offices, it all led to this moment.
“Hailey,” Dr. Vorheim’s bright morning voice made her heart skip a beat.
“Dr. Vorheim, I’m sorry I missed your call, I was, um…”
“No worries, dear. I just wanted to see how the vacation was treating you.”
“Well, I wouldn’t call it a vacation.”
“Because, once you’re our newest registrar, you won’t be thinking about time-off.” His laughter was both irritating and inviting at the same time. It only ever confused Hailey.
“Do you mean—”
“I want you to know how close it is between you and Edward. He’s been here working nights to get the exhibit off and running.”
Of course he has.
“Never forgets a pastry order either.”
If a 3.9 GPA wasn’t good enough, if her weekend work wasn’t good enough, if those classes she took on philosophy and Latin weren’t good enough for Dr. Vorheim, then what was?
“But I tell you what, I’m having a hard time seeing you without this title. I know you’ve worked hard, Hailey. And I know your father would be delighted to see what you’ve achieved.”
“Um, thanks, Dr. Vorheim. I appreciate that.”
“Anyway, when will you be back in the city? I have to make my decision by Saturday or the board will appoint someone come Monday. Don’t want old Herbert taking your spot just because of his tenure.”
No one would want that.
“I’ve been meaning to call, actually. I sort of need to take my full vacation time. If it isn’t a problem.”
“What’s come up?”
“The funeral, well, memorial, I suppose, it won’t be until the weekend. I could leave, but the orchard needs me.”
“Why, Hailey, I thought you didn’t care for that place. Didn’t I hear you say you were only visiting to sign the place to someone else?”
“Yeah, that was the plan.”
“Who’s Hailey Holloway without a plan?”
Not even she knew the answer to that. Not having a plan was the most absurd thing she could imagine. Successful people didn’t live on urges and emotions, they prepared for things, made charts, did the math. Living on a whim was reserved for people like… like… the pickers outside her window.
“I just need next week to get my accounts in order. Then I’ll be back in Lansing and completely dedicated to the museum.”
“Well, I suppose the least I can do is let you have your vacation. Maybe it’ll do you some good.”
Not likely, but time off was nice either way. “Thank you.”
“Of course.”
That went better than expected. Dr. Vorheim didn’t sympathize with just anyone, but his friendship with Dr. Jonathan Holloway went back nearly twenty years. Well, it had until Jonathan’s accident.
Rolling back into the plush comforter and fluffy pillows, Hailey moaned and yawned. She could easily lay in bed all day and just watch the clouds pass by. The blue sky hovered over the orchard without a single cloud, though, keeping Hailey warm and happy. This wasn’t so bad. So why was she still trying to justify selling the estate? Obviously she enjoyed the orchard or she wouldn’t still be thinking about life in the country versus the city. She’d be done with it, moving on, focused on the museum.
Kicking off the covers, Hailey decided there was plenty to be done and that staying in bed would accomplish nothing. She had to talk to the Cadmon sisters about the pie for the festival, she had to clear a spot for the port-a-potties. And the whole day had to start with a nice hot shower.
Walking around the bathroom, Hailey set out her shampoo and conditioner, and the lotion she was savoring to the last squeeze. A loofah and her razor and Hailey was about ready to indulge in the bath and clear her mind of plans and business. The pipes rattled around at first, but they settled as warm water filled the tub. Hailey slid her sweater off and hung it by the door, where she heard a clang from downstairs.
Tiptoeing from the bathroom to the hall, Hailey caught sight of a shadow as it darted across the living room floor. Someone was in the house—her house. It must have been a little after nine because the pickers were already starting up the tractor. So, who was this person? A worker? Dierdre had strict rules about her home, and about knocking, which meant this person probably didn’t work for Dierdre at all. Could it really be a stranger though? A burglar? A thief? In such a small town, that seemed unlikely.
With her back pressed to the wall, Hailey listened to the sound of footsteps. Big, heavy steps that carried through the kitchen like they knew where they were going. A soft clash of metal upon metal, the rummaging of utensils, a click to the microwave.
Is someone trying to cook?
Slowly reaching the middle of the stairs, Hailey peeked around the corner to see who was there. The person, now whistling to something she knew but couldn’t place, had just stepped out of sight. A little further, holding tight to the old, waxy post, Hailey got to her toes and waited for the man to turn around.
“Hails,” Tom greeted Hailey with a smile that gave her flutters. She lost her grip and tumbled to the floor as her nightgown slid up to her thighs.
“What are you doing in here?” she fought to get to her knees.
“Here,” Tom was there in a heartbeat, grabbing her up under her arms and lifting her to her feet.
“I don’t need your help,” she pushed him away. Just a longer shirt. “How did you get in?”
“I used my key.”
“You have a key?”
“Come, sit down.” If only he was ugly or just plain mean, then she’d be able to properly throw him out.
Hailey followed him to the counter that divided the kitchen and the living room and found breakfast all laid out.
“How did you cook all this?”
“It wasn’t that hard.”
“Bacon, biscuits, hash browns? Looks hard.”
“Food has always been easy for me.”
“That makes one of us.”
Tom poured a cup of coffee for her and handed it over.
“No, Tom, you can’t come in here like this. I’m not dressed.”
Tom stopped dishing up food and scanned her over. “You look just fine to me.”
“No, that’s not the point.”
“I just wanted to apologize for last night. I wasn’t very nice to you, and you were right about my hand.”
“Alright, thanks.”
Tom set a plate in front of where she stood.
“Did you even knock?”
“Of course, I did.”
“I didn’t hear you.”
Tom shrugged and those dimples popped right into view.
“Listen,” Hailey sighed and crossed her arms. She was starting to feel the coolness of the open house on her skin. The sun may have been warming the outside, but it was still October, and that meant spaghetti straps were not the best choice of attire. “I appreciate all of this, I do.”
“Great,” he finished preparing a plate for himself and went around to join her.
“How did you get a key anyway?”
“It’s a long story, Hails,” Tom readied a bite on his fork.
“Okay, you can’t be here. You can’t see me like this.”
“Alright, fine.” Tom set his fork down and leaned on the counter.
“Well?” she waved to the door.
“No, you’ll leave.” Hailey wrapped her hands around his arm and pulled him from the stool.
“Well, this isn’t any way to thank a person.”
“I’m not trying to thank you, Tom. I’m trying to get you out of my house.” Off to the door, she pushed him to the screen and put her hands on her hips.
“Oh, this is your house now, is it?”
“I signed the papers the other day.”
“So, I bet you’re all set to turn around and sell it off then too?”
Ooh, those damn blue eyes. And those biceps that now flexed as Tom crossed his arms and sneered at her. The biceps that she had just touched with her own hands seconds ago. Just the thought of it…
“What I do is none of your business.”
“Right, I know.”
“No, you don’t know. You don’t know me at all. I’m not some spoiled girl from the suburbs. I’m not stuck up and afraid to get my hands dirty.”
“Well—”
“I see the way you look at me, like I think I’m too good for this town. You have no idea how I feel or what I think about Blushing Bay.”
“Fine. You’re right. Besides, I don’t need to know you, Hailey. You’ll be gone soon, remember?”
Tom popped open the screen door and stepped out.
“Don’t act like you don’t care,” she yelled at him. A couple of the pickers were nearby and stopped to watch the argument. “Over here trying to make me breakfast, and, and help with the festival.” Tom was at the bottom of the stairs now, facing his truck with a know-it-all grin glued to his face. “Why do you really want to help me?”
Tom turned around and shook his head. “Because it’s nice to help others, you should try it sometime.”
Ooh. “Well, I don’t need your help, and I don’t need you coming over uninvited.”
Back inside, Hailey slammed the screen door and went right up the stairs.
“Who does he think he is? Intruding, criticizing me, telling me what to do. I swear!” Hailey kept on stomping and cursing and grunting around until she planted her foot directly into a pool of water.
Chapter Ten
Tom got to the edge of the gravel when he heard Hailey cry out. Fast to the door, Tom burst right in without a thought.
“Hailey!”
“God damnit!”
Up the stairs, Tom followed her voice.
“Stupid old house.”
“What’s happened?” Tom rushed over Hailey where she had fallen and splashed water over her bare legs before turning off the shower.
“I guess it’s clogged.”
What a sight. Hailey, in her thin nightgown, lay on the floor covered in enough water to make her bra and underwear completely visible. Tom took a second to clear his throat, then he grabbed Hailey up and got her to her feet, for the second time today.
“Thanks.” Hailey lowered her eyes there beneath him and all he could think of was drying her off and cleaning her up.
“You got some towels for this?” Tom pointed to the floor.
“Um, yeah. In the hall closet.”
Tom went and gathered the towels and put them on the floor. Stomping around, he tried to keep his back to the bathroom, and to Hailey. It’d been over a year since Tom was this close to a half-naked woman, let alone feel her bare skin in his hands. Peeking over his shoulder, Tom watched as she collected the wet items and threw them into the hamper. Her thin arms cradling the mat and the towels as her hair clung to her neck. He knew he shouldn’t be staring at her, but God was she beautiful. Tangled hair, soft skin, blushing cheeks, Tom almost couldn’t move.
“Is it alright out there?”
“Yeah, I think. Might take up the carpet.”
Hailey leaned against the door frame and Tom fought with everything he had to keep his eyes up. “Really? I just knew something like this would happen.”
“There’s hardwood beneath. You can have someone come in and wax it for you.”
“Yeah, okay. Thanks.”
She just had to reach over and touch his arm and give a little squeeze, didn’t she?
“Listen, I can fix that drain if you want,” he passed by her quick and went to inspect the drain. Dierdre never did any work to the place, so it wasn’t that surprising something would eventually break.
“You don’t have to. Besides, I’m still trying to kick you out, remember?”
“Right, well then I’ll leave you to it.”
“Oh, now you can’t wait to go.”
“I mean,” Tom stopped at the staircase and turned around, readying to say something neutral before Hailey got all bothered again, only to find her laughing. “What?”
“I just… I don’t know. I just can’t believe myself.”
“You’ve never had a clogged drain?”
“Sure, I have. I live in an apartment, though. There’s someone there to take care of that stuff.”
“Right.”
“I just can’t believe you came rushing back in here after I got so mad.”
Tom laughed. “If that was you being mad, then I think I can handle it.”
Hailey bit her lip and Tom just kept on staring.
“Listen, I’ll let you clean up, then I can help get that drain working right.”
“Okay.”
Tom went down a couple of steps, but Hailey called to him before he got too far.
“Don’t leave. Not just yet.”
“Alright, I won’t.”
Hailey gave a smile, then darted into the bedroom and closed the door.
Tom went down the stairs and paced around for a minute before checking on the food that he’d made. The coffee was still hot, but the bacon and hash browns were cold. He put it all on a plate and stuck it in the microwave for a minute. After throwing a napkin over the plate to keep the food hot this time, Tom started to pace again.
Sunlight came through the side window at just the right angle to light up the kitchen. Everything had a nice golden glow to it, making the room feel warmer than minutes before. Tom straightened up the plates he’d already made, but realized they were cold too. A quick thirty seconds in the microwave and they were good to go. Silverware on a napkin, sugar, creamer, ketchup.
“No pancakes?” Hailey asked as she came to the bottom step.
Tom couldn’t cook pancakes to save his life.
“Nope, I like biscuits more.”
He grabbed the plates from the microwave and set them on the counter. The bacon was perfectly done, crisp and sweetened with maple syrup—the real stuff. Eggs sat fluffy, biscuits buttered and hot, but no sight of pancakes.
“I like anything from the bread category,” Hailey smiled.
“Who wouldn’t?”
Sitting down at the counter, Hailey and Tom were separated by one stool and a pot of coffee. Hailey reached out for the creamer just as Tom did, and their hands briefly touched.
“Sorry, go ahead.”
“No, you first.”
“Thanks. So, what happened with your hand?”
“Oh, that’s not table talk.”
“It’s alright, I’m not the squeamish type.”
“I wouldn’t think otherwise.”
“So, did you go to the hospital?”
Well, yeah, Tom eventually went to the hospital, but only after he’d made things worse.
“Let’s just say, I got two stitches around midnight, then went home and numbed it up with a beer.”
Hailey giggled at his words and it warmed him right up.
“I had stitches when I was a kid. Worse experience ever.”
“Yeah, luckily Becka’s good at what she does.”
“Who’s that?”
“Oh, Becka Shaller,” Tom set down his fork and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “That’s Jacob’s sister. She’s a nurse at the hospital.”
“Oh, that’s cool.”
“Yeah, she’s had to stitch up her brother more times than you know.”
“She said by the weekend it’ll be sealed up pretty good.”
Hailey nodded as she took a bite of the bacon. “This is really good.”
“Thanks.”
“How’d you cook with a sore hand?”
“It’s not as sore now that they got the last piece of glass out.”
“I told you.”
“I know.”
“So, really, how did you get a key?”
Tom leaned back and swallowed his bite. “Well, Dierdre fell about three years ago. Right down those stairs. She broke her leg and her wrist.”
“My mother told me. I was going to come visit, but she didn’t when my dad died. So, I guess, I thought it was fair.”
“She probably expected as much.”
“So, you two were like friends?”
“You could say that. A while back she helped me out with something very important. I just felt like I needed to return the favor. So, Jacob took care of the orchard, I took care of the books. Soon, Dierdre was up and about like before.”
“But she got sick soon after.”
Tom nodded. “During her doctor visits, they ran bloodwork and found the disease. She only told a few people.”
“It’s sad really. Lonely old woman, never had kids, died without knowing love.”
“Well, she loved one person.”
“Yeah, I was testing you.”
Hailey, cleaned up and wearing a loose sweater and stretch leggings, was somehow aglow. Yes, that was probably because of the sunlight coming in from the southern window, but Tom could only think about grabbing her up and holding her close. She smelled good, looked good. He could just imagine how soft her hair would feel in his hands, and how perfect it would be to go curl up on the couch together and waste the day.
“Have you ever been in love, Tom?”
And just like that, it seemed like the clouds knew it was time to cover the sun.
“Yeah. Once or twice. Maybe.”
“I don’t think I have. I had a boyfriend in college, nice guy. But it was, well, he was boring really.”
“Boring?”
Out of the Blue Page 7