A Home for Haley (12 page)

He arched his brows. “Because I
like you and I’m worried about you.”

She took a bite of cheese. “More
like because you don’t want to have to hire another nanny.”

 “That too,” he said with a smile.
He studied her intently. “I meant it, Haley, when I said I was your friend.
This house hasn’t felt much like a home for a long time. You being here changed
that.”

The hard shell she’d erected around
her heart softened ever so slightly. Before this horrible week, she’d begun to think
of the Richardsons as the closest thing to family she had. Lord knows, they
treated her better than her own mother and father. She couldn’t believe her
folks hadn’t even come to Dale’s funeral. Her dad might have been sick, but
she’d bet they could have flown out here if they’d really wanted to. Her father
had never once been there for her. And her mother rarely had. Loneliness
engulfed her and tears gathered in her eyes. “I want you to know that I’m going
to get through this and be a good nanny to Kayla. I just don’t have much to
give right now.”

“Of course you don’t.” He handed
her more cheese and took a piece for himself, popping it into his mouth and
then taking a sip of wine.

“Where’s
my
wine?”

“Wine and sleeping pills don’t
mix.”

She frowned. “I’ll take the wine.”

“It won’t really help you sleep,
but it’s your choice.”

She studied him, felt herself
wanting to lean against him and absorb some of his strength. She stiffened her
spine. “Guess I’ll take the sleeping pill. She took the bottle of pills from
the nightstand, shook out a pill and drank it down with the last of her juice.

Ethan took her empty glass and set
it on the nightstand. Then he pulled her up from the bed, holding her steady as
he yanked the covers down. He helped her settle onto his bed. Clearing his
throat, he said, “Tomorrow is another day. You got through today and you’ll get
through tomorrow.”

She nodded, almost believing him,
and closed her heavy eyelids. “Night,” she whispered as she prayed for the pill
to take effect.

He squeezed her shoulder, his warm
hand lingering. “Sleep well, Haley.”

When she heard the door shut behind
him, she snuggled deeper under the light weight quilt, breathing in the scent
of the man who had insisted on taking care of her and Ryan all day, even though
he was the man who had said the words that had ripped her life apart. She
breathed in his familiar scent, comforted in a weird way. A stab of pain had
her curling into a ball. Fresh tears—good Lord how could she have any more? —ran
down her cheeks. Haley buried her head in the pillow and cried until she felt
dried up and totally spent. As she drifted off to sleep, Ethan’s scent surrounded
her even as her shattered heart yearned for Dale.

Ethan grabbed Ryan as he struggled
to get off the bed. “Help me out here little buddy.” Tying the shoe strings of
a struggling toddler was way worse than threading a worm onto a hook. Ethan was
astonished he’d forgotten how frustrating this age could be.

Ryan stilled long enough to glare
at him, and Ethan quickly finished tying the knot. Mission accomplished, thank
God. “You hungry?”

“Pizza!” Ryan yelled, shoving off the
bed and running as fast as his short legs could churn toward the bedroom door.

“Try eggs or oatmeal,” Ethan said
as he scooped him up and carried him downstairs, where he could hear people
talking.
Those people better not include Haley
. She needed all the rest
she could get. Hopefully, she’d slept a lot better than he had. Lying in her
bed, the smell of her light, flowery perfume surrounding him, did not make for
a sleep-filled night. More like a fantasy-filled night.

He stepped into the kitchen. “Well,
aren’t you the lazy son this morning,” Dottie said.

“Ryan and I have been awake for an
hour, haven’t we?” He high-fived the toddler who slapped eagerly at Ethan’s
hand. Ethan lifted him into his high chair. “How about some eggs, little buddy?”

“Aunt Jo made pancakes,” Kayla said
around a huge bite of them.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,”
Ethan ordered. “And sugar is not what this little dynamo needs.”

“Sounds like you could use some
sugar, though,” Dottie said, eyeing him with a look of concern.

“I’m okay, and this tyke’s going
for protein.” Ethan opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a carton of
eggs. “Anyone else want a healthy breakfast?”

The entire lot shook their heads.

“How’s Haley?” Aunt Jo asked, as
she flipped a couple of pancakes.

“Yesterday was pretty rough. I hope
she slept like a log last night. She could probably use about a week of sleep.”

“Lucky for her I’m staying on
another week and love to play with kids.” Smiling, Aunt Jo poured more batter onto
the hot skillet.

Ethan cracked two eggs into another
skillet. “I’m thinking about postponing the Disney trip for a while. Give Haley
a chance to get her feet back on firmer ground and hopefully rest up. Guess I’d
better check that plan out with Ashley.”

He turned the eggs. “How’s your knee
coming along, Mom?”

“Good as new.” Dottie ruffled
Ryan’s hair. “If I could just weasel out of physical therapy, I’d be a happy
woman.”

Aunt Jo gave her sister a
sympathetic smile. “Translated, that means physical therapy is as painful as
you-know-what, and she can’t bend her knee without excruciating pain.”

Ethan transferred the eggs onto a
plate and popped a piece of bread into the toaster. “That really sucks, Mom. I
had no idea it would hurt that bad.”

Dottie shrugged. “I smartened up
and started taking pain pills about forty five minutes before I go to therapy.
It helps. At least a little.”

“She’s not kidding about popping
those pills. I can even beat her in Scrabble these days.” Grinning, Aunt Jo
placed a pancake with butter and syrup on the high chair, then cut it into
little pieces.

“Enjoy it while it lasts, big
sister,” Dottie said with a smirk.

 Ethan glared at his aunt for
giving Ryan a pancake. “I seriously don’t want him eating sugar.”

Aunt Jo sat at the table, buttered
her own pancakes and dug in. “I only gave him a little one.”

Ethan joined them at the table and
cut up an egg, tried to get Ryan to take a bite, but he turned away, his mouth
clamped shut so tight his lips started turning blue. Ethan sighed and set down
the bite of egg.

 Kayla jumped up from the table and
raced across the kitchen, throwing her arms around Haley as she entered the
kitchen. Haley held her close for a long time before turning her loose.

“Cartoon time,” Kayla said, dashing
from the room.

Ethan watched as Haley ran a hand
through her tousled hair. He’d never seen a woman look so good straight out of
bed.
Her short cut-offs certainly didn’t hurt
. He ran his gaze down her
bare legs to her bright pink toenails, then jerked his gaze back to her face.
“Have a seat. I’ll make you some eggs.”

She scowled at him. “I can do it.”

“Patronize me.”

“Yeah, he needs practice.” Dottie
winked at Haley and patted the wooden bench next to her. Haley sat and leaned
over to kiss her son. “You are a sticky mess,” she said after a quick kiss.

Ethan cracked an egg. “So how did
you sleep last night?”

“I should take a sleeping pill
every night.” She nodded toward Ryan. “How did my little guy sleep?”

“Good until he woke up at five
thirty with a soggy diaper. As soon as I’d changed it, he clung to me like a
monkey. Ended up getting in bed with me and falling back asleep on my chest.”

“He’s supposed to sleep in his own
bed,” Haley chastised. She took a sip of apple juice that Aunt Jo set beside
her.

“Sorry. At that point I just wanted
him asleep.” Ethan scooted the cooked eggs onto a plate, added a couple of
pieces of bacon and a piece of toast and handed it to her. “I may have to take
a nap to get through the day,” he said. “You have my deepest admiration, Haley.”

“You are a big wuss,” Dottie said. “I
had three little ones, all only two years apart. To make matters worse, I
didn’t think I’d ever get you out of diapers.”

Ethan sat across from his mom and
Haley. “Thank God you somehow managed. I shudder to think what my life would be
like if you’d let me down on that.”

“Smart ass.”

Grinning, Ethan tipped his mug at
his mom and dove into his food.

Haley finished her breakfast in
silence and wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Thank you. That was delicious.”

Ethan took his last bite of egg,
washed it down with coffee and then focused on Haley. “You look a little less
weary, but I’ve been thinking. How about we postpone the trip to Disneyland for
a while? Give you time to rest up some more.”
And, hopefully, warm back up
to me some.

Haley glanced at Ryan who was busy
playing in the syrup with both hands. “I guess Ryan won’t know the difference,
but Kayla will. She’ll be pretty disappointed.”

“It’s not like we’re cancelling.
She’ll adjust.” Ethan could tell Haley was thinking about it, which told him
all he needed to know. “I’ll call Ashley in a few minutes and see if that would
be a problem.”

“Okay.” Haley stared at her empty
plate. “It might be better for Dottie, too, if we waited. That way it would be
easier for her to get around at the dude ranch.”

“Good point,” Dottie said. “Plus I
won’t be going to physical therapy as often in a few weeks.”

Haley stood and cleared her place, cleaned
the sticky highchair and then rinsed the wet rag and wiped the syrup off of
Ryan’s hands and face, making him squirm and shove at her hands. She lifted him
down and set him on the floor. In a flash, he ran out of the kitchen, calling
for Kayla. “Guess I’d better go make sure they stay out of trouble.”

Ethan watched her go, sighing as
she disappeared around the corner. “I’m worried about her.”

“She’ll be okay. Eventually.”
Dottie patted Ethan’s hand. “After all, she has us and we know what she’s going
through.”

Aunt Jo sipped her coffee, a
pensive look on her face. “I agree with your mother. Haley’s a strong woman.
She will be fine. She just needs some time. Her husband has been gone almost
two years, so when the initial shock wears off, I think we will see a big
improvement.”

“I hope you ladies are right,”
Ethan said.

“Me too,” Aunt Jo answered with a
long sigh. “Me too.”

****

The days dragged by even though
Haley was always busy. With the help of sleeping pills, she was getting enough
rest, but she hated taking drugs. She was determined to start weaning herself
off of the pills next week.

She was glad Ethan had postponed
the Disney trip. Hopefully, by the time they left she would have pulled out of
this funk. The tight band of anger she’d felt toward Ethan all these weeks was
beginning to loosen its grip and she was glad. If only she could quit crying
all the time, but that didn’t seem to be happening. It broke her heart that her
little boy would never know his daddy. Dale had been a good man and would have
been a good dad. Fresh tears gathered but she blinked them away. It was a
beautiful summer morning and she was determined to enjoy it. “Hey kids, how about
we go to the park while it’s still cool?”

“Yay,” they both shouted. Both of
them jumped off the couch where they’d been curled up watching Dora the
Explorer and headed for the door.

“Wait for me.” Haley gathered what
she needed, pulled the stroller from a corner and stuffed the diaper bag in it.

“I’ll push Ryan,” Kayla volunteered
eagerly.

Smiling, Haley helped Ryan in and
fastened the strap, then stepped aside. “Have at it. I’m here if you need me.
How about I push the stroller out to the sidewalk for you?”

“I can do it,” Kayla insisted.

Haley started toward the front
door, wincing as Kayla hit the edge of a walnut coffee table. Haley took one
side of the stroller’s handle. “I’ll help steer.”

Kayla scowled but didn’t say anything.
The minute they were out the front door and down the steps, Kayla shoved
Haley’s hand away. Haley followed the slow progress of the kids. At this rate,
it would be time for lunch before they ever made it to the park, but the warm
sun filtered over them, sending warmth throughout her body, and the giggling
kids made her smile.

Fifteen minutes later they finally made
it to the park and she helped Ryan out of the stroller as Kayla raced over to
the slide. Ryan made a bee-line straight for the red, wooden train, and she
lifted him into it and watched as he grabbed the steering wheel and honked the
horn.

Smiling, Haley sat on a bench and
enjoyed the kids, feeling halfway normal for the first time since hearing about
Dale. A few minutes later, the beep of a car horn had her turning her head.

Ethan got out of his truck, all
smiles, and approached them.

Kayla ran toward her dad, and he
picked her up, swinging her around in a circle. Ryan scrambled off the train,
fell flat on his face, and howled with pain. Haley hurried over to him, lifted
him up and dusted him off. “You’re okay, honey.” He cried harder as she wiped
the gravel from his scraped knee and hands.

Ethan walked over and Ryan held out
his arms. “Dada,” he said, and Haley’s heart stuttered. “Ethan is your friend,
Ryan, not your daddy.” She regretted the words the minute they were out. After
all, Ryan had never even seen his daddy except on Skype.

“He can call me anything he wants,”
Ethan said, taking the boy and holding him close. “Did you get thrown from that
train?”

Ryan sniffed and nodded his head.
Ethan made a huge production of looking over every scratch.

Haley watched, sadness filling her.
Ryan had never known what it was like to have a daddy, yet he obviously still
had the need for a male figure in his life. Ethan was certainly that, but he
was not her son’s father. It was all she could do not to burst into tears. Ryan
reached for her and she took him eagerly, holding him close. He snuggled his
head onto her breast and her spirits lifted.

“You guys hungry?” Ethan asked.

“Starving.” Kayla grabbed her dad’s
hand. “I want to go to McDonalds. Pleeeeease.”

Ethan made a face. “I was thinking
along the lines of real food.”

“A Happy Meal is real food,” Kayla
said with a pout as she pulled away from her dad.

“How come you’re home this time of the
day?” Haley asked, trying to divert Kayla from the argument she could all but
see churning in the little girl’s head.

“Too nice to stay in an office.
Thought I’d do some drafting at home. I have a few ideas on the house I’m going
to build out on the dude ranch. I drove by and saw you guys. So,” he said,
clapping his hands together. “How about Arby’s?”

Kayla kicked the dirt. Ethan
grabbed her leg before she could stir up even more dust. “Behave.” Scowling,
Kayla raced back out to the playground.

“Arby’s sounds okay to me,” Haley
said, knowing Kayla wouldn’t like that, but agreeing with Ethan about the
‘real’ food.

“Come on, Kayla. Let’s go,” Ethan
hollered to his daughter as he guided Haley and Ryan toward his truck.

Kayla trudged toward them, then
stopped at pick-up’s door. “I can’t get in by myself,” she whined.

Ethan grabbed her around the waist
and lifted her inside. “No more whining or I’m taking you home.”

Tears formed in Kayla’s eyes, but
she kept her mouth shut as she scooted onto her booster seat and fastened her
seatbelt. Haley fastened Ryan into the car seat, glad Ethan had insisted on
getting an extra one for his truck. “They have good french fries at Arby’s.”

Kayla didn’t say anything, but Ryan
clapped his hands. “French fies. French fies.”

“It’s fries,” Kayla corrected in a
condescending tone.

Ryan’s mouth puckered and he tried
to shove her but she was too far away.

“Aren’t you glad you stopped and
invited us to lunch?” Haley asked, as she buckled her seat belt.

He chuckled. “Aren’t
you
?” Grinning,
he turned the ignition and headed down the street.

She really was glad he’d stopped by
but hated to admit it. He might think she didn’t enjoy her job and that was so
not true. The kids gave her a purpose, and she wouldn’t trade this job for
anything, even if she did still harbor some anger toward Ethan. “You’re a great
distraction,” she finally said.

“Oh, I doubt that. My guess is
Kayla was behaving fine until I showed up and didn’t offer her what she
wanted.”

Haley cleared her throat. “Well . .
.”