A Home for Haley (14 page)

“Me either.” Ethan patted her leg. “But
you’re going to see it soon. Ashley says there’s an ice cream store we have to
try while we’re here. Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop. I’m sure
the kids will be game after our walk on the beach.”

“To heck with the kids; I’m always
up for ice cream.”

“I want a double-chocolate dip,” Kayla
hollered from the back seat.

“After dinner. Your Aunt Ashley is
meeting us at the townhouse so she can take us to a fabulous pizza place—the Pizza
Press I think it’s called.”

“Yay! Pizza and ice cream are my
two favorites.”

“I’m sure your Aunt Ashley knows
that.  You rate pretty high with her you know.”

“She’s the best!” Kayla all but
bounced in her seat as they wound their way through a complex of townhomes. When
they pulled up to theirs, Haley gasped. “This is really nice.”

Ethan chuckled. “You haven’t even
seen it yet.”

“I’ve seen enough to know it has to
be awesome. Goodness, this must have cost a fortune.”

“Ashley got us a discount. We’re
only two miles from Disneyland and even closer to the beach.”

“It must be nice to have some
clout,” Haley teased.

Ethan grinned. “I guess when you’re
the public relations director for Disneyland, you get some pretty good perks.”

“No kidding.”

“You couldn’t pay me a million
bucks to live here. Too much city for me, and no way would I raise a child in
this area. But,” he added with a grin as he turned off the car, “this is pretty
darn cool.”

Haley stepped from the car and
stretched, pulling the fresh air into her lungs. She could smell the ocean and
it brought back good memories from her childhood. One of her best memories was the
time her mom brought her to the beach when her dad was out of town working. It
had been a marvelous day, but her father had thrown a fit that her mother had
spent money for something so frivolous, and her mom had never taken her to the
beach again.

She twirled in a circle then turned
to Ethan. “I’ve always loved the ocean.”

“Good because not only will we be
hanging out at the beach, but we’re going on a dolphin watch.”

“We get to see dolphins?” Kayla
gave a whoop and raced around the car.

“If you scream like that on our
watch, you’ll scare them off. I know you’re excited, but no need to yell. Okay?”
Ethan arched his brows and Kayla scowled before grabbing Haley’s hand and dragging
her toward the front door.

 “Hold on, Kayla. I need to get
Ryan.”

“I’ve got him.” Ethan picked up a
still-sleeping Ryan and followed them. When he reached the door, he stooped
down, moved a ceramic toad and grabbed the keys. “Courtesy of Ashley,” he
explained as he unlocked the door and then motioned everyone in.

The minute they entered the
townhouse, Haley gasped at the magnificent bright, flower arrangement on a
maple table in the entryway. “Wow. Your mom would love those flowers. They
smell heavenly.”

“Mom helped me choose this place,”
a familiar voice said. Grinning, Ashley hurried over to everyone, her arms
outstretched. “I am so excited to see you guys.” She grabbed Kayla’s hands and
twirled her around, then gave Ethan a peck on the cheek before kissing an
awake, but sleepy, Ryan. She turned to Haley, smiling from ear to ear. “What do
you think?”

“It’s gorgeous.” Haley took in the fancy
room. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in such an elegant place.” She was surrounded
by white carpet and white leather furniture. Bright red throw pillows adorned
the couch and added a nice splash of color. As did the colorful spray of
flowers made up of delphinium, pink gerberas, snap dragons and white gladiolus.
Walnut tables at each end of the couch added even more elegance. “It’s like
some magazine layout in Better Homes and Gardens,” Haley said in awe.

“I’m so glad you like it.” Ashley
grinned. “Wait ‘til you see the Jacuzzi in the master bedroom. There are three
bedrooms and two bathrooms here, so there’s plenty of privacy.”

Haley’s nervousness dropped a
couple of notches. She walked through the living area and pulled open the long
white drapes. Evening sunlight streamed through the pristine white room, and Haley
cringed at the thought of all the damage Ryan could do. She opened the sliding
doors for a better look at the fountain and swimming pool. With a sigh, she
turned back to a smiling Ashley. “I need to put a huge sheet of plastic down to
protect the carpet. And towels on the couch,” she joked even though it truly
did worry her.

“
I want to swim now, Daddy.”
Kayla’s plea had Ryan scrambling out of Ethan’s arms.

“Later. There’ll be plenty of
time.” Ethan headed toward the front door. “Let’s get unloaded and go eat, then
we’ll walk on the beach and see if we can get some seashells.” He opened the
door and went out.

Kayla turned to Haley, a pleading
look on her face. Haley held up her hands. “Your dad’s the boss. I’m only the
nanny.”

Kayla grabbed her arm. “But you’re
my friend, too, right?”

“Of course I am,” Haley agreed,
wondering where this was going.

Ashley grabbed her niece and held
her close. “Don’t take advantage of Haley’s sweet disposition, Kayla. You have
all week to swim.” Ashley bent down so she was eye level with Kayla. “And
believe me, you’ll love swimming in the ocean a whole lot more than a pool.”

Ethan stepped back inside with an
arm full of luggage. “I didn’t expect to see you here, Ashley. Did you think I
couldn’t find my way?”

“Very funny. I wanted to surprise
you. Besides, I needed a breather from work.”

“Bad way to live your life. But
glad for the benefits you have,” he added with a wicked grin.

She pointed a finger at him. “Just
save me a room at your dude ranch during Labor Day weekend.”

“You got it. Now make yourself
useful and help me get the luggage.”

With a backward glance and grin at
Haley, Ashley followed her brother outside.

Haley watched them go. She’d always
wanted a little sister. Obviously that longing had never quite left her. It
would be nice to get to know Ashley better. She smiled down at the kids. “Are
you guys excited, because I sure am?”

“Yes.” Kayla jumped up and down and
Ryan tried his best to imitate her, but fell on his bottom after only a few
tries.

“Let’s go check this place out,”
Haley said, taking Ryan’s hand. “Lead the way, Kayla.”

Giggling, Kayla skipped over to the
stairs and bounded up them. Haley followed, curious to see the living quarters
for this week.

“I ate so much at dinner, I barely
managed to get all that ice cream down.” Groaning, Ethan rubbed his full
stomach as he watched the waves wash ashore, their rhythm relaxing his muscles.

“We Richardsons like our ice cream,”
Ashley said with a groan of her own. “I have to go back to work feeling like a
stuffed turkey. Guess I can at least rinse my sticky hands before I head out. Standing,
she strolled out to the water, bent over and rinsed her hands as a wave rolled
over her bare feet.

Ethan nodded toward Ryan. “As
sticky as he is, we’ll swish his whole body through the water.”

Haley glanced down at her son and laughed
at the huge chocolate ring around his mouth. His hands were even worse. She
glanced at her blue blouse and scowled at the chocolate smudges. “I need
cleaning up almost as bad as he does.”

Kayla kicked off her flip flops and
raced to the edge of the water, digging her toes deep into the packed, wet sand,
and then splashing Ashley, who grabbed up her shoes and ran toward her car.
“I’ll talk with you tomorrow, Ethan,” she shouted as opened her car door.

“You’d better,” he hollered back.
“And thanks for putting all this together for us.”

Ashley did a little dance. “No
problem. I’ll be sure and collect on it.”

Ethan gave her the thumbs up,
waving as she drove off.

“The water looks inviting,” Haley said
as she pulled Ryan’s sandals off and then slid her own sandals from her feet and
hurried to the water. “Come on, Ethan.”

He shrugged out of his t-shirt,
toed off his sandals and joined them. “We can’t get too wet. Gotta ride back to
the townhouse in a rental car, and we didn’t bring towels, which was pretty
short-sighted of us.”

A soft wave rolled over his feet
and he let out a sigh. Both kids began kicking and splashing to their hearts
content. Haley grabbed Ryan when he took a nose dive and managed to keep his
head above water, but nothing else. “Oops,” she said, glancing over at Ethan
with worry. “He didn’t stay dry very long, did he?”

 “I figured we were doomed.” Ethan
kicked a spray of water at Haley. She gasped and jumped away, relieved he
wasn’t upset. He was so different than her father, it still amazed her. With a
grin, she splashed him back as best she could while keeping hold of Ryan.

“I’ll help you, Haley.” Kayla raced
toward her father, kicked for all she was worth but only got his calves wet.

She plopped her hands on her hips. “No
fair. You’re too tall.” Her dad came after her, and she screamed for help,
taking off at a run at the edge of the water.

Ryan clapped his hands and started
toward Kayla, squealing with excitement until he fell. His laugh quickly faded,
replaced by cries.

Ethan swooped him up and ran a few
feet down the beach with him, turned around and kept moving backwards, a grin
on his face. “I think Haley is entirely too dry. What do you think, Kayla?”

Grinning, Kayla bent over and flung
water at Haley then jumped back.

“You little traitor. Girls are
supposed to stick together.”

Laughing, Kayla raced up to her
father. “I want to be on your team.”

Ethan chuckled. “Haley’s right. You
are a traitor.”

“What’s that?”

“Someone who deserts his team when
he thinks it looks better on the other side.”

Kayla made a face and kicked water
onto him, then raced back to Haley, who laughed and tried to stay on her feet
when Kayla grabbed her around the waist and hid behind her.

Ethan couldn’t keep the grin off
his face. It was good to see Kayla so happy and just as good to see Haley
smiling and laughing. He’d begun to wonder when, or even if, he’d see that again.
This trip was just what Kayla and Haley needed. Life was way too stressful for
both of them these days. For him, too, if he were honest. Getting away was a
great idea. He owed Ashley for making this possible and Matt and Francie for
helping out at the dude ranch so he could get away. He was one lucky guy, and
he promised himself he wouldn’t forget that. He’d had some rough times these last
couple of years, but right now life looked pretty darn good.

He sauntered up to everyone, hands
held up. “I surrender.”

Kayla and Haley laughed and
high-fived each other, while Ryan looked on and clapped. Ethan wrapped an arm
around Haley’s shoulders and grabbed Kayla with his free hand. Kayla squirmed
away and took Ryan’s hand, practically pulling him along the wet sand.

“Guess we’d better follow them,
huh?” Ethan started forward, Haley at his side. He tried to keep his eyes off
the wet shirt clinging to her breasts, but kept sneaking peeks and hoping his
glances were quick enough that she didn’t notice.

She plucked her shirt away from her
wet skin, but within seconds it clung to her every curve. She pulled at her
blouse again. Ethan picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. “There. Now
you can quit worrying about me seeing too much.”

She gasped. “Put me down right now.”

“In a minute. This isn’t a bad view
either.”

She pinched his butt. “Ouch.”  He
swung her down and she landed on her bottom, but quickly scrambled to her feet.

“You’re acting like a teenager,”
she said, hands on her hips.

“I’m not the one who pinched
someone’s butt.” With a grin, he slung an arm around her shoulders. “I got you
all loosened up. And I aim to do more of it on this trip.”

She shot him a sideways glance and
then burst out laughing. “Just remember, Ethan Richardson, you may be bigger
than me, but I’m sneakier than you and revenge is sweet.”

“I’ll count on that, Haley.”
Laughing, he took her hand as they jogged up to the kids. He squatted down between
them and pointed to the brilliant pink and blue sky. “Hey kids, look at the
sunset over the water.”

Everyone turned their gazes out to
the ocean and watched the big hot-pink ball slide out of sight, leaving remnants
of color dancing across soft waves. “That was absolutely gorgeous,” Haley said,
taking Ryan’s hand. “Having fun, honey?”

“Yes. Me have fun.” He tried to
pull her into the water, but she stood firm.

“We’ll come back tomorrow night,”
Ethan said. “I, for one, am tuckered out. How about you, Haley?”

“I’m good for another few hours.”

“Liar.” After lifting Kayla onto
his shoulders, Ethan started back to the car. He bet they all slept like rocks
tonight. He hoped so. Tomorrow would be a long day, and it’d be a whole lot
more fun if everyone was rested. He turned back to Haley and Ryan, who were
falling behind.

“Let me carry him.”

“You already have Kayla. I can
carry him.” Haley picked her son up and hurried to catch up.

“Anyone ever tell you how stubborn
you are?” he asked as they walked.

“Never. Besides that, I’m the
nanny. I can’t be having you do all the work.”

Ethan stopped, his brown eyes
locked on her. “How about we settle this right now. For the next six days
you’re a friend, not a nanny.”

“But I
am
the nanny,” she
protested.

“Not this week. You’re here as my
friend, not a babysitter. And don’t argue.”

She took off walking without saying
a word, and he wondered what was going on in that mind of hers. He caught up to
her. “I want to do this for you, Haley.”

She nodded but didn’t look at him.
When they reached the car, they brushed the sand off of themselves and each
other as best they could. Ethan took his time getting the sand off of Haley’s
backside. Turning her around, he grinned. She shot him a lethal look as they
all piled in the car.

Once they were back at the
townhouse, Ethan lifted a child in each arm. “Let’s get you two rinsed off and
into bed.  We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

“I can’t wait,’ Kayla said, her
brown eyes glowing with excitement.”

Haley smiled. “Me either and the
sooner we get to bed, the earlier we can rally.” She reached for Ryan but Ethan
stepped back. “I got this. You go do whatever you need to do. I left your suitcase
down here.” He motioned to the master bedroom with his head. “I’ll bring Ryan
down when he’s clean and ready to say goodnight.”

“I should sleep upstairs with the
kids.”

“You just can’t stand to be
pampered can you? Tell you what. We’ll trade if you still feel this way
tomorrow night. Deal?” She nodded. “Good. I’ll be back down in a while. Maybe
we can sit out by the pool and have a glass of wine.” He headed for the stairs,
a child in each arm, pleased when Haley made no more protests.

****

Haley finished drying her wet hair
then pulled it into a ponytail. Feeling refreshed and relaxed, she stepped out
of the bathroom into one of the most magnificent bedrooms she’d ever seen. She still
could not believe Ethan had given her the bedroom with the California king bed
and hot tub. Feeling spoiled and only slightly guilty, she opened the bedroom door
and practically plowed into Ethan’s bare chest.

“Whoa,” he said taking hold of her
arms and steadying her.

She swallowed hard. “You have your
swimming suit on,” she muttered, barely able to form a sentence and certainly
not able to take her eyes off of the view.

“Yep. I thought a quick dip sounded
good. I was about to get the wine. Which do you prefer, red or white?”

“Red.”

“Got it. Go sit by the pool and
I’ll bring the wine out in a minute.”

She stood there like an idiot
enjoying the feel of his hands on her arms. The man was way too close and way
too potent, and she was totally flustered. “Where are Kayla and Ryan?” she finally
asked, wishing they were down here. “I wanted to kiss them goodnight.”

He let go of her. She leaned toward
him as if pulled by an invisible force, then straightened, keeping herself
stiff.

“Both kids are out like lights. We
have the baby monitor, and I put a gate across the stairs so Ryan can’t fall
down them.”

“Always prepared, aren’t you?” She
forced herself to quit staring at his muscled chest and meet his gaze. Bad
decision. His chocolate brown eyes seemed to melt right into her, and she felt
her face grow hot.

He motioned her to the patio. “Go
relax.”

Haley hurried outside and drew in a
deep breath. Then another. By the third deep breath, she had calmed down enough
to smell the ocean. She smiled. How could she have forgotten how clean and
fresh a breeze off the ocean smelled? It almost made her homesick. She supposed
she should call her folks while she was here, but she didn’t want to. She
wasn’t willing to risk spoiling her time here. And she especially didn’t want
her father criticizing her for traveling with a man, which she was sure he
would do since he criticized her about everything.

“I’m Kayla’s live-in nanny,” she
muttered, as she made herself comfortable on the chaise lounge. “And Ethan and
I are just friends.”

“Talking to yourself I see.” Ethan
stepped outside, handed her a glass of wine and dropped the towels he carried
under an arm on the end of her chaise. With a sigh, he eased onto the chair next
to her. He took a sip of wine and nodded his pleasure. “Pretty good.”

Haley sipped hers. “A little dry
for me, but still good. It was nice of Ashley to think of this.”

“It’s the public relations in her.
She can’t help herself.” Grinning, he took another sip. “You comfortable with
the arrangement here?”

Haley frowned at his blunt
question. “Yes,” she answered, almost believing herself. “It’s beautiful. You
went to a lot of trouble for this trip.”

He laughed, a deep rumble that
spilled out and danced in the cool night air. “Ashley did it all. Maybe we
should toast her.”

Haley held up her glass of wine and
clinked it with Ethan’s. “To Ashley.”

“Here. Here.” Ethan took another
sip, then set his glass down on the table between them. “She’s actually pretty
remarkable. Matt and I have been leaning on her to move to Tennessee. We know she’ll
never move to a small town like Crystal Springs, but she might consider
Nashville. It would hold a lot more opportunities for her kind of work.”

“Your sister is gorgeous. She could
be a movie star if she wanted.” Haley sighed dreamily. “Does she know how
beautiful she is?”

“I hope not.” He twirled the glass
by its stem. “My ex-wife was so stuck on her looks that she took off for here
wanting to become a movie star.”

Haley was stunned. “Your ex is in
the movies?”

He barked out a laugh. “I don’t
think so. She does commercials here and there. Ashley’s seen her in a few.”

“She must be gorgeous.”

“Only on the outside.” He scowled.
“I’d hate for Ashley to ever try and be in movies. I doubt too many stars are
happy. Course I have no influence when it comes to my sister. If I did, I’ll tell
her to quit working so hard, make time to date and have some fun. She says
she’s too busy.”

“My guess is she doesn’t really want
to date.” Ethan looked taken back. “Don’t look at me like I’ve lost my mind. People
make time for what they want in life.”

“And what do you want in life?” he
asked, watching her intently.

She had to grip the edge of her
lounge chair to keep from squirming. What was it about this man that seemed to
cut through all her defenses?

“Right now I’d settle for being
content and having a happy, well-adjusted son.” She gulped down more wine. “And
you?” she asked.

“You don’t want to know.” In one smooth
motion, Ethan stood and walked over to the deep end of pool, dove in without
making a splash.

Haley scooted off the lounge chair
and walked to the pool’s edge. She sat on the still-warm blue tiles and dangled
her bare legs in the water. “Can’t take the heat, huh?” she asked when his head
popped up by her feet.

He grabbed a foot and pulled her
in. “Race ya. I’ll give you a three-stroke lead.”