Fire and Ice: Rekindled (The Fire and Ice Series Book 2) (2 page)

Hailey

I sat on the couch, absentmindedly folding our laundry, as
my mind tried to absorb the news of Kellan's plans to return home. My thoughts
were saturated with the memories of that fateful night when he'd left me over
three years ago. It had taken me months to pick up the pieces after he'd
shattered my heart.

Georgia stood by my side through it all, and I finally took
Jordan's advice and called on him for support. He kept his promise...he was
there for me when I needed him the most. He had loved me all along, and I was
too blind and stupid to see it. He became my rock, and in time, I came to love
him too, in my own way.

In my mind, love came in many forms, and I justified my
feelings for Jordan because we shared a common bond; we both truly cared for
Kellan with our whole hearts, and he would never be able to reciprocate. When
he left, he left the both of us. Jordan merely hid his pain better than I did.

No one else could connect with our doubts, our fears, our
loss, the way Jordan and I could with one another. We tumbled quickly into a
love affair, and were married soon after. It seemed like the natural next step
at the time, and to say Georgia was happy would be an understatement.

Jordan was eager to start our new lives, and in some
deranged way, I thought it would be the last hurdle to purging my mind
completely of even the existence of Kellan Haines. I wasn't thinking about how
difficult it would be to cope with the lingering pain, adjusting to married
life, going to school, and continuing to work part time. But we managed to
scrape by, and I don't regret marrying Jordan. The only thing I regret in my
life is the day I met Kellan Haines.

******

Hailey

I pulled up behind the bar, slid out of my car with purpose,
and tucked my t-shirt into my jeans. I was no longer working at the bar as a
shooter girl. I'd asked Gail if I could try my hand at bartending, and she was
gracious enough to give me a part time position in the evenings so I could go
to school during the day.

Jordan had taken over Kellan's position as leader of the
pack, so to speak, minus the callous attitude, and ended up working most days
from opening until well after closing. The business had grown at a fast pace,
and we usually had enough patrons to keep the staff steadily hopping. Some days
it seemed Jordan and I were like ships passing in the night, but we did what we
had to do to make it work.

Before I could get to the back door, Georgia pulled up next
to me, cut her engine off, and abruptly exited her car, as she stomped over to
me. She placed her hand on her hip, as she said with exasperation, "What
in hell are you doing here?"

"What are
you
doing here?" I retorted. She wasn't due in for her shift for another
couple of hours.

She rolled her eyes at my deflection. "I'm here to help
get food ready for tomorrow," she stated bluntly.

"So am I," I quipped.

"Liar," she deadpanned, as if it weren't a direct
slap in the face.

I gasped. "What in the hell are you talking about? Have
you lost your mind?"

"You want to see him," she accused.

"See who?" I questioned, feigning ignorance.

"Don't play dumb, Hailey."

I rolled my eyes before I raised my voice, "First of
all, the man in question, who has obviously taken precedence over the man he's
supposedly
here to pay his respects
to," I snorted before continuing, "isn't even due into town until
tomorrow, and secondly..."

My heart nearly stopped, as the back door creaked open, my
eyes swinging to it and going wide with panic at the sound of the cigarette
being lit. Kellan.

Chapter Two

Kellan

If I had any illusions that the flames between Hailey and I
had died out three years ago, they had vanished the instant I saw her
smoldering eyes. Dressed in a simple navy t-shirt with the bar's logo on it,
and a casual pair of jeans, her hair pulled back in a neat ponytail, as soft
tendrils of her hair escaped it, blowing softly in the approaching evening air,
she was a vision of perfection. All those years I'd tried to forget about her,
she'd been simmering in my mind all along, and the moment I laid my eyes on
her, my desire for her was instantly rekindled.

This definitely wasn't the time, or the place, to start
letting my mind wander into such dangerous territory, and to do so would only
stir up a hornet's nest. I needed to tamp that shit back down where it
belonged; buried, along with the dark, bitter past it represented.

Georgia's voice cut into my thoughts, though my eyes never
wavered from Hailey's. "I'll uh...leave you two alone," she stammered
before she scurried inside.

Hailey and I both stood immobile, staring each other down,
as I toyed with my tongue ring before taking a drag off my cigarette. Neither
of us seemed to know what to say. The silence was deafening, and I was growing
impatient. I was never one to mince words, but eating shit wasn't my style. I
brought myself out of my reverie, and reminded myself of the real reason I was
here in the first place.

Deciding the less words said, the better, I stated
brusquely, "Sorry," and turned to re-enter the building.

"
Sorry?
"
Hailey bit out. I turned to find her gaze heated and honed in on mine.
"What are you sorry for, Kellan?" she spewed. "Are you sorry you
left me stranded three years ago for no goddamn reason?" she asked
incredulously, before continuing, "Or are you
sorry
my husband is dead?"

******

Kellan

I froze in my tracks, not believing what Hailey had just
barked out. What kind of fucking hell have I let myself get dragged into? In
fact, why am I still here in this shit hole town? The least Jim could have done
was inform me that Jordan and Hailey had gotten...
Sonofabitch!

My head was swarming with the events of the last couple of
days. Upon hearing the news about Jordan's death, it had weighed heavily on my
mind, and I told Jim I couldn't make any promises. And then I'd thought of
where I could've ended up, had it not been for Jordan's generosity when I was
growing up. Yeah, we had our differences, but he was the closest thing I had to
a friend until Hailey entered the picture. Whatever happened to bros before
hoes?

Now, I'm lying here in my hotel room, feeling as if the
walls are closing in. I'm anxious, on edge, and I can't get comfortable on this
brick hard mattress. I've been tossing and turning for hours, just thinking
about that motherfucker that killed Jordan. If he weren't in lock up, I'd kill
him myself.

The miniscule amount of pain that begins to swirl in my mind
suddenly eludes me when I remind myself that the trial will be swift; there
were dozens of witnesses, and he'll most likely spend the remainder of his days
rotting away in a jail cell. Yet, my mind does a double take, shifting to
thoughts of vengeance, rather than justice.

But none of the thoughts help to quell the emptiness I feel
as my mind continuously replays the look on Hailey's face on an endless loop,
and her acidic words she'd flung at me before brushing past me, eager to escape
my presence.

I didn't think it was going to be a walk in the park, but I
sure as fuck didn't think I was going to be facing my dead friend's widow, the
woman I thought I once loved. The woman I thought loved me. Christ, could this
situation get any worse?

I let out a sarcastic chuckle, as if the empty room could
carry on a dialogue with me. Love? No such thing, as far as I'm concerned.
Feelings...sure. Lust, desire, animalistic rage, intense fucking orgasms, the
sharp pierce of the needle...all of which are feelings I can grasp and relish
in. Love is a goddamn myth.

******

Hailey

Georgia was right. Going to the bar today had been a
terrible idea. I knew I was going to have to face Kellan sooner or later, but
his contrite apology sent me over the edge. The fact that he's here in the
first place is the complete definition of irony. The more I think of him coming
to pay his final respects, after he'd long since left Jordan behind, has my
stomach churning.
What a piece of work.

When I'd entered the bar, quaking with rage, and tears
gathered in my eyes, I was abruptly halted and cornered by Georgia and Gail.
Once I'd explained what had happened, I was promptly scolded by Gail for even
attempting to come in today, and quickly shooed away after some motherly,
sympathetic hugs.

The truth is, being at the bar feels more like home than
home does. I miss Jordan, so damn much already, and I just wanted to be there;
the place I first met him, the first place I ever saw his gleaming, boyish
grin. The same place I got to see that familiar grin day after day.

Jim, Gail, Georgia, Jordan and I are like a family, and the
bar is like our home. We have a few other employees, including Joe, Kellan's
former next-door neighbor. Jim ended up offering Joe a job at the bar after
Kellan had left, and he's been working here ever since, mainly as our cook; but
he also helps tend the bar when we get busy, busses tables, helps out as a bar
back, and does some general maintenance. Joe is basically a Jack-of-all-trades.
We also keep a waitress on staff, doubling as another shooter girl on busy
nights, but we go through them almost as fast as Georgia goes through
girlfriends; although she's been with her current girlfriend, Eve, for a few
months, now. That has to be some sort of record for her.

Eve is the yin to Georgia's yang. Although nearly as tall as
Georgia, and just as exquisitely beautiful, she has a dark complexion, long,
wavy, dark hair, and has the disposition of a Candy Striper. When Eve came into
the bar one night to do an interview for the local newspaper on the effects of
the diminishing economy, she and Georgia had ended up hitting it off, and the
rest is history.

Our family grew even tighter when Jim and Gail officially
became a couple. With Gail being as tight lipped as she is, it came as a shock
to many to find out that she and her husband had actually been separated for
over a year before she gave birth to Angela. She and her husband were simply
living as roommates until the divorce was final. Though Angela bears Jim's last
name, Gail has yet to commit to the ideal of saying 'I do' for the time being.

My mind wanders back to the night of her baby shower...the
look of joy on Jim's face as he watched Gail with adoration. A night I'm sure
they'll never forget, and one I couldn't, even if I wanted to. The fateful
night my mother had died, I had ended up betraying Jordan, and Kellan had
claimed me as his own.

While two people were just beginning their happy lives
together, I was busy destroying the man who truly loved me, for a man that was
cloaked in lies and deceit. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forgive myself.

******

Hailey

A deep fog rolls in around my feet, and suddenly I am blinded
by it, unable to see in the surrounding darkness. I can make out the faint
shadow of a figure, but when I reach out, I can't make contact; it's a man I
think. His voice suddenly echoes to me, seeming too far away from where he is
standing, beckoning me. I can only make out the distant, barely audible sound
of his voice, as it resonates through the fog. "Hailey...I haven't left.
I've been here all along. I could never leave you, my love."

At the impaling words, I jerk upright, covered in a sheen of
sweat, as tears stream down my face. My heart is pounding in my ears, and I'm
gasping for breath.
It was just a
dream...
The same dream I'd had each night since Jordan had been killed.

The doctor had tried to prescribe me something to help me
sleep, but I refused. Though it takes me hours to fall asleep each night,
eventually exhaustion ends up overtaking me, and inevitably, this has been the
result. I wonder to myself if the nightmares will ever stop.

******

Kellan

Hailey was blaming me for leaving her all those years ago,
but as I recalled,
she
decided to
stay. What did she expect me to do? Cancel my plans to start a real future? A
future that didn't include working myself to the bone each day for shitty pay,
and being stuck in this hole of a town for the rest of my life. A future she
was supposed to be a part of, until she changed her mind at the last minute,
leaving me high and dry.

Something wasn't right, and I needed answers. Barging in on
Hailey in the middle of the night, and invading her space, probably wasn't the
brightest idea, but my impulses were overriding my common sense. As usual, I
was putting myself first- but fuck it, this couldn't wait.

Pulling up to her house, I couldn't get out of the car fast
enough, and jogged up the darkened porch steps to knock loudly on her front
door. I waited long moments with no answer, immediately beginning to second
guess whether my sense of desperation warranted invading her in her time of
grief.

Shit, she was probably in a drug-induced coma of Valium and
sleep aids. Still, I couldn't reign in my urges as I rang the doorbell
furiously, but I wasn't above breaking and entering as a last resort.
Are you insane? Give the poor woman some
peace.

My mind was warring with itself, and when the door swung open
with force, and I met Hailey's eyes, as they went from groggy to heated in a
millisecond, my body started a war of it's own.