Jensen smiled at him and Ransom felt something click in his chest, like a window that had been closed for far too long was finally opening to let in the light.
He headed up the steps to the children’s section with the kids, and he sat in the back, like always, but he couldn’t seem to pay attention to Miss Caroline’s stories.
Everything is changing,he realized as he thought about having his little sister and his best friend back in his lifeagain.I’ve been letting my hurt and my pride get in the way. But that’s finally changing.
Hailey is opening my heart back up again.
He tried not to let himself wish for more than her friendship, but every day it was getting harder to believe that he could really hold back his feelings.
What if she decided to give me another chance?
What if she stayed?
13
HAILEY
Hailey looked around the patio with satisfaction. It was hard to believe that just a few weeks ago this had been a simple slate rectangle overlooking the old oak tree and the fields beyond.
Now, there were trellises with lights strung on them flanking two sides of the patio, where heat lamps and tables were set out with beautiful appetizers. Gorgeous displays of flowers added a lush element to the wintry spread. And twinkle lights lined the trunk and branches of the old oak tree.
She took a few photos and posted them to her social media feed. Hopefully, that would get the website some hits, maybe even her first real booking.
The sun was just going down and soon the snow would reflect its glow of pink and gold.
Mal and Sage had dropped off their contributions earlier, so they would be seeing the whole picture put together for the first time in just a few minutes, rightwhen the sunset magic combined with everything else to create the kind of scene Hailey had been dreaming of.
She headed back into the house and went all the way to the front porch to do a final walk-through.
The front door was painted pale blue and hung with a red berry wreath. She and Ransom had painted the wooden benches from the church thrift shop a snowy white and they flanked the front door.
She stepped inside to admire the roaring fire and the soft colors and satisfying textures of the interior. Most of the house was painted white with pink and blue accents, and pitchers of fresh and dried flowers brightened almost every surface.
The library looked amazing now that it was all put together again. If she looked closely, she could see that her painting technique wasn’t as good as Aidan’s. But mostly it just looked cheerful and welcoming.
Stepping into the kitchen, she had to smile at the palette of greens that made the copper tea kettle and the sprays of red berries she had put in vases really pop.
Mal had brought about twice as much food as Hailey thought they would need. Big foil trays of extra appetizers covered the kitchen table. And she had a plastic table with a pretty tablecloth set up where Mal could place the buffet dinner dishes she was bringing when she came back.
“Everything is perfect,” Hailey said softly to herself as she headed out to the patio again.
Her first clue that maybe she was wrong about things being perfect was the sound of yapping followed by a small crash.
She hurried out to find that the patio had been invaded by four enormous German shepherd puppies.
“No,” she moaned.
Two of them were on one of the tables, fighting over a baguette while another ran around in circles with a whole bagel over his snout. The last one noticed her and hurtled itself forward, its back legs going faster than the front so that it ran in an awkward almost sideways movement, with a horriblesmileon its face as its tongue lolled out of the side of its mouth. Hailey wanted to duck back inside, but the beast was already between her and the house.
She screamed, taking off for the only solid thing she could think of.
Hailey hadn’t climbed a tree since she was a little girl, but it came back to her blessedly quickly. She could feel the string lights she had spent so much time setting up slipping under her shoes and she was rubbing her pretty dress into the slimy bark, but all she cared about was getting up high enough that the dogs couldn’t get to her.
Can dogs climb?
She was pretty sure she had seen a video once of a dog climbing a wall. Was that a German shepherd?
Heart pounding in her ears, she began to sob as she pulled herself up onto a branch that felt like it was out of reach of the menacing monsters.
