She nodded and took a sip of her coffee. It was still super-hot, but she needed something to distract herself from Ransom. He was being so protective and so cold at the same time, it was giving her whiplash.
The timer for the oven dinged, and Ransom bent to open it just as his phone started ringing. It was good to know that the cell service was up and running again, even if she didn’t really have anyone she wanted to call.
“Go ahead and get it,” Hailey told him, hopping up. “I’ll deal with breakfast.”
She could tell he was going to argue, but when he glanced at the phone screen he frowned.
“Yeah, okay,” he said, swiping the screen and lifting the phone to his ear as he headed out of the kitchen. “Wolf? What’s up?”
Shadow trotted after him and Hailey smiled at the dog’s desire to keep busy. Ransom might have called her playful, but mostly she seemed content as long as she was able to stay close to the action.
“Here we go,” she said to herself, grabbing an oven mitt and pulling the biscuits out. “Oh, wow. They look really good.”
“That’s Grandma’s recipe,” Mae said. “They’re the best.”
“They sure are,” Hailey agreed with a smile, remembering the Saturday mornings in high school when sheused to stop by the farmhouse to visit. Ransom’s mom would place a plate in front of her with a steaming hot biscuit, a generous helping of butter melting on top along with a smear of strawberry jam or apple butter. “Do you know where the butter is? And any other toppings you like?”
“I’ll get them,” Mae said importantly, heading for the refrigerator.
Hailey turned her attention to the eggs. Ransom already had a pan with a pat of butter waiting, so she turned on a burner, melted the butter, and poured the eggs in.
“I think I have a job for Shadow,” Ransom said as he came back into the kitchen.
He looked delighted and Shadow wagged her tail at the mention of her name.
“What kind of job?” Travis asked, climbing down from his stool.
“She’s going to learn how to help a little girl who has seizures,” Ransom said. “Won’t that be great?”
The expression on his face was so filled with wonder and happiness that it almost hurt to look at him.
Here he was with a lovely home, his beautiful children, and a job that allowed him to help people. Of course he was happy. He didn’t need Hailey or anyone else around to be fulfilled.
I would only make his life more complicated,she realized sadly.
“Hailey, the eggs,” Mae said suddenly.
They were steaming and she had clearly just made a giant, round, overcooked egg mass.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, feeling awful for getting so distracted that she had ruined breakfast. Even the kids had done their tasks perfectly.
I’m the only thing in this house that doesn’t belong,she thought to herself.
“That’s not a problem,” Ransom said right away. “We’ll just make an omelet.”
He took over from her, flipping the eggs and then grabbing shredded cheese from the refrigerator.
As she watched, feeling defeated, Travis came over and grabbed her hand.
“It’s okay, Hailey,” Travis told her softly. “Everyone makes mistakes.”
“Thank you,” Hailey said, moved.
“Do you want to play games with me after breakfast?” Mae asked, darting over to join them.
Hailey glanced up at Ransom for some sign of approval. Obviously, she would love to play games with Mae after breakfast. But if Ransom didn’t want her here, then maybe it was better to try to get back to the house after all, or at least go back upstairs and stay out of the way.
His expression softened and he nodded to her.
