In the aftermath of Evan’s deceit, she’d maintained her position but couldn’t handle the pitying looks from her co-workers. Tired of listening to them whisper behind her back, she’d cleared out her desk and quit without notice, leaving her plush marketing job in the past.
It was, to use her ex-boss’s words, a career limiting move. Everyone had an opinion. Perhaps he’d been right. Bad for her career, but exactly what her sanity needed. And, when push came to shove, her mental health came first.
Evan had called her crazy for leaving him. Like her ex-employer, he was wrong and she was tired of being judged for what he’d done. Now she was home and Beth hadn’t judged her, she just offered, as always, her unwavering support. With luck, her parents would be equally easy-going about the disaster her life had morphed into.
Jesse hadn’t judged her either, come to think of it. She understood how he must have felt in high school with everyone condemning him for his mother’s behavior. Hailey had been no different from the others, treating him poorly. Shame flooded through her. While she was taking stock of her life and rebuilding it, she’d have to work on her unconscious biases as well.
She shifted in bed, fluffed her pillow and tried to settle. She was twitchy and out of sorts. Those two cups of coffee had been a mistake, but she’d drink them all over again if she had to relive the day. They were the only things, besides Jesse and Beth, which had kept her going all afternoon.
She rose from bed and found her grade ten yearbook. Back under the covers, she flipped to the grade twelve pages. Jesse’s year, and she stared at his image. His eyes were the same shocking electric-blue. His clothing was still rough around the edges and his hair just a touch long. The photo showed a haunted look in his shadowed eyes and the dark circles under them which had since disappeared. He looked healthier now and maybe even happier.
Smooth youthful cheeks had given way to a rough blond beard. The slender, almost gaunt youth had morphed into a muscular man. She wondered what he looked like under all the fluff and fuzz. His looks didn’t matter, he was a nice guy, and she wasn’t looking for a man. She was back in Silver Creek to rebuild her life in a smaller place where you didn’t have to watch your back every second.
No, looks didn’t matter. Men didn’t matter. Two facts, which didn’t stop Jesse’s images, old and new, from swimming into her head as she finally drifted off; yearbook open on the bed beside her.
Chapter Three
An enticing aroma tickled Hailey awake. Coffee. Bacon! And sweet heaven, was that cinnamon buns? Daylight filtered through the curtains. She’d slept through the night without hearing her parents come home.
She leaped out of bed, set a world speed record for dressing, washing and brushing her teeth, and then raced down the hallway. She was ravenous. Hungry enough for food to outrank facing her parents. “Mom, Dad. Hi.” She slid to a stop in the kitchen as she had as a teenager.
“Hailey Elizabeth Masters, you get over here and hug me. Right this instant,” her mother demanded, holding open her arms.
Hailey stepped into her embrace, waggling her fingers over her mother’s shoulders in a wave to her father. He responded with two thumbs up and a wink. Liz Masters hugged her daughter until Hailey thought her ribs would crack. “Stop, Mom. I can’t breathe.”
She pushed back to study her mother. She’d aged a lot in the year since Hailey had been home. She’d gone from looking forty-five to looking every day of her fifty-nine years. She’d lost weight too, and gained a lot of shining silver in her once auburn hair.
“Mom, you look tired. Are you getting enough sleep?” Hailey hugged her again, unable to stay away from the comforting embrace.
“Is that any way to talk to your mother?” her father chided.
Hailey slipped from her mom’s arms and into her father’s. He set aside the fork he’d been using to flip bacon and squished her tight. “How’s my flutter-bug?”
The childhood nickname brought tears to her eyes. She blinked them away and stared into her father’s big brown eyes, the ones she’d inherited. He looked fabulous. A wrinkle or two had appeared beside his eyes, but he was tan and fit. He’d probably lost forty pounds and it looked good on him. “Retirement agrees with you, Dad.”
“Yes, it does. It would be even more agreeable if your mother would sell that albatross of a store and join me. We could buy a motorhome and travel Canada and the States. Hell, we could even go to Paris. Climb the Eiffel Tower.”
“Carl Masters, drop your old nag, this instant. Our beautiful baby girl is home.” Her mom frowned, deep lines appearing on her forehead, aging her another five years.
Yikes. Something was up here. Was this going to be another issue to add to Hailey’s ever-growing list? She chided herself for being selfish.
“I see you brought home a few things,” her father stated, as always, confronting a potential problem head on.
“Everything.” She pulled down her favorite mug from a circus that had once come to town, filled it with coffee and added cream and two sugars.
Her mom frowned and took over cooking the bacon, carefully setting each slice on a paper towel covered plate. “Everything?” she squeaked. “There isn’t much out there. How does Evan feel about this?”
And, there it was, the dreaded question. Hailey sipped her coffee and looked at her father for support. He grinned and shrugged. He too knew when Liz Masters got a bee in her bonnet, she didn’t quit.
“Honestly, Mom, I don’t know how he feels. Nor do I care. He screwed me royally.” She choked back a sob. The emotions she’d kept at bay since she kicked Evan out rushed to the surface.
“What does that mean?” Her mom patted Hailey’s back comfortingly. “Evan is such a nice boy. He’ll make a great husband. You can work this out.”
Hailey jerked away, sloshing her coffee on the floor. She wiped it up with a swipe of her sock-clad foot. “You’re taking his side? Seriously, Mom? You might have asked for the full story first.” She snatched up a cinnamon bun, still warm from the oven and took a huge bite. She chewed, swallowed and bit again. She had to stop eating her feelings.
“Manners, dear. Please use a plate.” Her mom passed Hailey a plate. “And tell us what happened.”
Hailey ripped off a large chunk of delicious pastry with her teeth. Her father hid a grin at her defiance. Her mother frowned but remained silent. When the entire cinnamon bun was gone, Hailey plopped into a kitchen chair. “Evan and his girlfriend were embezzling money from the company. He put the money into our joint account.”
