20. Delay of Game #2
After thanking her attorney, she held steady as she strode out of the room. The sight that greeted her knocked the wind from her lungs, filling her with something better.
A mass of friends greeted her in the lobby. She was pulled into hug after hug from all of her friends from Foothills, and even her mother. Nate and his creepy lawyer slunk out the door behind them, completely ignored.
“Did you twist his balls until he signed over everything?” Patricia raised a devious eyebrow Haley didn’t think she’d ever seen before, her voice loud enough so Nate could hear as he stepped into the elevator.
“Um, no. Just my half. But, thanks for your support.”
“Well, I will let you go celebrate with your friends. I don’t want to miss my flight.” Patricia offered a stiff, shoulder-blade-pat hug, then marched out.
Jumping up and down, Pippa cheered, “Let’s go celebrate. I’ve planned a whole night on the town for us. Dinner on the wharf; I made reservations, then there’s this great club—”
Sophie linked elbows with her and motioned her hand for Pippa to take it down a notch.
Sophie restrained her friend and said, “But we are flexible and will do whatever you want. We’ll leave you alone and head home, or we’ll eat ice cream and get trashed in your hotel room, everyone but Pippa anyway, or we can all go out for a night on the town per Pippa’s itinerary. ”
Grady, Claire, Asher, Zane, Freya, Lincoln, and Trace stood waiting for her answer.
She swallowed her disappointment that Finn was gone, but she’d have booted him on the plane to Minnesota anyway.
“Dinner out with you guys sounds amazing. Just please, please tell me you’re not all swapping behind my back. ”
Horrified, they all looked each other over. Asher scowled. “That’s disgusting. And not just because I’m related to a third of the women here.”
Haley felt the waterworks threatening, the pressure in her eyes almost matching the thrill beating in her chest. “Good. Just… yeah. Good. Let’s go have dinner on the wharf.”
Seventy-five degrees, clear skies, a bustling crowd, the wharf welcomed her back.
Pippa gave her name to the host and they were led through the crowded dockside restaurant and out onto the deck.
A salty breeze fanned over her from the bay, seagulls coasted on the updrafts, and hundreds of boats bumped over the waves as they came in and out of the harbor.
Inhaling the savory scents of the restaurant, Haley’s stomach rumbled at earthquake levels as the butterflies faded away. A large table awaited their crowd, and she selfishly nabbed a seat overlooking the water. Her friends filled in around her, Grady whispering as he sat next to her, “Doing okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah. All good.”
“You’re officially done with that bastard. I get it if you’re still shell-shocked, but you’re withdrawn. Just say the word if I can do anything.”
“I’m worn out.”
“I’ll bet. I am, and I didn’t even have to talk to that asshole.”
They put in their orders, and Haley absorbed the moment, the setting, her friends.
Last year at this time, she was a few restaurants down, in the upstairs room with swanky lights at a schmoozy party Nate had dragged her to.
She remembered staring out the window, alone, wondering if this was it.
Reliving the same day over and over; wake up, check in with the staff, a light breakfast, see Nate off to work, hide away in her office and work on her blog, then spend an hour getting ready for another event, bored out of her mind with people she either didn’t know or didn’t respect.
Or had it been Groundhog Day , and she couldn’t get out of it until she found herself?
While the others laughed and visited over chowder and a beer, Trace leaned back and whispered to Haley, “If I didn’t make it clear enough, I will forever be your bestie. Whatever you and Finn decide, I support you both.”
“But weren’t you thinking of getting back together with him?”
“Honestly?”
Haley interrupted, “Of course honestly. I don’t ever, ever want another shred of dishonesty in my life.”
Trace bit her lip in a sweet smile. “I promise you will only ever hear the truth from me. Have I ever lied to you? Remember when you cut your hair short in seventh grade and you asked what I thought, and I said you looked like a dork?”
“Yes. And then you made your mom teach me how to apply make-up and hair product so I looked like a rock star.” She smiled at the memory. How long had she gone without genuine honesty and support?
“Exactly. Which is why I am now going to deliver another hard truth that, if handled carefully, should end up even better than having all the girls in Foothills follow the trend you set with your spunky haircut.” She paused, continuing as the breeze kicked up off the bay.
“I did want to get back together with Finn. We were really good together in high school. He’s the best friend I’ve ever had, second only to you. ”
Nausea washed over Haley; she really, really didn’t want to hear it. She was still creeped out that they’d shared him.
“No, hear me out. I can see you putting on the mental earmuffs.” Trace raised an eyebrow and applied her stern face.
“This time around, he was lost and broken when we got back together. Our relationship was a burden on him. It broke my heart, but I couldn’t watch him try to juggle one more thing.
I’d hoped he’d be in a better place to try again when I got home, and that we could make it work when he had a better handle on things. Third time’s a charm, right?”
The others joked and chatted and watched the boats coming and going, dodging the seagulls that dive bombed for scraps.
Trace continued, “I have to admit, it threw me, seeing you two together. But I think it was a good wake-up call.” She stared out at the water, leaned shoulder to shoulder with Haley.
“Finn and I were nice together. We never fought. I’d thought it was because we were easygoing.
I never lost sleep over him. I thought it was because we’d had a good rhythm. ”
Haley watched as a party boat motored by, the happy crowd laughing and celebrating so loud, their voices echoed off the restaurant windows behind her. She bit her lips together, letting a self-pitying wallow brew in her throat and sap the last of her energy.
“In the five minutes I saw you two together…
he was so different, and in such a good way.
He has never fought for me like that. When you rejected him, he went so pale, so helpless.
And then when your phone rang, and you were so angry you could hardly stand, he broke down that barrier and held you…
it was an awful moment, yet you two were so in tune with each other.
“Then he was on the phone with your attorney so fast, seeing what he could do to clear things up. Rallied all of us to come down and show our support, even if we wouldn’t be useful for your divorce, you would know we had your back.
Trust me when I say, I know him very well, and I’ve never seen him so livid.
So desperate. Not even when it came to football. ”
Biting her cheek, only to remember she’d chewed it raw and it still burned, Haley felt the sting of a salty tear trailing down her cheek.
At her other side, Grady leaned back in his chair and whispered, “I could pretend I wasn’t listening, but, you know me, I’m nosy.
” He made sure Trace could hear. “I can attest that Trace and Finn were nice together, but boring. I could go on and on about how he dove off a cliff to get to you, but you know that was extraordinary. Instead, how about that night at Halseth’s, when you and he were making eyes at each other all night?
I didn’t even know you two were a thing, but even I was blushing with all the steam in the air, and I’m pretty comfortable with that sort of thing.
Or when he called to ask if I’d drop off your favorite breakfast and a hammock to give you some place else to chill while you recovered from that concussion? ”
Freya leaned closer from Trace’s other side. “I know you’re scared, but you can’t argue with pheromones.”
Asher nudged his cousin and nodded. “Or lust, whatever.”
Pippa rolled her eyes at her brother.
“No really.” He shrugged, sporting a wicked grin. “I was surprised that campfire didn’t turn into a wildfire at the heat in the air at Claire’s birthday party.”
Oh boy. She could claim she didn’t come out to be ambushed, but getting hit with example after example of how much the man loved her was… intense. In a good way.
Sophie raised her glass. “To Haley. Instantly one of my heroes, and I have a lot of those in my life.” She squeezed Asher’s hand.
“Hit rock bottom, and instead of floundering like others would, she held her head high and drove across the country—showing the ultimate bravery in traveling with Patricia at her side.” The table chuckled with eyes wide, reaching for their drinks to toast that part alone.
“And with pure muscle, is building something beautiful out of a tired old home. Crossed a raging river to show her bravery, climbed up the cliff that tried to knock her down. Fought for what she deserved, not giving in to pretentious assholes. And with pure passion, found love where there was hopelessness.”
With a round of whoops and cheers, the table toasted. Licking her lips, she tasted the gush of tears that cleansed the last decade from her soul. Raising her glass, she whooped right back, “Love you guys. Thanks for coming to stand up for me.”