Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
“Just so we’re clear, you’re totally fine with us talking about you, Max, and the pregnancy, right?”
“Ash! We agreed we’d let Hailey take the lead!” Chloe reminded her.
“Oops! Sorry,” Ashlynn said before grinning at Hailey. “I’m just so psyched to be hanging out with you and hopefully not having to awkwardly avoid those topics.”
After storming away from Max and her father, it was such a relief to have her cousins lovingly rally around her as they grabbed some snacks and headed up to her guest room.
“Yeah, sorry about all the secrecy,” she said with a slight cringe. “It was really important for me to talk to Max first and then we sort of extended what was supposed to just be a day out by a couple of days.” She felt herself blushing. “Then I wasn’t sure how today was going to go if it was just us hanging out. My parents showing up sort of threw a giant monkey wrench into everything.”
“You were probably so overwhelmed,” Chloe said sympathetically. “It must have been so scary to find out you were pregnant when you barely knew Max. Luckily, he’s such a good guy. We all love him.”
“It’s true,” Jade said as she placed a platter of assorted snacks down on the bedside table. “We were all trying to think of people to fix him up with! That was mostly before the wedding. Once Billie got the pictures back and we saw the two of you in them, I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we were all hoping you’d come to visit so you could reconnect.”
Putting a handful of chips on her plate, she chuckled, “Really?”
“Oh, definitely,” Ash agreed. “You were already talking a lot about wanting to move here—or someplace close to here—the last few times we’d seen you. After we saw the pictures of you and Max, we just figured it could happen.” She helped herself to some chips. “I’m just glad that you decided to come here instead of Max moving down to Florida.” She paused. “Wait. Was that even an option?”
“He offered, but, like you mentioned, I was really looking to move here. The baby just made it happen a lot sooner.”
“Aww…a teeny, tiny nudge!” Ash said with a grin. “With teeny, tiny fetus feet!”
“Oh, good grief,” Jade murmured. “Knock it off.” Then she faced Hailey. “So, how are you doing? Are you okay? Are you guys planning on getting married? I thought I heard Max saying something about that before you joined us in the kitchen.”
There was a collective gasp as all eyes turned toward her.
“Um…Max has mentioned it. Twice. The first time, I threw up, and then today…well…you saw my reaction.”
You could have heard a pin drop.
Nervously, she slowly took a bite of a tortilla chip, and it was easily a full minute before anyone spoke.
“So you’re really against marrying him?” Chloe asked as she sat down beside her.
“No, but…”
“And you’re obviously having a baby,” Ashlynn stated.
Nodding, she agreed. “We are, but…”
“I get that maybe it’s fast, but…are you in love with Max?” Jade asked. “And if it’s too soon to say you’re in love, do you see yourself getting there?”
Ugh…where do I even begin?
“I’m just being practical,” she said primly, choosing to study her plate of chips and not look at anyone. “Yes, Max and I are wildly attracted to each other and so far, we’ve been getting along great.”
“But…” Ash prompted.
“But…” She groaned, already hating what she was about to say. “We’ve been forced into a situation and now I’ll never know if this was meant to be or if we’re just making the best of the awkward circumstances.” Shrugging, she added, “The last relationship I was in was a total nightmare.”
“That’s because he-who-must-not-be-named was a total ass hat,” Sloane chimed in.
“There was that,” Hailey calmly said. “But I also always lacked a bit of self-confidence where guys were concerned. So that relationship didn’t help.” She sighed. “I didn’t think I’d be able to trust another man, and then I met Max at the wedding. It felt safe to…you know…do what we did because I wasn’t staying. It was just a fling. And now we’re here and…and…Max is probably just making the best of it because he’s an honorable man.”
With a snort, Ashlynn mumbled something under her breath and walked out of the room, and Jade quickly followed.
Apparently I make things awkward everywhere I go now.
Beside her, Chloe quietly spoke. “Can I ask you something?”
A nervous laugh was Hailey’s first response. “Sure.”
“If you weren’t pregnant and you came back to Sweetbriar to visit and Max came in and completely swept you off your feet, would you question it?”
“I…I don’t know. And I’m never going to know because…”
“Hales, I spent most of my life having zero confidence in myself. I never had a significant relationship. I felt like the guys I dated always found it easy to walk away. I was completely forgettable.”
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “It’s depressing.”
Nodding, Chloe went on. “Then I met Tanner. He was…” She sighed happily. “He was handsome and arrogant and the kind of man I thought would never be interested in someone like me. But…I was wrong. He spent so much time and energy showing me how he felt about me, but I refused to let myself believe it. I found all kinds of excuses why he couldn’t really feel the way he said he felt. I exhausted the both of us.”
This all sounds wildly familiar, she thought.
“I get that our experiences aren’t identical—I wasn’t pregnant—but Tanner and I worked together, like literally worked together. We had to see each other every single day and I questioned if he was staying with me so it wouldn’t be awkward at work or if he was using me because I had a great reputation with the staff.” She shook her head as she softly laughed. “I told myself all kinds of lies when the truth was right there in front of me.” Reaching over, she grabbed one of Hailey’s hands and gave it a firm squeeze. “You are an amazing woman, Hailey Donovan. You are smart and beautiful and worthy of being loved. Maybe all those other men were wrong for you because the right one was here in Sweetbriar Ridge, just waiting for you.”
Tears stung Hailey’s eyes. “I’m so afraid of being wrong, Chloe,” she whispered. “What if I let myself fall in love with him and he’s just biding his time until after the baby’s born? What if he realizes it was all just lust? What if…”
“What if this is the greatest love of a lifetime?” her cousin fiercely whispered back. “You deserve to be happy and to live your life loving Max freely and being loved in return. Stop fighting it. Let yourself be happy.”
Now her tears fell in earnest. “I’m trying. There are just so many things to take into consideration besides the baby. There’s moving, finding a job, a place to live…” Another sigh. “Staying here with Billie and Marcus and knowing Max is in the room over the garage…”
“Has got to be a little weird. I get it.” Glancing over her shoulder, Chloe called out, “You can come back in now! Just don’t be bratty! And bring tissues!”
“Ash wasn’t being bratty.”
“Oh, please. She’s my twin and I can say with great confidence that she was being bratty. She may have left the room before she said something offensive, but she was still thinking it.”
Just then, Ash swept back into the room with a box of tissues. “But I didn’t say it out loud, so I deserve a little credit for that.” She gave Hailey a hug from behind before sitting back down. “I hate hearing you sound so down on yourself. I almost went downstairs to give Max and your parents a hard reality check, but Jade reeled me in.”
That’s when Jade rejoined them. “Sometimes family get-togethers are eerily similar to a night at home with my boys. I’m chasing after someone or telling someone to calm down and being the voice of reason.” She picked up a glass of wine. “Thankfully, my drink doesn’t have to be a virgin one. And I deserve this because I have a feeling today is going to be exhausting!”
Ashlynn was sitting across from her on the bed looking thoughtful for a moment. “For what it’s worth, Hales, I get it too. Relationships—romantic ones, I mean—can be seriously complicated no matter what. I was the one who always bailed in a relationship. I wanted to be the one to leave instead of being the one who was left behind. It took a long time before I realized I was doing it because of the abandonment issues I had from my dad leaving. We all have issues, but with the right person, it’s worth taking the risk.”
“Silas’s dad broke up with me as soon as I told him I was pregnant,” Jade commented. “We had dated for a while and even though it wasn’t a great relationship, I thought he’d stick around for our baby.” Shaking her head, she reached for some chips. “He left skid marks and wanted nothing to do with me or Silas. The fact that Max is not only not running away, but he wants to marry you, feels like he’s all in with you.”
“Okay, but that’s all right now. What about a year from now? Or two years? Or five?”
“No one can guarantee that,” Ashlynn replied. “Some marriages work, and some don’t. You can’t control that. Even strong marriages have their ups and downs. They take work.”
“And compromise and communication,” Jade added. “Your relationship may have started out based on…you know…lust, but the more time you spend with him, do you like him? As a person?”
She didn’t have to think about it. “I do. I really, really do. I’ve never met anyone like him before. When we met at the rehearsal dinner, there was definitely an attraction, but I genuinely enjoyed just talking with him.”
“I was friends with Levi before things got romantic,” Jade went on. “And it wasn’t long at all—like maybe a month? I wasn’t looking for anything serious; I was just starting Books she’s just investing in her family and the town she loves so much.”
“If you opened a studio—and considering you’re pregnant too—you could offer prenatal yoga and Pilates, and teach about the importance of diet and nutrition during pregnancy,” Chloe offered. “I’m not sure if that’s something you’re interested in, but I think it would be a great service to offer.”
“That would be an absolute dream,” Hailey said wistfully. “It was something I’ve wanted for a long time—basically because I got tired of waiting for my bosses to make the improvements to the spa that they said they were going to. I mean…I would do nutrition counseling on top of offering yoga and Pilates, I could be a personal trainer…” Pausing, something occurred to her. “Would there be enough interest here for such a thing? Maybe that’s why there isn’t one already.”
“That’s why you need to talk to Billie!” Jade said excitedly. “I know it’s a long-shot, and I have no idea how it would work, but at least it’s a way to start.”
Four pairs of eyes looked at Hailey expectantly.
If it all worked out, it would literally be an answer to all her prayers. She would be doing what she loved, and she’d have at least one thing settled in her life.
“So?” Ash asked. “What do you think?”
The smile was too strong to even try to fight. “I think it’s an amazing idea!” she blurted out happily. “I just hope we can make it work!”
There was a group hug, and they stayed up in the guest room for just a little while longer until they ran out of snacks.
“I hate to say it, but I think we need to go back downstairs and rejoin the party,” Jade said, sounding like the voice of reason. “I know your parents are going to be a handful, and you’re a little annoyed with Max right now, but try to enjoy the rest of the day. Everything’s going to work itself out. I promise.”
Hailey nodded, but she didn’t feel even the least bit confident.
Sloane came up beside her and hooked their arms together. “And if Mom or Dad give you any grief, remind them again how Mom was a bun-in-the-oven bride because that was amazing!”
Ugh…
“That wasn’t my finest moment,” she murmured.
“No, but it was exactly what needed to be said. You’ve got this, Hales. Stop worrying so much.”
If only…
On Wednesday morning, Max stood back and watched Hailey say goodbye to her family. They had asked her repeatedly to fly home with them, but she insisted that she needed to stay in Sweetbriar Ridge for at least another week. To say he was relieved was an understatement, because things had been strained ever since his disastrous declaration on Sunday. They’d spent every day together when he wasn’t working, but her parents were present for most of it.
That’s why he wasn’t the least bit sad to see them leave.
“Max!” Kevin called out. “I’ll have those figures for you this weekend and my nephew Patrick will be in touch as well!”
Max smiled and waved, but didn’t breathe easily until their car was completely out of sight.
Casually, he walked up beside Hailey and hesitated before putting his arm around her. “You okay?”
The soft sigh was her initial response before resting her head against his shoulder. “It felt weird to watch them leave, but I’m not sorry that they left.”
He wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he stayed silent.
“What about you?” she asked. “Are you okay?”
“Me? I’m fine. Why?”
“Well, since you and my dad are officially BFFs now, I just thought you might be sad that he’s gone.”
Glancing down at her, he saw the impish grin on her face. “Ha, ha. You’re hilarious.” Gently, he shrugged his shoulder before taking her hand and leading her back into the house. “I thought you’d be happy that we’re all getting along. With the way things started when we got back from Summit Ridge on Sunday, I wasn’t sure we were going to convince them to calm down.”
“You spoke my father’s language,” she said, and for the first time since Sunday, there was a bit of snap in her voice.
“Meaning?”
“You talked about opening a bar, asked his advice about construction, shared your love of different beers, and told him you wanted to marry his daughter and make everything alright.” With a huff of annoyance, she walked over to the coffeemaker and groaned. “Dammit! I really want something more powerful than decaf right now!” Spinning around, she walked over to the kitchen island and opened the bakery box that got refreshed daily and pulled out a brownie. After taking an obscenely large bite, she glared at him.
“Okay, now that everyone’s gone, let’s hash this out,” he said, trying to sound logical. “Clearly you’re upset and didn’t feel like we could talk freely with everyone here, so…let’s talk.”
Hailey took a moment to finish her mouthful of brownie before looking around. “Where’s Marcus?”
“He left for D.C. this morning. He’ll be home Sunday night.”
“And Billie’s at the coffee shop?”
He nodded. “And she’s going over to Chloe and Tanner’s.”
“So no one’s going to interrupt us?”
“Not unless your parents and Sloane come back.”
Staring at him, she let out a shaky breath. “Okay, then. Here it is. I don’t understand why you would tell my father that you would marry me when we never even talked about it!”
Was she serious?
“Yes, we did, Hailey. I mentioned it, and then you promptly went and threw up,” he reminded her. “And the second time…you know what? I said it to him because he was kind of harping on that one thing! I wasn’t going to lie to him, and I’m not going to lie to you—I want to marry you! I’ll say it to you, your parents, your family, and anyone who asks! I get that you’re overwhelmed, but so am I!”
“And you think adding marriage to the mix is going to help anything? Seriously?” And yeah, she was heavy on the sarcasm.
For a moment, Max allowed himself to find the right words to explain why he felt the way he did.
“Hailey, you are going to be uprooting your life in the next few weeks. You’re going to move a thousand miles away from your family, your friends, and your job. Then you’re going to be here and have to find a job, a doctor, and a place to live. And during all that time, your body is going to be changing, your hormones are going to be going a little wild, and you’re going to be overwhelmed. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was someone right there beside you who could empathize? Share your accomplishments and your worries?”
“You can do all of that without being married,” she said flatly.
She’s got me there…
“I realize that,” he slowly agreed. “But…would you consider moving in with me?”
Her mirthless laugh didn’t give him much hope. “In the room over the garage? Max, you and all your things barely fit in there!”
“We both know I’m not planning on staying there. I’ve been looking at some places, and—as your father mentioned—your cousin Patrick is going to be reaching out this week and I’m going to talk to him about that.”
“And why is Patrick calling? For the bar?”
He nodded. “Yes. Ronan found a space downtown that has potential for the bar, but we’re not sure if it’s zoned for it. That’s not important right now. Every night when I’d go up to my apartment this week, I would look at all the real estate sites. If I’m going to buy something, I’d like it to be something we both like.”
She eyed him warily. “Why? It’s your house.”
“God, are you always this stubborn?” he snapped. “I mean…jeez, Hailey, meet me halfway here! I get it. You’re pissed. I said something without running it by you first, but I’m not going to apologize for being honest!” Standing, he stormed over and grabbed himself a brownie from the box because he was just so freaking frustrated and needed a minute to calm down.
“Max, I…”
“I’ve done nothing but be honest with you, and I’ve promised from the moment you told me about the baby that I would be there with you no matter what!” he went on, shaking the brownie and scattering crumbs everywhere with each word. “I’m not going to beg you, and I’m not going to argue with you every day! We hit pause for a few days, but you know what? This situation isn’t going away! We need to make some decisions, and we need to get on the same page! You don’t want to marry me? Fine. I don’t like it, but I’ll deal with it.” Using his free hand, he raked it through his hair. “Right now, I guess we need to deal with logistics. We can go upstairs or I can bring my laptop down here and I can show you the houses I’m looking at. Or you can tell me what your plan is for moving and we’ll go from there.”
Stuffing half the brownie in his mouth, Max closed his eyes and tried to focus on the sugar high while pushing his own disappointment aside. If she wanted to just be roommates, fine. If she didn’t want to live with him and just wanted to co-parent, fine. Never in his life did he have to resort to begging, and he did his best to never lie. If Hailey didn’t want to hear the truth, that was on her. He wasn’t about to start lying to everyone just so she could feel better. He was willing to turn his life upside down just to make hers easier in a lot of ways, but he wasn’t going to compromise who he was.
When he finally opened his eyes, she was staring at him, her expression completely neutral.
“Could you sit back down?” she asked quietly. “Please?”
With a curt nod, he did just that and then waited to hear what she had to say.
“I don’t have a plan, Max. The only thing I was focused on was getting my parents out of here so I could try to figure out what came next. Every day while you were at work, all I would hear was how wonderful you are, how great you are, how lucky I am that someone as awesome as you wanted to marry me.” She groaned. “My father reminded me every chance he got how you wanted to marry me, and when he wasn’t around, my mother picked up the ‘I heart Max’ campaign.” Pausing, she rolled her eyes. “My dad and Uncle Ronan spent a lot of time scouting out potential locations for the bar, and that left me alone with my mother and Sloane. We’d go to lunch and visit with everyone, and she’d talk about all the great houses we could buy when we’re married, and how we could have a beautiful wedding just like my cousins had.”
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this? We’ve seen each other every day and not once did you even let on that they were pressuring you like this.”
“Because you were sitting here and damn near preening from all their praise every night! Did you honestly think they were just doing that when you were in our presence?”
“Um…”
“Nothing’s in my control!” she cried, her eyes brimming with tears. “Everyone’s trying to tell me what I should do and no one’s listening or even asking what I want!”
“That’s not true,” he carefully argued. “I’ve been asking you and you keep telling me you’re not ready or you want to hit pause or…”
“I know, I know…I swear I was ready to do all the talking and planning when we left Summit Ridge. But then…”
“Then your parents showed up.”
“Exactly.”
“They’re not here now, Hales. Tell me what you’re thinking. Tell me what you want and I swear I’ll do everything in my power to make it happen.”
“Why?” she asked as tears rolled down her face. “Why are you being so nice? I’ve been a total brat and completely irrational, and you’re still here. Why?”
Reaching across the table, he took one of her hands in his. “Because from the moment I met you, I was drawn to you,” he said gruffly. “I enjoyed talking with you and laughing with you, I’ve loved getting to know you. I hate how we missed out on a month where we could have spent time together and it wouldn’t have been nearly as awkward when you found out you were pregnant.” Swallowing hard, he stared at their hands. “But I’m still here because I believe there’s more to us than just a pregnancy.” Slowly, he caressed her hand and met her teary gaze. “I think there’s so much more to our story than this. If you’ll give us a chance, I promise you won’t regret it.”
And there it was. He had put it all out there with all the honesty he possessed.
“It’s a lot,” she whispered. “It’s a lot and…and…I’ve been hurt before. I don’t trust easily anymore.”
“And that’s okay,” he quietly assured her. “I’m not asking you to change who you are. I honestly like the person you are. I want to know the true you, Hailey…not some version that you think you should be. I want it all—the good and the bad.”
Her small laugh gave him a little bit of hope. “You say that now, but my family swears I can be a handful. Sloane tells me all the time that I exhaust her.”
“And your sister is a bit of a drama queen,” he said lightly. “At least, that’s the impression I got of her this week.”
Now she smiled. “I say that about her a lot. Everything she says is over-the-top and slightly exaggerated.”
“So maybe you’re not exhausting,” he said with a grin.
Her smile grew. “Maybe.”
With another nod, he felt like they were both a little more at ease. “Okay, so would you like to come upstairs and look at…”
His phone dinged with an incoming text and when he looked down at the screen, he saw it was from Patrick Donovan.
How is it that the rest of the Donovans were quick to respond and make things happen and I fall for the only one who can’t make a decision?
Patrick: Hey! Four houses are becoming available next week in Sweetbriar Ridge.
Patrick: I can get you an early exclusive on them before they go on the market.
Patrick: I’m going to email you the links. Look them over and let me know if you want to tour any of them. You can drive by them first so you can get a feel for the neighborhoods.
Patrick: And tell Hailey I said hello!
Max immediately switched over to his email and opened the links, fully aware that Hailey was watching him. He was excited to look at the details and maybe this would be a low-pressure way to introduce house hunting because he didn’t want to overwhelm her now that she seemed more relaxed.
“Hey,” she said quietly. “Is everything okay? Your face got all serious.”
“Um…yeah. It was…” But he stopped himself from saying anything. He could drive by the houses tomorrow. Standing, he slid his phone back into his pocket.
Raking a hand through his hair, he nodded. “I just got an email from Patrick. There are four houses that he thinks fit what I’m looking for and I was going to ask if you’d like to drive by them maybe after we look at the ones I saved. We can’t go in any of them, and I haven’t looked at any of the interior pictures, but I thought it might be nice to just look.”
“Oh, wow. That was fast. I didn’t think he’d be reaching out this quickly. I mean…we were just talking about it, so maybe this is the universe’s way of telling me I can’t keep pretending it’s not happening. Plus, we can’t keep living here, so…” She shrugged. “I guess we should go up to your apartment and see what you have and then do a few drive-bys and see what my cousin thinks is a good fit.”
And without another word, she walked out the door, leaving Max wondering if maybe they were turning a corner. Maybe she just needed to be away from her overbearing family to think things through.
Whatever the reason, he’d take it.