Chapter 15
CHAPTER 15
“You’re all zero out of three right now.”
It was Sunday dinner and, because her mother loved a good stray, Stanton, Ryan, and Jack always joined them.
Her three friends raised their hands in surrender as Haleigh used her fork to gesture at each of them in turn. “You haven’t been on any dates from me yet,” Stanton said.
“Same,” Jack echoed.
“I’m just here for your mom’s excellent cooking,” Ryan piped in.
That got him an appreciative grin from Haleigh’s mom, who was, in fact, becoming a much better cook in retirement. There was a time when she’d only known five recipes, and she prepared them in the same rotation every week until Joey and Haleigh decided that maybe they would learn to cook themselves.
“True.” Haleigh aimed her fork at her immediate family this time. “Thank you for proving why I want to quit dating for a while.”
Pépère let out a beleaguered sigh. “I still don’t understand what happened with Bradley. I heard you left before the main course because your apartment flooded.”
“What?” Stanton squawked. Haleigh gave his shin a light kick under the table, then shot him a look that said Be quiet. “Oh right, the leak,” he mumbled. “Thank god nothing was damaged, except Ryan’s ugly furniture that we had to throw away.”
Ryan’s head shot toward them. “You said they were in storage.”
Haleigh was losing control here. “Pépère, things with Bradley weren’t working long before that.”
“He said the date was going well.”
“I don’t know what date he was on then, because the guy was treating it like an investment meeting and then tried to spoon-feed me oysters.”
“Ew, no.” Whitney tossed her long red hair over her shoulder, shaking her head with disgust. Haleigh loved her sister’s fiancée. She was every bit as ambitious as Joey, but a little less organized and a lot more colorful. Whenever they saw each other, Whitney and Haleigh could spend hours talking about fashion and the latest books they’d read and whatever Grey’s episode they’d watched. Sometimes, she felt more like a sister to Haleigh than Joey did. Or at least more like a friend. Joey had never been Haleigh’s friend. More like a second mom. Or a boss at a job Haleigh had never applied for.
“I would have legitimately murdered him.” Joey stabbed her knife into her chicken in demonstration.
“I almost had to call you for legal advice,” Haleigh quipped.
Pépère harumphed. “Well, you’ll like Erik better. He’s not a money guy. He’s a nurse at my VA.”
“Do we have stuff in common?”
“You’re around the same age—”
Jack laughed. “There’s more to dating than that, Roger.”
Haleigh coughed when his brown eyes cut to her. The track lighting over their heads caught on the bronze flecks in Jack’s irises, and she was suddenly very glad that she’d coerced Stanton into sitting between them.
Haleigh hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him and the other night. How she’d woken up tangled in Jack on the couch. How his arms had cradled her close like she was something precious. How he’d known to come get her, even when she’d sworn she was fine. How he’d plied the tension from her muscles with books and her favorite food and his adept fingers.
She and Jack were so connected, so intertwined, Haleigh was shocked no one else could see the strings. But he’d never be hers. Not the way she wanted. Their week in Hawaii had written that in stone.
She could feel him glancing around Stanton, trying to get her attention, so Haleigh grabbed a roll and focused on buttering it with deft precision. She wasn’t ready to pretend everything between them was fine. Not when she could feel the phantom of his body pressed against her spine as if they were still lying on that couch in the dark. Behind her eyes, she could still see the brightness in his face as he told her she could get five books. As if he’d felt the same joy she knew.
It was time to get over him. For real. Not as a lie she told herself to get through the day. Otherwise she risked letting these things she felt come between them for a second time.
She sighed. “I don’t know. It feels like you’re all picking people who are generally nice or whatever without thinking about who would be a good match for me .”
“I really thought you and Dana would hit it off,” Joey insisted.
“And you’re wondering how I messed it up?”
Joey flinched. “No, actually. I think Dana should have eased into the mountain woman life and not started with a hike.” She spooned some broccoli onto her plate and presented the bowl to Haleigh as if it were a peace offering.
Haleigh accepted it begrudgingly. “We still didn’t have anything in common.”
“Maybe not, but you might have gotten along. Maybe learned some stuff from each other.” Joey’s voice sharpened a little. “Sometimes your perfect match isn’t someone exactly like you.”
“I’m aware,” Haleigh pushed back. Her problem wasn’t trying to find someone else just like her. It was that she wanted someone just like Jack.
Or, more accurately, she wanted Jack.
That needed to change. It was the only way she’d ever get over him.
She surveyed everyone at the table. Her eyes caught on Jack as he sent off a text. This time, Haleigh didn’t bother to check if it was for her. She didn’t let herself linger over the smile on his face or wonder if he was talking to that Dylan person again.
Rules Seven and Nine, she reminded herself. He was allowed to prioritize someone else. And she was not allowed to be a jealous asshole.
“I just want to meet someone I can connect with,” Haleigh went on. “And that usually includes sharing at least some things in common.”
Maybe this dating experiment she was doing didn’t have to be a total date-pocalypse. Maybe it could be an opportunity for her to open up to the possibility of someone besides Jack. Find a spark somewhere new. But she could only do that if she let Jack go, if she stopped using their rules as a place to hide rather than a way to move on.
“I’m honestly surprised you two aren’t dating,” Ryan declared around a big bite of chicken.
He pointed between Haleigh and Jack.
Haleigh’s heart froze mid-beat. She heard Jack choke and sputter on the iced tea he’d just raised to his mouth.
Everyone else at the table laughed.
“Honestly, same, Ryan,” Joey said. Haleigh threw a napkin at her face.
Their mom released a wistful sigh. “I’ve been hoping that for years, but I’m guessing it’s not in the cards.”
She glanced from Haleigh to Jack as if they might contradict her.
Haleigh had never bothered to tell her family about Hawaii. It seemed pointless. Her mom and Pépère loved Jack like one of their own. She didn’t want to mess with that. Or get her mother’s hopes up that they might find their way back to each other.
Haleigh brushed her hand over her key, then turned to her mother with wide eyes. “After Pete, I don’t think you get a say in my love life anymore.”
Her mom gasped as she handed Ryan the mashed potatoes. “I didn’t know about the bird.”
That set the whole table laughing.
“RIP my bagel.”
“His brother is also nice. I could see if he’s single.” Her mother picked up the gravy next and ladled some on her plate, then shoved the tureen into Ryan’s hand.
Poor Ryan was still trying to deal with the potatoes and was now performing a wild balancing act fit for any circus. Clearly amused, Stanton let him suffer for a minute longer before taking one of the bowls.
Haleigh shook her head. “I’m not going out on a date with an emotional support porcupine next.”
“Maybe it would be something cute, like a mouse,” Whitney suggested. She clapped her hands. “Maybe it lives in his pocket.” She brought her hands up to her face as if mimicking the mouse.
“Or they’re a bird family. The brother might have a pigeon.” Joey smirked at Haleigh.
“Unless it’s a penguin, it’s not happening.” Haleigh had to fight the urge to share a list of penguin factoids. Anything to shift this conversation in a different direction.
Clearing his throat, Stanton tipped up his chin, letting everyone know he had something to say. “I regret to inform you all”—he might have been conducting an orchestra from the way he waved his hands—“that I have found Haleigh’s perfect date. You can all give up now.”
“No way,” Joey declared. “Haleigh promised to go on every date.”
Stanton leveled his gaze at her. “Then prepare for my guy to end up on top.” Apparently setting up Haleigh on dates had become a form of sporting event.
How long before they made T-shirts and foam fingers?
She wasn’t sure if she should appreciate this enthusiasm or be worried about the mayhem it would cause. She’d witnessed what happened when Stanton lost at a board game. This could only be worse.
Haleigh felt Jack’s eyes settle back on her, but she fought to keep her gaze homed in on her plate. She’d seen the look on his face when Ryan asked about them dating. No regret, no pain, just complete shock.
It was another of a million tiny reminders that he was over her.
It was time for Haleigh to be over him as well. And she had seven dates left to get there.