Chapter 6 Hayden
CHAPTER SIX
hayden
PRESENT DAY
This one’s yours.” I gestured to the guest bedroom across the hall from mine, then to the door at the end of the hall between the bedrooms. “The bathroom is there.”
Pancho happily trotted into the guest room, pouncing on the bed to curl into a ball on the fluffy, lilac-colored comforter. The corners of my lips lifted at the sight of him making himself at home.
Sierra shifted awkwardly on her feet, her gaze glued to the floor. “I—you didn’t have to…” Her voice trailed off. “Thank you, Hayden.”
I leaned against the doorframe as she carried in what few belongings she’d been able to salvage from the fire. “Let me know if you need anything, okay, Skip?”
Her eyes flicked up to mine, and she gave me a small nod. “I will.”
After Sierra agreed to come back to Silver Creek with me, we untacked her horse and got him loaded in my trailer.
I’d told the guys that I would be a little longer so they could hit the road without me.
Thankfully, they hadn’t argued or asked questions, but I knew I’d have to formally introduce her soon.
We got Lucky settled in the pasture with Peanut as soon as we made it home. The only equipment that was salvageable from the fire was on his back at the time, so it didn’t take long to clear space for it in the barn.
Luckily I had everything else Sierra might possibly need, so she’d at least be covered until she figured out what she was going to do.
I didn’t want to think about her leaving again, so once she closed the door behind her, I walked out to the living room, gazing out the window into the pasture.
Her horse seemed to be content, which offered some sense of relief. I only hoped Sierra would be as happy to be staying with us as Lucky and Pancho were.
Down the hall, a door closed, followed shortly by the shower turning on.
I figured Sierra would want some time to adjust and settle in, and I wasn’t too keen on just waiting for her out in the kitchen like a weirdo, so I scribbled Going to the grocery store on a sticky note.
I put it on the counter in case Sierra got out of the bathroom and wondered where I was, then hopped into my pickup to drive into town.
The blend of harmonica and guitar filled the cab as “Save My Soul” by Noah Rinker started to play when I turned the key in the ignition.
I wasn’t necessarily low on groceries, but Sierra had lost basically everything in the fire, so I wanted to make sure she had everything she needed.
After grabbing a cart at the front of the store, I walked down each aisle, meticulously searching for her favorite things—at least the things I knew were her favorite when we were in high school.
I probably looked ridiculous to other shoppers, grabbing items seemingly with no rhyme or reason—or consideration for health, for that matter.
Looking down at the array of items in the cart, I decided I should probably grab some ingredients to make an actual meal. I turned the cart around, heading back to the produce aisle to grab carrots, celery, and an onion.
After about twenty minutes of searching, I was satisfied with the food items I’d gathered. I headed over to the health and beauty aisle to grab a few essentials before checking out.
“Hayden?” a familiar voice called out behind me.
Spinning around, I came face-to-face with one of the bartenders at Rudy’s. “Oh, hey, Liv.”
Liv was a few years younger than me and Sierra, but we’d always gotten along fine. I was sure she’d had a bit of a crush on me when she first started working at Rudy’s, but nothing ever came of it. In fact, she started dating one of her coworkers recently.
She looked at my cart and then chuckled. “Interesting choices you’ve got there. Shopping for someone special?”
“W-what makes you say that?” I stumbled over my words.
She grabbed the box of tampons in my cart and held it up, raising her brows.
“Oh. Uh…right, well…” I cleared my throat, snatching the box out of her hands. “I have a…uh…an old friend is staying with me for a while. I thought I’d do her a favor and stock up the bathroom.”
“That’s considerate of you.” She patted me on the back as she passed by. “You’re a good guy, Hayden. I hope I get to meet this girl.”
I shook my head, suppressing a laugh. “I’m sure you will.”
She raised her hand in a wave as she disappeared around the corner, leaving me to grab the shampoo, conditioner, and soap she’d always liked—the fancy kind that smelled like lavender. I picked up a few more things, then checked out.
When I walked through the front door of the house, Sierra was waiting on the couch.
She narrowed her eyes at the bundle of grocery bags in my arms. “What did you get at the store?”
I set the grocery bags on the counter, keeping the one with toiletries in my hand. “Go ahead, take a look. I’ll be right back.”
I hurried down the hall to the bathroom, unpacking the soap and personal items, putting them in plain sight so she’d be able to see them easily.
“Hayden?” Sierra’s voice had a hint of surprise to it.
I couldn’t hide the grin on my face when I came back out to the kitchen to find her with one hand on her hip and a bag of peanut butter cups in the other.
“What is all this?” She held up the bag of candy and gestured to the other things I’d bought with her in mind.
“Those are your favorites,” I pointed out as nonchalantly as I could, which admittedly wasn’t very well.
Her eyebrows furrowed. “They are. But how…”
I stepped closer to her. “You think I don’t remember every single thing about you? You are…were my best friend in the entire world, Skip. Forgetting someone like you isn’t that easy.”
It was nearly impossible, actually. Sierra, and everything about her, left a permanent imprint on my heart. Knowing her—loving her—had altered my brain chemistry.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured.
I rested my elbow on the counter, leaning into it so I was eye level with her. “Sorry for what?”
“For…everything. For leaving.”
I reached out, my thumb brushing the hair out of her face, across the faded pink scar on her cheek below her left eye.
I remembered the first time I noticed the scar—two years after we’d graduated high school, two years after she’d left for the first time—and my stomach felt like it was tying itself up in knots.
I half expected her to flinch back like she sometimes did, but her eyes just flicked to my retreating hand. “You did what you had to do to survive, Sierra. I don’t hold any of it against you. I never have. Never will.”
I may not have known the full story of why she left our senior year of high school, or even why she left five years ago for the second time, but I knew what she’d gone through when we were kids. That, to me, was enough.
She exhaled a heavy breath, tucking her hair behind her ear and straightening her posture. “I’d like to start over, though, if that’s possible. Be…friends again.”
Friends was the last thing I wanted to be with Sierra—I didn’t think it was possible for us to be just friends—but if that’s what it would take to get her back, then it was a start.
“Friends sounds great, Skip.”