Chapter 9
Nate
Three weeks later…
I pace the length of the living room, and with each pass of the TV, Archie huffs and leans his head side to side, until eventually he loses his shit. “Nate, I swear to god if you block that TV one more time, I am going to throw the remote at your head! What is wrong with you?”
I skid to a halt because Archie will, in fact, throw the remote at my head, and that shit hurts. I shake my arms out. “It’s been three fucking weeks of radio silence, Arch.”
He crosses his arms. “Oh, don’t I know? You’ve only been banging on about it every day since we got home.”
I nod. “Yeah, oh. Three weeks of being left on read and being ghosted.”
“Have you asked Emmy or Lacey?”
I sigh. “No, I didn’t want to betray her confidence.”
He shrugs. “So go over there and case the joint.” He laughs, but then his smile quickly disappears as the idea takes root in my head. He hops to his feet. “I didn’t mean that!”
I’m already out of the door, shouting, “You’re a genius, Arch!”
I dive into my car and make the twenty minute drive over to Hayleigh’s house. When I arrive, the place is in darkness, and her car isn’t here. The clock in my car reads almost six. She should be home by now.
There’s no point checking my phone because the ringtone I assigned specifically for Hayleigh’s messages hasn’t gone off, and I don’t want to ask Emmy and Lacey, in case Hayleigh hasn’t told them about…whatever we were in Vegas.
I call Archie, and he answers pretty much straight away. “Archie, she isn’t here.”
“Have you tried phoning her?”
I roll my eyes. “She’ll only ignore my calls. I’m going to wait here for a bit.”
“Ah, yes, because nothing says I want to be with you more than a strange man creeping in his car staring at an empty house.”
“Thanks for the advice.” I hang up, frustrated that she's not here, but downright pissed off that Archie is right. But there's no way I'm leaving without answers
And so I wait.
And wait.
After three hours pass, Hayleigh’s beat-up old car chugs down the road, emitting enough smoke to warrant it a hazard.
She pulls into her drive, and once she gets out, it's clear something is .
.. off. Her head hangs, and she shakes her arms out and rolls her shoulders before opening the door and going inside.
I'm starting to doubt myself. She's clearly had a rough day, and maybe my showing up won't make that day any better.
So, like a chicken, I go back and forth over whether I should do what I came here to do or just give up and go home.
The decision is made for me when, a few minutes after arriving, she's back at her car, this time with a bag, which she throws in the back seat. She gets in her car and reverses out.
Huh, where the hell is she going at this time of night?
I put the car in gear and set off after her, keeping back so she doesn’t spot it’s me. I press the call button on my steering wheel. “Call Archie.” The phone rings through the car, and he answers, but I don’t give him a moment. “I’m following her.”
“Oh fucking hell, this is a terrible idea, Nate! Usually I’m all for a bit of reconnaissance, but this is taking the biscuit!”
I scoff. “I only want to see where she’s going and why she isn’t staying at her house, that’s all…to make sure she’s okay.”
Now Archie scoffs. “Yeah, okay, you only want to make sure she doesn’t have someone else. Come home, Nate, before-”
“Sorry, A-Arch-shhh-I can-shhh-hear yo-shh-eeeek.” Then I press the end call button on my steering wheel.
I know she isn’t seeing anyone else, and that’s not why I’m following.
Something isn’t right with her lately, and ghosting me proves that, because I have spoken to Emmy, and even she’s worried about Hayleigh.
Finally, after about thirty minutes of driving, Hayleigh turns off onto a dirt road that leads past fields and old abandoned barns.
How the hell did she find this place, and why?
When she pulls up next to one of the barns, I kill my lights and stay at a slow crawl before pulling to the side of the road and tucking my car in next to some trees.
I get out in time to see Hayleigh take her bag out of the back seat.
She looks around and then heads into the barn, closing the door behind her.
Taking out my phone, I check for a signal, but I don’t have one, so I send a message to Arch anyway.
Me
Found Hayleigh. Creepy fields and in an abandoned barn. If I die, you have my permission to take my old Sega Mega Drive and games.
I put my phone in my pocket and walk to the barn, placing my ear against the door. I strain to hear something, anything, and then I do…music, but not the happy kind; it’s sad and melodic, but then there’s something else, singing, or more like cats trying to sing, but it’s there.
I raise my hand and decide to go for it instead of being accused of being a creep, rather than letting Hayleigh get lost in her own head. I bang on the door and hear a squeak of surprise from inside. “Hayleigh, it’s me, Nate.” I squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head. “Open up…please.”
Footsteps sound behind the door, and then it creaks inwards as Hayleigh’s tear-stained face peeks from around the corner. She looks defeated, her shoulders are down, and her eyes are heavy. “What are you doing here, Nate?” She looks around behind me.
I tuck my hands in my pockets. “I’m here alone…I followed you from your house, which was a little creepy of me, but I wanted to make sure you’re okay. Which you’re not by the way, because…” I gesture to the barn and see the side of her mouth lift slightly.
She steps back and pulls the door open slightly before nodding inside. “Might as well come in then. Sorry about the mess.”
I walk into the barn and see the place is shrouded in darkness, save for a corner at the back where fairy lights are strung around the walls, illuminating it.
An old dusty red couch sits against the back wall, and Hayleigh’s bag lies on top of the cushions.
There’s a sleeping bag, a camping stove and a stack of tinned food.
Hayleigh breezes by me and sits on the couch, spreading her arms out at her sides.
“Welcome to my home.”
I shake my head. “You already have a home, why are you staying here?”
She sighs. “I can’t stay in that house, Nate.
” I’m about to tell her I understand when she carries on.
“I told you that my mother and father chose everything for me, all the way down to Pete. They adored him, fawned over him when we saw them, so much so that they had constant brown noses.” She picks up two camping mugs and pours hot coffee before continuing.
“Pete’s family had money, but they weren’t as wealthy as my family; they had something better than wealth in their eyes, and that was power. ”
I walk over to her and take the mug, sitting down on an old loom. “Yeah, I remember, his dad was a judge?”
She nods. “Oh boy, was he. A corrupt judge, but my parents didn’t care; for them, it was another powerful ally.
Anyway, I wanted my own place and my parents agreed, but it had to be with Pete.
They said it wouldn’t look proper if I lived alone, and so they bought it for us.
I remember feeling so lucky to have parents that could buy me a home, but it wasn’t a home they were buying, it was a prison. ”
“So you find a creepy old abandoned barn to live in, instead?” I keep my tone light, and it works because she barks out a laugh and a snort.
“Oh god, this does look bad. I promise, though, I am not losing it. This place, in fact, this land is…mine. It was my granddad's, but he gave it to me in his will before he passed. It’s the one thing that my parents don’t hold over me.”
“There are plenty of us who have spare rooms, Hayleigh-”
She shakes her head. “I’ve already found four places that I like the look of, I don’t want to be under…I don’t want to burden anyone.” She doesn’t meet my eyes.
I nod my head. “Okay then. Where are these four places that you’ve seen, and when can we view them?”
Her head snaps up. “Oh, what do you mean? You want to help?”
“Sure, that’s what friends are for, right? Plus, I don’t know if you know this, but I have connections in the building trade and I, myself, am a master carpenter.” I puff up my chest and throw her a dazzling smile.
She laughs. “You’re so goofy. I’ll pay you for any work you do and for helping me.”
I scoff. “Mates rates. So come on, tell me where we’re looking.”
Her smile lights up her face as she grabs some papers from her bag.
“Still in Roselake, but I want something that I can do up and put my own stamp on.” She grabs another piece of paper, and an envelope falls out with her name on it.
She snatches it up before stuffing it back in the bag. “So I’m thinking of this one here.”
I listen to what she has to say about the house, and I have to admit her ideas are pretty good, so I make a mental note of them and nod and smile, but all the while my mind keeps bringing me back to her bag and to wondering what that envelope was.
I move on from the bag when she tells me her plans for the garden.
I love the way her eyes light up as she names the different kinds of flowers she would want in there, and then I imagine her in there, a little older than she is now, maybe two or three years, her hair in one of those messy buns that I like so much.
She would smile from ear to ear when I came home, and I’d kiss her like I hadn’t seen her in months and then drop to my knees and kiss her stomach…
“Nate? Do you think that’s possible?” She searches my eyes, a soft smile on her lips, and I have zero fucking clue what she said, but I find myself nodding either way.
“Great. I’m going to get some sleep now, so…
” She looks unsure of herself, but if she thinks I’m letting her sleep in here on her own, she has another thing coming.
“I’ll take the floor.” I drop down and roll up my coat into a makeshift pillow.
She looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Nate, you’re not sleeping on this floor. Go home.”
My smile is smug. “Nope. I’m good here.”
She grits her teeth. “Nate. I have been sleeping here for weeks. Go home.”
I look at her.
Weeks? She’s been here for weeks?
Still, I smile. “Sorry, not letting you sleep here alone. I’m great here.”
She huffs. “Fine. Be like that.” I settle in and pray to god no spiders crawl over me, but then she huffs again. “Okay. What else do you suggest?”
Yes! A win for me! “Thought you’d never ask. You can take our spare room until you get your own place, or you can stay with Cas and Emmy, or-”
She sighs. “No, I can’t stay with Emmy; she just got married, and there’s no way I’m crashing that. I’ll stay with you and Archie until I get my own place, which will be soon, by the way.”
Operation Help Hayleigh is a go. I think Arch would be proud of me. I grin in the dark, victory blooming in my chest.