25. James
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James
Two weeks of waking up next to Haley, and I still couldn’t believe this was my life.
Most days I set up my laptop at her kitchen table, answering emails and taking calls while she edited manuscripts in the living room. Lily would wander between us demanding attention, showing off drawings, asking why clouds didn’t fall out of the sky. Domestic as hell.
I loved every second of it.
But the distillery expansion wouldn’t wait forever.
This week I had been chained to my office, putting out fires and finalizing details for the launch event.
The work mattered to me. I had built this expansion from the ground up, fought for it when the board wanted to play it safe. Walking away now wasn’t an option.
Still. Being away from them felt wrong.
Tonight, though, I was here. Lily had passed out an hour ago, exhausted from a day of terrorizing her stuffed animals, and Haley was lying next to me with her head on my chest. Her fingers traced lazy patterns on my stomach, and I watched the ceiling fan spin overhead while I figured out how to ask what I wanted to ask.
“Come to the launch event with me.” I felt her fingers pause against my skin. “As my date.”
She was quiet for a moment, her hand flattening against my abdomen.
“I don’t know, James.” She shifted to look at my face. “That’s a lot. Being out there with all those people. Your colleagues, your investors. Everyone who still remembers me as Caleb’s wife.”
“I get it.” I covered her hand with mine and laced our fingers together. “But you won’t be alone. I’ll be right there the whole time.”
“What about Lily?”
“She’s coming too.” I squeezed her hand. “Both of you. I want you both there.”
She studied my face, searching for doubt or hesitation. She wouldn’t find any.
“You sure about this?”
“Yes.”
She held my gaze for another beat, then nodded slowly. “Okay. We’ll come.”
***
The afternoon of the event, I showed up at her apartment with garment bags draped over my arm and two bouquets of flowers clutched in my free hand.
Haley opened the door and stared. “What is all that?”
“Supplies.” I pushed past her into the apartment and laid the garment bags across the couch. “I got you a dress for tonight. And one for Lily.”
“James.” She crossed her arms, but I could see the smile tugging at her mouth. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to.” I unzipped the first bag to reveal deep emerald green silk, simple lines, elegant cut. “Try it on. If you hate it, we’ll figure out an alternative.”
“And if I love it?”
“Then I’ll spend the rest of the night reminding myself not to stare.”
She laughed and grabbed the bag, disappearing into her bedroom. I pulled out the matching dress I’d bought for Lily, a miniature version in the same emerald green, and laid it across the arm of the couch.
The younger Shaw was ecstatic about trying on the dress and ran off to her room.
Twenty minutes later, Haley walked back into the living room.
My brain stopped working.
The dress hugged her curves exactly the way I’d imagined, the green making her eyes glow like whiskey in sunlight. Her hair fell loose around her shoulders, and she’d done her makeup in a way that made her look like she was glowing from the inside out.
“Well?” She did a small turn, self-conscious under my stare. “Does it work?”
“You look fucking gorgeous.” The words came out rough, almost strangled. “Seriously, Haley. You’re going to stop traffic.”
She flushed, pleased. “It’s a nice dress.”
“It’s not the dress.”
Before I could elaborate on exactly how much it wasn’t the dress, Lily came barreling out of her room in her matching green, spinning in circles to make the skirt flare out.
“Look at me!” She stopped spinning and struck a pose with her hands on her hips. “I’m a princess!”
“You absolutely are.” I grabbed the flowers from where I’d set them on the counter and presented them with a flourish. Big bouquet for Haley, smaller one for Lily. “For my girls.”
Lily squealed and grabbed hers, immediately burying her face in the blooms. Haley took her bouquet more carefully, her expression soft.
I looked at the two of them standing there in their matching dresses, flowers in hand, and felt my chest expand.
“Damn.” I shook my head slowly. “Both my girls look fine.”
Lily giggled at that and launched herself at me. I caught her easily, swinging her up onto my hip, and her arms wrapped tight around my neck.
Haley watched us with an expression I couldn’t quite read. Wistful. Hopeful. Maybe a little scared.
I shifted Lily to one arm and pulled Haley into my side, pressing a kiss to her forehead. She melted against me, her free hand coming up to rest on my chest.
This kid had taken to me without hesitation. No awkward adjustment period. No confusion about why I was suddenly around all the time.
We hadn’t needed to sit her down and explain anything. She’d just folded me into her world with the easy trust that only children could manage, and I loved her for it.
“Thank you for doing this for me.”
“You’re the one doing me a favor,” I said. She pulled back to look at me, and I held her gaze. “We’re just tagging along to your fancy party.”
“You’re not tagging along.” I set Lily down and cupped Haley’s face in my hands. “You’re the whole point, Haley. You and Lily. The launch, the expansion, none of it matters as much as having you there.”
“James-”
“I’m not talking about tonight.” I brushed my thumb across her cheekbone. “I’m talking about this. Us. You letting me into your life. Into hers.” I glanced at Lily, who was now showing her flowers to her stuffed rabbit. “That means more to me than any business deal ever will.”
Her eyes were shining when she looked back at me. “You’ve always been here, James. I was just too blind to see it.”
I kissed her then, mindful of the three-year-old playing nearby.
“Come on.” I grabbed my keys from the counter. “Let’s go make an entrance.”
The drive took about an hour. The venue was between the city and Haley’s apartment.
Lily provided running commentary from her car seat, pointing out dogs and trucks and interesting cloud formations while making up songs about caterpillars.
Haley sat in the passenger seat with her hand in mine, her thumb tracing circles on my palm.
“Nervous?” I glanced at her at a red light.
“A little,” she admitted. “Last time I went to an event like this, I was on Caleb’s arm. Playing the part of the perfect Sinclair wife.”
“This time you’re on my arm.” I brought her hand to my lips and kissed it as the light turned green. “And you don’t have to play any part. Just be yourself.”
“What if myself isn’t enough?”
“Then everyone else can go to hell.”
She laughed, and the tension in her shoulders eased.
In the backseat, Lily remained blissfully unaware of the conversation happening up front. She’d moved on to a song about butterflies, making up words when she forgot the real ones. Completely content in her own little world.
I glanced at her in the rearview mirror, then at Haley beside me, and felt certainty settle in my chest.
Whatever happened at this event, this was right. This was exactly where I was supposed to be.
The venue was a converted warehouse on the industrial side of town. My team had transformed it for the night with string lights and elegant wooden displays showcasing the distillery’s products.
We walked in together, Lily on my hip and Haley at my side. My head of marketing spotted us immediately.
“James!” Sarah crossed the room with a wide smile. “You made it.”
“Wouldn’t miss it.” I put my hand on the small of Haley’s back. “Sarah, this is Haley. And this little troublemaker is Lily.”
“So nice to meet you both.” Sarah shook Haley’s hand warmly. “James has been talking about you nonstop for weeks.”
Haley shot me a look. “Has he?”
“All good things.” Sarah laughed. “He’s been disgustingly happy lately. Now I understand why.”
Other team members drifted over, and I made introductions. Not one person batted an eye at the fact that I’d shown up with my brother’s ex-wife and her daughter. They just welcomed them, treated Haley like she belonged here.
Because she did.
“And this is Lily,” I told the group with exaggerated seriousness. “She’s going to be joining us once she finishes school. We’re grooming her for upper management.”
Lily laughed at that, not understanding the joke but enjoying the attention. Then she spotted the dessert table across the room and wiggled to get down.
“Can I have cake?”
“Go for it.” I set her on her feet. “But stay where I can see you.”
She took off running, green dress swishing around her knees. I watched her go with a grin.
A few minutes later, I spotted Megan and Daniel across the room. Megan was already waving with aggressive enthusiasm.
“Oh my god.” She pulled Haley into a hug the second we reached them. “That dress is incredible. James, did you pick that out? Since when do you have taste?”
“I contain multitudes.”
“You contain delusions.” She released Haley and looked me up and down. “But you did good. Credit where it’s due.”
Daniel clapped me on the shoulder. “Drink?”
“God, yes.”
We left the women talking and headed for the bar. Daniel ordered whiskey for both of us and leaned against the counter.
“So.” He took a sip and studied my face. “Things are going well.”
“Better than well.” I watched Haley across the room, laughing at whatever Megan was saying. “I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it hasn’t yet.”
“Maybe there is no other shoe.” He shrugged. “Maybe you just got lucky.”
“I don’t believe in luck.”
“Then maybe you earned it.” He turned to look at Haley too. “You’ve been patient, James. You’ve been there for her through all the shit with Caleb and Diane. That counts for a lot.”
“She’s worth being patient for.”
“And Lily?”
“That kid is everything.” I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. “She’s smart and funny and she has absolutely no filter. Yesterday she told me my cooking was mediocre but she’d eat it anyway because she loved me.”
Daniel laughed. “Brutal honesty. I respect that.”
“She keeps me humble.”
“Have you talked to Haley about where this is going? Long term?”
“Not explicitly.” I took another sip. “I don’t want to push too fast. Scare her off.”
“James.” Daniel shook his head, amused. “You’ve been in love with this woman for years. I don’t think moving too fast is your problem.”
I was about to respond when the energy in the room shifted.
Subtle at first. A change in the ambient noise. Heads turning toward the entrance. Conversations trailing off mid-sentence.
I turned to see what everyone was looking at.
Diane walked in first, dressed impeccably as always, silver hair perfectly styled, wearing that practiced smile like armor. Behind her came Caleb, looking smug in a designer suit. And on his arm, draped in silk and self-satisfaction, was Vanessa.
They hadn’t been invited. I knew that for a fact because I’d personally approved the guest list. Which meant they’d either crashed the event or Diane still believed she had the standing to walk into any Sinclair function regardless of whose name was on it.
Knowing my mother, either was possible. She’d never let little things like boundaries or basic decency stop her before.
I looked across the room at Haley. I watched her go completely still, her smile freezing on her face, her hand tightening on Megan’s arm.
I set down my drink and started walking toward her.