Chapter 3
Hailey’s dad didn’t attempt conversation on the ride back to his house. Instead, he turned the radio on high enough to be heard over the wind rushing through the open windows and kept his eyes on the road.
Hailey was grateful. She needed a few minutes to reset her emotions.
Today’s incident was going to cost her a pretty penny.
Four new tires was not an expense she’d been budgeting for.
They’d been in good shape too. She’d replaced the front tires last December, and the rear ones were only about a year older.
But since the vandal had slashed an old and a new, she suspected the difference in tread wear on the remaining tires would be significant enough to warrant replacing them all.
But that was a problem for tomorrow. She couldn’t do anything about it right now.
It was harder to dismiss her anger at the person who’d done the damage. Like she’d told Peter and Titus, she really didn’t know who the culprit might be. Yes, there’d been plenty of side-eyes and cold shoulders since Wesley’s death, but this was taking things too far.
Unless this had nothing to do with her late husband’s sins.
As her dad’s pickup jostled and bumped over every little dip in the road, she closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind.
She couldn’t follow that line of thought.
Not now. They were about five minutes from the house, and she wanted to be fully present for the evening ahead with her daughter.
The evenings and weekends were far too short, but they were the highlight of her days.
Despite their change in routine, her little girl was thriving.
Hailey knew she could credit much of that to the support her parents provided.
While neither was anywhere near fluent in American Sign Language, they did their best and were constantly trying to learn new words to better communicate with their granddaughter.
From the stories she’d heard of other deaf children born into hearing families, Hailey knew how incredibly rare that was.
She herself had spent untold hours studying and practicing ASL over the last year and a half.
Before discovering her newborn was profoundly deaf, she’d barely known more than the alphabet, but while she couldn’t protect her daughter from all of life’s struggles, she was determined that language deprivation would not be one Jenna was forced to face as a child.
Having to return to work full-time had limited her opportunities to focus on it, but she hadn’t given up.
The truck slowed and turned onto a gravel drive, and Hailey opened her eyes. The old farmhouse she grew up in stood directly ahead of them, its white siding and cheery cobalt-blue shutters welcoming. She loved this old place.
As her dad put the truck in park, a golden retriever mix appeared from around the corner of the house.
She and Wesley had adopted Maggie as a pup on their first wedding anniversary.
Now, at three years old, the golden was in her prime and absolutely adored Jenna.
Her parents didn’t mind having her around too, so Hailey usually brought her along when she dropped off her daughter so Maggie wouldn’t have to spend the day home alone.
Hailey jumped down from the truck and was immediately greeted by her canine friend.
“Hey, girl. You miss me? I sure missed you.” She ruffled the fur behind the golden’s ears before Maggie scampered over to greet her dad with the same level of enthusiasm.
Hailey reached back inside the truck for her purse, then headed inside.
As soon as the front door opened, the pungent scents of oregano, garlic, and tomatoes swirled around her.
Her mouth watered. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was.
She removed her blazer and hung it on the old-fashioned coatrack just inside the door.
No sense endangering it with a twenty-one-month-old and marinara sauce.
Dad followed her inside, calling out, “Ginny, we’re home!”
“Come on in. I kept your plates hot.” Her mother’s sweet voice traveled their way.
In the kitchen, Jenna was perched in her high chair. Her daughter spotted her immediately, and her delighted squeal and exuberant grin were like rays of sunshine to Hailey’s soul.
Putting as much enthusiasm into her expression as she could muster, Hailey summoned her own smile and signed, Hello. Her little girl mimicked the sign. Spaghetti sauce flew from her fingers with the motion. Oops. Hailey reached for a paper towel, but her dad laughed.
“Don’t bother. It’s all over the place already anyway.”
He wasn’t wrong. She surveyed the area around the high chair.
Chopped up noodles and sauce were everywhere.
But Hailey had grown up in this house with three siblings—two of them twin boys just slightly older than herself.
The room had seen worse. She dampened the paper towel and used it to wipe the ladder-back chair closest to Jenna before she sat down.
“I hope you’re hungry,” Mom called over her shoulder as she used homemade pot holders to pull two plates from the oven. She set them on the table and kissed the top of Hailey’s head. “Sorry about the tires, hon.”
“Yeah, it’s been a day. That’s for sure.” She picked up her fork, but before she could take a bite, Jenna’s hands started moving. Hailey smiled as she recognized her attempt to sign bread. “You want more bread?” She signed the question along with the spoken words.
Jenna repeated the sign, grinning and bouncing in her seat.
Dad passed the plate of garlic bread to their end of the table, and Hailey handed her daughter a slice.
Mom dropped into the chair across from her. “How’s work going?”
“It’s work. I took on some of Frank Pierce’s clients, and the one I’m working on is a doozy.” She twisted her fork in the spaghetti. The tangled noodles were no more of a mess than the lines in the spreadsheets she’d been working on. Much more appetizing though.
“I hope it doesn’t give you too much trouble.”
“Same.” She lifted the bite to her mouth and hoped her mom would let the subject drop. For her own peace of mind, she needed to leave work at work. “What did you guys do today?”
“We had lots of fun today. Jenna and I made pancakes, spent some time in the garden, and read a few books in between playtime and nap time.” As was their custom of late, Mom slipped easily into broken ASL as she spoke, even though Jenna was more focused on mashing her piece of bread than on their conversation.
“Sounds like a good day.”
“It was. Daniel called this afternoon.”
That caught Hailey’s interest. “Really? How are the twins doing?” Daniel and Nate were members of a hotshot crew out west. The family didn’t often hear from them during fire season, other than the occasional check-in to let everyone know they were alive and well.
“He said they’re both fine and that it’s looking like they’ll make it back for Allye’s wedding.”
“I hope so.” The last time they’d made it back for a visit was last Christmas.
It had been even longer since Mary Ellen had managed a trip home from Eastern Europe, where she and her little family were currently serving as missionaries.
Hailey knew her siblings were doing what they felt called to do, but she missed having them around.
Jenna started squirming to get down. Mom motioned Hailey to stay seated. “You keep eating. I’ll get our favorite girl cleaned up.”
“Thanks, Mom.” She finished her spaghetti and was rinsing her and Jenna’s plates in the sink when Mom returned with a changed Jenna in tow. Hailey turned to her dad. “We need to get going. Which vehicle do you want me to take?”
“I already loaded our car seat into the Civic.”
“You’re the best.” Hailey gave both her parents a quick hug, then began gathering Jenna’s things.
Outside, she loaded her daughter into the back of the Civic, then opened the driver’s side door.
Not seeming to mind that it wasn’t their usual vehicle, Maggie jumped in without prodding and climbed across to settle into the passenger seat.
Hailey joined them and waved to her parents before backing out of the drive.
She heaved a deep sigh and placed a hand on Maggie’s head. Things would be all right.