No Perfect Hero(21)

“You don’t know anything about my spy skills, woman.” I look over my shoulder. “How do you like your coffee?”

“Twenty percent cream, fifty percent sugar. Thanks.” She hoists herself up to sit on the counter next to the baking sheet while Tara watches curiously, the little girl still rolling biscuits between her palms.

“So...” Haley sighs. “Looks like I’m not leaving Heart’s Edge for a while.”

I jerk so abruptly I splash hot coffee over my hand and hiss, yanking it back and setting the carafe down before reaching for the paper towels. “What?”

“Sorry to disappoint. I know you were kinda dead set on getting rid of me.” There’s that hint of acid again, corroding the momentary ease that had settled over us. “I was going to stay with my friend Julie in Chicago until I could get a job and find an apartment of my own, but...” Her voice is tight, thick. “Her shitty husband has been cheating with his secretary. Just told her he wants a divorce and her out of the house by the weekend. I don’t really think couch surfing with her is an option anymore.”

“Swear jar!” Tara cuts in.

Hay shoots her a withering look. “Not now, hun.”

“Then how 'bout going home?” It’s out of me before I can stop it as I whip around to face her. “Just go back where you came from, Hay.”

“Don't you get it? I can’t!” Her eyes are wet, her face screwing up in a way that tells me she’s too proud to cry in front of me, but the stress and upset are eating her alive. “I don’t have a home to go back to, Warren. I lost my job. My fiancé slept with my best friend and bridesmaid. Weeks before the stupid wedding. Which ate most of my savings...I don’t have enough money to just shove off to Chicago and start over like it’s nothing. I needed Jules. I needed Missoula.” She takes a rough, shaky breath and scrubs her knuckles against her eyes, glaring at me.

Damn fool, if only you'd kept your mouth shut!

I didn't. Now I've got to find some way to un-fuck the damage.

“Hay, listen to me –”

“Listen to what? I’m stuck here for now. Good thing I won’t be your problem anymore once you find a friend to pass me off to, right?”

I don’t know what to say.

She never should've been my problem to start with.

That’s when I realize it's hard to think of her as a problem at all.

Not when she's here, in front of me, cut to pieces, trying to hold her waterworks for the sake of her niece.

Problem? No.

Just someone I need to take care of. Do right by. Even if her staying here in Heart’s Edge for more than a few more days will cause ripples I don’t know what to do with.

And I don’t know what to do with her, either, when that proud, fierce expression cracks. The tremble of her lips, the stiffness of her shoulders, they make me want to pull her into my arms.

Make me want to comfort her. Tell her it’ll be okay, even if it's not. Even when that’s not a promise I can make right now, and I’m pretty sure she’d punch me if I tried.

Tara wipes her hands off carefully, then lays her head against Haley’s thigh, curling a hand over her knee. “Don’t cry, Auntie Hay. I’ll stay with you.”

Haley smiles, watery but brave, and strokes her hand through her niece’s hair. “Then I’m gonna be A-okay, kit,” she murmurs. “I’m always okay as long as I’ve got you.”

I lean my hip against the counter, folding my arms over my chest, watching her. “So what're you going to do?”

“What else can I do?” she retorts bitterly, then drops the bombshell so hard I feel the explosion rock through me. “I guess I'll get a job.”





5





Match (Haley)





I’m starting to feel like some kind of bad luck charm.

Except the only person I’m charming into disaster is myself.

First, I lose my job. Then my gallery show. Then my fiancé, my best friend, all the money I spent on the wedding – which should've tipped me off, coming out of my own pocket – and my faith in humanity.

All in one fell swoop.

When I try to shake it off and leave the crap factory behind me on the open road, I wind up breaking down in a cute little town that should’ve been a vacation dream.

It's been nightmare territory since the minute I walked in on this gorgeous prick of a man who’s currently staring at me like I insulted his mother.

All because fate dumped another load of bitter and I’m trying to make the best of what I can.

“You’re going to do what?” Warren demands, his expression thunderous. “A job? In town? Absolutely not.”

I push myself off the counter and stand, glaring up at him. “Last I checked, you don’t get to tell me what to do, Warren. And unless you’re going to call every business in town and tell them not to hire me...”

“What if I am?”

I snort. Is he for real?

“Then I'm pretty sure they’ll tell you to go screw yourself, unless everyone in Heart's Edge is just as crazy as you,” I throw back. “I don't think they are. People here seem pretty nice. With one big, notable exception.”