grabbed her by the arm and spun her around to face me. Cupping

her face in my hands, I stared long into her eyes before my lips

met hers. I felt a tingle to my toes and almost dizzy when her

body pressed into mine. I pulled away to catch my breath and

rested my forehead against hers. “Just this once, could you try to

do something that makes you happy?”

One hand was pushing me away, and the other clutched my

jacket and pulled me close. “You are the greatest temptation I’ve

ever known in my life,” she whispered. “I’m terrified to let you

in.” “Let’s go upstairs and just talk. I won’t try to kiss you again,

but please, Hailey, talk this out with me.” She let me take her by

the hand and lead her to the elevator. I didn’t let her go as we rode

to the second floor. I was following her into her apartment when

my cell phone rang.

Seeing Kalen’s name on the ID worried me when I realized

how late it was. “Hey, what’s up?” I said as Hailey turned to look

at me.

“Mom just called. Dad is having chest pains, and they’re

going by ambulance to the hospital. I’ve booked us on the first

flight out, but that’s not until five. Can you pick me up at two

thirty?”

After Kalen assured me that she would call the minute she

heard anything, I closed my phone and sank down on Hailey’s

sofa. She sat next to me and draped an arm around my shoulders.

“What’s wrong?”

“My dad is on the way to the hospital with chest pains. I have

to catch a flight first thing in the morning,” I said in a daze.

Hailey put a finger under my chin and turned me to look

at her. “I promise that we’ll talk, but right now, you have more

important things on your mind.”

I nodded, feeling numb.

“Stay with me tonight. I promise I won’t let you oversleep.”

Hailey pulled me into her arms and pressed my head onto her

shoulder. It felt so good, so comforting.

“I have to pack.”

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Hailey stood and pulled me to my feet. “If you’d rather sleep

in your own bed, I’ll understand.”

“I don’t care where I sleep, not that I will, but I’d like you to

be close.”

She smiled and gave me a hug. “Let’s go get your things.”

I was thankful that I had Hailey to help me or I would’ve

made the trip without a change of underwear. I dressed for bed at

her place, and she pulled me into bed with her. Cocooned in her

arms, sleep came to me, though I doubted it would.

“Wake up, Shannon.”

Someone rubbed circles into my back, and someone licked

me in the face. I jerked back from the tongue that took a swipe up

my nose and nearly head-butted Hailey.

“Fuzzy, knock it off.” Hailey switched on a light on her side

of the bed.

It’d been years since I’d had to get up at such an early hour. I

lay there and tried to force my eyes open. Fuzzy got me again on

the side of the cheek. “Fuzzy, please,” I said with a groan.

Hailey ushered the little licker out of the bedroom and came

to sit on the bed beside me. “Look on the bright side,” she said

with a smile. “Your face has already been washed.”

“Is that your secret to looking so young?”

“No, I use face wash.” Hailey gave me a soft nudge. “You

have to get up now, but while you’re in the shower, I’ll fix you

breakfast and make coffee.”

I let her take me by the hand and lead me into the bathroom.

As I brushed my teeth, Hailey brought in the clothes that I’d set

out, then closed the door behind her.

After my shower, I was fully awake, and tension began to pull

at my stomach. Kalen had not called during the night, so I took

that as a positive sign and assumed that Dad had been admitted.

I felt sorry for my mom being there all alone and probably being

eaten up with worry. She was the strongest woman I’ve ever

known aside from Kalen, but I knew having us there with her

would ease her anxiety.

“I made something light because I figured you’d probably be

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too nervous to eat,” Hailey said as I walked into the kitchen. She’d

toasted and buttered an English muffin and peeled a banana.

“Would you prefer milk or juice?” she asked as she pulled out

my chair.

“Milk would be great, and thank you for taking care of me.”

Hailey set the milk next to my plate and kneaded my shoulders.

“I’m really sorry about your dad. If you get a chance, please text

me and let me know how things are going.”

I managed to choke down half of the muffin and the entire

banana before Hailey pressed a to-go cup of coffee in my hand.

She looked so cute with puffy eyes and sleep-tousled hair. I

wanted to kiss her again. Instead I hugged her tight and whispered

my thanks before heading out the door. She stood in the doorway

watching me as I waited for the elevator.

“I’ll miss you,” Hailey called out softly, then closed the door

before I could respond.

“Where were you last night?” Kalen asked after we’d taken

off. “I called your house a half-dozen times before I tried your

cell.”In lieu of everything going on with Dad, I didn’t want to

argue about the events of the previous evening. “I stepped out to

get something to eat.”

“Alone?”

My right leg started bouncing, which was a classic indicator

that I was being intentionally misleading. My brain started

screaming out in warning. Don’t bounce, she’ll be on to us in a

heartbeat. I crossed my feet at the ankles to still it. “Don’t you

think it’s odd that mom hasn’t called us?”

Kalen shook her head. “She knew we were gonna catch the

first flight. She probably didn’t want to wake us up.”

“How come Toad didn’t come with us?”

“I told Todd,” Kalen glared at me, “to wait and see what we

found out.” She adjusted her neck pillow. “He’s been overloaded

since we came back from vacation. I didn’t want to make it any

more difficult on him.”

It only took a few minutes before Kalen was nestled against

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my shoulder fast asleep. I figured that she’d been unable to sleep

at all the night before. I stared out the window into the darkness

and said a prayer for Dad, then my thoughts went to Hailey.

The women in past relationships grew on me over time, but

I’d never met a woman who made me want her like Hailey did. I

thought back to my brainstorming session with Fuzzy in the park.

Was it that I thought I could never have her and therein was the

charm? I began to tick off in my mind what I found so alluring

about her.

She was physically attractive, for sure. I enjoyed the way our

bodies fit together as she snuggled against me the previous night

and that morning when I hugged her. Her sense of humor was

another factor. But aside from all that, I think the thing that struck

me the most was the way I felt when we were together. Like she

was the missing part that I’d been searching for.

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Chapter 14

Secrets revealed.

Mom was asleep in the waiting room of the cardiac ICU when

we arrived. Kalen and I left her to rest and sought out someone

who could fill us in. “He’s doing well,” a male nurse said. “He’s

scheduled to have a stent put in around an hour from now.” He

rattled off more about a blockage, using medical jargon that no

one outside of the medical field could understand. “I can tell you

more after the procedure,” he said, looking down at a chart. “He’s

awake right now. You can visit him for five minutes.”

I found it unnerving to see Dad hooked up to so many wires

and an IV when we walked in. We’d been blessed with healthy

aging parents, and this was the first time that we’d ever seen one

of them in the hospital for anything serious.

“Look, I’m bionic,” Dad said, gesturing to the EKG leads.

“They’re gonna make me stronger, faster, and better than I was

before.”

Kalen and I took turns planting kisses on his head.

“Is your mom sleeping?” he asked seriously.

“Yeah, she’s out in the waiting room. We didn’t want to

disturb her,” Kalen said.

“Make her go home and get some real rest. A woman her age

does not need to be hanging around a place like this.”

Kalen and I laughed. “She’ll go home when she’s ready, Dad.

There’s nothing we can say to tear her away from here,” I said.

Dad wasn’t often serious. It was usually one quip after another

with him, especially when he was nervous. He smoothed back his

Robin Alexander

thick gray hair. “Tell her there’s a sale at Macy’s, and there’ll be

nothing but a vapor trail.”

“I assume they’re going to put you on a special diet when you

get out of here,” Kalen said. “And you better follow it to the letter

because I need my dad.” Her voice quavered. “Especially now.”