CHAPTER FIVE

After Hailey picked Gran up from the grocery store, she helped Gramps into the house and got him settled in his favorite, well-worn brown recliner, then brought in the groceries while Gran enjoyed her ice cream with Gramps. Hailey snuck glances at the two of them together while she put everything away in the kitchen.

About thirty minutes later, the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” Hailey said.

She opened the door to a pretty woman with wavy white hair, bright red lipstick, and blue eye shadow.

“Hello, you must be Hailey,” the woman said as she stepped into the house, a fruity scent trailing behind her.

“Yes, I am.” Hailey suspected she’d been the subject of at least a few conversations.

“I’m Lila.”

“Nice to meet you.” At least she thought it was nice to meet her. For some reason, it seemed like Lila was sizing her up and down.

Gran rounded the corner. “Hi, Lila, dear.”

The women hugged each other.

“June hasn’t stopped talking about you.” Lila turned to Gran. “You’re right. She is adorable,” she said with a wide smile. “Darren would love to meet her.”

“Excuse me?” Hailey said. What was Gran up to?

“Oh, don’t mind Lila, she’s only talking to herself.” Gran slipped her friend a sharp look.

Lila cleared her throat. “Oh, uh, yes, I came by to see if you’re coming to bingo on Thursday.”

“I don’t know—”

“Yes, she is,” Hailey said. “I’m here to keep Gramps company. We’re planning to watch a basketball game that night so, Gran, you might as well go with your friends and play bingo.” Hailey wanted Gran to keep up with her normal activities.

“You don’t mind?”

“Of course not. That’s why I’m here.” A night with her friends would do Gran a lot of good. And it wouldn’t hurt Gramps to have a little relief from Gran’s worrying.

“Thursday night then?” Lila said.

Gran nodded. “Yes, yes, dear. That’ll be quite fine.” Gran looked at her watch. “I’m so sorry you need to get back home, but it was nice to see you.”

“I . . . uh . . . oh, yes, I do need to get home.”

Gran walked Lila to the door and stepped outside with her. Hailey could hear them speaking in hushed voices, but couldn’t make out what they were saying.

After Lila left, Gran came back inside.

“What were you talking about out there, Gran?” Hailey asked.

“Us? Oh, nothing.” She shrugged. “Nothing at all.”

“Why are you acting so strange?” It seemed like Gran had a secret or something.

“I’m not.” Gran sat on the couch and said, “Tell me more about the therapy session.”

Realizing she wouldn’t get any information out of her grandmother, Hailey said, “It was good. His therapist seems to be a nice man and committed to helping Gramps. He seems quite sincere. And certain that Gramps will speak again.” An image of the appealing Mr. Stafford flashed through her mind followed by the prickly memory of her monumental failure to speak coherent sentences in front of him.

Gran stared at her.

“What?” Hailey shifted her weight.

“Why are your cheeks so flushed? Did something happen with the therapist you aren’t telling me?” Gran sat up and perched on the edge of the sofa as if expecting some juicy story.

“It’s the heat, I guess.” Or the fact that I totally embarrassed myself.

Gran lifted an accusatory eyebrow.

Hailey held up her hands. “Gran, nothing happened that you need to know. Really. And remember, I am not interested in dating anyone. Not Lila’s Darren, not Gramps’s therapist. No one. So, you can put away your matchmaker’s hat.”

Gran placed her hand on her hip. “Why don’t you want to date anyone?” She gazed at Hailey with a perplexed expression.

“Because.”

“That explains it.” Gran widened her eyes in the same way she always did when she thought someone was being ridiculous. But Hailey wasn’t being ridiculous. At all.

“Gran,” Hailey said, letting out a long breath. “I’m still trying to recover from a long relationship that didn’t end well.” That was putting it mildly.

“What happened with Kevin? You dated him for what, a year?”

Hailey slumped. “Thirteen months, two weeks, and four days.” She raked her fingers through her hair.

Gran gazed at her with sympathetic eyes. “Your mom said you were going to marry him.”

“I thought I was.” Another piece of Hailey’s heart broke off. She’d invested so much into her relationship with Kevin and now that it was over, she wasn’t sure where to go from here to put the pieces back together.

Gran put her arm around Hailey’s shoulder. “Do you want to tell me about it?”

Hailey chewed her lip. Maybe talking to Gran would help put things into perspective. After a minute or so of silence, she said, “He was working a lot—staying late at his office, working weekends—I was really proud of him for being such a hard worker.” A tear edged out of her eye. “The night before Valentine’s Day, I decided I’d take him some Chinese food. I had it all in my hands when I walked up to his office building and there he was.” She paused. “With a woman.” She let out a long, painful breath from lungs that squeezed tight at the memory. “He was hugging her and then he kissed her—really kissed her. Like there was no doubt it had happened before.”

Gran stroked her hair. “What did you do?”

“I dropped all the food and ran back to my car. After I ugly-cried for a while, I went back to my apartment and stared at the ceiling most of the night trying to figure out what to do. I thought maybe I’d misinterpreted what I’d seen. Or maybe I’d imagined it. I couldn’t believe the man who’d talked about marrying me would do something like that. We had plans for a life together, even talked about the names for our kids. I thought we’d be getting engaged on Valentine’s. I made a down payment on this gorgeous satin wedding dress because that’s what he led me to believe.”

“What a two-timing rat.” Gran narrowed her eyes.

“That’s not even all.” Hailey sniffed. “The next morning I wanted to confront him. I drove over to his condo, still hoping I was somehow wrong.” She wiped at her eyes. “I sat in my car trying to build up my courage when I saw his door open.”

“Oh no.” Gran shook her head.

A tear trickled down her cheek. “I couldn’t believe it.”

“That woman from the office came out?” Gran’s tone was filled with indignation.

“Worse.”

Gran gasped. “What?”

“He wasn’t two-timing me. He was three-timing me. Maybe more.” Hailey threw her hands up. “I don’t even know.”

“My poor girl.” Gran hugged her close.

“How could I have been so stupid? So oblivious? He said I was the only one and I believed him.” Hailey closed her eyes, the deep sense of betrayal still gnawing at her. “He said he wanted to marry me, and I believed him.”

“You weren’t stupid. You trusted him. That’s what people do when they love someone.”

“I really thought he was working and going on business trips. It never occurred to me that he was seeing other women.” Hailey clenched her jaw. “I was such a fool.”

“Not a fool.” Gran rubbed her arm. “Just in love.”

“I suppose there were signs, especially the last couple of months, but I was completely head over heels. I was sure he was going to propose, and the whole time he had a revolving front door. Who knows how many women he was seeing besides me.” Hailey let the tears tumble down her cheeks, not holding anything back. She and Gran sat there for several minutes while Hailey cried. This was the first time she’d talked about it in such depth, and the emotional release made her feel light and free, as if she’d dropped a thousand pounds of dead weight.

“What happened after you saw those women?” Gran asked. “I would’ve socked him right in the nose.” Hailey had to smile at the image of Gran punching Kevin.

“I packed up the stuff he’d given me, took it to his condo, and dumped it on his doorstep, which broke a glass figurine he’d bought me at a carnival. Oops.” She laughed and cried at the memory. “He came over to my apartment the next day and tried to smooth things over. What a jerk. I told him to drop dead and kicked him out.”

“Good for you,” Gran said with enthusiasm.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Sometimes I wonder—”

“Don’t even say it,” Gran interrupted. “You don’t need a man that can’t be faithful to you. You deserve much more than that. And you will find one.”

“I don’t know, Gran. I don’t know that there are any good ones left.” Hailey didn’t hold much hope.

“Sure there are, sweetheart.” Gran caressed her cheek. “He’s out there. Don’t you worry.”

Hailey sat up and smoothed her hair. “For now, I’m not worried about finding a man. My only concern is you and Gramps.”