CHAPTER NINE

A couple of days later, Hailey spent the morning working. She spoke with a client, Renee Thompson, who owned two hair salons, trying to get information about several business expenses. Once she had the information, Hailey entered it into her spreadsheet. She had a conference call with the owners from Crandall Automotive, then answered some emails from Mrs. Saunders. Finally, she wrapped up her work and went into the living room where she found Gramps in his recliner.

“It’s time to practice your sounds and words. Today we’re going to work on the B sound,” she said with enthusiasm.

Gramps waved her off.

“I know, Gramps.” Hailey patted his hand. “This seems silly, but the therapist said we needed to practice.” She batted her eyelashes at him. “Please?”

He gave her a defeated look.

“The more we practice, the sooner you can tell your super-awesome and always-so-funny jokes. Right?”

He made a face at her.

“Come on. Let’s practice and then I’ll take you to the barber to get your hair cut.” She pointed at him. “You could be a hippie with all that long gray hair. I can practically braid it.”

Gramps rolled his eyes.

Hailey encouraged Gramps to put his lips together and then push the air out with a voiced B sound. She modeled how to say bye, bee, and boo. Gramps worked hard to make the right sounds and it wrenched Hailey’s heart to see her once strong and verbally expressive grandfather reduced to making simple sounds like a small child. She had to do her best to help him recover all of his speech. There was no other option.

“You’re doing a great job.” She gave Gramps a high five.

After thirty minutes of practice, Hailey drove Gramps to a barber that was around the corner from the retirement community.

They walked into the barbershop and Hailey gave instructions to the balding man wearing a black polo shirt. “He doesn’t like it too short,” she said.

The man simply smiled, then showed Gramps to a chair.

She sat on a bench along the white-painted wall and started thumbing through a magazine. Hailey stopped on a photo of a celebrity. “Wow, she should sue her plastic surgeon.” Hailey continued to peruse the magazine, getting lost in a story about Harrison Ford, who was still attractive even though he was pretty much prehistoric.

“He’s my favorite Star Wars character,” a male voice said.

Startled, Hailey looked up to see Gramps’s therapist standing near her. “Oh, hi, Mr. Stafford.” She shut the magazine and then dropped it on the floor.

“Mr. Stafford makes me sound so stuffy. And old. Remember, my name is Peter.” He bent down, scooped up the magazine, and then handed it to her.

“All right. Peter it is.” She took the magazine from him. “Thanks.”

“I see you found my barber.”

Did he think she was following him or something? “Your barber?”

Peter laughed.

“Gramps needed a haircut. He directed me over here,” she said, trying to explain why she was there, so he wouldn’t think it had anything to do with him.

“I’m not surprised.” He put his hands in his pockets. “George is the best.”

“You’re on a first name basis with the barber?”

“Oh, yeah.” Peter shrugged. “He’s been cutting my hair since I moved here.”

Peter didn’t look like he needed a haircut. His thick blond hair barely touched his ears and fell perfectly across his forehead. “I don’t think he’ll understand Gramps.”

“He doesn’t need to.” Peter sat next to Hailey and her muscles began to twitch. Why does this man make me into a puddle of nerves? “George is a master at knowing exactly how to cut hair,” he said.

Hailey crossed her legs. “Do you live around here?”

“A couple of miles up the street.”

She searched for something to say—something that didn’t sound stupid. “My grandparents live in the Starlight Retirement Community.”

“I’m familiar with it.” He nodded. “I have several patients who live there.”

“Lots of people with strokes?” Hailey had never thought much about strokes until Gramps had his.

“Yeah. I love working with older people,” he said with sincerity.

“Really?” She’d always had a strong relationship with her grandparents, but most of her friends didn’t have much to do with old people.

“Getting to see them in their older years, when they’ve accumulated so much wisdom, is enlightening.” Peter laced his fingers and placed them in his lap. “As a society, we tend to discard people when they’re senior citizens, but they’re the ones who’ve lived lives and have all the experience.” He smiled and a dimple on one side of his mouth appeared, right next to his full lips. Stop looking at his lips. His attached lips that belong to another woman. “Plus, they’re usually pretty uninhibited, which makes it entertaining to work with them.”

“Sounds like you love your job.” Good recovery.

“I do.” He looked at her with his magnetic blue eyes. “So you’re from Colorado?”

“You remember.” A tingle slid down her back.

He tapped his forehead. “Photographic memory.”

Is he serious? “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Did your husband stay back there?”

A strangled laugh fell out of Hailey’s mouth. “I’m not married.” Not even close.

He gave her a look, but she wasn’t sure what it meant. “Did you leave a job?”

“I’m an accountant. I work for a big firm in Colorado Springs. Since we’re past tax season, and I’ve earned quite a bit of vacation time, my boss let me take a leave of absence to help my grandparents. I’m still taking care of some clients long distance.” She sounded calm and professional, so Hailey mentally patted herself on the back. Maybe she could carry on a conversation with this man without thinking about his mesmerizing eyes or his full lips or what it would be like to see him socially—if he were single. Which he wasn’t. The image of the woman and the young boy flashed through her mind.

“Then you’ll have a job to go back to?” he asked, jolting her out of her thoughts.

“Oh, yeah. It’s a great job.” She was grateful she’d have one when she returned to Colorado Springs.

Peter crossed his ankles and leaned back. “How long will you stay?”

“I’m not sure. However long it takes to help Gran and Gramps.” And, hopefully, heal her heart. Because it was still broken. By . . . that one guy she used to date.

“I bet it’s a huge relief for them to have you here.”

“I hope so. I love being able to spend time with them. It’s been a while. I used to see them all the time when I was a kid. They lived in Denver, not too far from us.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Gramps was a policeman and Gran worked at an elementary school as the librarian for years. When they retired, they wanted to get away from the snow and cold so they came here to Florida.”

“I’m a Florida native myself. Grew up in Orlando. My mom still lives there.”

Hailey felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped. “Oh, Gramps. Are you done already? That was a quick haircut.”

She’d been so focused on Peter that she hadn’t even noticed that Gramps was done. Gramps smiled at her, then looked at Peter. Hailey was glad for a moment that Gramps couldn’t say what she knew he wanted to.

Hailey stood. “Nice talking to you.”

“See you at our next appointment. I think it’s an in-home visit,” Peter said. Why does his smile sparkle like that? She chastised herself for being attracted to this man, especially because he was off limits.

Hailey ushered Gramps out of the barber shop while he said garbled words. “I may not know exactly what words you’re using, but I know what you’re trying to say. Peter is a nice man. A nice married man. We were simply having a conversation while I waited for you to get your haircut. Nothing else. He’s married and has a child.”

Gramps wore a disappointed expression.

“Besides, even if he were single, I’m only here temporarily, and I haven’t recovered from my jerk ex-boyfriend yet.”

He squeezed her hand.

“Not all guys are wonderful like you.” She reached over and kissed him on the cheek.

***

George motioned Peter over to the barber’s chair and draped a black cape across him.

While Peter sat, getting an unneeded trim, he hoped Hailey didn’t suspect he’d only shown up there because he’d seen her in the parking lot as he was driving through it. The moment he’d spotted her, it was like his mind lost control of his body. Before he knew it, he’d parked and walked into the barbershop with no idea what he’d say to her.

“Pretty girl,” George said, looking over the top of his glasses.

“Huh?”

“The woman with her grandfather,” George cut some hair on top of Peter’s head.

“What do you mean?”

George gave Peter a do-you-think-I-was-born-yesterday look in the mirror. “We both know you don’t need a haircut.”

“Of course I do. It was getting too long around my ears.”

“Whatever you say,” George said. “The customer is always right, after all.”

“Aw, come on. Was I that obvious?”

“Only to those of us with eyes.” George laughed.

“You’re hilarious, my friend.” Peter shook his head.

George took off the black cape from around Peter’s neck. “All done.”

Peter pulled out his wallet, but George held up his hand. “No charge.”

“But you trimmed my hair,” Peter reasoned.

“It’s on the house.”

Peter blinked. “But—”

“Save your money. You may need it.” George started laughing, obviously amused at his implication.

“Thanks, George. I’ll be back again . . . I think.”

Peter left the barbershop hoping Hailey wasn’t as suspicious as George. It really had only been accidental that he’d seen her. It wasn’t quite as accidental that he’d gone into the barbershop. Actually, not accidental at all.

He suspected that she was attracted to him as well. It wasn’t just that she’d inadvertently said, “sounds attractive,” though that was entertaining, especially when her face turned bright crimson, but it was how she responded to him and the way she looked at him. For the first time in a long time, he was genuinely interested in a woman. Unfortunately, the situation dictated that he couldn’t do anything about it.