Getting Over It: Sapphire Falls Book Six (11 page)

Yep, sneaking out Ty’s backdoor on her way to get ready for church after a night of hot sex and running into his mother definitely won for most humiliating moment of her life.

Hailey lifted a hand to smooth her hair and clunked herself in the cheek with one of her shoes. She also felt the morning air on her butt cheek and realized she didn’t have enough shirt length to reach too high. She winced and lowered her hand. She probably didn’t want to know how bad her hair looked, and she definitely did
not
want to flash Kathy Bennett.

“He’s…” Her cheeks flamed. She also could not tell his mother that he was in the shower. Because she shouldn’t know that he was in the shower. Because she shouldn’t be in his house this early in the morning—or maybe ever—and certainly not
while
he was in the shower.

“I’ll let myself in,” Kathy said as she came up the steps. “I’ll get the coffee started.”

Hailey tried to move out of her way, but the top step was small and they ended up performing an awkward dance shuffle that made the moment even worse somehow as Kathy took Hailey’s spot on the step and Hailey ended up a step down.

Kathy opened the back door and then turned to Hailey. “You’re not staying?”

She shook her head. “I need to go…get ready for church.” The last word came out softer than the first and Hailey felt her cheeks burning.

“Oh, wonderful, I’ll be looking forward to seeing Ty in church. It’s been a long time since he worshipped in Sapphire Falls.”

Hailey swallowed hard. She wasn’t taking Ty to church. Or she hadn’t been. But somehow she felt her head start nodding. “That will be nice. But maybe he can go with
you
now that you’re here.” She didn’t even have a full hour to get ready. And now she couldn’t skip. And she could
not
take Ty with her.

“Oh, you didn’t make plans?” Kathy asked, pulling the door open.

Hailey had started down the steps, but she swung back quickly, almost sliding off the step she was on. “For church? No…not…” Hailey cleared her throat. “Not this morning.”

Kathy nodded. “I’ll let him know you headed home. And I’ll make sure he wears a tie.”

And because she was a terrible person, Hailey immediately thought of a particular red tie that he’d wrapped around her wrists a number of times. “Okay, great,” she managed, her voice weak.

Kathy was in the doorway now, but she hesitated, her gaze dropping to the front of the shirt Hailey wore. She smiled. “I can’t believe he still has that shirt.”

Hailey glanced down and couldn’t help her smile in return. It was the shirt from the 5K run in Sapphire Falls five years ago. Ty had barely broken a sweat and everyone knew he’d held back, finishing only a couple of minutes ahead of the second-place winner. But having him there had brought a lot of local and even state-wide attention to their race, and they’d raised well over their goal amount for the new track at the high school.

“That was the first time I saw him run,” Hailey said. Then she realized that she’d said it out loud. She looked up at Kathy. And looking at the other woman who loved Ty most in the world, she said, “I love seeing his face right after a race. He’s so happy at that moment.”

Kathy looked surprised for a millisecond and then she smiled. “I used to think that he was never happier than when he crossed a finish line.”

Hailey debated for a moment about what she wanted to say next. She hated the idea that Kathy thought she and Ty had just had a one-night stand. But admitting that it wasn’t, that it was more, was dangerous. Especially with Ty’s mother. Surely Kathy would want details, and lots of them, if she had even an inkling that Hailey and Ty had something going on.

But the risk of that bothered Hailey less than the idea that Kathy might think Hailey was only having sex with her son. It
was
more than that. She hadn’t even truly admitted it was more than that to Ty, but for some reason, she wanted Kathy to know.

She took a deep breath. “Bryan is always at the finish line of all his races. He videotapes the finish on his phone and sends it to me.”

Kathy seemed to take that in with much less surprise. Slowly, she nodded. “I would love to see those sometime, if you’d send them to me. I assume you’ve kept them?”

And what would
that
admission say to Ty’s mother? But Hailey nodded. “I’d be happy to.”

Kathy hesitated for a moment, as if having second thoughts about what she wanted to say. Finally, she said, “I
used
to think crossing the finish line was what made him the happiest. But since he’s moved back, he’s been happier than I’ve ever seen him.”

Hailey gave a surprised laugh. “It’s only been a couple of days.”

Kathy nodded, as if that was a puzzle to her as well. “I know.”

Hailey had no idea what else to say to that, so she said, “I’ll see you at church,” and quickly ran down the rest of the steps and across the dewy grass, praying that Ty would
not
wear the red tie to church.

Ty smelled the fresh coffee and grinned. Hailey had stayed. When he’d first stepped out of the bathroom to find his bed empty, he’d been annoyed. She’d snuck out? Really? But as he pulled on a pair of workout shorts and a T-shirt, he’d smelled the coffee and knew that everything was right with the world after all.

Hailey knew about his injury, knew about the Olympics, knew he was serious about staying and she was in his bed, in Sapphire Falls.

Everything was good.

And then he walked into the kitchen.

“Mom?”

His mother was standing at his coffeepot, pouring a cup. She turned with a smile. “Good morning, darling.”

Ty looked around the room. “What are you doing here?”

“I brought the cinnamon rolls over for brunch on my way to church.”

He moved farther into the room. “Okay. And you made coffee.” He glanced toward the living room and then at his pantry door. Was Hailey hiding? If she’d seen his mother coming, he wouldn’t put it past her.

“She went home to get ready for church.” Kathy sipped from her cup and leaned back against the counter.

Ty sighed. “You ran into her.”

“And if you’re looking for your blue and white 5K race shirt, I know where it is.” Kathy sipped again.

Stupidly, for a moment, Ty was disappointed he hadn’t seen Hailey in his blue and white 5K race shirt.

He crossed to the pot and pulled a cup from the cupboard, filled it and turned to lean against the counter perpendicular to where his mother stood.

He sipped. And waited.

“How long has it been?” Kathy asked.

Ty took a breath. “Three and a half years.”

His mom looked truly surprised at that.

“What?” he asked.

“I…” Kathy shook her head. “It was nice running into her on your back steps.”

Ty chuckled. “Really? It was
nice
seeing her coming out of my house early in the morning dressed only in my shirt?”

Kathy shrugged. “What I should say is that it was nice seeing her disheveled and rattled and blushing. And I might have seen the first truly sincere smile from her.”

Ty watched his mother’s face, fascinated by this.

Kathy glanced at him. “She’s so put together and composed and cool all the time,” she went on. “But I’ve long suspected there was a softer side. It was nice seeing her less than pulled together.”

Ty was pleasantly surprised by this. “You’ve suspected a softer side?”

Kathy nodded. “I assume when she’s not in public, not in Sapphire Falls, that she’s a completely different person.”

Ty thought about that. He shrugged. “Not really. She’s more relaxed, she laughs more, but she always looks amazing and she’s constantly on the go. She’s still strong and bossy,” he said with a smile. “She’s kick-ass, all the time.”

Kathy didn’t smile in return. She looked thoughtful.

“What?” Ty asked. “What are you thinking?”

“That three and a half years is a long time to be together without it changing you.”

Ty frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You’re both the same people you’ve always been. Being in love changes you. In small ways, sometimes, but in important ways.”

Ty was surprised by how easily his mom was using the word love in regard to him and Hailey. But then he thought more about what she’d said. “Trav and Tuck and TJ haven’t changed.”

Kathy laughed. “Of course they have.”

“Well, Travis travels more now and Tucker has
kids
and TJ smiles more, but they’re all still doing what they were doing right where they were doing it before they met the girls.
I’m
moving back here. My whole life is different.”

Kathy raised an eyebrow.

“
What
?”

“First of all, your brothers are all different. Not completely, no, of course not. But Travis is more open to new things now. He’s more adventurous, more open to change. And Tucker is more patient and accepting of things that don’t go according to his plans. He realizes that his ideas aren’t always the right or only ones. And TJ is happier and…softer. He’s willing to let people close and let them help
him
once in a while.” Her smile grew with that. “Hope was only here for a few
days
and he was opening up and softening. Now they’re on a trip together to Arizona. So, yes, being in love changes you. It should. It should make you a better person.”

Ty thought about her summation of the changes in his brothers and realized she was right.

Huh.

“Well, I’m
here
,” Ty said again. “I’ve realized that I want to be home again, with my family and friends.”

Kathy narrowed her eyes. “You’re here because of Hailey?”

“Yes.” But there was a niggle in the back of his mind that said
not as romantic as it sounds, Champ.
He focused on the rim of her cup instead of meeting her eyes.

“I haven’t asked you about this big move,” Kathy said. “I assumed you had a good reason and a plan. I didn’t realize it was a woman. Especially that it was Hailey.”

He shifted his weight, suddenly uncomfortable. “I do have a plan.”

“And does it include competing in the next Olympics?” she asked.

He sighed. “No.”

She nodded, clearly not surprised. “Because of what happened with Bryan?”

He’d had to tell his family about Bryan. It had been too much to deal with without his family’s support and advice. But he hadn’t told them about himself.

“Partly,” he said, shifting again, knowing she was studying him.

“What else?”

He didn’t answer at first.

“Tyler Daniel Bennett,” Kathy said firmly.

He lifted his eyes.

“What else?”

“My knee.”

She let out a breath. “I knew there was something.”

“I tore my ACL.” He told her the story, including his surgery options that would have put him out of the upcoming races for sure, and how he’d gambled on being able to perform anyway…and lost.

Kathy moved close and put her hand against his cheek. “I’m so sorry, honey.”

He nodded, his throat tight at her concern. “I’m okay.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. “Thank God.” She stepped back and leaned on the counter again. “And now you’re here.”

“To stay.”

Kathy didn’t say anything for a moment. Finally, though, she turned to him. “Does Hailey know about your knee?”

He nodded. “I told her everything.”

“She knows you’re not competing anymore?”

“Yes.”

His mom looked…concerned.

Ty frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“I…” Kathy sighed. “Poor Hailey.”

Ty straightened. “Poor Hailey? Because she has to put up with me full time now?”

Kathy laughed lightly. “Of course not. And if you say you have feelings for her, I believe you. But it’s too bad…”

“What’s too bad, Mom?”

“That you hurt your knee. That you didn’t come back here for her. Or not
just
for her.”

“But I…did come back here for her. I could have gone anywhere in the world. But I chose to come here. Because she’s here.”

Kathy nodded. “You need to be sure you tell her that. Because you know how it feels to be the silver medalist.”

Ty frowned. “What?”

“You know how it feels to be second place.”

“But she’s not. I told her last night that she’s my new gold medal.”

Kathy sighed again. “Yes, now that the other gold medal isn’t an option.”

Ty set his coffee cup down and turned to face his mother fully, planting his hands on his hips. “What are you saying?” he asked firmly.

“Hailey… I think she’s always been second place. And that’s what’s been driving her all this time, like it drives you. But you feel some control over where you finish in the pack. I’m not so sure she does. And I feel bad for her that the man she loves has made her feel like she’s second place again.”

His mom really thought Hailey loved him? Ty shook his head. No, that wasn’t the important part here. Well, it was. Of course. But it was not the most important thing at this very second. His mother knew something about Hailey that he needed to know. He could sense it.