Getting Over It: Sapphire Falls Book Six (12 page)

“She’s not second place at all. She’s the mayor. That’s number one. She’s always been number one—head of every committee, class president, homecoming queen, the girl every guy wanted to date and every girl wanted to be.”

Kathy looked a little sad. “She ran unopposed for mayor. Both times.”

Ty thought about that. “That’s not really the same thing as being number one,” he finally said.

Kathy shook her head. “No. It’s not. And…”

Ty felt everything in him tightening. Hailey
was
number one. She was the girl who no other man had ever won over, the unattainable one. “And what?” He really tried not to growl at his mother. But it was tough.

“Her father, Stan…he was only ever involved with her if she was running for something, only ever showed up if she was accepting an award.”

Hailey’s father was a state senator and he had moved to the state capitol years ago. Ty knew Hailey didn’t see him much but that was another thing they didn’t talk about a lot.

“And her stepmother was a piece of work. She was so jealous of Hailey. It was as though she was always in competition with Hailey for Stan’s attention, worried about being prettier and more popular.”

“How do you know all of this?” Ty asked, his heart hammering in his chest.

He had an urge to confront Hailey’s father and he wasn’t even sure he understood all the reasons why. Just the idea that someone had hurt her made him feel a crazy mix of emotions. He wanted to defend and comfort her, even while he wanted to protest that it was even possible. Hailey was tough. She didn’t let people get to her. She knew not everyone in town liked her, and she was okay with that as long as they respected her decisions and let her do her job. Fathers and even stepmothers were different than constituents, of course, but it was hard to imagine anyone shaking Hailey’s self-confidence.

“Her stepmom, Angela, was involved with every committee and every volunteer organization in this town. I worked with her a lot and was her co-chair and vice president several times. I witnessed a lot of it when she didn’t think I was paying attention. She would put Hailey down all the time and, I’m sad to say, was usually Stan’s first choice over his daughter.”

“So Hailey’s felt like second place with her dad and that’s what made her run for things and want to be in charge,” Ty said.

Kathy nodded. “I think so. And I’ve watched her grow up and become cool and aloof and…it’s made me sad. I was so happy to think that my sweet, amazing, loving son had seen beneath all of that.” She narrowed her eyes, studying him. “But now I wonder.”

“Hey.”

She shrugged. “Seriously, Ty. I think you care about her, I believe that you like her, but you’ve still put her in second place behind the things that are important to you.”

Several long, uncomfortable, painful moments passed.

“Wow,” Ty finally said. “And I’m your baby. I can’t imagine how you talk to TJ when he’s messed-up.”

Kathy cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t even want to know.”

Ty sighed and slumped back against the counter again. “Crap.”

“Well, it’s not too late.”

“Too late for what?”

“To make sure she knows that she’s the most important thing. To make her number one in your heart and life.”

Ty felt his stomach knot. How? It would take something big. And meaningful. Something she would really believe. They weren’t talking a bouquet of flowers here. It had to be something that would help her see that he thought she was amazing.

“I, um…”

“What is it?” his mother asked.

“I…I don’t have a lot of experience here. I’m usually working pretty hard to make sure the people around me are
not
number one.”

He wasn’t so great at making
other
people feel important. He was usually too concerned with ensuring
he
was the best.

Kathy smiled. “See what I mean? Being in love makes you a better person.”

Ah, so he had some work to do.

And it was nice of his mother to not come right out and say that he was a selfish prick.

They barely made it to church in time. And they still beat Hailey.

He looked for her the instant he stepped inside the building but didn’t see her until she slid into the back pew during the second verse of the first hymn.

Ty was glad that his mom was pleased simply to have him beside her in church, because he didn’t get anything out of the service. His mind was too full of thoughts of Hailey and her feeling second best all her life. His mom assumed they were in love and he really thought he was too, until he also thought about his mom’s words about him coming home for Hailey only after all of his other options were gone.

But this seemed simple enough. They needed to date.

They needed to see if they had real feelings between them and if they could actually make something work.

No matter
why
he was here, he was here to stay. He didn’t actually believe that she had been attracted to him because of his medals. He also didn’t believe that the enchiladas in Denver were what she missed most when she wasn’t there.

The service ended before he’d solved any of his problems and questions. But he made a beeline for Hailey anyway. He’d figure something out.

She was heading for the door when he caught up with her. He grasped her elbow.

“Hailey.”

She turned and gave him a tight, totally fake smile. “Hi, Tyler.”

Tyler. He gritted his teeth. She never called him Tyler in private and it rubbed him wrong now.

“I’m having brunch at my house with my family. I’d like you to come.” Hell, she knew his sister-in-law Lauren better than he did. And she’d had a moment with his mom that morning. It would be great.

She was clearly shocked by the invitation though. “Thanks. That’s nice. But I can’t.”

“Please.”

Her eyes widened. Ty very rarely said please.

Still, she shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

He moved in closer, fully aware that they were attracting attention. He didn’t care.

“Because it’s with my family?”

“I already have other plans.”

But he knew it was because it was with his family. Brunch with family was something a girlfriend would do. She was supposedly not his girlfriend. “What plans?”

Her eyes narrowed slightly. “None of your business,” she said quietly.

Everything in him rebelled at that.

Until his conversation with his mom that morning, he’d truly believed that he and Hailey were going to dive into this relationship. He knew she had hesitations and that he’d surprised her by moving in next door. But he’d really trusted that they’d get past those. He knew he’d have to work at it—he
wanted
to have to work at it, that’s how he knew what mattered. But he hadn’t doubted the outcome. This was one challenge where he’d known he’d come out on top.

Now he wasn’t as sure.

His mom loved him, and because of that, she’d always been totally honest with him. With all of them. And she’d just called him on his cockiness.

On his bike, on the road or in the water, he could be himself. He’d been biking, running and swimming all his life. In those, he had to push, had to want it, but he could rely on instinct and fall back on experience when things got tough.

With Hailey…he couldn’t. He didn’t have instinct or experience in convincing a woman he was in love with her.

Women had always been pretty easy for him. He knew that was one of the reasons he was drawn to Hailey. She wasn’t easily impressed and the field of competition for her attention had been a lot bigger.

But she’d been right last night. It had to be about more than fighting and fucking now.

He didn’t know exactly what that meant, but he did know that he wanted her.

And he definitely wanted her business to be his.

He was proud of himself for taking a deep breath and
not
demanding that she tell him what she was doing today instead of spending it with him. Instead, he said, “I can reschedule brunch. I’ll go with you.”

She arched a brow. “You’re not invited.”

He had to grit is teeth again. Not because of the haughty tone and look she gave him, but because not being invited was not okay with him.

“Hailey, I think we need to talk.”

She lifted a shoulder. “Okay. But not today.”

He’d been with her last night. Naked. Inside of her. Made her come apart three times.

And now she was brushing him off. For the whole day.

“Do I need to—”

“Ty, I told you before. This is Sapphire Falls. My rules.”

Frustration coursed through him as he watched her turn and walk away.

Looking beautiful as she did it.

Even more than watching for Ty’s lights to go on after the dance, Hailey hated herself for hiding out from him on Sunday. All day. And night.

She was the first to admit that she needed down time sometimes and had no guilt about claiming it. And she was pretty sure she could have shut and locked the door in his face if needed. But she was only
pretty sure
, not absolutely sure. So she’d hid out in her house, watching Netflix behind closed curtains and dealing with the fact that she was out of lemonade mix and drinking iced tea instead when she got thirsty.

But not turning her lights on after dark felt a little pathetic. As did ignoring his calls and texts. She was
not
going to do this every weekend.

Ty had moved in next door without talking with her about it, without even caring what she would think or feel. Fine. But that did not give him permission to be in her life twenty-four-seven if she didn’t want him there. If she didn’t want to spend Sundays with him, he was going to have to deal with that.

Of course, she
did
want to spend Sundays with him. And every other day.

The idea of brunch had been intimidating, but what intimidated her more was how much she would love to be included in his family. She loved them. Even the four boys Tucker had become a surrogate father to. They cracked her up.

Kathy and Thomas were the type of parents she’d dreamed of having. TJ, Travis and Tucker were good guys that she’d known her whole life. They were charming, hardworking, big-hearted men. She had no trouble spending time with them. And then there were the women.

Hailey and Lauren actually had a lot in common. Lauren was a powerhouse. She was intelligent and polished and had an amazing shoe collection. Before Lauren had gotten together with Travis, she had stayed in Hailey’s guest room on her visits to Sapphire Falls for work. Hailey had cleaned the house up when Lauren was coming, so the other woman hadn’t seen
all
of the sticky notes in Hailey’s life. But she’d witnessed more of Hailey being scattered than most people usually saw. And Lauren had never judged her. If anything, it had brought them closer. They’d never had a big, deep, meaningful talk about any of it. Hailey had never said the words, “I have ADHD and am not really confident all the time. In fact, most of the time I have no idea what I’m doing.” But she knew Lauren knew. And Hailey liked that she didn’t have to talk about it to be understood.

Delaney, Tucker’s fiancé, was more of a newcomer, but Hailey admired the woman. She wasn’t perfect but she was tough and interesting. She had lost both her sister and her brother-in-law within months of each other, so she’d been through a lot. She did home renovations and if she had a sledgehammer in her hand, she was completely confident. However, when it came to the four boys who she was now the legal guardian for, or even fitting into small-town life, Delaney had definite moments of weakness. But she owned them. She put them out there and asked for help. Hailey admired that. And envied it.

Then there was Hope. Hope had TJ Bennett, the oldest and hardest of the Bennett boys, soft and smiling. She was really new. She hadn’t even been around for a month. But Hailey wasn’t sure she’d ever met someone like Hope. She was…peaceful. She was a free spirit who openly and easily gave of herself and took care of those around her. Hailey would love if some of Hope’s serenity would rub off on her.

Hailey’s closest friends, Adrianne and Phoebe, were kind, loving women as well. Hailey loved Adrianne for her softness and patience and acceptance, and Phoebe for her perky bubbliness and enthusiastic sincerity in all things. And they knew her. She
had
said the words to them that explained her rigid outer shell and bitchy persona. She’d compared herself to the Wizard in the
Wizard of Oz
, presiding over the Emerald City from behind a lot of flash and intimidation. They’d understood and hadn’t judged her.

Hailey appreciated every one of the women in her life and wanted to be a little like each of them.

So hanging out with Ty’s family, including the new additions, was tempting.

But it was Ty she was worried about.

It wasn’t exactly him finding out that she wasn’t the woman he thought she was. He’d likely be understanding about it. It was that she wouldn’t be his type anymore after that.

And though she was trying to keep him at arm’s length now, she didn’t want to
not
be the woman he wanted.