Getting Over It: Sapphire Falls Book Six (22 page)

Hailey sniffed and Tessa handed her a napkin. “Why do you care about this so much?” she asked Lauren.

“Because I want you to invite me over for spaghetti and to watch the entire boxed set of
The Wonder Years
that I know you have in your entertainment center.”

Hailey’s eyes widened and she smiled. “Anytime.”

“And,” Lauren said, her tone and expression softening, “no one should hide who they really are in order to get approval from anyone else.” She squeezed Hailey’s hand again. “Especially not the man they love.”

Hailey was surprised. But she wasn’t as surprised as she would have expected to be.

Strangely.

Phoebe looked from Hailey to Lauren. “Is it Ty?”

Now
Hailey was really surprised. “How did you know?”

“I knew it!” Tessa said. “That is amazing. Does he know? If so, why he’s running against you? If not, why haven’t you told him?”

Hailey just smiled, surprise and a touch of panic fighting for attention in her mind.

“Haven’t told who what?” Adrianne asked, coming out of the kitchen with scones.

“The man she’s in love with,” Tessa said with a grin.

“It’s Ty, right?” Adrianne asked. “I’ve had a feeling about you two.”

Hailey had to laugh at that. “You all suspected?”

“The heat between the two of you has been so obvious,” Phoebe said.

“And he would be so good for you,” Adrianne said, setting the scones down and pulling up another chair. “You would balance each other out.”

“Because he’s laid-back and I’m not?” Hailey asked. What did she bring to the equation? Yes, Ty helped her kick back, but it wasn’t as if she could keep him on track or even really motivate him. He was very self-driven, self-motivated, and now he was ready to give up on his training and goals no matter what she said.

But Adrianne shook her head. “No, because he can handle the organization and scheduling and stuff. You can be the one thing that makes him realize he doesn’t have to travel to Rio de Janeiro and win a gold medal to be happy.”

Hailey stared at Adrianne. And she wasn’t the only one. Phoebe, Tess and Lauren were looking at her with the same stunned expression.

Adrianne looked around at them. “What?”

“How do you know all of that?” Phoebe asked.

Adrianne shrugged. “Isn’t it obvious? Ty’s a driven professional athlete. Obviously, he has to be used to schedules and regimens and being organized in everything from his workouts to his diet. Hailey, on the other hand, has found fulfillment and happiness in her tiny hometown in Nebraska and delights in things like strawberry festivals. Ty can keep Hailey on track and she can show him an appreciation for the simpler, smaller things in life.”

Lauren nodded, clearly impressed. “And they say Mason’s the genius.”

Adrianne laughed. “You all know Mason doesn’t know much about interpersonal relationships. But I make up for that with him. That’s how
we
fit. Every couple has a way of bringing out the best in one another.”

Hailey was reeling with all of this. Adrianne was completely right. And maybe Hailey needed to get off Ty’s case about moving home and starting a new career.

“And this town needs to see that side of you, Hailey,” Lauren said, getting back to their conversation.

“But if they see the organized, driven side of Ty, they’ll be impressed by that too,” Hailey said. “He really is amazing. He’s a hard worker, pushes and inspires the people around him. He’s got more than he’s showing too.”

“Well,
you’re
not his campaign manager, so keep that to yourself,” Lauren said. “And it won’t matter. You’re it, babe. You’re the one who should be mayor.”

Hailey appreciated the support of these women and knew that she had to give the rest of the campaign her all, if nothing else to show that having them on her side mattered to her. “Okay, tell me what to do.”

Lauren smiled. “Show up at the gazebo tomorrow night at six. And Phoebe, you’re in charge of dressing her like a typical everyday Sapphire Falls girl.”

Phoebe lit up. “You’ve got it.”

Hailey managed not to groan. Out loud anyway.

Chapter Seven

Ty’s grin grew wider and wider as he approached the middle of the town square. In front of the gazebo were hay bales arranged to resemble two couches—a bale on the bottom to sit on and one behind to lean against. They were covered with blankets to avoid hay stabbing their occupants in unpleasant places. There was a makeshift coffee table in front of the couches as well, made of another bale with wooden planks on top. There was an arrangement of wild flowers in a mason jar on the table along with mason jars of lemonade.

Other hay bales had been pulled up, covered with blankets and arranged in a semicircle three rows deep, facing the gazebo for people to sit on during the Q&A session he and Hailey were holding tonight.

White twinkle lights had been suspended from the tree branches throughout the square and around the gazebo. Situated around the area were more bales with coolers on top, filled with ice and mason jars of lemonade, fruit punch and iced tea.

The whole thing was very inviting, and Ty had to admit that Hailey’s camp had come up with a great idea for the Q&A, as well as making the setting casual and comfortable.

A lot of people were already showing up, milling around and chatting. Everyone was dressed casually and seemed happy and relaxed.

After the debate, Ty had been worried about Hailey. She’d annihilated him. As expected. It had been his fault he didn’t know anything about the policies in town or the issues Hailey and the town council had been dealing with, and the town knew they were now competitors. But Sapphire Falls didn’t like to see one of their own
humiliated
.

This was going to be good. A relaxed atmosphere, a more casual conversation with him and Hailey with the goal of letting the town get to know them both better, rather than an actual debate about issues.

Besides, there hadn’t been much debate in their debate. It wasn’t as if he didn’t agree with her regarding the issues and how to solve them.

“You ready?”

Ty turned to smile at Travis. “Sure. Of course.”

“Okay, well, don’t hold back tonight,” Trav said with a frown.

“Hold back? Why would I do that?”

“Didn’t you the other night at the debate?” Travis asked. “You looked like a moron up there.”

Ty laughed. “Did I? Well, I’m the first to admit that I don’t know much about the issues in town.”

“Yeah, you should probably brush up on that. You’re a lot of fun, but that won’t win this election.”

Ty peered at his brother. “What’s with you?”

“I’m supporting you because you’re my brother. While my wife is the campaign manager for your opposition. What do you
think
is with me?”

“You and Lauren are arguing?” Ty asked. He hated that idea. This wasn’t supposed to be serious.

“Not arguing,” Travis said. “It’s…tense.”

“Because we’re not getting laid.”

Ty glanced at Tucker as he joined them. “
What
?”

Tucker looked annoyed too. “Lauren has convinced Delaney to defect.”

“Defect?”

“To the Hailey camp. Girl Power. Women building each other up. The Bennetts shouldn’t get everything just because we’re good-looking, sexy, intelligent, funny and sweet. That kind of stuff.”

Ty laughed. “She said that we get everything because we’re good-looking, sexy, intelligent, funny and sweet?”

“She implied it,” Tucker said.

“But she didn’t
say
any of those things?”

“Well, she did say that you shouldn’t be able to waltz in here and take over just because you want to.”

Ty turned to face Tucker fully. “Wait a second. Did Delaney, by chance, say that
I
was good-looking, sexy, intelligent, funny and sweet?” he asked, with a huge grin he couldn’t hide.

Tucker’s eyes narrowed. “Doesn’t matter.”

Oh, but it did. Because it was bugging his big brother. Ty grinned. “Got it. I totally see where Delaney is coming from.”

“She
doesn’t
want you to win,” Tucker said. “You got that part, right?”

“And the part about how she’s cut you off for supporting me,” Ty said with a nod.

“Well, it’s more that Lauren has had her down at their headquarters until damned near midnight the last few nights,” Tucker said.

“On purpose, I swear,” Travis said. “Because I can tell you that Lauren
is
punishing me for supporting you.”

“But we’re family,” Ty pointed out. He was enjoying all of this far more than he should. But if
he
wasn’t getting any because of the campaign, then at least he had brothers to share his sorrow with.

“And she thinks that’s even more reason that I should be talking you
out
of running,” Travis said.

“Why’s that?”

“Because you’ll be a terrible mayor,” Travis said bluntly.

Ty lifted an eyebrow. “You think so?”

Travis gave him an unamused look. “You looked like an idiot at the debate. You show up two weeks before the election to campaign? Obviously, this is a last-minute decision you didn’t think through very well.”

Then maybe they wouldn’t vote for him and everything would be fine.

“Looks like you’re getting your way,” TJ commented as he joined them.

“How so?” Ty asked.

TJ looked around. “This and the debate the other night? You’re pulling Hailey out of her shell, that’s for sure.”

“What do you mean? Those were both her ideas,” Ty said with a frown. Pulling her out of her shell sounded like it could be a good thing, but again, Ty hadn’t realized she
had
a shell. The woman he’d always thought of when he thought of Hailey was absolutely the type to get up on stage and tell everyone everything she knew and make anyone who dared think they could keep up regret it quickly. “She likes the spotlight the way I do. She likes having people’s attention.”

“She doesn’t, actually,” TJ said.

Dammit
.

“She would rather do her job and take care of things that need taking care of and enjoy the festivities she organizes and never have another town-council meeting or a town-hall meeting where she has to hear about problems or justify her thoughts and actions,” TJ said.

Ty felt the knots from his shoulders slide down into his gut. Fuck. Hearing his brother confirm that he knew nothing didn’t help his state of mind at all.

When Ty didn’t respond, TJ went on. “You want her to be like you, because you don’t understand
not
wanting the spotlight and the glory of competition. But trust me, falling in love with someone different from you can be incredible.”

Ty stared at TJ. The sudden transformation in his brother’s face, the way his expression and voice softened, took Ty a minute to adjust to.

“True story,” Travis said. “Lauren and I are pretty different in a lot of ways too. Maybe not as different as TJ and Hope, but, yeah, the trick is finding the things you do have in common and then appreciating and learning from the things that make you different.”

Ty blew out a breath. “Not sure this is the time or place for a big lesson on relationships, guys.”

“It’s the perfect time and place,” TJ said. “It’s amazing loving someone different, if you
let them
be different. You shouldn’t try to change her.”

“And you think that’s what I’m doing?”

“I think you’re bored,” TJ said bluntly. “Things with your career aren’t going your way, so you move home and stir everything up here because you don’t know what to do with yourself. But you’re stirring other people’s lives up too, Ty.”

Ty frowned at him. “I’m not—” But he
was
stirring Hailey up. Because he liked her stirred up. “Fuck,” he muttered.

“Yeah,” TJ said.

“How do you know all this about Hailey anyway?” he asked his brother.

“It’s amazing what you can learn when you’re not totally wrapped up in yourself,” TJ said. “I know a lot about all of the women my brothers have fallen in love with.”

Travis and Tucker’s eyes widened at that, but Ty jumped in before they could say anything.

“How did you know I was in love with Hailey all this time?”

TJ gave him a slow smile. “Hope says it’s because I’m very insightful.”

Before Ty could respond to
that
, he heard Lauren calling for everyone to take a seat.

His mood about this whole thing had definitely soured a bit. He was fucking tired of everyone claiming that he was only thinking about himself and that he didn’t know Hailey.

He was
really
fucking tired of fearing they were right.

Ty stomped toward the hay bales where he and Hailey were clearly supposed to sit.

She wasn’t in her seat yet, so he chose first. He noticed there was also a PA system set up. The setting wasn’t huge, but they were outside and they wanted to be sure that everyone could hear everything. The crowd had already filled the bales set up for seats and there were still at least fifty people standing.