Читать книгу Ready, Set, I Do! - Cindy Kirk, Cindy Kirk - Страница 11

Chapter Four

“Are you really going to work for Winn Ferris?” Anna Randall’s voice rose.

Hailey looked around to see if anyone had overheard her sister-in-law. Although the streets of downtown Jackson were always filled with tourists, there were also local people who knew Anna was married to Hailey’s brother, the mayor. Since Tripp had been elected last year, both Hailey and her sister-in-law were usually circumspect in their conversations. She must have really shocked Anna.

“I haven’t decided.” Hailey lifted a shoulder in a slight shrug. “Though I’m leaning toward saying yes.”

Anna opened her mouth as if to say more when a ringing sounded from the depths of her eel-skin leather clutch. She raised one finger and eased out the phone. “I need to take this.”

While Anna, a nurse-midwife, spoke with a labor-and-delivery nurse, they continued down the sidewalk. Despite her busy schedule, her sister-in-law always made time for Hailey. Every Tuesday they had a standing lunch date. The plans were sacrosanct and could only be broken for an emergency or a baby. From this side of the conversation, Hailey could tell Jackson Hole was about to welcome a new resident.

Anna strode down the concrete in her heels while Hailey hurried to keep pace in well-worn sneakers. The jeans and light sweater she’d pulled on that morning were in sharp contrast to Anna’s studied elegance. Unlike Hailey, who was happiest being casual, her sister-in-law loved to dress up.

Despite her advancing pregnancy, Anna wore three-inch heels with a maternity dress in a color block of black, white and yellow. Her sister-in-law’s chestnut hair tumbled to her shoulders and, as usual, her makeup was expertly applied. Hailey found her lips lifting in a rueful smile. If Cassidy wanted someone with elegance and styling acumen, she should hire Anna.

And Winn, wouldn’t he do better having a mother type look after his son? Not that Hailey could imagine Winn knowing any “motherly” woman.

She’d spent a sleepless night tossing and turning, thinking of the little boy next door crying for his mother.

Anna dropped the phone back into her pocket. “Baby on the way. Luckily we’re headed in the right direction.”

Hailey glanced around, noting they’d left the quaint downtown area behind. Though not far from the center of town, the hospital was located in a predominantly residential area. Hailey calculated the distance and concluded they were only blocks from the small hospital that served Jackson Hole.

“I’ll walk the rest of the way with you,” she told Anna, when her sister-in-law wondered aloud why Hailey didn’t turn toward her car. “I need to pick up my check.”

The money for four days of work at the hospital last month wouldn’t be much. Still, being able to provide speech therapy for both inpatients and outpatients kept her skills sharp and her foot in the door. Though she hoped a full-time position would open up, Hailey would have a good reference if she needed to eventually relocate.

“Tell me why you’re considering watching the boy,” Anna asked, bringing them back to their original conversation.

They continued to walk while Hailey explained Winn’s dilemma in detail, as well as Cam’s speech-therapy needs. “He needs someone to fill in until he can come up with a permanent solution. The money he offered was compelling.”

When she mentioned the amount, Anna’s eyes widened. Then she grinned. “Winn reminds me of his father. Both are convinced money can buy anyone or anything.”

Though she knew Anna held no animosity toward the man she’d once dated casually, Hailey stiffened. “Winn understands I’d be putting my life on hold for the next few weeks to help him out. He wants to be fair.”

Anna gave a little tinkle of a laugh. “I’d say that amount is more than fair.”

“I’d like to help him.” Though Hailey hadn’t yet made her decision, she was leaning toward accepting the offer. “Besides, Cam is a sweet boy.”

“If you do agree, don’t let Winn suck you into being a 24/7 caregiver for the boy,” Anna warned. “Ultimately the child is his responsibility, not yours.”

“I know how to set boundaries,” Hailey assured Anna. But when she thought of the small boy with the sad eyes and the man with the worried brow, she wasn’t so sure.

* * *

Could the day get any worse?

Winn raked a hand through his hair. He should have convinced Hailey to start immediately rather than giving her time to think. He’d slept fitfully the night before. Memories of Vanessa and her quick smile clouded his thoughts and last night’s dreams. Like Cam, he had difficulty accepting the fact that such a vibrant woman was gone.

Though Winn wasn’t sure he’d loved Vanessa as much as he should have, she’d been Cameron’s mother. Winn remembered how bereft he’d been when his own mother had died. He’d been twelve, older than Cam, but still a boy.

He was determined to give Cam the time and space he needed to grieve in his own way. Cam hadn’t cried. Not at the funeral or on the way back to Jackson Hole. But last night Winn had stood outside the boy’s bedroom and listened to the kid sobbing. He’d felt powerless and impotent. It wasn’t a familiar feeling nor one he liked.

He’d considered going into the room to comfort the child but decided against the gesture. When Winn’s mother died, the only tears he’d shed had been in the shower where no one could hear.

Today he and Cam would start a new life. Unfortunately, Winn wasn’t sure how to begin. It had been two years since Vanessa had allowed him to see Cameron. The child he’d picked up in Atlanta was far different than the boy he’d once known.

Hot anger rose and threatened to boil over, but Winn firmly reminded himself the past couldn’t be changed. And he bore some of the responsibility. He should have pushed harder.

Thankfully, sometime before dawn, Cam had fallen into an exhausted slumber. Despite his own lack of sleep, Winn had risen at six-thirty as usual. This gave him time to get dressed and make some calls before rousting Cam. One of those calls was to his father.

“Why do you have him?” His father sounded genuinely perplexed. “The child isn’t—”

“In every way that matters, Cam is my son,” Winn interrupted, his tone brooking no argument.

Jim Ferris must not have heard, because he bulldozed onward. “You haven’t seen the kid in two years.”

“Not for lack of trying.” Winn clipped the words.

His father expelled an audible sigh. “I have connections at several top-notch boys’ schools on the East Coast. He’d get a good education at any of them.”

“I’m not sending a grieving little boy to strangers twenty-five hundred miles away,” Winn protested, though he wasn’t surprised by the suggestion. He remembered being shipped off shortly before he’d turned thirteen.

“You’re a busy man,” his father pointed out. “How are you going to tend to important business and watch a child?”

Winn briefly explained about Hailey and the temporary deal he’d offered.

“Smart move.” His father’s voice rang with approval.

“I believe so,” Winn said. “Hailey is a warm person, which is what Cam needs right now. Plus—”

“I don’t give a horse’s backside if she’s nice or not,” Jim interrupted. “She’s the mayor’s sister. The closer you are to her, the closer you are to him. Take my advice. Don’t try too hard to find a replacement. See if you can string this along until after the vote on the development.”

Winn’s grip tightened on his phone. The remark was classic Jim Ferris. His father was a wheeler-dealer who never missed an opportunity to manipulate a situation. But this advice had a stench. It reminded Winn of Josh and the way the weasel had used Hailey.

“I won’t use Hailey to get closer to Tripp.”

“You’re a fool if you don’t.” His father’s derision came through loud and clear. “And I didn’t raise a fool.”

“I—I heard a dog barking.”

The plaintive voice had Winn turning. His heart tripped at the sight of a skinny boy in pajamas with his brown hair sticking up, standing barefoot in the hall.

“We’ll talk later.” Winn cut off the call and slipped the phone into the pocket of his black trousers. He rose to his feet, oddly unsteady. “Morning, champ. How’d you sleep?”

It was a stupid question. One the child didn’t answer. Instead, Cam rubbed his eyes and glanced around the room. “Where’s Bandit?”

Winn stepped cautiously toward the boy. “Next door.”

He’d spotted Hailey leaving the complex on foot earlier...without the animal in tow.

“C-can we get him?”

There was something in the boy’s eyes that Winn didn’t like. A fearfulness, as if he expected to be slapped down for simply asking a question. During the six years he and Vanessa had informally shared custody of Cam, he’d never seen her strike out at the boy or raise her voice. But Brandon...

Winn’s hands clenched into fists at his sides. If that man had hurt Cam...

He deliberately loosened his fists. If Brandon had mistreated Cam, there was nothing to be done about it now. The man was dead. His son was safe.

Winn placed a light hand on the boy’s shoulder and relief flooded him when the child didn’t pull away. “We’ll eat first. By the time we finish, Hailey may be home and we can see if Bandit can...come over.”

The thought of allowing that molting ball of slobber and fur back into his place made Winn cringe. But the dog and boy had formed a connection. When Bandit licked Cam’s face last night, Winn had even seen a ghost of a smile on his son’s lips.

“Okay.” Cam stood there, as if unsure what to do next.

“Get some clothes on.” Winn assumed boys of eight could be trusted to pick out proper attire. At six, Cam had been able to pull on his own clothes but had sometimes needed direction. “Jeans and a T-shirt should be adequate. We’ll be spending most of the day here.”

The boy nodded, took a few steps then turned back to Winn. “I—I shouldn’t be with you.”

Winn tilted his head. “Why not?”

“My dad said I d-d-don’t belong with you.”

Just hearing the boy call Brandon “his dad” had anger rising inside Winn. He tamped it down. The past couldn’t be undone. Because of Vanessa’s duplicity, Cam had suffered. Winn would not add to the pain in those hazel eyes. “I’m your family now. I’m not going anywhere.”

The boy only stared, a blank look on his face.

“I’m going to make chocolate-chip pancakes.” Winn remembered they were a favorite of Cam’s when he was younger. “You get dressed and I’ll throw together some breakfast.”

By the time Cam returned, dressed in a long-sleeved striped T-shirt and jeans, Winn had completed a couple of calls about a development in South Carolina that he was overseeing. He’d been distracted and made way too many pancakes.

When Cam had been a part of his life, Winn had done a little cooking, but since moving to Jackson Hole, business had been his priority. Everything else had taken a backseat.

Winn placed the plates on the table and sat down, prepared to get reacquainted with his son. As he unsuccessfully attempted to engage the boy in conversation, he realized his life had changed dramatically and he wasn’t sure he was ready.

* * *

Hailey heard Bandit barking on her way up the steps to her second-floor condo and increased her pace. Although her rental agreement allowed pets, she knew the landlord wouldn’t hesitate to act if her pet disturbed the other tenants.

She reached her door, hurriedly grabbing the key from her bag and fumbling with the lock. The barking escalated. “Bandit, shush.”

“Hailey.”

She heard Winn’s voice but merely held up a hand and focused on opening the door. Dorianna Samuelson, on the other side of her, should be home from her yoga class any second. Even though the woman was a friend of Hailey’s mother, she’d be the first to complain about the barking. Dorianna saw keeping the complex well ordered and quiet as her personal mission.

The dog gave a whimper of pleasure when he saw Hailey but followed her command to sit instead of jump, which had obviously been his impulse.

She grabbed the leash from the side table and clipped it on, before stepping back outside the door.

He looked business casual in black trousers, a gray shirt and shiny wing tips. Winn’s lips curved in a slow smile that caused a fluttering in her belly.

Completely understandable, she told herself. A handsome man. A lazy smile. She’d have to be dead not to react.

The blood sliding through her veins like warm honey assured Hailey she was very much alive.

“Hey there, neighbor.” She offered him a smile of her own. “Hope the barking didn’t disturb you too much.”

“It did.” His eyes held an impish gleam. “But I know a way you can make it up to me.”

The banter wasn’t new, nor was the hint of electricity accompanying it. What surprised Hailey was her reaction, stronger than before. Keeping her hand firmly on the leash while the dog quivered at her side, she batted lashes at Winn. “What do you have in mind?”

Before Winn could respond, Cam stepped forward. His face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning when he saw the dog. A low whine formed in Bandit’s throat.

Hailey loosened the retractable leash and said in a low tone, “Go to him.”

The dog raced across the short distance and Cam’s thin arms encircled him. The boy buried his face in the silky fur. Winn’s eyes met Hailey’s.

“That,” he said, “was what you could do.”

He gazed down at the boy with such affection in his eyes that Hailey felt tears sting the back of her lids. She quickly blinked them away.

Though she hadn’t yet made up her mind about his offer, it was obvious Winn needed a friend to help him traverse this difficult time.

“I was thinking of heading out to my parents’ ranch,” she said in an offhand tone. “It’s a nice day to ride horses, maybe have a picnic. You and Cam are welcome to join me.”

Cam lifted his head at the mention of horses, but his hand remained firmly on the dog’s back. “W-would Bandit come, too?”

Hailey nodded.

Winn glanced down at his tailored pants and shirt. “I’m not dressed for riding.”

“Hmm.” Hailey brought a finger to her lips. “You could change. Perhaps into something less stodgy.”

Winn’s dark brows winged up.

“Oops, I meant to say something more comfortable.”

That brought a chuckle from Winn. “Give me a few minutes to make a couple of calls and get out of these ‘stodgy’ clothes.”

Hailey’s lips twitched before she turned her attention to the boy. “Cam, would you like to keep Bandit company while I toss together a picnic lunch?”

Cam’s head jerked up and he glanced at his father.

“Up to you,” Winn said.

“Okay.”

The boy followed her into her condo and glanced around. She wondered if he noticed the difference between her overstuffed sofa with its colorful pillows and eclectic wall art and his father’s perfectly decorated interior.

She doubted it. Cam was so focused on Bandit he barely gave anything around him a second glance. But when she pulled out French bread then started to cube some cheese, the boy moved to the counter to watch.

“I—I already ate,” he stammered.

Though his eyes didn’t meet hers, Hailey saw it as a positive that the boy had initiated the conversation. “Riding horses always makes me hungry. I bet it makes you hungry, too.”

Cam shrugged. After a couple of seconds, he took a tentative step forward.

“You smell good,” he told her. “M-my mommy, sh-she smelled good, t-too.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Hailey caught sight of Winn, who’d just entered her condo. He paused at Cam’s words.

“You must miss her,” Hailey murmured.

“Sh-she m-might be coming to get me.” Cam looked up then and Hailey saw confusion and hope in his childish eyes. “P-people say she’s dead. B-but what if she’s looking for me? She m-might go to my house, but I—I won’t be there. Sh-she w-w-won’t know where I am.”

It was a lot of words, filled with emotion and struggle. Hailey didn’t interrupt and her heart ached at the underlying pain.

She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat and considered her response. Though undoubtedly this was something Winn should handle, the boy had shared his fears with her. It seemed wrong to ignore the question or redirect him to his dad.

“Your mother was a wonderful person who loved you very much.” Hailey gentled her tone and met his gaze. “But she won’t be coming back. Not because she wouldn’t want to be with you, but she can’t.”

Tears spilled from those big sad hazel eyes and slipped down his cheeks. Answering ones welled in hers.

She placed a light hand on the small bony shoulder. “But your dad is here and—”

“M-my daddy is dead.” Cam jerked away, clenching his small hands into fists at his sides.

“He isn’t dead, honey,” Hailey said gently, not bothering to hide her confusion. “Your dad is right behind you.”

Cam turned. His jaw jutted up when his gaze settled on Winn. He shook his head. “That’s not my dad.”

Hailey saw Winn tense.

“Of course he is,” Hailey protested.

“He’s not,” the boy doggedly insisted. “Mommy told me.”