Читать книгу Operation: Married by Christmas - Debra Clopton, Elizabeth Wiseman Mackey, Debra Clopton - Страница 10

Will didn’t miss the look that passed between Norma Sue and Esther Mae the minute the names were read. The moment he heard Lacy call out Haley’s name, he zeroed in on the two known matchmakers. He hadn’t even realized Haley was going to help with the program. Now he was pretty sure he was being set up. But why? Why would anyone want to do that?

He thought Haley would be gone by the weekend, and now he realized that she must be staying. He needed a cup of coffee to digest that bit of information. He strode toward the table where cookies and a coffeepot sat. Listening to Lacy continue to describe all that needed to be done before the big production in five weeks, his brain rolled over the time he didn’t have that was going to be required of him for this. It was going to be a tight squeeze to get it all done, but it was the thought of spending time with Haley that filled him with dread.

He should have seen it coming. Haley could draw anything, so it was logical that Applegate had recruited her. Trying to shake the unease rising in him, Will took a cautious swallow of hot coffee and studied her profile. She looked as tense as he felt, no doubt just as wary as he was of this development. There was no denying that she would be a big help to the program. And the program was what this was all about. He should just relax and ignore the red flags he was seeing—

“Somethin’ on yer mind?”

Applegate suddenly slapped him on the shoulder in greeting. Will sloshed coffee down the front of his jeans and glanced at the older man. He hadn’t realized anyone was in the kitchen behind him, especially Applegate. He had no idea how long App had been watching Will stare at his granddaughter.

“No sir,” he said, taking a quick swig of the scalding liquid and feeling the inside of his mouth fire up as he met Applegate’s gaze. Will made a concerted effort to keep his eyes off Haley when they automatically started to slide back in her direction. He couldn’t afford to let himself slip up like that again. The last thing he needed was to start speculation that he was standing in the back of the building staring longingly at Haley…. It might have been true, but that didn’t mean he wanted everyone to notice he still had feelings for her.

To his dismay, instead of heading back to his chair, Applegate planted himself beside Will, folded his thin arms across his chest and settled in. He was so thin he reminded Will of a praying mantis as he cut his eyes toward Will and caught him staring.

“I figure we’re gonna be puttin’ in some long hours ta get this stage setup designed and finished in time,” he said, raising a bushy brow.

Will relaxed a bit, relieved that Applegate wanted to talk about the program. “You’re right about that. But I didn’t see anything in those plans that requires welding. Why do they need me?” he asked.

Applegate cleared his throat loudly and shifted from foot to foot. His dour expression remained, but Will read his body language. Applegate was hedging. “We hoped you could come up with some easier way to help move the sets around.” He cut his gaze at Will. “Ken ya do that? Plus, I got you on the drawing team. It ain’t jest your welding that gotcha on my crew.”

Dread settled over Will at the mention of drawing. He had a feeling he and Haley were going to be spending a lot of time together. Looking away, he focused on Lacy as she waved her hands to get everyone’s attention again.

“Time to break up into individual groups so team leaders can set up work schedules,” she called out, her face beaming. “All cast members see me.”

Will hadn’t known Lacy long, but it was obvious she had a heart for Mule Hollow. He’d moved home to help keep the town alive, but it was evident that Lacy had come here, set the town on her shoulders and was pushing with all her might to make it a place people wanted to set roots in. He liked her, and watching her get this production together he could fully understand how she’d been able to talk a bunch of dusty cowboys into painting their town the colors of a Joseph’s coat of many colors. He smiled as she waved her arms over her head then met her husband Clint’s gaze and sent him a kiss airmail. Something tugged inside Will watching the affection that passed between his old friend and his new wife. Will had always wanted that, but he’d resigned himself to the fact that he would probably never have it.

A flash of red caught his eye and, as quick as that, he was watching Haley again as she removed the little red coat she’d been wearing. The room was warm as toast, but when she slipped her graceful arms from the wool coat, he wished the heat would stop working. It was obvious that she’d stayed in shape, though she did look a bit thin to him. She probably worked out alongside the rich and famous at one of those preppy little gyms. After all, networking was a fact of life in any business, especially Haley’s profession. If you wanted to be successful, you had to go where your clients were—and looking at the tanned, lean muscles of Haley’s arms and her trim figure clad in the shimmering sleeveless top and flowing skirt that clung to her hips then flared out about her legs in a soft swirl of vibrant cloth, it was more than apparent that she must know all about networking.

“Hey, Will, what’s up?” Sheri Gentry said, sailing past him to grab the coffeepot. Will sidestepped out of the way. Everyone knew that Sheri, the local nail tech and co-owner with Lacy of the salon Heavenly Inspirations, was a coffee-drinking dynamo. She and her husband, Pace, had just arrived back from a trip to Australia and like Haley, Sheri had a tan that wouldn’t quit.

“Not much, Sheri. How’s life treating you?”

She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Peachy.”

Will chuckled then found himself glancing back toward Haley. He was so surprised to find her walking his way that he almost dropped his cup. He’d been out of line at their last meeting. If they were going to be working together, he had to be a man about it and act like an adult. That meant holding his tongue and keeping the past in the past.

Haley stopped beside Applegate, resting a hand on App’s crossed arms and lifting an eyebrow. “Interesting group we have for the prop production.”

It wasn’t a question but a forthright statement that said she, too, hadn’t missed that they were on the same team. And she had her suspicions. Applegate’s expression didn’t change at all. He looked from Haley to Will. “We needed persons with creativity and abilities, and the two of you fit the bill purdy perfect. I ’spect the good Lord was smiling on us when He brought the two of you back here. So, of course, I picked the both of you fer the design team. Now, I got me a good group of painters and such, but seein’ how the two of you is so good at drawin’ I figured y’ all kin git in here first, draw up the different sets Lacy’s askin’ fer and then we kin pull the others away from their other projects to paint.”

Will met Haley’s gaze and couldn’t miss her look of displeasure. Well, he wasn’t any more thrilled at being thrown in with her than she was. All the years since she’d abandoned him at the altar had left him with emotions he tried to keep buried deep. There was no way of getting around the fact that he’d thought all these years that he still loved her. But he’d realized just this week that there was indeed a fine line between love and hate. And though he didn’t hate Haley, these feelings he’d been carrying around couldn’t still be love. More likely they were a mixture of hurt, loss and longing for what she’d left behind.