Defending Hayden: A Second Chances Novel (15 page)

Hayden had scared the fuck out of me last night. I’d tried calling her from the wedding rehearsal, and when she never answered, I got worried. When I showed up at her house, she was sitting on her front porch swing, crying. I thought someone had died. She didn’t want to talk about what had happened, but I gave her no choice. I wasn’t expecting what came out of her mouth.

I didn’t know what to say to her, but I knew she was a damn fine veterinarian. I saw it that day she rescued Bear from the side of the road. After a night of my holding her and telling her it would be okay, she woke up a new person. I had no clue what was going on in her mind, but I could tell the wheels were turning. She sat in the passenger seat of my truck, gazing out the window with a far-off look on her face. Even though she was preoccupied, she was still beautiful as hell, dressed in a light pink sundress with her chocolate-colored hair in waves down her back.

“Care to tell me what you’re thinking about?” I asked her.

Smiling, she grabbed my hand and squeezed. “I’m thinking about how sexy you look in that tux.”

“As much as I want to believe that, I know you’re lying. What’s really going on?”

She averted her gaze to the window. “I just can’t get over it, Derek. I didn’t do anything wrong. Finding another job will be almost impossible unless I can prove it wasn’t me who cross-contaminated. And that’s going to be hard to do now.”

“Have you talked to any of the nurses?”

Shaking her head, she met my gaze. “I’ll do that on Monday. Today is special for your friends, and I don’t want to sour your mood with my drama. So for the rest of the day, I’ll keep a smile on my face.” Her eyes twinkled. “But you really do look sexy in that tux. I wasn’t lying about that.”

I kissed her hand. “You’re looking pretty hot yourself. Do me a favor, though, make sure Chris keeps his filthy hands off of you during the wedding.”

She burst out laughing. “I’ll try, but you know how he is. He’ll do it just to mess with you.” Since I was going to be standing at the front with Evan as one of his best men, I had to make sure Hayden had someone to sit with so she wouldn’t be alone. Chris was first in line for that position.

When we arrived at Stowe Manor, the guys were all out front, drinking beers and laughing. “Are you going to drink with them?” Hayden asked.

I’d gone so long without it, I didn’t even crave it anymore. “Nah, I’m good.”

“Are you afraid you won’t be able to control yourself with it?”

I looked at her and smiled. “That’s not it at all. I feel in more control of myself than I’ve ever felt. I just don’t need it to have fun.”

She unbuckled her seat belt and leaned over to kiss me. I held her to me and deepened it, not caring if any of the guys saw. “You’ve come a long way, Derek. I’m so proud of you.”

Chris knocked on Hayden’s window and opened her door. “Stop kissing on my date, McLaughlin. For the next two hours, she’s mine.”

“Keep it up, Waters.” I chuckled. “You’ll be finding your balls shoved down your throat if you don’t watch it.”

Chris helped Hayden out and flipped me off. “You don’t scare me.” Then he turned to Hayden, wrapping her arm around his. “All right, darling, let’s go for a walk. You’ll love the gardens.”

Giggling, she held on to him. “Lead the way.” She glanced back at me and winked. “See ya in a bit.” Once she and Chris were gone, I joined the guys. It was just Evan, Cooper, and Evan’s best friend, Luke Collins. The last time I’d really talked to Luke had been that night at the bar before the accident that took Brianna’s life. She had talked to him privately there, and to this day, I didn’t know what she’d said to him. I never got the chance to ask her.

Cooper slapped my shoulder and gave me a hug, and so did Evan. “It’s the big day,” I said to Evan. “You nervous?”

“Not at all, brother. I’ve been ready for this for a long time now. I see you and Hayden are doing well.”

I nodded. “We are. She’s an amazing woman.”

Cooper chuckled. “Well, I know the guys on the team are happy you found someone. Most of them were terrified of you ripping their heads off.”

“It’s good for them to be scared,” I said with a laugh.

Luke caught my eye and held out his hand. “What’s up, D?”

“Nothing much, man. What’s up with you?”

We shook hands and then he finished off his beer. “Just getting ready to watch my best friend tie the knot. Although I probably need twenty more of these,” he said, setting the beer bottle down.

“Why is that?”

Evan snickered. “He’s walking with Lara down the aisle. Everyone knows she hates him.”

Eyes wide, I turned to him. “You haven’t gotten her back yet? It’s been months.”

Luke’s jaw tensed. “She’s with someone else now. No matter what I do, I can’t get her to listen to me.”

“Maybe you’re not trying hard enough.”

He snorted. “What am I supposed to do, apologize on TV, like you did with your girl?”

I shrugged. “It’s a start. Humiliation is part of the step. I did something stupid to Hayden, and I paid the price for it. I had to show her I was willing to do anything to get her back.”

“What did you do to her?” he asked.

The guys averted their gazes and I cleared my throat. “Let’s just say it was almost as bad as what you did to Lara. I’m just lucky enough to have a valid reason for why I did it.”

Evan nudged Luke with an elbow. “I kept trying to tell you not to give up. Now it’s harder on me because she’s dating a guy who could actually be considered my brother-in-law.”

Cooper and I both whistled. “That’s not good at all,” I said.

Luke rolled his eyes and huffed. “Now do you see what kind of shit I’m in?” Cars started to pull into the parking lot, so we walked inside the manor while the guests signed in and picked their seats. It was almost time for the ceremony, but I grabbed Luke’s shoulder and pulled him to the side. “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

His brows furrowed. “Go for it.”

“The night of the accident, Brianna talked to you about how to get Lara back. I know you were kind of drunk, but do you remember what she said?”

The last thing I remembered coming out of her mouth were screams. I wanted to hear what she’d said before she was taken from me. Luke licked his lips and averted his gaze, smiling as if he could see it all playing in his mind.

“I never got to tell you how sorry I was for your loss. She was a sweet girl,” he said solemnly.

I nodded. “I know.”

He blew out a sigh and leaned against the wall. “Let’s see. First she told me I was an idiot for leaving Lara after our night together. I already knew that, but of course, it was too late. Then she told me not to ever give up, that if I truly loved Lara, I would do everything in my power to get her back, even if I had to sell my soul.” He swallowed hard and looked down at his hands. “But then the very last thing she said reminds me of what you did for Hayden at the game. She said that no amount of humiliation could ease the pain of a lost love. Those were her exact words. I guess that goes with the part of selling my soul.”

Closing my eyes, I could still see Brianna’s smiling face. She’d said the same thing to me once. It was the same advice I’d taken when I wanted to get Hayden back. “Take her advice, Luke. I know you have your pride, but if you want Lara back, you have to be willing to sacrifice it all. Is that something you can do?”

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, but then his gaze caught something on the staircase. It was Lara and Kate, Summer’s bridesmaids, coming down the stairs.

“I can do it,” he promised, keeping his focus on Lara. “I won’t let her get away again, no matter the cost.”

Chris and Hayden walked inside, and she waved at me before taking a seat. I wasn’t going to let her get away again, either.

The ceremony went by quickly, and I couldn’t have been happier to watch my best friend say the vows to the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Chris tested my patience during it by putting his arm around Hayden and pulling her in close. The pain on his face during those times, along with the pure joy on Hayden’s, had me chuckling on the inside.

“So what exactly were you doing to make Chris look like he’d just shit himself?” I asked Hayden quietly.

She spooned a piece of cake into her mouth and snickered. “I was pinching the inside of his thigh. He’s going to have marks all over.”

Chris turned our way, and I burst out laughing. He flipped me off and I smiled even wider. “That’s fucking classic. I guess I don’t need to kick his ass, then.”

“Nope, I did it myself.”

The next song was the first slow one of the evening. “Want to dance?”

Nodding quickly, she finished her cake and took my hand. I pulled her to me and kissed her lips, sucking on the bottom one. Her eyes darkened and she bit her lip. “You had frosting on your lip. I had to get it off,” I explained.

“I bet. Maybe I should put frosting on other parts of my body as well.”

The thought of licking anything off her body made my dick twitch. I held her tighter so she could feel what she did to me. “You might not want to say things like that in public.” She giggled and tried to pull away, but I wouldn’t let her. “Not so fast, love. You’re stuck with me until my cock goes down.”

I tried my best to get the dirty thoughts out of my head, but it was hard with her so close to me. However, when I saw Evan walking toward us with his baby daughter in his arms, I froze. I hadn’t wanted to be around their daughter because if Brianna had lived, our child would be around the same age. Surprisingly, seeing the little girl in Evan’s arms didn’t bother me like I’d thought it would. She had the same golden-blond hair as her mother.

Hayden sensed my distraction and looked up at me. “Derek, you okay?”

I nodded behind her. “We have company.” She turned around and stood beside me as Evan and Summer approached.

Summer opened her arms and I hugged her. “You make a beautiful bride. Evan’s a lucky man.”

She winked at me. “And I’m a lucky woman.” Then she turned her attention to Hayden. “This must be Hayden. It’s nice to meet you.”

They shook hands. “Same to you,” Hayden replied. Her eyes lit up when they landed on the beaming baby. “Your daughter is so adorably cute.”

Summer agreed with a nod. “Do you want to hold her?”

“Of course! I’d love to.” Hayden held out her arms and Evan placed his daughter gently in her grasp. Hayden looked like a natural. In that moment, I could see myself having a family with her.

“D, you okay?” Evan asked me.

Sighing, I averted my gaze to him. “I am now. Do you mind if we step aside for a minute while the ladies talk?”

“Sure,” he said, looking curious.

For the longest time, I’d kept my true feelings from my best friend. I loved Evan like a brother, but I had to get everything off my chest.

“There’s something I need to tell you,” I said. When I had his full attention, I took a deep breath. “I don’t know if you realized or not, but after the accident, I hated you.”

He held up his hand and placed it on my shoulder. “I already know, D. You don’t have to explain it to me.”

“You already know what?”

His gaze turned sad. “That you hated me for saving you. I knew you would, but I also hoped you’d forgive me, too. I didn’t want to lose you.” He blinked back the tears, and I could feel my own eyes burning.

“I’m glad you didn’t.” My focus drifted to Hayden holding Emma Grace in her arms. “If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have met her. Do you forgive me for being a jackass?”

Evan chuckled and hugged me tight. “There’s nothing to forgive. Now come and meet Emma Grace. She’s going to want her uncle D to hold her.”

Michael:
You can always move back home and work with me? :D

Rolling my eyes, I texted him back a
NO
. All week, he and my parents had tried getting me to move back home. As much as I wanted to be with the people I loved, I didn’t want to leave my life here; I didn’t want to leave Derek. He’d done everything he could to keep my mind off of work. But it still plagued me. It was strange not going to work. For the past week, I’d done nothing but watch Derek practice with the guys, read, and read some more. It was the longest break I’d ever had. If Derek hadn’t had a game this weekend, I would’ve loved to take a vacation to the beach. Sitting in the stands with the sun beaming down on me, I sure felt like I was at the beach, minus the ocean to cool me off.

My phone rang. I thought it would be Michael trying to bribe me back home, but it wasn’t; it was Jeremiah. I didn’t want to answer the phone, afraid of what I’d hear, but I had no choice.

“Hey, Jeremiah,” I answered.

“Hayden, how are you?”

That was a loaded question. “Okay, I guess. You?”

He sighed heavily, and the sound weighed on my chest; I didn’t like it. “Not too good, actually. I called to tell you that another one of the dogs didn’t make it. He died this morning from complications.”

My throat tightened. “Fuck.” Dropping the phone, I covered my face with my hands and cried.

“Hayden, you there?” I could hear Jeremiah’s voice through the phone, but I couldn’t speak yet. “Hayden?”

Wiping the tears away, I cleared my throat and picked up the phone. “I’m here. I just wasn’t expecting to hear that kind of news.”

“I know, but I thought I should tell you before you found out from someone else. I’m so sorry, Hayden. I tried to do everything I could.”

“And I appreciate it. Other than that, is everything else okay?”

“Yeah, for the most part. I’m still trying to figure out what happened so we can get you back. Right now I’m not having any luck.”

“I’ll be fine, Jeremiah. If all else fails, I’ll get a job somewhere else.” If that was even possible. No one was going to hire me if they were led to believe I’d contaminated healthy dogs.

“You could, but it’d be nice to have you back. Maybe you could meet me for lunch one day next week,” he suggested.

“Thanks, but I’ll probably be with Derek. I’ve been going to practice with him every day.” I didn’t want to throw it in his face that I was with Derek, but if I ever got back to the office, the lunch dates would have to stop.

The line went silent for a second and I thought I’d lost him until he spoke up. “I see. So I guess things are going well between you two?”

“Yes,” I replied softly. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt his feelings. “I know you don’t want to hear that, but if I do come back, we can’t be going out to lunch together like we used to. I don’t want Derek thinking there’s something between us when there isn’t.”

“I understand, Hayden. I just wish things could be different.” We said our goodbyes and I felt worse. Derek waved at me from the field and I waved back, glad he couldn’t really see my face from so far away. If he could, he’d ask what was wrong, and I wasn’t ready to tell him yet. Turning off my phone, I hid it in my bag and pulled out my favorite novel. If anything was going to cheer me up, it’d be Mr. Darcy. Since it was hot outside, I doused myself with the icy water in my spray bottle and got to reading.

“Okay, what gives?” Kate called out.

I was so engrossed in my book that I didn’t notice her climbing the stadium steps toward me. “I have no clue what you’re talking about,” I told her.

She sat down beside me and eyed me skeptically. “I’ve seen you here for four days now. Don’t you have a job? I know you’re not on vacation, because if you were, you wouldn’t be spending it here.”

I pointed at Derek, who was on the field about to make a tackle. “It’s his doing. He wants me here. A vacation would be nice, though.” It was fun watching Derek play and interact with the other guys. There were times when I saw him with Jax, laughing and conversing. He really wanted the others to accept Jax, but he hadn’t succeeded yet. I’d learned a lot about football this past week.

“What about your job?”

Sighing, I turned to face her. “I guess it won’t stay a secret much longer.”

She perked up. “Are you pregnant?”

I gasped. “Oh my God, no! That’s not it at all.” We both laughed, but then I grew serious. “Something happened at my clinic and I was blamed for it. The owner thought it best that I not return for a while.”

“Holy shit, that’s horrible. What happened?”

“I had a dog come in with parvo, and it ended up spreading to other animals in the clinic. The thing is, I don’t see how it could have. I’m a stickler about keeping things clean, and I had the dog isolated the entire time. I called my assistant the other day, and she doesn’t understand it, either.”

“So it was just an accident, right?” Kate asked.

I shrugged. “I assume so, but it’s something that should
not
have happened. The only people who would’ve been around the dog are Jessica, Charity, and Amanda, but obviously, none of them are taking the blame for it. In the end, it lands on my shoulders. What makes it worse is that one of the dogs who contracted it died a couple days ago. And I just found out a few minutes ago that another one died today.”

She clasped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, no.”

“Exactly. Now do you see why they don’t want me back?”

“That’s ridiculous and you know it. You need to figure out who the incompetent one is. What if it happens again?”

I never would’ve thought one of our nurses would be so careless as to let that disease spread through the clinic. Plus, it was just to my patients. Even if I had to take the blame, I didn’t want to see any other innocent animals suffer because of it.

“Kate, you’re right. What if it
does
happen again? The only thing is that I don’t know where to start. Wilford isn’t going to listen to me. As far as he’s concerned, it’s all my fault.”

“Surely there’s someone who can help you,” she suggested.

“No one I really want to put my trust in. If my friend Michael were still there, I’d get him to do it, but…” Then it dawned on me. “Kellie Spence,” I said. “She’s the owner’s granddaughter, but she’s a good friend. I’m going to see what she can do.”

Kate sat back triumphantly. “Glad I could help. It sounds to me like someone wanted you out of the clinic. If it was genuinely an accident, one of your nurses would’ve confessed. At least that would’ve been the moral thing to do.”

I couldn’t argue with her there. If the tables were turned, I would have admitted my guilt if I’d known I was responsible. I’d never had any issues with Amanda or Charity, but if it was Jessica, it wouldn’t surprise me. From the moment I’d started working at the clinic, I could see it on her face she didn’t want me there. The looks got worse when Jeremiah started showing interest in me. Then it all clicked into place.

“I think it was Jessica,” I stated adamantly. “I didn’t realize it until now, but all along, she’s never really liked me.”

“And why is that?” Kate asked with furrowed brows.

“She’s interested in another doctor at the clinic, but he’s expressed his feelings for me. If I were gone, she’d have me out of the way to pursue him.”

Kate blew out a breath. “That’s a pretty messed-up way to get a man’s attention. I’d be careful with that one, Hayden. You never know what a person’s capable of. If this girl is fine with killing animals, who’s to say she won’t hurt a human?”

She had a point, but I wasn’t afraid of Jessica. If she really did fuck me over on purpose, she was going to pay for it. All I had to do was figure out how to find the truth.

“You bored yet, coming to my practices?” Derek asked with a laugh.

We were on our way back to his house, which was basically where I’d stayed all week. The only time I’d gone to my place was to grab more clothes. Patch loved staying at Derek’s because he had Bear to keep him company; the two were inseparable.

“Not at all,” I replied truthfully. “I just know that I can’t watch you play football every day for the rest of my life.”

He winked. “And why not?”

I rolled my eyes. “You know why. I have a career I love, and I want to get back to it.”

Clasping my hand, he kissed it. “You will, baby. I have no doubt you’ll find another job. There are plenty of places in Charlotte.”

There were, but I didn’t want another job; I wanted the one that had been stripped away from me. “Do you mind running by Furever Yours? I want to talk to Kellie and check on the puppies.”

“Sure. I’ll drop you off and grab us something from the café if you want.”

“That’ll be awesome. It won’t take me long, I promise.”

Since downtown Belmont was already packed with people, Derek had to park a little way up the street. Grabbing my hand, he pulled me in for a kiss before I could separate from him. “Want me to get you a piece of that chocolate cake you love?” he asked, his voice low and seductive in my ear. I couldn’t help but smile. The last time we’d eaten chocolate cake, we’d eaten it off of each other.

“Might want to get two pieces,” I murmured back. “One wasn’t enough last time.”

He bit his lip and smiled. “Then you better hurry. I don’t know if I can last until after dinner.”

Shaking my head, I playfully pushed him away and started down the street. “See ya in a minute.”

I glanced back and grinned when I saw him with a group of middle school boys, all of them wide-eyed and giddy with excitement. It was still surreal, knowing that he was a celebrity and he’d chosen me. Never in my life would I have imagined I’d be with someone like him when he could have any woman he wanted.

Luckily, I didn’t have to walk past the clinic to get to Furever Yours. The last thing I wanted was for someone to see me and ask what I was doing. I was already taking a gamble with Kellie, but I had to believe she would help me. When I opened the door, Kellie was busy petting the puppies, but when she lifted her head, she gasped.

“Hayden, how are you?” She hurried over and hugged me hard.

“Not good, Kellie. I’m sure you know what happened?”

She let me go. “You mean the travesty? I told Pappy he was making a mistake. There’s no way in hell you’d ever put those animals’ lives at risk.”

“I’m glad you think so. What did he say about that?”

She shrugged. “Not much. Just that he had no choice but to suspend you, since you were the one responsible for your patients. I think it hurt him to let you go.”

I snorted. “Didn’t seem like it last week. He basically made it sound like I’ve been neglectful since I started dating Derek. If anything, that made me better.”

She smiled wide and raked her gaze down my body. “I can see that; you’re practically glowing.”

“Thanks. I never thought I’d be happy like this ever again.” I paused and took a deep breath. “But I know of a way I could be happier. The only thing is that I need your help.”

Her brows furrowed. “What do you need?” Not wanting anyone to hear us, I glanced around the room to make sure no one was there. “No one’s here,” she said, chuckling.

I moved closer to her, my gaze serious. “I need you to help me figure out who screwed me over.”

“Hayden,” she said with a sigh. “What are you doing?”

Placing my hands on her shoulders, I looked into her eyes. “I’m trying to get my job back. I can’t let Wilford and the others think I’m negligent. Not to mention it’s my reputation on the line. Someone in that office made a mistake, and I’m taking the blame for it.”

“Do you have any ideas about who it could be?”

I clenched my teeth and nodded. “I think it’s Jessica, but I don’t have a way to prove it.”

“That wouldn’t surprise me. She can be a catty bitch sometimes.”

“So you’ll help me?” I asked.

I could see the wheels in her head turning. Biting her lip, she said, “There’s something I’m going to tell you that no one else knows.”

“What?”

“Pappy bought a security system many years ago. It’s high-tech, with live video and everything, but I don’t think he’s ever really used it. Not much happens here in Belmont. Anyway, he has hidden cameras all through the clinic. If we can get to his laptop, we’ll be able to log on and search the feed.”

A new sense of hope spurred inside me. “Do you really think this could work?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, but it’s worth a shot. He leaves his laptop in his office every night. All we have to do is get in there and look.”

“When?”

“It has to be late.” She pursed her lips in concentration. “I’m busy Saturday, and Pappy usually comes by the clinic on Saturday night. How about Sunday night sometime?”

I groaned. “I’ll be at Derek’s game.”

“What about afterward? The game starts at four, right? It’ll be over and done with before eight o’clock. We could meet around midnight. That way I know there won’t be anyone around to see us go in.”

“I can do that.”

“Great. Meet me out back and we’ll go in together.”

I nodded. “I’ll be here.”

The door opened and I jumped, turning quickly to see Derek stroll in. He smiled at Kellie and waved. “Hey, it’s good to see you again.”

Kellie beamed. “Same to you. Thanks for coming in.”

He glanced at me and nodded toward the door. “Our food’s in the truck. You about ready?”

“Yep,” I said happily. I gave Kellie a hug and winked at her. “See you this weekend.”

I had no clue what I was going to see on the cameras, but hopefully, it would be something. Anything was better than nothing. Taking Derek’s hand, we walked up to his truck and got in.

“You seem happier,” he observed.

I breathed a sigh of relief. “I am. Kellie’s going to help me figure out who contaminated my animals.”

I’d thought he’d be happy about it, but he stared at me with narrowed eyes. “And how is she going to do that?”

“By letting me see the video footage from the hidden cameras. She’s going to be with me the entire time.”

He shook his head disapprovingly. “You could get into some serious trouble if you’re caught doing that. I’m assuming you have to break in to the office to do this?”