Always My Hero (27 page)

Bree remained in her car, eyes fixed on the one-story brownstone for a full fifteen minutes after she’d arrived at the address Wesley had committed to memory. Her GPS got her there roughly ten minutes later than predicted, but at least the rain had stopped about halfway through New Hampshire. She blew on her icy fingers. She’d turned off the engine as soon as she’d pulled up to the curb, afraid that the exhaust plumes would draw unwanted attention.

The fact that she had rushed off to confront Haley without any kind of solid plan was now starting to filter in. Bree couldn’t be sure Ryan’s ex was even alone in the house. Willow might be there. Or worse yet, Willow could have a husband, a big brute of a man. With the lies that Haley was sure to have told them, he would be more than happy to rush to the defense of one of his wife’s oldest and dearest friends.

But it was too late. She was here now and she had to do something. It was barely two in the afternoon, so chances were pretty good that Willow and her imaginary, muscle-bound husband would be at work. Haley could be hanging out on their living room sofa, counting her ill-gotten cash and watching daytime television.

Bree peered through the windshield. She could detect no movement at the windows. A light was on at the back of the house, in deference to the lack of sunlight that day. Someone was home. With any luck, just the one particular someone she sought.

Now or never. She tapped nervously on the steering wheel and dug down deep for the courage to face this cornered lion. Seriously, it wasn’t like Haley would be packing a weapon. If she could just stay clear of the woman’s meticulously lacquered talons, she ought to be safe. Right?

Just talk sense into her.
Bree opened her car door and stepped out, shutting it as silently as she could.
Convince her that prison orange would not be a good look on her.
Heart beating so hard she worried she might pass out, Bree ducked down when she passed the front windows and slipped stealthily up onto the porch.
Appeal to her sense of right and wrong and the kind of legacy she wanted to leave her child
.

There, that ought to do it. She had a plan. Sort of. Bree blew out a breath and knocked on the door, stepping to the side so there was no way Haley could peer out and see who was there.

When the door opened a crack and Bree saw that it was Haley, she bravely stuck her foot inside and prayed that she could push her way in before Haley removed her foot from her body with a body slam to the door.

“You!” Haley snarled but made no attempt to push her bodily out the door. She leaned out to see if Bree was alone. When she saw that the librarian hadn’t brought the cavalry with her she threw up her hands in disgust, turned and walked down a long hall that opened into a small kitchen.

Accepting this as the only invitation she was likely to receive, Bree hurried through the door and down the hall. She worried that Haley might have an escape route in mind with an exit out the back of the house. Though once she reached the doorway to the kitchen, she paused, perplexed. Haley merely settled at a worn kitchen table, wrapping her hands around a mug of tea and stared into its brown depths.

“How did you find me?” Haley didn’t sound angry or maniacal. She didn’t act desperate or cornered. She just looked exhausted.

“Wes overheard you talking on the phone a few nights ago.”

“So where’s Ryan then?” Haley kept her eyes focused on the teacup.

For a moment, Bree worried that she had given up her element of surprise. Haley was acting calm now, but that was her shtick, wasn’t it? Acting. Bree couldn’t let herself fall for anything that might put her in danger.

“He’s on his way. I thought maybe we could talk, just the two of us, first.”

“Oh, and then we could do each other’s nails and braid each other’s hair! It will be so much fun!” Without warning, Haley shoved the tea off the table, where it sailed a good two feet before smashing against the tiled kitchen floor.

Bree jumped but remained where she stood, not willing to let Haley know how badly she wished to run back to the safety of her car and hightail it back to Scallop Shores. She watched the other woman with mounting concern. Haley’s eyes darted back and forth, like she was looking for the next breakable item to destroy. Maybe this one would be aimed at Bree’s head.

“It was always you. He always wanted you. Even my kid likes you better. What is it about you that makes everyone go out of their way to worship at your feet?” The chair legs scraped against the floor as Haley turned to fix Bree with a lethal glare.

“You had no life in high school. You have no life now. And no one seems to mind. They love you anyway.

“I was the best cheerleader in high school. The prettiest girl in our class. I was the one who got that role in the shampoo commercial when I was only six years old! I was born to be an actress. I have everything it takes. Yet no one wants me. Why is that?” Haley’s voice had risen to a shrill scream, spittle flying past her thinning lips.

Bree knew she had to defuse the situation. Sidling into the room, she cautiously took a seat across from Haley at the table. Unless the woman chose to pick up her chair and throw it at her, she had no ready weapons with which to harm her.

“You’re still the prettiest. I think you’re going to make an amazing actress. Those producers are fools for not giving you a chance.”

“You think I don’t realize you’re just placating me? You don’t really believe that.”

“Oh, yes I do! Haley, you fooled us all. You used your acting ability to con a wealthy businessman into handing you hundreds of thousands of dollars. No one saw it coming. It was flawless.”

“Except that you found me.” Haley hung her head and Bree was reminded of Wesley in that exact moment.

“The planning and the execution were flawless. The follow-through needed a little work.”

“You’re going to ask me to return the money but I have to tell you not to bother. And before you go thinking that it’s from some selfish attempt to buy my way into Hollywood, it isn’t. I am not that shallow, despite what everyone thinks of me.”

Bree leaned across the table even as Haley became more distraught. She watched the upset woman’s hands clench into fists, then curl into claws before her fingers stretched out rigidly and trembled. She was frightened.

“Tell me the truth, Haley. For once in your life, tell me exactly why you stole the money.”

“Ha! And then you’ll leave and just let me be?” Haley looked at her, wildly.

A calculating gleam in her eyes had the little hairs on Bree’s arms sticking straight up.

“Does Ryan really know you’re here?” She reached out and grabbed Bree’s fingers in an icy grip. “If I tell you the truth, you would see that I had no choice. You wouldn’t have to let him know you’d even seen me. Just go back home to your perfect life, with your perfect man and the perfect child that I was too self-absorbed to hang on to.” Her voice cracked.

Heart breaking for the woman who had once had it all, Bree wasn’t sure what to say. If she lied and said Ryan didn’t know, she could talk a confession out of Haley. If she admitted that he really was on his way, she wouldn’t learn anything. But something told her that Haley not only wanted to talk to someone, she needed to. And despite all the hateful things Ryan’s ex-wife had done to her over the years, Bree wanted to help.

“What is the money for, Haley?” She put as much empathy and compassion into the smile she slid across the table.
Please let this work.

“I made a mistake,” Haley began, letting go of Bree’s hands to stand and pace near the counter by the sink.

Bree followed with her eyes, scanning the counter for knives or scissors, anything that a desperate fugitive might make a grab for if things turned ugly.

“I needed money. God, I always needed money. Like I told Ryan, head shots are expensive. And I had to be seen at all the right restaurants and nightclubs, you know? You can’t valet park a Honda Civic, so I had to have the best wheels too. It was so expensive. And I just wasn’t making enough to cover it. My parents stopped bailing me out. I think they hate me now. I can’t say that I blame them.” Haley braced her hands on the counter, her attention focused on the backyard and the houses on the next street over.

“You borrowed money from a loan shark? Someone who wouldn’t take no for an answer when you told them you couldn’t pay them back?”

“See? You’ve always been so smart. If I’d been half as smart as you, I wouldn’t be in this nightmare right now.”

“How much do you owe them, Haley?”

“About fifty thousand, give or take.” She shrugged her shoulders, keeping her back to Bree.

“Look, I tried not to do it this way. I really did. I couldn’t get a loan from anyone. I even spent my last twenty bucks on lottery tickets. Couldn’t even win a damned dollar back. I swear someone’s got it in for me or something.”

“I’m not entirely aware of how much that gentleman was willing to pay for the hardware store, but I am guessing that whatever he paid you was significantly more than fifty thousand dollars.” Bree sighed, standing up from the table and crossing to the sink, where she propped a hip against the counter and forced Haley to meet her eyes.

“This guy, he wants it delivered in person. I only have until March 15th. I was going to wait until things died down a little, pay for a train ticket with cash. Then I could send the rest to Ryan once I’m in Los Angeles.” Haley’s words were coming out faster and faster the closer she got to the end of her spiel.

Bree just looked at her and waited.

“Okay, so I thought maybe the rest could help me get back on my feet, and then I wouldn’t have to ask anyone for help again. I need it, Bree! Please just let me do this. Let me be as successful in my life as you are in yours.

“You have everything. You won. All right? Is that what you want to hear? You won. You’re better than me and I admit it. Now please just go back to Scallop Shores and you and Wes make a pact never to speak of this with anyone.”

Again, Bree just looked at her. She’d spent almost her entire life feeling inferior and intimidated by Haley. But to see her now, begging and pleading. She was a pitiful shell of the vivacious girl she’d been when they had both fallen in love with Ryan.

“Did you ever love him? Even just a little?” Bree was morbidly curious enough to ask.

“He’s a good guy. He deserved more than me. Yeah, I loved him as much as I can love anyone, I suppose. I’m sorry. I took away so many years of your lives together.”

“No.” Bree shook her head. “We did that to ourselves. You just made it a little easier.”

A loud pounding rattled the front door in its frame. Haley squealed, grabbing Bree for comfort.

“Haley Pettridge, this is the police. We have the house surrounded. Come out with your hands up.”

Bree reached for Haley’s hand and gave it a squeeze. Her heart ached for the woman whose body shook from head to toe. It was time to face the music. Together they walked toward the front hall, hand in hand, hip to hip.

“Bree Adams, are you in the house?” The same deep voice reverberated through the door.

Oh, God, would she be considered an accessory to a crime?

“Yes?” she called back, a bit timidly.

“We’re gonna get you out of there, ma’am. Hang tight and we’ll get you to safety soon.”

“They think I’m dangerous.” Haley’s whispered giggle held a touch of awe.

“If it’s any comfort to you at this point, I came into the house fearing for my life.”

“No kidding? Wow, I’m a better actress than even I realized.”

Stunning Bree, Haley wrapped her in a tight hug. She could feel the other woman’s racing heartbeat and she knew that her real nightmare lay just beyond that closed door. With true compassion, Bree hugged her back, admiring her for the courage it took to hold herself together in what must have been the most terrifying moment of her life. Stepping back, Haley reached for the doorknob, took a giant breath and slowly turned the handle.

• • •

With a beep and the blink of a green light, Ryan swiped the key card and stepped back to let Bree enter the hotel room. It wasn’t particularly late and they could easily have made the drive back to Scallop Shores that night, but he was shook up and the thought of not being able to hold her for the entire hour it took to drive back home was pure torture. Besides, they were long overdue for a talk. After all the horrible things he’d imagined Haley doing to her during his panicked ride across the state of New Hampshire, he needed some dedicated alone time with his love.

Ryan had ended up hitching a ride with Chase, once he’d gathered enough wits to involve the police in Bree’s recklessly independent investigation. Chief Hanson had called on ahead and alerted the Chester police department of the warrant out for Haley’s arrest. So they’d been notified when the police picked up Haley and suggested that Bree follow along and wait for Ryan at the station.

She looked nervous when he showed up, perhaps afraid of how he’d react. She’d just charged into the lion’s den and she was worried about what
he’d
think? He crushed her in his arms and kissed every surface of her face, hair, anything he could reach. If he could glue this woman to his side, he’d do it in a heartbeat.

Knowing that his parents were waiting for a call, Ryan whipped out his cell phone and assured them that Bree was safe and Haley had been arrested.

Then Wesley got on the phone, apologizing again for putting Bree, the woman they both loved, in danger. He asked to speak to her, telling his dad he needed to hear her voice to know that she was all right. She was so calm and gracious as she spoke to his son.

“Yes, I am one hundred percent okay, sweetheart. No, your mother didn’t try to hurt me.” This was said with an arched brow and a steady gaze leveled straight at Ryan. “Listen, you stop apologizing, young man. You saved the day. Your dad is not going to punish you.” Another pointed stare. “You take good care of your grandparents and we will be by first thing in the morning to pick you up. I love you, Wes.”

Her words gripped his heart, squeezing tight. Tears sprang to his eyes and for the millionth time that day, Ryan wondered what he would have done if Bree had been hurt, or worse. She and Wesley were his world, his tiny, more than self-sufficient world. And she was a rock. The woman had put herself in harm’s way—on purpose—and acted as though she’d merely taken a little road trip.