Clallam Bay (A Fresh Start #2) (8 page)

“So I do know you.” I kept up the charade, leaning against the house with my arms behind my back.

He shrugged. “Depends on what you mean by know.”

It depended, indeed. From what I’d learned from others and what little he’d told me himself, I didn’t know him very well at all. Not the way I wanted to. So why was it I felt like I did?

Our verbal dance was put on hold when a car I didn’t recognize came barreling down the driveway, blaring its horn. Resting his forearms on his knees, Coll sure seemed to know who it was though. I realized why when they pulled up and a leggy blonde climbed out of the car.

The wind blew the blonde’s hair like she was in some sort of shampoo commercial.

“A friend of yours?” I asked instead of running inside and hiding like I wanted. I was sweaty and gross and feeling pretty confident I looked it.

“Not exactly,” Coll said and stood, making his way to the edge of the porch where he planted a wide stance on the top step.

“I heard you got back a little early. You have a good trip?” the blonde asked.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Coll nodded down at the porch. “It was fine. There a reason you’re here?”

“Yeah, actually. Your mom wants you to come to dinner.”

“When?”

“Tonight.”

Coll looked off to the side, seemingly interested in everything but her, which made me immensely happy.

“Tonight’s no good,” he said, and she laughed.

“Yeah well, tonight it’s gonna have to be because you’ve turned her down the last three times. So shower, shave, and be there by five. You can even bring your little friend if it’ll make it easier.” She nudged her chin toward me. “It’s the more the merrier when it comes to your mom. You know that.” Without waiting for an answer, she climbed back into her car and drove off, turning up a cloud of dust in her place.

Dropping his arms, Coll slightly turned his torso to face me but kept his eye on the tree line. “Guess that solves it then.”

“Solves what?”

“What we’re doing tonight.”

I looked at him in surprise. “We were going to do something tonight?”

“Yeah. Unless you don’t want to.”

“I didn’t say that. I just don’t want to intrude.”

He smiled at the ground. “Didn’t you hear? The more the merrier with my mom. She’d be ecstatic if you came.”

“Okay then.” I pointed a thumb over my shoulder. “I just gotta take a shower first. Meet you back out here in an hour?”

He nodded. “Yeah, that’d be fine.”

“Okay then. See you in an hour.”

Without a look back, he took off down the steps. I pushed off the house and hurried inside, doing my best not to scream while ignoring my reflection in every mirror I passed. I took the quickest shower of my life, only slowing down long enough to cautiously shave the area around my ankles. I dried my hair and curled the ends, same as I always did. The trouble was what to wear. It was too cold for a dress. Slacks were too dressy. From the looks of the blonde, it was safe to go with jeans and Amber’s pink sweater. It was simple and casual and super cute when paired with some pleather ankle boots.

No matter how much I tried to ignore it, there was something that kept bugging me about this girl. I wanted to know who she was, but didn’t necessarily want to ask, afraid it would come off as self-conscious and jealous. I didn’t want to be that girl, especially if there was no reason. She still could have been family. A cousin, a sister-in-law, an any-number-of-things. But it sure didn’t feel that way. To me it felt like she was the one thing I really wished she wasn’t.

By the time I was done getting ready, I had fifteen minutes left before I had to meet Coll. Having been taught never to show up empty handed, I preheated the oven and popped in a sheet of cookies for a store-bought dessert, which was better than nothing. My mother would be so proud.

I couldn’t ignore the feeling in my stomach now that I was ready and waiting on the timer to ding. It was tight and uncomfortable, the way I would have imagined meeting any guy’s mother would make it feel. Out of all the guys I’d dated, I’d never been taken home to meet the family, so I really wouldn’t know. Maybe it was just because it was so sudden and I wasn’t expecting it. Coll and I weren’t even dating. Were we?

The cookies had just finished when there was a knock on the door. I quickly piled them onto a plate and wrapped them up before heading outside to find my neighbor freshly showered and clean-shaven.

“Well, lookie there. I do know you.”

Rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger, he smirked. I had to fight the urge to feel for myself while my eyes traveled over his snug white thermal.

Like a gentleman, he took the plate from my hands, and I followed him to his truck. The door squeaked when I opened it, and I had a flashback to that night he didn’t come home alone. I shook it off before climbing into the cab beside him.

“Sorry ‘bout the mess.”

Aside from the thin layer of dirt under my feet, there was no mess I could see.

“Oh, this is nothing. You should see my car.” It was filled with empty, snack-size Dorito bags and crumpled up receipts. The dirt covering my floorboard couldn’t even be seen.

He shifted into reverse, stretching his arm out over the back of the seat so he could better turn and see. Once he shifted into drive, he stretched it back out, resting his hand directly behind me.

“Does your mom live very far?”

“Not too far. About ten minutes outside of town in the opposite direction as us. Maybe twenty minutes altogether.”

I nodded and looked out the window, relieved to have a little bit of time to collect myself.

“So, your trip was good, yeah? You missed the storm? Caught a lot of crabs?” I realized how it sounded as soon as I said it. His laugh was silent, and I smiled at his profile before looking back out the window.

“I’m not sure a trip is ever good. It’s somewhat enjoyable in the summer when the water’s calm. But other than that …” He shrugged.

“I’ve never been out on the ocean in a boat. A lake, but never the ocean. Sounds wonderful.”

“Can be. But the storms are actually worse in the summer. There’s more of them. More lightning.”

I’d never thought about the lightning. Big waves and ice cold rain, yeah. But I’d never considered the lightning before. Now that I had, there was a whole other thing I had to worry about while he was away.

“You ever been struck?”

“No.”

“You know anybody who has?”

I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye.

“They still alive?”

We stopped at a stop sign, and he slowly rolled through before answering. “No.”

I got the feeling I shouldn’t have asked seeing as the rest of the way was paved with heavy silence until we pulled into an unmarked driveway.

“Here we are.”

We drove down a ways under a bowing line of naked branches when a small brick house with a green tin roof came into view.

“This is where you grew up?”

“Yep.”

And with all those boys. His poor mother. I imagined them all running around the open field that surrounded the house. Out and about at all hours. Playing cops and robbers during the day. Catching fireflies by night. Or whatever it was little boys did. It was such a small house. The size of the land surrounding it was probably her only saving grace.

The door swung open as soon as we parked, and a short little woman came running out to meet us. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a braid, a few gray hairs streaking the sides. Wearing a shawl and a big smile, she pulled Coll into a hug.

“I knew if anybody could get you to come it would be Tara. She said you were bringing a friend. But I assumed it was one of the guys. This is a nice surprise.” Pulling away, she patted his chest as she looked at me. “I’m Cris, Collin’s mom. And you are just gorgeous. Isn’t she just gorgeous, Collin?”

Scratching his brow, Coll smiled, and his mom sighed.

“And she bakes.” She reached for the plate of cookies then gestured for us to follow. “The boys are going to love these. They won’t last a minute. Just you watch. They’re all here tonight. All my boys under one roof. Can you believe it?”

I couldn’t, actually.

We rounded the corner and my eyes went wide to take in all the people standing around the kitchen. I shared a small smile with a familiar face.

“Hey guys, this is … Oh God.” She turned back to face me. “I didn’t even ask your name.”

“Hailey,” Russell answered for me.

Cris looked from him to me then down at the plate in her hands before setting it down on the counter. “Okay so, guys, this is Hailey. Your brother’s friend.” They all simultaneously oohed. “Behave yourselves. I mean it.”

Coll placed his hand on my back, encouraging me to move farther into the kitchen where everyone individually introduced themselves, their wives, and their kids. Each of Coll’s brothers—Quin, Kyle, and Camren—looked like him with their dark hair, dark eyes, and matching families. The youngest, Cade, favored Russell with his light hair and pale blue eyes.

Even Russell’s grandma was there.

“Oh, it’s the one who likes my pie. Come here, sugar, and give me some sugar,” she said, shuffling over to give me a hug. The kitchen filled with soft chuckles, and I looked up and gave Russell a small smile before she let go and demanded we all eat.

Abiding, we each filled a plate and found a seat on whatever piece of furniture we could. I planted myself as close as I could next to Coll on the couch and picked at the food on my plate, listening in on the surrounding conversation, trying to figure out who and where Tara was. I nearly choked when she came down from upstairs.

“He’s finally asleep, so I’m gonna hit the road.”

“Oh, good. Just let me grab your check,” Cris said, getting up from her seat to dig around in her purse. “Oh, and, Tara, honey, I want you to eat something before you go. Taking care of that man can really take it out of you.”

“Stubborn ass is what he is,” Grandma said under her breath.

“Ma …” Cris chastised her.

Tara shook her head as she took the check. “Thanks, but I’m really not that hungry.” She looked at me as she said it. I looked over at Coll, who was looking down at his plate.

“You sure? Maybe just some dessert for the road then. Hailey here baked cookies. Go grab one and you can go.” Tara stood there staring at me while Cris jutted her thumb toward the kitchen. “Go on, then.”

Giving me one last blank look, Tara headed into the kitchen and came back out with a cookie in hand. She stuck it in her mouth to put on her coat then pulled it out and waved with it as she shut the door behind her.

“I tell ya, I don’t know where that girl gets her energy to take such good care of him. I never see her eat,” Cris said.

Grandma laughed. “She weighs about a buck nothing, and that’s mostly up top.”

“Ma.”

“It’s a wonder she doesn’t tip over.”

Everyone in the room laughed except Coll, Cris, and me. A strong wave of anxiety washed over my body, like it was being attacked personally. I barely heard anything else but my heartbeat until Cris plopped down next to me on the couch.

“So, Hailey. Tell me about yourself. What is it you do for a living?” she asked, trying her best to change the subject.

Wiping my mouth, I finally swallowed the piece of chicken I’d been chewing. “I’m a teacher at Clallam Elementary.”

“Oh, nice. You know, the boys’ father was a teacher.” I raised my eyebrows at that interesting piece of information. “He was a professor at the University. What grade do you teach?”

“First.”

“Mmhm. Mmhm.” Cris chewed as she hummed. “And do you love it?”

“Uh …” I weighed how to explain this. “It definitely has its moments.”

“I bet it does. Playing around with those kids all day, it probably makes you want some little ones of your own, huh?”

I popped another piece of chicken in my mouth and smiled, not really wanting to get into how I truly felt about the subject of kids when everybody else’s were running rampant around the house.

“So are you from around here? Would I know your family?”

It went on like this for what felt like forever. Cris peppered me with question after question, asking about everything from family life to what cleaner I used to scrub the kitchen counters. There wasn’t much everyone didn’t know about me by the end of the evening. I was finally able to relax once Coll leaned over to talk into my ear.

“You ready to go?”

Glancing around the room, I turned my head and we nearly bumped noses. “Yeah,” I said and looked away. “If you are.”

The warmth of his hand seeped through my jeans when he placed it on my knee, using it as leverage to get up. He held out his hand and I took it to stand, my chest warming when he kept a tight grip.

“Oh, you guys leaving? So soon?” Cris asked as she stood.

“Yeah. Hailey’s got class tomorrow and I gotta get some sleep.”

Cris smiled. “You always did need your sleep.” She reached up to tousle his hair, but he turned away. A hint of hurt creased her brow, but she hid it well and walked us to the door to thank us for coming and wish us a good night.

Coll didn’t drop my hand until we reached the truck. I stepped over the cookie Tara had dropped on her way out then climbed in beside Coll, where we sat in silence for a moment before finally taking off.

“Your mom seems nice.” I attempted to make small talk to try and eradicate all the awkwardness.

“Mmhm.”

It didn’t work.

“And your brothers …”