Sweet but Sexy Boxed Set (17 page)

Amie Denman lives in a small town in her native Ohio with her husband and two sons. Her two cats and 90-pound yellow lab are kind enough to share a sunny office where she lets her imagination run wild. Reading books was her favorite escape as a child, and she remains a romantic at heart.

Please visit her at
www.amiedenman.com

Also by Amie Denman

The Gull Motel

Will Work For Love

He’s on Her Trail

Her Lucky Catch

Her Lucky Prize

Constance Phillips

Hailey Lambert came home for the holidays to help her father. Instead, eight years later, she is forced to face all that was left unspoken between her and high school crush, Nate.

After eight years, Hailey is back in Caseville Michigan. Just months after her mother
’s death, her siblings want to put their father in a nursing home and rent out the family farm. If that wasn’t enough, the prospective tenant is Nate, the high school crush she left behind the day after they acted on their mutual attraction.

After high school, Nate Jenkins planned to leave small town behind, but life dealt him a different hand of cards to play. He’s now back in Caseville, raising his daughter, and running his family’s diner. His daughter’s speech disorder has been improved by therapeutic horse riding and if he can lease the old Lambert farm, he can get her a horse of her own. The only standing in the way is Hailey, the same woman who left him eight years ago without even saying goodbye.

Can they get over all that’s unspoken between them?

Chapter One

The squeak of the barn door rolling down the metal rail cut through the silence of the night air. It wasn
’t as heavy as Hailey remembered, but then again her fondest memories of the barn were from when she was a lot younger.

Her cousin Rhonda laughed as she walked past her then went straight to the light switches, flipping them on.
“Quiet or we’re going to get caught.”

“
I think we’re old enough to be in the barn after dark.” Hailey pushed the door closed to block the biting wind. Still, it slammed against the walls, causing the aging building to moan and creak in protest, mimicking the mood of her heart as she remembered the events of the last year.

“
Think fast!” Rhonda pulled a beer can from the pocket of her coat and then tossed it in Hailey’s direction. “Uncle Bill isn’t going to ground us for sneaking beer?”

Hailey looked at the label a moment before cracking it open. A rush of memories accompanied the sound and scent.
“What were we? Sixteen?”

“
I think so. Wasn’t that the summer after my family moved to Saginaw? Your mom and Dad let me come and stay with you for a couple of weeks.”

“
Thanks for coming out here with me. I needed a break from all the holiday cheer,”

Rhonda hoisted herself up on the gate separating the barn aisle from the open arena, straddling it as if it was a horse.

Hailey leaned against one of the stall doors, and raised the can toward her cousin. “Merry Christmas.” She then took a long sip before continuing. “Jake and Kelly think Dad needs to be put in a nursing home, you know. They’ve been trying to nail me down to ‘talk about it’ since I got home yesterday morning.”

Rhonda exhaled and slid back on the top of the gate until she was leaning against the wall.
“I thought he was fine at dinner, a little tired maybe, but aren’t we all? My mom says he has moments, though.”

“
That’s what they say too. I haven’t seen any signs.”

“
On the drive up here Mom was saying she feels like she owes it to her sister to help Kelly, Jake, and you care for him.”

Everyone in the family had mourned her mother together, but sometimes Hailey became absorbed in her grief and lost sight of the fact that Rhonda had lost an aunt and her mother had lost her sister.
“She agrees with them, then?”

Rhonda
’s gaze dropped to the barn floor. “I’m so sorry. This has got to be destroying you.”

Hailey took another long draw from the beer.
“I know Dad’s taken Mom’s death really hard, but I haven’t seen anything that says diminished capacity. It can’t be dementia. Can it? He’s not that old.”

Rhonda let her foot sway back and forth. The heel of her boot occasionally clipped the metal of the gate sounding like an old church bell. The look on her face was one of empathy, but she had no words.

Hailey understood though, even took solace in the silent support of her cousin and best friend. “It is a lot on Kelly and Jake to care for him. Maybe it’d be easier on everybody if I moved home.”

“
No one expects you to abandon the life you’ve made for yourself in the city.”

“
What life? It’s been six weeks since I lost my job, and none of my interviews have panned out. Seems like perfect timing to me.”

“
The holidays are a really bad time to be looking for a job. You’ll get an offer right after the first of the year. I’m sure of it.”

Hailey shrugged and set the beer can on the ground. She then stepped up on the bottom rail of the gate, and gripped the top rail, flexing her body and stretching out her back as she used to do when she was younger.

Rhonda began laughing again. “Do not get this thing swinging while I’m sitting on it.”

“
What’s wrong with you? We used do this all the time. Are you too old now?”

“
Yes.”

Rhonda
’s simple word rode an infectious giggle. Hailey couldn’t help but laugh too. It was always like this when they were together, as if no time had passed, and they were still carefree children.

It was the first time in months she
’d been able to smile despite her problems and it felt good to set the weight of the world aside, if only for a few minutes. She hoisted her leg over, and joined her cousin on the gate, facing Rhonda. “But seriously, if I moved back to town, I could help take care of Dad. If it gave him an extra six months at home wouldn’t it be worth it?”

Rhonda frowned.
“Of course it would, but you don’t know that it would give him even an extra day. You need to get all the facts before you make such a big decision. Stop avoiding the conversation with your brother and sister. Sit down and talk to them.”

Hailey nodded, gripping the rail in front of her.
“I know, you’re right.”

“
I always try to think of New Year’s Eve as a big reset button. You’ll see. It’s time to close the door on all the crap you’ve gone through the past year and try to face the new one with a bit of hope. You’ll get another job.”

“
I hope your right.” Hailey paused and looked up toward the hayloft. “We had so much fun growing up here.”

“
Didn’t your brother catch you up in that hayloft with Jimmy Johnson?”

“
Nah! Not Jimmy.” Her giggle sounded child-like, even to her own ears.

“
Who was it then? I know it wasn’t Nate Jenkins. No matter how bad you always wanted it to be.”

Hailey pressed her lips together. Some secrets were too precious to speak, even to Rhonda. The incident her cousin remembered wasn
’t with Nate, but she’d had a moment here with him in the quiet of the old barn too.

It was the Fourth of July the summer before they were all to leave for college. Her parents had encouraged her to have a bonfire with all of her friends from school.

Late in the evening, Nate pulled her aside and asked her to go for a walk and right here—in front of the old gate—he’d asked her out.

“
Seems like a hundred years ago.”

“
You can’t go back in time.”

“
But wouldn’t it be nice if we could?”

He
’d been so nervous that night. Talked about the weather, the baseball game from TV the night before, and even how high the corn stalks were in the field before he rubbed his sweaty palms on the back of his denim shorts and asked if “she might want to” go out with him.

“
What would you do? Not go to college and law school? Marry Nate Jenkins? Work with him in the diner?”

Hailey swung her leg back over the gate and jumped down. With a smooth movement, she reached down, picking up her drink.
“Don’t say it like that. Nate’s a good guy.”

“
Lighten up. Did I say he wasn’t? I’m just saying you made the right choices. That’s all.”

She leaned her arm against the wall and peeked into an empty stall.
“I’m glad
you’re
sure. Sometimes I don’t know.”

“
He has a daughter you know.”

Hailey nodded.
“I heard. He moved home so his mom could help him take care of her when she was a baby. No one knows anything about her mother.”

“
It’s hard to imagine any of us from school with kids of our own. What is she, five?”

“
Almost six.”

She heard Rhonda
’s feet hit the ground and then her footfalls. “Really? You’re still hung up on him?”

“
I didn’t say that.” Didn’t mean it wasn’t true though. Hailey turned, leaning back against the wall and facing her cousin. “It’s a small town. Jake has actually become pretty good friends with him over the years. I hear things.”

“
Sounds to me like you’re protesting too much.”

Hailey shrugged.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about the choices I’ve made in life. Being out of work gives you a lot of time for introspection.”

“
Sounds like you’ve spent too much time examining the past, if you ask me.”

“
The decision to leave Nate behind and head to college early was huge. Things might have turned out differently if I’d let the rest of the summer play out.”

“
And things might have turned out differently if my family had left fifteen minutes later or sooner to come over here for Christmas dinner. You’ll drive yourself mad thinking about all the ‘what ifs.’”

Hailey nodded, crossing her arms in front of her chest. It didn
’t stop the questions from rolling through her mind. But Rhonda was right about one thing, she couldn’t make any decisions based on hypotheses. She needed to gather facts, and her dad’s health was a good place to start. “I guess it’s time to go have that talk with my brother and sister.”

Chapter Two

Nate picked up the last glass out of the soapy water and rinsed it before handing to his daughter. After turning off the faucet and releasing the drain stop, he wiped his hands on the edge of the dishtowel Lori was using to dry the glass.

Thank you for helping,
he signed.

Lori put the glass in the cupboard and laid out the towel on the edge of the counter before signing her reply.
I like to help.

“
Hey, quiet down. You two are making such a racket!”

Lori giggled, turning toward the door her aunt had just come through.

“She’s pretty silly, huh?” Nate said.

Lori nodded, as Anna picked her up off the chair, and then set her back down on the floor.
“Thanks for doing my job for me.”

Nate patted his daughter
’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go brush your teeth and pick out a book? I’ll be along shortly to read to you.”

Lori looped her arms around Anna
’s waist. “Love you,” she whispered.

“
Love you too, sweetie,” Anna called off to the girl’s retreating frame, then turned her attention to Nate. “You fixed such a big meal for just the three of us. Not that I’m complaining—it was wonderful—but we have enough leftovers for a week.”

“
I did it for Lori,” Nate whispered, filling a coffee cup from the pot. He then flipped the switch on the coffee maker and took a seat at the table. “She deserves memorable holidays.”

Anna joined him.
“She’ll remember this Christmas for a long time. Not because it looks like a Toys R Us exploded out there, but because you made the whole day about being with her.”

“
It is about her. Every day. I’ll do anything to see that smile of hers.”

Anna shifted her weight in the chair, leaning in a little closer to Nate.
“She does have the best smile. And laugh.”

“
There’s nothing else like it, huh?”

Anna pressed her lips tightly together, holding back something she wanted say. Nate knew she wouldn
’t be able to keep it to herself long. A moment later, she proved him right. “It doesn’t help her when you encourage her to sign.”

“
It doesn’t hurt either. In fact, the doctor said it was like learning a second language and showed intelligence that she’s been able to pick it up so fast.”

“
I never equated her speech disorder with a mental deficiency.”

If there was one person he could let his defensive walls down around it was sister, but the partition he
’d built between Lori, him, and the rest of the town was a comfortable place for him, and protecting his daughter was an automatic reaction. “I know you didn’t mean it like that.”

“
She talks at the barn, you know, because I make her.”

“
I wish you wouldn’t put her in embarrassing situations.”

“
Her therapist has told you it’s not going to get better if she doesn’t speak.”

“
What you’ve been doing with her and the horses proves that’s not true.”

“
She is responding to hippotherapy but that will only help so much. She needs to converse.”

Nate pushed his chair back a few inches from the table and twisted it sideways. He took a deep breath, trying to hold his frustration in check.
“I know that. I’m grateful for what her doctor and you’ve been able to accomplish, but I will not make communicating with my daughter hard. I work with her on her exercises, but we use sign language too.”

Anna didn
’t back down. Not that he expected her to. “I just want what’s best for her. For you too.”

“
You think I don’t?”

“
I know you do. You’d give her the world if you could. I also think you sometimes encourage the sign language because it makes her dependent on you. It gives the two of you this device for shutting out the rest of the world.”

“
Well, sometimes the rest of the world sucks. Is it a wonder she doesn’t want to talk when the kids at school pick on her for stammering?”

“
That happened once or twice, yes, but the teachers dealt with it and it’s in the past. I’m not denying the sign language has helped—been a blessing even when her disorder was really bad. All I’m saying is I think you should be actively pushing her to speak. It’s the only way it will continue to improve.”

Nate nodded, but didn
’t meet his sister’s gaze. He knew she was right on many of her points. Maybe he did hold Lori a little too close sometimes, but wasn’t a daddy supposed to protect his little girl?

“
We’d be lost without your help.” He took a long sip from the coffee mug. “I should get in there and read to her.”

Anna reached over and gripped his wrist.
“Sit a minute. You deserve a few quiet moments to yourself and you know she could play with those toy ponies you bought her for hours.”

“
If all goes the way I hope, by spring I might be able to get her that real horse she’s been asking for. Jake Lambert says the farm will be available to lease in a few weeks. I just need to figure out how I’m going to squeeze enough money out of my budget to pay what he wants.”

“
You’re really going to do this?”

“
It’s past time Lori and I got a place of our own.”

“
When Mom and Dad retired to Arizona they said we could both stay here as long as we wanted. Maybe I should be the one to get a different place?”

Nate fidgeted with the handle of the coffee cup.
“It’s about more than leaving this house and having a place that’s ours. The therapeutic horse riding has helped her so much, but when she’s in school, there aren’t enough hours in the day to get her out to Sunnydale. If we move into the Lambert place, I can get her a horse of her own and she’ll be able to ride daily.”

“
If it’s going to be a struggle to make the lease, how are you going to afford a horse too?”

He scraped his hand across his jaw. No matter how many times he refigured the budget, he always came up short.
“I’ll make it work. I have to do what’s best for Lori.”

“
You give her your best every day, with or without a horse of her own.” Anna insisted.

“
Thanks for saying that.”

“
It’s true.” She twisted in the seat and then stood, picking up Nate’s now empty coffee cup and taking it to the sink. “It’ll be quiet around here without you.”

“
I’m not moving half way around the world. It’s just a mile outside of town. Maybe. If it all works out. I’ll still be at the diner every day. I’ll still need you to help out with Lori.” He leaned back in the chair. “And it won’t be until after Bill goes into Pioneer. Probably not until after the first of the year.”

Anna turned and leaned back against the counter.
“I ran into Kelly at the grocery store the other day. She says Hailey is fighting her and Jake about putting their father in the nursing home.”

Hailey.
“Is she home?”

“
I think Kelly said she was coming in yesterday.”

Why after all this time did just hearing that name send him tumbling eight years into the past? After the way she
’d treated him, thinking of her should make him angry, or remind him of the pain. Instead, his pulse quickened.

Just as it had when he
’d seen her at the beach with her cousin and her cheerleading friends. It was late June and even though there were half a dozen girls in the group deepening their tans and cooling off with occasional dips into the water, he only had eyes for her.

He and his friends from the basketball team crashed the outing. The two groups formed one and they
’d spent a few more hours soaking up the sun together before heading across the street to the Dairy Queen.

For him, it
’d marked a beginning. She’d been flirty with him, and for the first time he started to believe she might actually be interested in dating him.

But it must have meant more to him than it ever did to her.

“I wonder why she cares. She couldn’t wait to get far away from here.”
And me.

Just a couple of weeks after that afternoon and a day after their one and only date, Hailey packed up her car and fled town as fast as she could.

No goodbyes.

That night, he
’d thought she returned all the mixed-up feelings he’d felt for her throughout high school. Her rapid exit sent him on a downward spiral.

A feeble attempt to get her out of his mind and heart resulted in the short-term fling that blessed him with his daughter.

Convincing Lori’s mother not to put an end to the pregnancy hadn’t been easy. Watching the woman walk away from both of them just hours after giving birth had reaffirmed one truth for Nate. He was the kind of guy women easily left.

Over time, Nate accepted the tradeoff. His world revolved around his daughter. She needed him to be there, completely devoted to her needs. He had no spare time to give to a woman who would disregard his daughter and eventually leave him.

“Bill is her dad. Of course she’s concerned about his health.”

Nate nodded. Anna was right. He shouldn
’t be questioning Hailey’s motives surrounding her father. However, it did seem that once again she was complicating his plan for happiness.