“Not everything has to change, Dad. Some things are worth saving.”
At that moment Jasper walked into the diner, and Dad motioned for him to come over and join them. Soon the old man and Hayden’s father were engrossed in conversation, as usual, while Hayden picked at the lukewarm taco meat. This couldn’t be happening. First, Dad was selling the hardware store, and now the town had ended a decades-long parade and town event. True, the parade had first started as a joke, but eventually it became a beloved tradition that everyone anticipated. Hayden hated that he’d missed so many of them since the parade happened during baseball season, and he’d been excited about being at his first Too Dang Hot Parade, minus the parade, in over a decade. Now he didn’t even have that.
He pushed his salad away. “I’ve got to get back to the store,” he said, sliding out of the blue vinyl booth. He couldn’t sit here and pretend to enjoy his food while his life was being turned upside down. He pulled out his wallet and put several bills on the table. “Lunch is on me.”
“But you didn’t finish your salad,” Dad said.
“I’m not hungry.” Before his father could say anything else, he rushed out of the diner and headed back to the hardware store. An empty, helpless feeling washed over him. His baseball career was over, but he had been ready for a fresh start in Maple Falls, fixing up his house, working at the hardware store, and laying down some roots, God willing.
Frustration overtook him, and he clenched his jaw. His college coach once said Hayden must have ice in his veins because he was so cool under pressure. What a joke. He felt anything but cool right now. As it was, he was itching to punch out a window in one of the abandoned buildings. No one would care about the damage anyway.
Everything was changing too fast, and that made his head spin. When the doctors told him he’d never pitch again, he tried to prove them wrong and ended up setting back his recovery in the process and ensuring that he’d never play competitive ball again. That had been hard to accept, but knowing he had a place to come home to and a job waiting for him had given him hope. Now even those weren’t what he thought they would be.
As he reached the store, he spotted Riley at the end of the street, coming out of Petals and Posies. Instantly he slowed, watching as she held a bouquet of flowers, then brought them to her nose. He’d sold so many packets of flower seeds over the years that even from this distance he could name the flowers in the bouquet—red roses, pink and orange gerbera daisies, and at least two purple carnations. Riley was so beautiful in the sunlight, and when he saw her smile, it was as if an electric shock ran through him.
He watched her for a few seconds, mesmerized by her amazing smile. Instantly he relived the bliss he’d felt holding her last night when she had accepted a little bit of comfort. Unable to stop himself, he walked toward her.
“Riley,” he called out, unnerved by the cracking sound in his voice. Great, he sounded like a preteen whose voice hadn’t completely changed. Or an upset man who needed to be around the one person he inexplicably knew could calm him down.
When she turned toward him, he half expected her to run off like she usually did, but instead she waited. As he neared, he could see the concern on her face. That made everything worse. The Ice Man was losing his cool, and he couldn’t do anything about it.
“What’s wrong, Hayden?” she asked, moving the flowers away from her face.
He wanted to tell her that things were fine. That nothing bothered him, that what was happening around him wasn’t rocking him to his core. But they would both know he was lying.
“Everything, Riley,” he said. “Everything’s wrong.”
Chapter9
Riley tucked the flowers into the vase sitting on the counter.
After she’d taken a break from sketching earlier, she went back to organizing and cleaning out the bins and paperwork under the counter. When she saw the vase at the very back of a shelf next to a tin of rusty buttons, she rinsed it out in the sink in the bathroom, then decided to give Petals and Posies a little business. A small bouquet of flowers wouldn’t have a huge impact on the shop, but it would be something. Sophie, the woman who owned Petals and Posies, had been happy about the sale.
She hadn’t expected to encounter Hayden, and from the anxious way he’d called out her name, she knew something was wrong. The pained expression on his face confirmed it, and she didn’t think twice about inviting him into the store.
Now he was sitting on the old but still comfy lime-green velour sofa in the back room. She’d had to clear a spot for them to sit. As soon as he parked himself on the cushions, he raked his hand through his thick hair, then stared at the coffee table covered in boxes of knitting needles that hadn’t been unpacked yet.
For once, Riley hoped they didn’t have any customers. She sat next to him but didn’t say anything. Not because she wasn’t curious or concerned, but because she sensed he wasn’t ready to talk yet. When he was, she would be here to listen.
After a few minutes, he lifted his head and blew out a breath. “I’m supposed to be at work right now. We were so slow this morning that Dad decided to close shop for lunch. He’s probably still at the diner jawing with Jasper, not worried about a thing.”
“Should he be worried about something?”
“Yes, he should.” Hayden held his hands in front of him. “He should be as mad as I am that things have gotten so bad around here.” He dropped his hands to his knees. “But he’s not. He’s moved on.”
Riley was confused, but she listened as Hayden continued to talk, expressing his anger over the cancellation of the Too Dang Hot Parade. That news surprised her too. She never imagined the town would cancel such a long-standing tradition.
He continued lamenting the fact that no one seemed to care what happened to Maple Falls. “Dad’s selling the store,” he explained, surprising Riley even more. “My whole family knew about it except for me. I guess I was supposed to find out when the sold sign was slapped on the front door.”
“Hayden, I’m sorry.” She wasn’t sure what else to say. She agreed it wasn’t right for his family to keep him in the dark like that, but it wasn’t her place to say so.
He leaned back against the lime-green upholstery and continued staring straight ahead. “Ever since I can remember, I’ve had my whole life planned. From the time I picked up a baseball bat in T-ball until the end of my career, I knew what I wanted—to be a pro ball player. And I would do anything to reach that goal.”
“And you did.” Which was more than she could say about her own career. He had actually achieved his goal, while hers was still out of reach.
“For one game. One friggin’ game. But there was always another constant in my life. This town. I traveled so much and lived in so many places, but I could always come back home. Sure, I would notice changes here and there when I visited. But I didn’t realize how different things were until I moved back here. My career was over... The thing I loved more than anything was gone.” His voice broke. “But at least I had my hometown. Now I’m not sure of anything anymore.” Then he shook his head. “Wow. I never told anyone that before. Not even my parents. I didn’t want anyone to know I didn’t always have everything together. Even after my shoulder injury, I kept up the ruse. I had a reputation to protect.”
Without thinking, Riley angled her body toward him so she could look at him directly. She knew what he was talking about. Hadn’t she done the same thing? Not only when she lived here, but also right now? Pretending that she wasn’t bothered about being a loner or not having a normal childhood? Afraid of repeating the past?
