“Maybe I don’t even care what your motivation is,” I say quickly, not wanting to get too bogged down in those mental weeds. “What do I care what you spend your money on if it means Gin and I get out from under that house?”
“Then let’s do it,” he says, his lips curving into a smile. There’s a little triumph in his eyes, but not enough to cross over into being smug.
I laugh. I can’t help it. “I think you missed the part where the actual owner of the house would rather sit on a pile of its ashes than sell it to you.”
“If there’s anybody at all who can sway her towards selling, it’s you.”
“This may come as a shock, but I’ve tried—more than once over the years, actually. I think the first time I suggested the house was too much for us, I was talking to my dad.” The familiar pang of missing him squeezes my heart for a moment and I take a long drink of water. “Needless to say, I’ve been fighting a losing battle.”
“Maybe you just needed the right ally to come along.”
Oh, he’s good. My heart remembers well the potent combination of Hayden’s low voice, warm eyes, and disarming smile. My head, though? That’s a different story. I need for my brain to stay tuned into the fact he’s only here—and looking at me like this—because he wants something from me.
To be fair, he wanted something from me then, too, but I wanted those kisses by the river and his hand sliding under my shirt as badly as he did. Colluding with him against my mother is something else entirely.
His smile slowly fades, probably because I haven’t said anything, and his eyes grow serious. “Look, I screwed up in high school. I was young and stupid, and I’m sorry I treated you that way.”
I’m surprised by the apology—and I didn’t realize until he said it how badly I wanted to hear the words—but I don’t want to dig into those emotions right now. “I told you I don’t want to talk about that.”
Hayden’s jaw tightens, and then he nods once. “Okay. Is there anything you think I can do to make my offer more palatable to Gin?”
Unfortunately, he can’t go back in time and make the offer under another name, hiding his identity. That’s what he should have done in the first place. Honestly, I’m surprised a man who’s supposedly so good at business he can afford to throw money at an old house he doesn’t intend to live in didn’t think of that.
And, even more importantly, I can’t go back in time and stop Gin from making that promise to my dad as he was dying—a promise that had ensnared me, too, because I don’t have Georgia’s ability to walk away and establish rock solid boundaries.
Sometimes I wonder if our birth orders were switched, with me graduating first and going off to college without looking back, would Georgia still have left? Maybe she truly was wired for every adult for themselves. And perhaps I would have returned to Sumac Falls, degree in hand, because I’m just not wired to leave our mother to fend for herself. It’s a moot point, of course, but something I think about from time to time—usually after I’ve talked to Georgia.
“Cara?”
Hayden’s voice drags me back into the actual reality I’m stuck in, and it takes me a second to remember the question. What can he do to make Gin accept his offer?
“Keep a low profile,” I tell him. “Don’t do things like being seen in my shop or taking me out for dinner. Wait, no—you didn’t take me out. We met for a discussion at a restaurant. Anyway, don’t antagonize her and I’ll do what I can to make her see she can’t pass up this opportunity.”
“I’m pretty sure I antagonize her by existing, being a Reilly and all.”
I laugh, surprised by how easily the amusement bubbles up inside of me, and he laughs with me. It was like this before—so easy between us when we were alone. It was as if the rest of Sumac Falls, especially our families, faded away and we were free to be ourselves.
I’ve missed that. I’ve missed him, even though I’ve been mad at him for a lot of years. Sure, it had all mostly faded away to that nostalgic remembrance of a broken heart, but I’d also shared a lot of my hopes and dreams with Hayden over those months together.
And now, if I want a chance to hope and dream again, I have to let him back into my life.
Chapter Twelve
Hayden
I don’t want the evening to end.
Laughing with Cara unlocked something inside of me, allowing the good memories of my time spent with her back in the day to push back the more painful memories of how it all came to an end. I don’t even take a second to savor my triumph in gaining her as an ally because, right now, I don’t want to focus on my objective. I just want to spend more time with Cara.
“I checked out the dessert menu on their website earlier,” I tell her. “There are photos, and the cheesecake looks amazing.”
When Cara groans, waving her hand over her chicken parm, I’m afraid she’s going to say no. She ate less than half of her meal, but it was served on an oversized plate and it wouldn’t surprise me if she’s full.
Then her lips curve into a mischievous smile. “Good cheesecake is hard to pass up.”
In a stroke of fortunate timing, our server appears at the perfect moment and I’m able to order cheesecake and decaf for each of us before Cara can talk herself out of it. What I’d really like to do is order one slice of cheesecake and share it with her, but one dessert with two spoons might be pushing my luck.
As we dig into the dessert, I’m reluctant to bring up the house again because we ended that conversation on the right note. And I’m definitely not bringing up our past again. But maybe the past in a general sense is safe ground.
