Chapter One
Hailey Masters bit back a curse as steam poured from under the hood of her SUV. The aging Ford Explorer had served her well, until now. Thankfully the ever-dependable vehicle had waited to overheat until she pulled onto the last street of her twelve-hour journey. She was less than a block from her family’s gift emporium, her long awaited destination. She was home. Again. There were a thousand places she’d rather be; but fate was fickle and had left her no choice but to return to Silver Creek, the town she’d grown up in.
She puffed out a sigh, half exasperation, half relief. At least she had made it this far. Checking for traffic before cutting across the road, she eased her SUV and the U-Haul behind it straight alongside the curb in an angle parking zone, filling at least five stalls. Hopefully, she wouldn’t get a ticket, because it was the only space available. She hadn’t intended to stop here, she’d planned to park in the grocery store lot half a block down, where there was room to park a trailer, but she couldn’t risk permanent damage to the engine if she kept going.
What was it her dad always said? Oh yeah. “If it’s overheating, pull over but let the engine run until it cools.” Then he’d blathered on about engine loads or some other foolishness and, uninterested, she’d tuned out. At least she managed to remember the important part. That was a huge blessing; as was arriving home safe and sound. She could practically feel the comforting embrace of her parents’ arms.
Wouldn’t they be surprised to see her?
She snorted at the understatement. They had no idea she was coming at all, let alone to move back home. Her father would be pleased. Her mom too, until she found out Hailey had dumped her fiancé, Evan. Sometimes Hailey swore her mother loved Evan more than she did. He was the son she’d never had.
She dropped her head to the steering wheel. Fumbling blindly, she flipped the vehicle into park. Disbelief roiled in her stomach. She’d been so naïve. She hadn’t seen the truth right in front of her; hadn’t suspected Evan of duplicity until reality slapped her in the face.
The jackal ruined her life and she’d never forgive him. Not even for her mother. Now she sat in her overheating SUV, no job, no home, and no plan. Things couldn’t get much worse.
On the plus side, home was where you went when you had no place else to go and they had to take you in. Hopefully her mother hadn’t made good on her threat to turn Hailey’s bedroom into a sewing room. Sleeping on the couch in the family room would add insult to an ever-growing pile of mental injury and her battered heart couldn’t take any more.
She clenched her fists, raised her head and shoulders, and two-fist punched the roof. Time to suck it up and admit defeat. She’d trek the last block to Two Angels Gifts—in a minute.
“Deep breaths, Hailey.” Time for some calming yoga breathing. In. Out. In. Out. Nope, not going to cut it, not even close. She needed to go for a run to unwind. A long, slow, run; after about two miles of sprinting. A mega workout to burn off some stress as well as the cheesecake she planned on binge eating tonight. Right after she mustered the guts to climb out of this broken-down wreck of a vehicle, stretch her aching back and face her family.
Tap. Tap.
Her heart jumped into her throat and she lurched sideways in her seat to stare at the side window.
“What?” she blurted. A scruffy, blond, bearded man, in a dirty, plaid flannel work shirt, stood beside the vehicle, a questioning look on his face.
“Miss, are you okay?” His voice was muffled by the glass and her radio, but still clear.
She shut off the radio and rolled the window down half an inch.
“Thanks, I’m good.” Not that she’d admit otherwise to a stranger.
“Your engine is overheating. Don’t shut it down before it cools or she’ll boil over.”
“So, my dad told me. Thanks though.”
His brows bunched together at her abrupt response. She winced, it wasn’t like her to be rude, let alone rude to someone she didn’t know.
“Sorry, bad day. Bad week.” To her disgust, tears dripped from her eyes. She slapped them away and forced a smile. “Thanks for your concern.”
“Bad day, bad week, then your car breaks down, adding insult to injury; it has to suck.” His facial hair twitched around his mouth, like he was smiling.
Boy, this man was the master of the understatement for the month, maybe the entire year. He had it right on the money. “I’m fine. Almost home.”
“If you’re certain…” He frowned. At least she thought he did. It was hard to tell under the scruff of his beard.
She nodded. Why didn’t he just go away and leave her to her misery? “I’m fine. Thanks.”
Great, she was so bushed she could only muster three words. Twelve hours nonstop in the car did numb the body and the mind. A wiser person would have taken two days to make the trip, especially on winter roads, and she’d passed through more than a couple snow storms, shaking her nerves and rattling her calm. Would she ever feel calm again?
“Okay then.” He sounded anything but certain. He gave her another long look and ambled away.
She watched him go, strangely reluctant to see him leave. He strolled toward Beth’s Beans, her high school bestie’s coffee shop. Beth had stayed in Silver Creek after high school. Hailey had scooted off to university as fast as she could, only coming home on vacations and to announce her engagement.
Her would-be Samaritan pulled the shop door open, holding it wide while a harried mother pushed her stroller outside and urged three preschoolers to hurry out. She paused to chat with him, patted his arm and rushed away. The man stepped inside; the door whooshed shut behind his muscular shoulders. Idly, Hailey thought he must do physical labor to build such a solid frame.
With a head shake, she checked the temperature gauge. Still too hot to shut down. Double edged sword. She didn’t feel like sitting here, her body ached too badly. But neither did she want to face her parents.
