AllFreeNovel
Share Us
One day soon he hoped.
For now, he was just going to hold Hayley in his arms and be thankful he was lucky enough to have her in his life. Brian switched off the TV, rested his head back against the couch, and closed his eyes. If he was extra lucky, he might get a little preview of what making out with Hayley would be like in his dreams.
* * * * *
11:32 P.M.
Time flew by so quickly.
Paige Hood looked at the photo in her hands. It had been taken the first Christmas Hayley and Arianna had been with them. The girls were so little, Arianna was just a little baby, and Hayley had been only five years old. She and Elias had adopted the girls in early November, and by Thanksgiving, Hayley had still been too anxious around large groups of people to celebrate the holiday with their extended family, so it had been just the four of them.
By Christmas, Hayley had grown so much more confident in her new family that she had been excited to put up a Christmas tree. She’d never had one before and watching the joy on her face as she saw the tinsel, the fairy lights, and all the decorations had been one of the best moments of her life. They’d left milk and cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, opened gifts together around the tree on Christmas morning, and spent the day with their whole extended family.
Paige had been so proud of her little girl for being so brave.
Now those days felt so far away.
She missed them. Hayley had her own place now, her own life, and while they still saw each other often it wasn't the same. And Arianna was nineteen, in college, and only home for the holidays and the summer. In a couple of years, she would graduate, and then she’d get her own place too.
Twenty years.
It was hard to believe that next year would mark the twentieth anniversary of adopting the girls. It wasn't just Hayley and Arianna that had grown so much in the last two decades, she and Elias had changed a lot too. She was fifty-four now and starting to feel her age. Little twinges in her back that weren't there even a couple of years ago, and she was more tired in the evenings than she had been in her forties. She was glad she had retired from the police force nine years ago, although some days she missed being a cop, she liked working with Ryan and Brady running their business.
As much as she missed having her girls living at home, she was happy that they knew what they wanted to do with their lives, and she was excited for them to fall in love and have families of their own one day soon. She knew Hayley had had a crush on Brian Xander since she was a teenager, and she hoped her daughter would finally get enough courage to tell Brian how she felt. Now that they were twenty-four and thirty, the six-year age gap wasn't an obstacle, and she thought the two of them would make a great couple.
She hoped that they were okay.
If she didn't get to spend Christmas with her daughter, she was glad Hayley was with Brian. And, who knows, maybe this would finally give those two the push they needed to realize that they could find happiness together.
“Come back to bed.”
The voice startled her, and she practically jumped out of her skin.
“Sorry,” her husband said, appearing beside her. “Didn't mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay, I guess I was too busy thinking to hear you.”
“Reminiscing.” Elias reached over and took the photo from her hands. “It feels like just yesterday that we adopted Hayley and Ari.”
“It does,” she agreed. “Where does the time go?”
“I don’t know.” Despite her starting to feel her age, her mind didn't feel any different than it had when she had been juggling a demanding job, a husband with a demanding job, and two little girls and their busy schedules. “I miss those days.”
“Remember when all we wanted was a full night’s sleep,” Elias asked with a smile as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her against him.
“Yeah, now I think I'd trade the no sleep to have the girls back home safe and sound.” She hated knowing that her daughter was in trouble and there was nothing she could do to make it better. Paige never felt more impotent than when one of her children was in danger and there was no way for her to fix it. It was nearly ten years since her daughter had been kidnapped as bait to lure her and her partner Ryan into a trap and she still had nightmares about it.
“Hayley will be okay,” her husband said, reading her mind.
“I wish she was here with us.” Not having her daughter in her sight made her worries so much worse. Jay Turner could have tracked down Hayley and Brian and killed them, and none of them would even know about it.
“There is no one I would trust more with our daughter’s safety than Brian Xander,” Elias said in such a way that made it clear he was also aware of Hayley’s crush.
“You know that she likes Brian, don’t you?”
“I've seen that look she gets on her face every time the two of them are in the same room together. It’s the same way I used to look at you.”
“Used to?” She smirked.
