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Landon chuckled. “Nope, it's on purpose.” She thought she heard him sigh. “I’m sorry I’ve been away so long that you would think I didn’t mean to call.”
“Oh.” Hailey wasn't sure what to say to that. “Um, it’s okay. I know you’re busy. You’ve got a lot going on.”
“That’s true. I let my job keep me busy, and I like it. But the truth is, I’m not as busy as you are.”
Hailey’s heart pounded against her ribs. What was he saying? She cleared her throat. “Everyone is busy.”
“I’m not too busy to help you.”
Hailey’s hand flew to her mouth. No, she didn’t need this. Landon had his own life. He might have lost his best friend, but he could go on as normal and have a life. Hailey didn’t want to bring anyone else into her grief and struggle. Besides, Landon was the perfect bachelor. What did he know about helping with kids and taking care of a house? How could he help her? Still her mouth couldn’t form the words that her brain was spinning around and around.
Landon must have thought that meant he should go on. “I want to help. You’re doing a great job with the kids and everything, I just think that I could help take some of the load off of you. So what can I do?”
Hailey took a deep breath. “It’s okay, Landon. You really don’t have to do that. The kids and I are fine. We’ve gotten used to things the way they are.”
“And that’s great. Except that I took too long to offer to help. I should have been there from the beginning. I should have offered to stop by with dinner or to take the kids on a Saturday.”
“That’s not your responsibility,” Hailey said.
Landon took a deep breath and sighed so loud it buzzed in her ear. “You don’t understand. It is. I promised Kyle that if anything ever happened, I would help take care of his family. I’ve failed at that, and it’s time I start making up for it.”
Hailey felt the fresh tears in her eyes. She took a moment to compose herself. “That’s nice of you, Landon, but I’m sorry. I can’t let you do that. Kyle is gone, and there’s nothing we can do about that. But you don’t have to keep that promise.” She wiped her eyes. “Thank you for the offer, but we’ll be just fine. I have to go now. Goodbye.”
She hung up before he could answer. No matter what he had promised to Kyle, Hailey didn’t need help.
And she didn’t need her husband’s best friend around, reminding her of everything she’d lost.
5
The next afternoon, Landon tapped his fingers on his desk in order from index finger to pinky and back again. Over and over the rhythm pounded in his fingers. His brain told him he needed to focus on work, but his thoughts were elsewhere.
With Hailey and the kids.
What was her life like? Going to work, taking care of kids, cleaning house, making meals. No one was supposed to do that on their own. Kids needed a mom and dad, and wives and husbands needed each other. Did Hailey have anyone to talk to? To confide in, and to say it’s been a hard day? Or to share something great that the kids did?
Landon shook his head. Kyle was great at all of that. He couldn’t count the times he called his friend, and Kyle was taking one of the kids for ice cream, buying flowers for Hailey, sweeping the back porch, or taking the garbage to the road.
The last thing he wanted was to take Kyle’s place. No one could do that. But that didn’t mean Hailey should do it all by herself. Kyle had said she would act like she didn’t need help. Was that what she was doing? Just pretending like everything was fine.
He made up his mind right then and there that he wasn’t asking for permission. He had made a promise, and unless Hailey pushed him out the door and locked him out, he was going to keep it. It was time to start showing up. Kyle had shown up for him plenty of times when he was the one being stubborn. Now he would return the favor.
With that decided, his mind—and his conscience—was finally clear for him to get back to work. The hours flew by as he dug into the project. He had always been able to focus laser sharp when he got in the zone. When he looked up, it was already inching close to five. Normally he would be settling in for a few more hours of work, but today he had somewhere to be.
He picked up his laptop and cord and slid them into his bag. He could always work at home later tonight.
In his car, he zipped to the interstate, hoping leaving a few minutes earlier would get him past the rush-hour traffic. It took longer than he wanted it to, but he still made good time.
Before six o’clock, he was standing on Hailey’s doorstep knocking. He heard the kids running to the door, each of them yelling that they would be the ones to open it.
Just as the knob turned and opened slightly, he heard Hailey yell, “Don’t open the door!”
Landon froze. Was he about to walk into a scene he shouldn’t see? What was happening that she was desperate for them not to open the door?
The door slammed back shut, and Landon stood waiting, unsure what to do, but only for a moment. Hailey opened the door and peeked out.
“Oh hey, Landon.”
“Is everything alright?”
