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Tom’s eyes grew wide again. ‘Really? For ever and ever and ever?’
She nodded her head solemnly. ‘To infinity and beyond.’
‘Wow.’ Tom exhaled. ‘Did you hear that, Dad?’
‘Come on, Tom.’ Callum squeezed his son’s shoulders. From this vantage point he could see right down into Hailey’s deep cleavage and he was acutely aware he hadn’t admired a woman’s décolletage for quite a few years. He was gawking like a horny teenager. ‘We have to keep mingling.’
Now was not the time to have his libido roar to life. They were in a new city, with a new job, a new house and a new school. And Tom had only finished his grueling treatments six months ago. There was much to occupy him. He really didn’t have time for sparkly shoes and racetrack legs.
Hailey looked up from her crouched position and caught the man’s steady stare. She felt the heat again and almost toppled backwards from the blast. Tom and his father departed and it took Hailey a moment to collect herself before she could stand. And even then her hands trembled and her insides felt decidedly unsettled.
Hailey escaped outside to the balcony ten minutes before the big countdown began. The very last thing she wanted was to be inside when the clock reached midnight. Beth would have Gabe, Rilla would have Luca and she…she would have eighty-not-out Ronald Archer.
So, she’d wait it out here and then say her goodbyes. Her sisters would protest but neither of them could say she hadn’t fulfilled her promise to attend. She knew they were only trying and that they’d been worried about her since her return from the UK. All her family had. But no amount of parties was ever going to erase what had happened. That took time and she was moving on. She was.
OK, maybe she hadn’t exactly made much of an effort to enjoy herself tonight as her sisters had hoped. Maybe she hadn’t met her perfect match, as they’d hoped. But she was there, wasn’t she? An image of Tom’s father flashed before her and she banished it. Damn the man! Her gaze had followed him around the room all night.
So, the man looked good in a tux. So, he’d looked at her like he’d wanted to eat her up. She wasn’t some innocent Cinderella, hanging around in her glass slippers, waiting for her prince to pull up on a white horse.
Been there, done that. Fairy-tale crushed into the dust.
Over it. So, over it.
Or at least she’d thought she was until that man and his son had barged into her glowingly successful recovery process.
She gave herself a mental shake and wandered over to the ornamental railing. A breeze was blowing and it ruffled her hair, lifting it off her shoulders. The moon was three-quarters full and an entrancing milky glow bathed the beautifully landscaped gardens below. She inhaled deeply, a waft of heavily scented camellias infusing her senses.
She was alone and it was relatively peaceful. The heavy curtains at the closed French doors managed to muffle the background bass still throbbing away inside. She could just make out the DJ whipping the party-goers into a precountdown frenzy as the hands of the clock inched closer to midnight.
The doors opened and she turned to see Tom, his trusty torch and truck still in hand.
‘Hailey!’
‘Hey, Tom,’ she said as the little boy wandered over. ‘Did you lose your father again?’
‘Nah, he’s coming too.’
Hailey helped him up onto the stone seat beside her. It was one of several placed periodically along the perimeter of the railing. Tom ran his truck back and forth along the rail, making engine noises.
The little boy looked even paler in the moonlight. Unnaturally pale. ‘Did you get the truck for Christmas?’ she asked.
Tom nodded.
‘It’s a beauty.’
Tom shrugged. ‘It’s OK.’
Hailey laughed. ‘Didn’t you want a truck?’
He shook his head. ‘I wanted a baby brother.’
‘Ah.’ Hailey smiled. ‘I see.’
‘Daddy said that Santa can’t give noonan beans as presents.’ Tom sighed. ‘He said we needed a mummy for that.’
Hailey bit her lip to stop laughing again. Tom was looking at her solemnly, obviously taking the subject very seriously indeed. So, there wasn’t a mother on the scene? ‘Right, yes, that’s true.’
‘Are you a mummy, Hailey?’
Hailey felt the laughter die in her throat. Nearly. Close. She’d been so close. She shook her head and forced a smile to her lips.
Callum escaped towards the balcony gratefully, pushing through the throngs that had gathered around the dance floor. It was only a few minutes until the clock clicked over into the new year and he didn’t want to spend it with a bunch of half-inebriated strangers, kissing each other. He wanted to spend it with Tom. There’d been a few times when he hadn’t been sure if his son would even make another year—the fact that he had was definitely worth celebrating.
