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‘I’m not sure, Tom.’ He smiled. ‘I think maybe Hailey needs some time to herself and we need to—’
A pounding at the front door interrupted his careful speech. He looked at his watch. ‘Who could that be?’ he asked Tom.
‘Can I go?’ Tom pleaded. Callum looked down into his beseeching gaze. ‘OK, but then it’s straight to bed,’ he agreed, swinging his son up into his arms.
Hailey banged for a second time on Callum’s front door. Her heart pounded and her hands shook and she was so nervous she wanted to throw up. But there’d been no thought of putting this off. Waiting till the morning.
Callum was balancing Tom on his shoulders when he opened the door to her. ‘Hailey,’ Tom shouted enthusiastically, bouncing up and down on his father’s shoulders.
To say Callum was stunned to see her was an understatement. He hadn’t expected to see or hear from her so soon. She looked awful. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her nose was red, her face was blotchy and she was still in her uniform. ‘Hell, are you OK?’ he asked as he wrestled Tom off his shoulders.
‘Why are you crying, Hailey?’ Tom asked.
‘Oh, dear, sorry, it’s nothing,’ Hailey dismissed, sniffling. She must look a state. She’d cried on and off for the last couple of hours. Her talk with Paul had been heart-wrenching and they’d both shed tears. Closing that chapter of her life had been hard, turning her back on Paul when he needed her very difficult. But she couldn’t be his emotional scapegoat any longer. And he needed to start his life afresh.
All three of them stood in the doorway, staring at each other. Callum felt a slow rise of dread. She was on his doorstep and had obviously been crying. Was she leaving with Paul? Was that what she’d come to tell him?
‘Do you think I could come in?’ she asked after a few moments.
‘Oh, of course, yes, I’m sorry, come in,’ Callum said, standing aside. ‘I was just about to put Tom to bed.’
‘Yay! Hailey can read me a story!’ Tom jumped up and down excitedly.
‘Oh, no, Tom, I don’t think Hailey—’
‘Nonsense,’ Hailey interrupted, grinning down at Tom. ‘I’d love to. Lead the way, young man.’ She held out her hand and let Tom tug her along to his room.
Callum hovered outside the door as Hailey read two books to Tom. He paced a lot as well. What was she doing here? Surely if it had been as the bearer of bad news she wouldn’t be wasting time reading to Tom?
‘Da-a-ady-y-y.’
That was his cue. He walked into Tom’s room and felt his heart flip in his chest at the sight before him. Hailey on her back, her arm around Tom, her shoes off. Tom was snuggled into her side, his faithful torch pressed to her chest. This was what he wanted. For him and for Tom. Every night.
He grinned at his son. ‘You yelled?’
‘You didn’t kiss me goodnight,’ Tom said.
‘Ah, very remiss of me.’
He leaned down, excruciatingly conscious of the fact his body had to lean over Hailey’s to get to Tom’s. He could smell her, see her lips in his peripheral vision.
Tom puckered up and Callum laughed as he pressed a brief kiss to Tom’s exaggerated lips and then one on his forehead. Tom threw his arms enthusiastically around his father’s neck and pulled him down for a great big squeeze, bringing Callum’s chest into intimate contact with Hailey’s. Callum held his breath, waiting for her to push him away or shrink from his touch.
Hailey shut her eyes as Callum’s aftershave enveloped her. She didn’t even feel the press of the hard torch into her rib cage so caught up was she in the divine smell of Callum’s skin.
Tom released his father and Callum moved away. Hailey didn’t want him to pull back. She wanted him to stay close. It had been so intimate and further cemented the feeling that this was where she belonged. ‘What about me?’
Callum paused. ‘I’m sorry?’
‘Don’t I get a kiss?’
‘Yeah, Daddy, Hailey wants one too.’
Callum’s heart pounded. ‘Ah…sure?’
Hailey smiled at the confusion in his gaze and nodded at him. His face moved closer to hers and she shut her eyes as his lips descended. And landed on her forehead. She opened them again to protest as he was moving back. ‘Hey, how come I only get one?’
‘Hailey…’ It really wasn’t fair for her to tease like this if she was going off to the other side of the world. Unless…
‘On the mouth, like Tom,’ she said, looking at him innocently and puckering up.
‘Hailey.’
She heard the strangled warning note in his voice and blinked up at him with mock coyness. She also heard his sigh but didn’t dare shut her eyes this time. When his lips touched hers she softened hers and held on tight around his neck so he couldn’t drop a quick peck, like he had with Tom.
