An Unexpected Match

He was already out of his chair and approaching from behind her to apologize when Haley turned to face him.

“I need you to know,” she paused as if weighing her words, “that what I said to you earlier was the truth but maybe not the whole truth. I did step in today for Elizabeth’s sake, but I also did it for you.”

“I know that.” And because he did know it, he also recognized that one of them had grown up to be a nicer person than the other. “I’m sorry for suggesting the contract.”

“It’s fine. I’ll even sign one if it will make you more comfortable.”

He shook his head. “That won’t be necessary.”

“Okay, then.” She poured out the water and put the glass in the dishwasher.

“So we’re agreed on one month?” Maybe he was willing to forego the contract, but he was a lawyer after all, and he needed to come to some sort of official agreement.

When Haley glanced over her shoulder at him, her smile suggested that she understood his need to have all the details at least signed on the imaginary line.

“There’s one more thing you should know. I’m here for Elizabeth and you, and I’ll be here for as long as you need me.”

Chapter Five

Haley couldn’t help grinning at the disaster zone of her mother’s usually spotless living room. Opened boxes of stoneware and flatware place settings virtually buried the coffee table, and pastel ribbons and gift wrap littered the floor. Her sisters were sprawled in the middle of the chaos, cheering on Elizabeth who gleefully tossed handfuls of bows into the air.

“We should invite Mrs. Warren over,” Haley suggested. “She would really appreciate this place. It looks just like an exploding wedding cake.”

“You’ll be picking up every single paper and ribbon scrap of this explosion, young lady,” Trina Scott said from her chair where she’d been viewing with disapproval the activities of the last half hour.

“Don’t say things like that, Mom. You just gave me a scary childhood flashback.”

“Haley Lynne Scott…”

At the warning in her mother’s voice, Haley popped up from the spot where she’d been sitting cross-legged on the floor and bent to kiss her mother’s dark hair. “Ah, come on, Mom. We’re having fun. Anyway, I doubt my wedding guests would mind if Elizabeth opens a few of the gifts. We’re still returning them, aren’t we?”

“Of course, we are,” Caroline supplied. To emphasize her point, she plopped down a cardboard box that she’d just addressed to one of the wedding guests. “We should have it all done before Jenna and I go home this weekend.”

Jenna caught Elizabeth around the waist and stuck a bow to the top of her head. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I was dying to know what was inside those boxes.”

“You mean the stuff that Haley only would have been allowed to keep if she’d made the biggest mistake of her life by marrying Tom?” Caroline’s words dripped of sarcasm.

At the mention of her ex-fiancé’s name, Haley braced herself and waited for the pain to return. A twinge of discomfort filled her, but it was nothing compared to the ache and humiliation she’d felt a few days before. Would it continue that way, hurting a little less each time someone spoke about her wedding?

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