Operation: Married by Christmas. Debra Clopton

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СКАЧАТЬ the spare bedroom. The big, warm bed sat exactly where it always had across from the windows. Not much had changed in the years since she’d been here. It still looked as if her grandmother had only left the house briefly and would be back momentarily. Nostalgia filled her as her gaze rested on a picture of her grandparents on their wedding day. It hung on the hall wall, and she glanced from the doorway to admire it before entering the guest bedroom. How her grandmother had put up with Applegate for almost fifty years had been a mystery to everyone. The thought made Haley smile. The two had a happy marriage up until Birdie had passed away six years ago. Haley sighed, walked to the big bed and pulled the coverlet back. Weary beyond description, she slipped off her shoes and dropped fully clothed onto the bed. Her grandparents had possessed something that eluded Haley.

      Oh, forget it. She was too tired to think about anything right now. She needed sleep. She’d been on the road since two o’clock the day before, and the bed was calling her name. She pulled the covers over her head, sighing as her bones relaxed into the soft mattress. With any luck she hoped for at least a couple of hours’ sleep before Applegate came home and found her.

      She was going to need it.

      Because there was no escaping the fact that Applegate would put her through the wringer with questions and unwanted advice once he found her. He was not known for his patience. It was a quality she’d inherited.

      Closing her eyes, Haley’s thoughts immediately went back to Will, and she groaned into the heavy quilt. What were the odds that he would be the first person she’d see upon coming home? The man was supposed to be living in the Dallas area building malls or something.

      This weird coincidence was just one more of the odd things that had been happening to her over the last month. Things that some might think random, but added together ended up bringing Haley home—after she walked out on yet another wedding. And probably did irreparable damage to her hard-won reputation as one of the go-to real-state agents in Beverly Hills.

      Sleep wrapped around Haley’s thoughts, and despite herself she fell asleep with a picture of Will in her mind and the question she couldn’t answer.

      Why had she come home? Really?

      She had a great life…. She had a life she’d worked hard for…. A life she’d dreamed of…

      Why had she walked out on it and come back?

      

      Haley woke to the sound of hushed voices and multiple sets of footsteps clomping down the wood floor of the hallway.

      She’d just pushed her head out from beneath the covers when a crowd appeared in the open doorway. Her grandpa stood in the front, as tall and lean as a beanpole. Stanley stood beside him, shorter and softer around the middle. They were flanked by Esther Mae Wilcox and Norma Sue Jenkins. All of them were gaping at her with open mouths and wide eyes.

      Oh boy, there was nothing in the world like the puppy in a pet store feeling to snap a person out of a groggy fog.

      Haley sat up and gaped right back.

      Instantly, Applegate’s wrinkles lifted into a grin. “Haley Bell, youngin, we heard you’d snuck yourself into town and we come to see about-cha. To see if it was true.”

      As usual he spoke louder than needed because his hearing was so bad. He’d worked thirty years in the oil field as a driller before semiretiring as a rancher. The loud machines had ruined his hearing early in life, but he wasn’t fond of his hearing aids and didn’t always turn them on. Now, in an unusual show of affection, he bent down and engulfed Haley in a hug.

      As Haley returned his hug, she realized that though there was still strength in his bony frame, he’d grown thinner, if that was possible. She was overcome with shame for all the long-distance phone calls and excuses for not being able to come home for a visit. She was a slug.

      His thinness reminded her of their last phone call, the call that had alarmed her enough to make her finally come home. He’d mentioned a bad report from the doctor, but he refused to share details about it. That had been the most important thing, but one of many that had sealed her spur-of-the-moment decision to head her car this direction as she sped out of the chapel parking lot. She still wasn’t certain about anything else, but she was glad that she’d come if for no other reason than to see about her grandpa. Will was right. She’d been selfish.

      “I’ve missed you too, Grandpa,” she said, blinking back tears, overwhelmed by how much. Fighting to control her emotions she smiled and nodded toward the others. “But, um, what’s with the show?” She lifted her eyebrow when her audience crowded closer then swamped her with enthusiastic hugs. She couldn’t get a word in as she was smothered, squeezed, cooed and clucked over. Her cheeks were even pinched by Esther Mae, making Haley feel six years old all over again.

      After a moment they stepped back and studied her again—as if they couldn’t believe she was really here. Haley studied them, too, knowing that to them she’d never grown up. She’d always been their little Haley Bell and it was obvious that she’d been right all those years ago to realize that some things would never change.

      To them she would always be the adorable little girl with the Shirley Temple hair who tripped over her shoelaces and knocked over the buffet table at church socials. Among a host of other mishaps that she’d never been able to live down while living in Mule Hollow.

      “We were all having coffee at Sam’s when Nate Talbert came in with the news that you’d come to town.” Robust in body and soul, Norma Sue beamed the broad smile Haley remembered so well.

      Haley leaned her head to the side. “Who’s Nate Talbert?”

      “Nate’s trailer was blocking the road,” Esther Mae offered, patting her short red hair. It had gotten flattened on one side during all the hugging. Haley noticed instantly that Esther Mae had had a make-over since the last time Haley had seen her. There was no forgetting the long hair Esther Mae had always teased and sprayed into a mountain on top of her head. There had always been the threat of a rock slide with the way she bobbed her head as she spoke. Now it was shorter, more-up-to-date and saucy—like Esther Mae herself.

      “Nate said you ran poor Will off, surprising him like that,” Stanley boomed. He, too, had a hearing problem.

      Ran him off!

      Haley’s shocked gaze met Applegate’s just as his bushy brows suddenly dipped together.

      “Youngin, what in the world do you have on?”

      “Oh!” Haley gasped as everyone’s attention dropped to the rumpled wedding dress she still wore. She cringed and wanted to crawl under the bed. Why, oh why, hadn’t she taken the time to change?

      Yes, she’d been dead on her feet, but this was really getting ridiculous. This was going to be one more Haley Bell tale to add to her already notorious dossier…. “Um, well—”

      “Look at that, Norma Sue. That is a wedding dress!” Esther Mae exclaimed. “Haley Bell’s been at it again. Again—”

      “Esther Mae, get a hold of yourself!” Norma Sue barked, rendering the room silent as she placed her hands on her ample hips and studied Haley. “Is that a wedding dress?”

      “Yes.” The word came out in a squeak as Haley dropped another year from six to five years old. This was not good. A month ago she had mentioned to Applegate that she was thinking about getting married. СКАЧАТЬ