Operation: Married by Christmas. Debra Clopton

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      “You didn’t go through with it, did ya?” Applegate asked, his face drooping into a scowl.

      “No, Grandpa, once again I didn’t go through with it.” To her surprise a collective sigh passed from everyone in the room. Of course, she realized suddenly by their reactions, Applegate had shared with everyone that she’d been contemplating another wedding. One that didn’t include love.

      “I’m glad ya come to yor senses and didn’t go through with it,” he said, nodding his head. “Haley Bell, darlin’, you gotta love the one you marry and that’s all thar is to it.”

      “That’s right,” Stanley added. “Even if it takes lookin’ foolish a time or two fore ya know where yor heart belongs.”

      Haley bit her lip at that one. There was nothing like the brutal honesty a girl got from the ones who’d practically raised her. From the ones who might not ever let her grow up, but loved her in their own smothering way.

      She sighed, gazing from face to face…. Welcome home, Haley. Welcome home.

      

      Will stared at the eight-foot sheet of steel that was the canvas for his art. Intently he studied the scene he’d just finished chalking out. It was a small herd of cattle grazing beneath several oak trees. Once he cut it out with his plasma cutter, the welding torch he used, he would mount it in a frame of steel bars. After grinding the edges and adding a black powder coating, it would become an entrance gate for a wealthy ranch owner out of Wyoming.

      “So, can you do it?”

      Will turned back to Norma Sue and Esther Mae waiting impatiently for an answer. They’d arrived only moments before beaming with excitement. He’d known he was in for it the instant he saw Norma Sue’s truck winding up his drive. This day had started out on the wrong foot with his early morning run-in with Haley and now this….

      “Norma Sue, I’d like to help with the Christmas production, but like I said, I have commitments.”

      “Well, it’s really not a lot that we need,” Esther Mae whined, her feelings obviously hurt as she glanced from him to her cohort. “Tell him, Norma.”

      Norma Sue cleared her throat. “Right. Will, all we need is some simple welding. Mind you, it needs to look good, and you are the best there is when it comes to welding.”

      “Oh, yes. That’s the truth,” Esther Mae chimed in, nodding. “And we need just a little, teeny bit of drawing, too.” She waved toward the chalk scene. “And everybody knows you can draw anything.”

      Will was no greenhorn, and he knew these two were only getting started with their persuasive tactics. He didn’t have time; he was telling the truth. For despite the snow job, he had great respect for the two ladies in front of him and felt guilty turning them down. After all, he’d moved back to Mule Hollow because he’d read about the way the ladies and their friends were trying to keep their town on the map, and he admired their efforts.

      He’d also felt an obligation to come home. He had a business that could thrive from any locale, so it just didn’t feel right to stay away any longer. He figured the least he could do was give back to the community that had given him so much growing up. In truth, he’d missed Mule Hollow. He’d decided it was high time to put the ghost of his past behind him, and that could only be done if he came back to Mule Hollow and faced at least part of it.

      He studied their beaming faces. “Well, maybe I could find some extra time—”

      “That’s our boy!” Norma Sue exclaimed and slapped him on the back so hard he choked. “We knew you’d come through for us.”

      His eyes watered as he struggled for air, nodding along with them. He was a wimp and they knew it. Still, he couldn’t help smiling back at them…after he finally stopped choking.

      

      On her second morning in Mule Hollow, Haley was awakened at sunup by Applegate. He was on his way to Sam’s but wanted her to come to the diner around nine for breakfast with him. Sam’s Diner had been the mainstay of the community for as long as she could remember. She agreed to breakfast without a fight. Sam’s eggs were to die for and his coffee…Well, there wasn’t anything like Sam’s coffee.

      At eight o’clock she called her office and spoke to her assistant. Sugar relayed the consensus of the office—it was exactly what Haley had believed it would be. “Girl, if you’re crazy enough to walk out on a free ride like Lincoln Billings,” Sugar said, “then you’ve obviously gone off the deep end and need a break. And a therapist!”

      Financially, Haley could afford the time off, but career-wise she felt vulnerable. She imagined that her employers were wondering if the stress of working with their high-end clientele was getting to her. Sure, they were being cooperative, but she knew they wouldn’t wait long for her to return. Haley knew firsthand how competitive the market was. They had to keep up or lose out. If she couldn’t cut it, they’d be forced to find someone who could.

      Haley pushed the pressure aside and focused on taking it one day at a time. She’d been working at the speed of light for so long it was going to be hard for her to slow down, even for a little while. But something deep inside of her was telling Haley she had to back off. And she was just tired enough to listen.

      Promptly at nine she drove into town and was shocked at what she saw. Mule Hollow had changed so dramatically that she was rendered speechless. Main Street had always been a straight shot of wood-fronted buildings dissected by a county road with a few adjacent buildings and anchored on the far end by the majestic turreted home of Adela Ledbetter. It had always had the look of an old western town. When one was approaching Mule Hollow, it stood out on the horizon like a weathered plank fence with a few broken boards. When she’d left, most buildings had been vacant and so worn that it was depressing. Today, her first glimpse of the rainbow of color was so vivid she gasped with shock.

      There was the bright pink building she’d read about in Molly Popp’s weekly newspaper column—it still amazed her that her home had a syndicated weekly column written about it. Not only did she read it, but it was sometimes breakroom talk at the office. Haley stared at the pink hair salon surrounded by all of the other colorfully painted buildings. It had taken a newcomer, Lacy Brown, to help liven up Mule Hollow. Her building, the one that had sparked the change, stood out like a flamingo in a spring bouquet. Haley was floored and saddened by the new upbeat appearance….

      Not saddened that such a wonderful thing had happened, but that she’d been in such a hurry to leave the dying town behind ten years earlier that she hadn’t seen any value in it. It saddened her that it took an outsider to see the potential. It saddened her to realize that she hadn’t stuck around to help revitalize her home town. Guilt at her selfishness began to leak in around the corners of the memory. Then again, she was the town’s little Haley Bell, who would have listened to her if she’d suggested that they paint the town blue and pink?

      No one would have. They would have patted her on the head and had a good chuckle.

      Cutting the thought off, she turned into the parking space in front of Sam’s Diner. She had gotten where she was in her career by adhering to a strict set of rules. She didn’t look back…. At least she tried not to look back. Still, memories stole up on her at times, forcing her to push them away in order to focus on achieving her new goals. Looking СКАЧАТЬ