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“What?” Creed cried, pretending amazement. “No way.”
Being a helicopter pilot for the army was one part boredom and the rest pure adrenaline. They played any kind of game they could get their hands on.
He gathered his cards, sorted the colors and pairs. “You go first.”
With a sly grin, Thomas slapped down a draw four card and the game was on.
“He’s an ace at UNO, Creed. Watch your back.”
“I see that.” In truth, UNO was a simple game that required minimal concentration but Thomas played well. “When I was a kid I drove my dad nuts wanting him to play games with me.”
“Did he?” Haley asked. She’d taken the chair adjacent to the couch and curled her feet beneath her.
“Yeah. He was great. Well, he still is, but I don’t bug him to play as much as I used to.” He grinned.
“He sounds like a good dad.” There was something wistful in her voice.
“The best.” He added a blue seven to the pile. Thomas groaned and drew a card. “What about you?”
“No dad. Just a mom.” Again that wistful sound that had him wondering.
“Does she live in Whisper Falls?”
“Last time I heard from her, she was in Michigan. Before that Virginia. She moves around a lot.” Haley took one of the bright throw pillows and hugged it to her chest. “I’ve lived in more places than most people can name.”
Maybe that explained the free-spirit element. “How long have you lived in Whisper Falls?”
“A long time for me.” She looked upward, calculating. “Nearly seven years. What about you? Is Whisper Falls your hometown?”
Thomas played a lose-a-turn card. Creed’s hard-eyed scowl earned a giggle.
“Lived here all my life.” Well, most of his life. The only home he’d ever known was three miles out of town nestled in a grove of trees with a view of Blackberry Mountain. “Mom and Dad have lived in the same house for nearly forty years.”
Again that wistful expression. She gnawed the side of her thumb. “I can’t imagine staying in the same place all my life.”
“Don’t you like this town?”
“I love Whisper Falls, but you know how it goes. Nothing lasts forever.”
He cocked his head, interested, curious. Was she a will-o’-the-wisp that could flit from one situation to another, never putting down roots? “Some things do.”
She leaned forward, elbows on her knees and chin in her hands. “Like what?”
“Love, for one. God, for another.”
A beat of silence occurred, broken only by the snick of Thomas’s card against the discard pile.
Haley’s brown-sugar eyes studied him. The wheels were turning in her head. He could tell and wondered.
“You take your faith very seriously, don’t you?”
“Try to.” He slid a yellow two atop Thomas’s yellow six. “God took me seriously when He sent His Son to die for me. I figure the least I can do is love Him and let Him love me. What about you?”
She shrugged. “I believe in God, but most of the time I think He gets people started and then we’re pretty much on our own until we get to heaven. Church just makes us feel like we belong to something.”
Heavy topic, but he was never one to shy away from discussions about God. In truth, he never shied away from much of anything. But his faith was number one.
“Not me. I take people’s lives up in my chopper every day. I need to know God is up there with me.”
“Christians die in crashes. How do you explain that?”
“I don’t.” He reached for his glass and downed the last of the water. “If I understood the mysteries of life and faith, I’d be God. I leave the hard stuff to Him.”
“Don’t you ever get scared?” She sat back against the couch, her reddish hair blending with the wild flowers on the couch. “Up there, I mean.”
“Not usually. God is with me whether I live or die. I have that promise. So, it’s all good.” He was down to two cards. Thomas still had three. “I’ll get you on the next round, Thomas. Better look out.”
The boy stared at his cards, saying nothing and for half a beat, Creed regretted his threat. He probably should let the kid win.
“UNO!” Thomas yelled as he slapped down three cards in fast succession.
“Hey!”
Thomas giggled.
“Told you he was good.” Haley leaned forward and patted Thomas on the back. “Great job, bud.”
“Want to play again?” Thomas’s blue eyes danced with pleasure.
“Will you let me win this time?”
The answer did exactly as Creed intended. Thomas tumbled backward onto the floor. Arms over his middle, he drew his knees up and belly laughed.
The adults exchanged amused glances, the heavy conversation tabled for the time being. The next time he was here, he wanted to talk more. Creed caught himself mid-thought. Would there be a next time?
While he mulled the idea, torn between wanting to be here and wondering what had come over him, someone knocked at the front door.
Haley glanced at the clock. “Who would that be this late?”
With a shrug, she popped up from the chair and went to answer.
When she opened the door, a man stepped inside. He was dressed in a business suit and carried a bouquet of brightly colored flowers.
Thomas, busy organizing his cards, made a soft hissing noise. Creed shot him a questioning look.
“Mr. Henderson,” he whispered. “I think he’s Haley’s boyfriend.”
Chapter Four
“Brent.” Haley bit back a sigh. Her evening had been going unusually well. She should have known something would happen to spoil it.
“May I come in?”
What could she say? He was her landlord. The house belonged to him. She stepped to the side and let him in.
“I hope you aren’t still upset with me,” he said.
She was, but she was smart enough not to say so.
He held out a bouquet. “Your favorite.”
Haley had lots of favorites but Brent wasn’t one of them. The flowers, however, were a rainbow of gerbera daisies. She took them, stuck her nose in and sniffed. “They’re nice. Thank you. I’ll get them in some water.”
Bouquet in hand, she was eager to make the escape and figure out a way to avoid the topic of rent. Or eviction. She owed him money and Brent wasn’t one to be patient. Her close friend Cassie Blackwell would loan her the rent money, but she’d borrowed before. Haley didn’t want to ask again.
Creed extended a hand to the newcomer. “Brent Henderson, right? Creed Carter.”
Well, of course they’d know each other. They’d both grown up in this tiny place, though Brent was maybe ten years older.
“Carter,” Brent said, his eyes questioning. If Creed noticed, he chose to ignore the obvious. Brent wanted to know what he was doing here. Haley wasn’t going to satisfy him with an answer. She hoped Creed wouldn’t, either.
“I’ll be right back,” she said.
She returned to find Brent ensconced on her best chair—the only one she hadn’t bought at a thrift shop—and Creed Carter standing at the front door.
“You’re not leaving?” she said before she realized how that sounded.
“My day starts early. Thanks for the evening.”
Thomas had followed him to the door. Creed scuffed the boy’s wild blond hair and winked. “Thanks for the UNO lesson.”
Thomas grinned. “Wave at me tomorrow?”
“You got it.” And then he was gone.
Men, Haley thought, are the strangest creatures.
“What was he doing here?” Brent asked without preamble.
Haley gave him a cool look. “Visiting.”
Did he actually think it was any of his business if she had a guest?
“Creed helped me fly my kite,” Thomas said. “We built it, too. Last night. Creed’s a pilot. Did you know that?”
Thomas was not usually a chatty-patty, but his words had a strange effect on her landlord. He sat up straight and stiff, his Adam’s apple protruding beneath a very tight jaw.
“Creed was here last night, as well?”
Haley was tempted to tell him to go suck a lemon. Wisdom and the need for a roof over her head reined in the urge. After living on this small acreage on the edge of town for years, she’d put down the deepest roots of her life. She loved it here. She’d spent countless hours and too much money on plants and pots and paint to improve the place. Everything she needed was here. Even the work space for her art, though small, was the best she’d ever had.
She could not afford to alienate Brent Henderson. She’d give anything if his father, Elbert, hadn’t given his son control over his real estate business.
“Would you like some tea, Brent? I was about to have a cup.”
“Thank you. Tea would be nice.” He stood as if to follow her into the kitchen. “I thought you were going to paint the living room.”
Haley stopped in the doorway.
“I am.” When she got the money for more paint. “Did you notice the landscaping work on the south side of the house? I removed that dead tree myself.”
“Nice.”
That was all he could say? Nice? She’d saved him several hundred dollars by doing the job herself. Elbert Henderson had allowed her credit for the improvements she’d done. Brent was not inclined to appreciate her labors.
“Why don’t you sit down and relax, Brent? I’ll get the tea. Thomas will entertain you. Won’t you, Thomas?”
She widened her eyes at the boy to telegraph her meaning. Thomas was smart and intuitive. He’d get the message. The last time Brent had followed her into the kitchen he’d crowded her against the sink and kissed her. She didn’t want to lose her home, but there would not be a repeat of that episode.
Trooper that he was, Thomas slid down beside the coffee table. As she hurried into the kitchen, she heard him ask, “Want to play UNO?”
* * *
An hour later, Haley leaned against the front door and sent a prayer of thanks as Brent drove away. Thomas, who’d played the innocent chaperone, yawned.
“Are you gonna marry him?”
Haley’s eyes widened. “What? No. Never. Why would you ask that?”
“He brought flowers. Guys on TV do that when they want to get married.”
“The flowers were an apology for saying something he shouldn’t have.” And for kissing me without my consent.
“I like Creed better, anyway. If he brought flowers, would you marry him?”
“Thomas! I’m not going to marry anyone. Ever.” She pressed both hands against her cheeks. Foster kids often asked the craziest questions. She supposed all kids did, but her experience was with the temporaries. “Now, go take your bath and head for bed.”
“Can I invite Creed over again?”
Her belly quivered. “I’ll think about it. Now go on. School comes early.”
He emitted a resigned huff and slouched out of the living room.
Once she had him settled in his bed and had checked on Rose Petal, Haley made her way to the small room off the side of the kitchen. In the original farmhouse, this space had been a screened-in porch. Over the years, the room had been remodeled into a sunroom which served her needs as an artist. Plenty of good, natural light, enough space to spread out and the soaring vista of Blackberry Mountain in the distance. At this time of night the sun was gone and Blackberry Mountain was an invisible promise. Not that either mattered when the paints and ideas called to her.
Even though tired to the bone, working relaxed her enough to sleep. At least, she hoped she got to sleep tonight. That was up to Rose Petal.
She pulled out her paints and the birdhouse in progress. With meticulous care, she painted in a flower she’d outlined earlier in the day. One of her more ambitious projects to date, when she finished, the once-dull, brown gourd would be transformed into a glossy, whimsical birdhouse cottage befitting a fairy-tale character. Anyway, that was her plan. The work didn’t always turn out the way she imagined.
