Chapter Ten
Sitting at a picnic table situated on the roof of the café, Haley slowly ate her sandwich and made the most of her lunch break. While doing so, she looked around at the miniature golf course that surrounded her which, she had been told by Karen, Lucas and Nathan had created when they were kids and she couldn’t help smiling as she took it in.
Finishing her sandwich, she sighed at the thought of having to return to work already. It was only about four hours into her shift but they felt like the longest four hours of her life. The café had been exceptionally busy today and she had a feeling she knew the reason for that. As she worked on filling the everyone’s orders, she could feel their eyes on her following her every move as they quietly – and some of them not so quietly – questioned what Nathan Scott could possibly see in her. She couldn’t believe how rude some of these people were being in that they weren’t even attempting to lower their voices.
“Karen told me I’d find you up here.”
Turning her head, Haley forced herself to smile at Deb Scott who was making her way over to where she was sitting. Terrific, just what she needed right now, she thought to herself. “Uh…hi. I’m just taking my lunch break.”
“So I see.”
“I was actually just on my way back down and--”
“I think you can spare me a few minutes, Haley.”
The young woman nodded. “Sure. I take it this is about Nathan.” She knew there was no point beating around the bush and so she might as well get this over with.
“Yes. I assume he told you about my visit to the beach house this morning?” Receiving a nod in reply, she continued. “Look, I like you Haley, I really do but I just don’t want to see him get hurt.”
“And you think that’s what I’ll end up doing?”
Taking a seat in the chair opposite, she replied, “Maybe not intentionally but yes, I do. He doesn’t do relationships, he never has and that’s probably got something to do with my marriage to his father. I think you’re both setting yourselves up for a big fall if you continue with this…whatever it is you’re doing.”
“We’re dating,” she coolly told the other woman. “Have you ever considered the fact that maybe he hasn’t had a relationship before because he just hasn’t met the right person?”
Deb scoffed. “And I assume you’re the right person for my son? I don’t mean to be rude but if you want my honest opinion, you’re a novelty to him. You’re not like the other women he’s dated and he probably finds it exciting. There’s also the possibility that he knows it would make me unhappy to see him dating someone like you.”
And there it was. Haley’s cheeks burned with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. Oh, she knew the older woman was fine with having her as her employee…working as a waitress in hers and Karen’s café but dating her son? No, that couldn’t happen. All of her friends and acquaintances at the country club would surely laugh and whisper behind her back at the mere suggestion of that happening.
“Someone like me? And what would that be exactly, Mrs Scott?”
“I’m sure you’re aware by now that my son is a successful businessman and that due to my ex-husband’s recent death he stands to inherit a vast amount of money and property and--”
Haley pushed her chair back loudly and got up from her seat. “Let me stop you there before I end up saying something I’ll regret. I am not interested in Nathan for his money or his property or any other superficial reason you can come up with. I like him for him. I like him for the person that is so far removed from everyone’s past descriptions of him to me that it’s not even funny.”
“Haley…”
“No, please let me finish. I know I’ve only just met him but I like him and I’m pretty sure he likes me. I don’t know whether what’s happening between us is going to go anywhere,” she lied before continuing, “but I’d like to find out.”
Deb sighed loudly as she too got to her feet. “I don’t even see why you’re bothering seeing that he’ll be returning to Chicago very soon.”
“Well we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. You know something, I can’t believe the fuss that everyone is making just because we’ve gone out on one date.”
The blonde woman laughed dryly. “It’s a small town where our family is very well known. I’m guessing you’ve been on the receiving end of some looks and comments in the café?”
She nodded. “Yeah, you could say that. Almost makes me wish that I’d taken you up on your offer to have the day off.”
Cocking her head to the side, Deb asked, “Why didn’t you?”
“Because I knew that would look even worse. Everyone would think I was hiding and there’s no way I’m doing that. I’ve got absolutely no reason to hide,” she said defiantly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d better back to work.” Picking up her plate from the table, she quickly made her way towards the door.
“Haley?”
Sighing quietly, Haley turned to face the older woman and waited for her to speak.
“Just don’t hurt him, that’s all I’m asking. I know he acts all tough but deep inside I know he still hurts from how Dan and I treated each other during our marriage and how he was treated as a result.”
“The last thing I want to do is hurt him, Mrs Scott.”
“Thank you,” Deb replied. Giving the young woman before her what she hoped was a reassuring smile, she said, “Now ignore those tattletales in the café who have nothing better to do with their time than gossip. They’re just jealous that Nate is interested in you and not one of them.”
Haley was frozen to the spot as the other woman’s words sank in and she forced herself to return her smile. Talk about a downshift, she thought. One minute she was warning her against getting involved with her son and the next she was acting sort of supportive. “Uh…I-I will.”
Watching the young woman leave, Deb stood there for a few moments thinking things over. She knew that if she wanted to be a part of Nathan’s life, then she needed to be supportive of his relationship with Haley. Knowing her son the way she did, there was a good chance he would lose interest in her in a week or two. Also, the more she was against it, the more likely he would continue things just to spite her. No, she decided, the only way to deal with this was to be as supportive as she could and hopefully it would all fizzle out by the time Nathan returned to Chicago. As she left the roof, she felt better about the situation and the smile on her face was a genuine one.
* * * * *
“Hey, I’m sorry I was late,” Haley called out to Nathan from her bedroom as she quickly got dressed. “I had to wait ages for the bus to arrive and--”
“Don’t worry about it, it’s fine. But I did offer to pick you up after your shift, remember?”
“Yeah yeah,” she teased. “So Brooke and Lucas are okay about us going over there tonight?”
“Uh huh. Luke said he’ll order take out and we can have dinner over there with them.”
“Great, I’m starving.”
“When aren’t you?” he muttered jokingly under his breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.” He stretched his legs out in front of him as he sat in the almost threadbare armchair and as he looked around the place, he was once again reminded of how much better he would feel once Haley was living with him and able to share his creature comforts.
“So, uh, is this okay? It’s just casual, right?”
Standing up, Nathan looked her up and down and took in her outfit of a blue denim knee-length skirt and white embroidered cotton sleeveless top and he smiled. Her hair was swept up into a ponytail with a few loose tendrils framing her face and she had once again kept her make-up light.
“You look…beautiful,” he finally said and he meant it. “And…uh…yeah, casual’s right.”
“Thank you,” she replied shyly.
Giving her a nod, he held his hand out for her to take which she did a short moment later. “Come on, let’s get going. I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to seeing Brooke all flustered when she confronts us.”
Haley laughed. “I know. To be honest, I was expecting her to come into the café or at least call me but nothing.”
“Well she’s not as light on her feet as she used to be,” he teased as they walked towards the front door.
“Ooh, I dare you to tell her that when you see her.”
He gave her a look of mock outrage. “Do you think I’ve got a death wish? Although, on second thoughts, if you’re willing to make it worth my while I might just think about it.” Realising what he’d just said, he mentally kicked himself. “Uh…sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologise, Nathan.” Squeezing his hand in reassurance, she said, “Look, if we want people to believe this is real, then teasing and flirting with each other should be a natural thing. And just so you know, I’m no shrinking violet so you don’t have to worry about me being offended. I can give as good as I get, don’t worry.”
“Okay,” he said giving her hand a squeeze in return. Opening the door for her, he waited while she grabbed her purse and a jacket before she locked the door behind them. Once they were outside the building and walking towards his car, he casually slung an arm around her shoulders and he couldn’t help smiling at how well she fit him and his smile widened when he felt her arm slipping around his waist. He was pretty sure that to any observers, they were just any other couple walking down the street which was exactly what he wanted. He just hoped that those that knew him best in the small town would believe it too.
* * * * *
“Hey guys, come on in,” Lucas said as he opened the door wider, allowing Nathan and Haley to enter.
“Hi Lucas, thanks for having me over with Nathan,” she said smiling up at the tall blonde.
“No problem, the more the merrier.” Closing the door behind them, he added, “But just to warn you, Brooke’s a little…um…”
“Pissed?” Nathan suggested with a smirk gracing his lips.
“That’s putting it mildly. You know how much she hates to be the last to know anything.”
“Don’t I know it. You haven’t told her the truth though, right?”
Lucas shook his head. “Your secret is safe with me. I hate lying to her about this but…”
“I’m sorry we’ve put you in this position,” Haley quickly interrupted. She couldn’t help but feel bad at Lucas having to lie to his own wife to cover up the truth about her and Nathan.
“There’s no need to apologise, it’s not your fault. But just do me a favour, don’t ever let on that I knew the truth. You know, when this whole thing is over. I’m not sure she’d ever forgive me for keeping it from her.”
Nathan nodded. “It’ll stay between the three of us, don’t worry.”
“Thanks. Okay, let’s get in there and rescue the food. I hope you like Thai food, Haley.”
She smiled. “I love it.”
“Great,” he said leading them through into the dining room.
“Hey Brookie,” Nathan greeted as he saw her removing cartons of food from a large bag.
“Don’t ‘Brookie’ me. How the hell could you not tell me this, huh? I had to hear it from Lucinda who heard it from Melanie who had heard it first from Dolores. I’m related to you and yet I had no clue about you and Haley.”
“Honey, you need to calm down. Getting stressed out isn’t good for the baby,” Lucas placated as he walked over to his wife and placed his hands on her shoulders.
“And don’t you start patronising me. How could you not tell me?”
“I already told you, I didn’t know they went on a date,” he said with a sigh. That part was actually true. He hadn’t known that his cousin and his…new girlfriend were going on a date last night.
“Uh Brooke, look I’m sorry we didn’t mention it but it was kind of a last minute thing. Nathan asked me to the movies and I said yes and that was that. If I’d have spoken to you beforehand, I would definitely have mentioned it and especially if I’d have known you’d be this, um, upset.”
Looking at Haley’s face as she spoke, the brunette suddenly felt bad about her blowout. It was one thing to kick Nathan’s ass but quite another to take things out on her new friend. “No, I-I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me every time you go out on a date or something. It’s just…I hate being the last to know something, especially when it’s coming from those gossip whores.”
“Hey, how about we sit down and carry on this conversation while we’re eating ‘cos I’m starving,” Nathan said, hoping to lighten the mood even more now that a truce had been called.
“Sure, where are my manners. Haley, you’re sitting opposite me,” Brooke said before continuing, “and Nathan, you’re sitting beside her.”
They all took their places and began passing the cartons of food around, helping themselves to the variety of dishes that Brooke had selected and tucking in to them while talking about this and that.
“Wow! These noodles are delicious. Which takeout place did you use?” Haley asked.
“Oh, it’s actually a restaurant that Lucas and I often go to but they also have a takeout service which is great since lately I’ve had a real craving for Thai or Chinese food.”
“Speaking of, how’s my baby cousin doing?”
“He’s fine,” Brooke answered with a sly smile.
“He? You finally decided to find out the sex?”
“Nope. I could easily have said she instead. We want to be surprised,” she said looking over at her husband.
“Yeah, we do. Not long to go now before we find out.”
“Anyway, enough about us…”
“That’s a first,” Nathan muttered just loud enough for the others to hear him.
“Very funny. As I was going to say, how did you two end up going on a date together?”
Haley felt her palms sweating and she discreetly wiped them on her skirt before taking a long drink of her iced tea. “Um, Nathan bumped into me as I was leaving work one evening and asked me out and I said yes,” she replied, using the story the two of them had concocted.
“Oh, is that it?”
“Why, what were you expecting her to say?” Nathan asked.
“I don’t know but I just figured there’d be more to the story somehow. So, how come Deb didn’t mention you two were going on a date when I saw her yesterday?”
“Probably because she didn’t know,” he told her. Turning to Haley, he asked, “I forgot to ask, was she okay with you earlier on at the café?”
“Uh huh, she was fine.”
He didn’t fail to notice how quickly she answered his question and he made a mental note to ask her about it when they were alone and when she’d be more likely to tell him the truth. The last thing he needed was his mother giving Haley a hard time.
“So, how’s work been lately?” Lucas asked his cousin and while they talked about that, the two young women chatted about other things.
After dinner, they moved to sit in the living room while Brooke and Lucas went into the kitchen to make coffee.
“That wasn’t too bad, was it?”
Haley smiled. “No, not bad at all once Brooke calmed down.”
“I’m going to call City Hall on Monday and find out what dates they have available for us to get married,” Nathan said in a low voice after making sure Brooke wasn’t suddenly about to appear.
“Actually, I don’t know if you’ll be able to do that without us having the marriage license first.”
“Crap, I’d forgotten all about getting a license. Thanks for reminding me. You don’t happen to know the procedure, do you?”
Hearing the sound of footsteps, Haley shook her head. “We’d better not talk about this here just in case a certain person is listening.”
“Yeah, you’re right. So, you feel up to putting on a show for our hosts?”
“Uh, how do you mean?”
Instead of answering her verbally, Nathan took her small hand in his and intertwined their fingers and leaning in closer, he whispered into her ear. She couldn’t help shivering at the feel of his hot breath on her cheek and turning her head slightly, she met his gaze briefly before looking down at their hands and blushing.
“Hey lovebirds, we’ll have none of that,” Brooke teased as she entered the room closely followed by Lucas who was carrying a tray.
“None of what?” The blonde asked as he set down the tray on the coffee table.
“These two were getting all smoochy.”
“N-No, we weren’t. Uh, Nathan was…”
“Whispering sweet nothings into your ear, huh?” Brooke interrupted, a grin etched on her face. As she watched them sitting on her couch, she didn’t fail to notice how good they looked together. When her husband had first mentioned that Nathan had been introduced to Haley, she couldn’t help but feel concerned. His reputation in the small town was almost legendary and she didn’t want her friendship to be ruined as a result of him using her for some fun while he was in town and then tossing her aside when he left. But looking at them together in that very moment…she noticed something different about him and she realised that maybe this young woman was just what he needed.
“Hey, earth to Brooke? Are you okay in there?”
“Huh?” Nathan’s voice broke into her thoughts and she quickly shook her head. “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”
He laughed. “I was just asking which coffee was mine.”
“Whichever one you want seeing as none of them have milk or sugar in them.”
Taking the offered coffee cup from Nathan, Haley smiled at him before adding some milk and stirring it. Turning to Brooke, she asked, “So, how’s the nursery coming along? Did you manage to finish it yet?”
“Yep, we finished it this morning. You’ll have to come upstairs and take a look before you go home.”
“Definitely,” the young woman replied.
Setting down her cup, Brooke pushed herself up off the couch. “Actually, let’s go and do that now.”
“Sure, lead the way,” Haley said as she placed her own cup down on the table and then got up.
“You want to come and take a look too, Nathan?”
“Uh, okay.”
“I may as well come too,” Lucas said following them all up the stairs.
“Ha, you just want to make sure Brooke doesn’t take all the credit,” Nathan teased his cousin.
“You got that right.”
Reaching a closed door that was opposite the master bedroom, Brooke turned to her guests. “Now, if you like it, then it was all my idea but if you don’t, then the blame lands on Lucas’ shoulders.”
“Hey!”
“I’m only kidding, honey.”
Nathan and Haley both laughed at the other couple’s antics.
“C’mon, let us see it so we can give you our opinions,” Nathan said.
Opening the door, Brooke entered the room and flicked the light switch, creating a soft glow in the room.
Haley walked in and stared open-mouthed at what she was seeing. On the walls was painted a woodland wonderland that featured all sorts of animals from birds and butterflies to rabbits and squirrels and everything in between. The colours the artist had used were amazingly vivid and it looked and felt so real.
“Oh my god! Brooke, this is absolutely beautiful!” Haley exclaimed as her eyes took everything in.
“You really like it?”
“I love it and your baby is going to love it too,” she said reaching out and squeezing the brunette’s hand.
“Nathan, what do you think?” Brooke asked turning to look at him.
“I agree with Haley, this is amazing. It’s so realistic.”
“I know,” Lucas chipped in. “I wasn’t too sure about it when Brooke first suggested it but I’m glad she pushed the idea.”
Wandering around the room, Haley couldn’t stop smiling. This was something she pictured for her own children one day. One thing you couldn’t fault Brooke Scott on was her taste. All of the furniture she had chosen for the room was exquisite and no doubt cost a small fortune. She had no doubt in her mind that Baby Scott was going to be one pampered little kid.
Nathan couldn’t take his eyes off of Haley as she walked around the room, staring in awe at the beautifully decorated nursery. Even though he hadn’t known her for very long, he knew that this was most likely the sort of thing she would want for her own baby and he felt a sharp pang at the knowledge that that would be happening with someone else. Walking over to where she was, he stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He felt her stiffen for a split-second before she relaxed in his embrace.
“Hey, you ready to go back downstairs?”
“Uh huh.” Taking one of his hands in hers, she interlaced their fingers and they walked over to where Brooke and Lucas were standing just by the doorway.
“Thanks for showing us the room,” Haley said smiling at the other couple.
“Are you kidding? We’re going to be showing this room off for a good while,” the brunette said with a chuckle. “Come on, let’s go back downstairs although our coffees are probably cold by now.”
“Actually, would you mind if we skipped coffee?” she asked. “It’s just that today’s been a pretty long day and I’m feeling a bit tired.”
“And no doubt you two want some time alone, huh?”
Haley blushed at hearing her say that. “Uh…”
“Mind your own beeswax, Brookie,” Nathan said, his trademark smirk firmly in place.
“Okay, okay.”
The four of them walked downstairs and after they had grabbed their jackets and Haley had picked up her purse, they began to say their goodbyes.
“Thanks for having us over, guys. I had a lot of fun tonight and hopefully we can do it again sometime.”
Leaning in, Brooke hugged Haley. “Of course we can, but it probably won’t be until this little one has arrived.”
“Speaking of, if you two ever want to have a night out or something, I’d be more than happy to babysit. I’ve been doing it with my nieces and nephews for a long while now so I’m an old hand.”
“Ooh, you shouldn’t have told her that, Haley,” Lucas said laughing. “She’ll hold you to that, in fact I will too.”
“Well, I’ll look forward to it.”
“Okay guys, we’re gonna make a move. We’ll talk to you soon.”
“G’night, you two. Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do,” Brooke called out and laughed when she saw Haley blush again.
Nathan ignored her and merely gave them a wave goodnight before wrapping his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders as they walked to his car. Once out of earshot, he said, “Hey, I’m sorry about all of little comments. It’s just her way, you know.”
“Yeah, I know but the blushing probably came in handy tonight.”
“How’dya mean?”
“Well, it makes it look like I’ve got something to blush about,” she said with a wink which caused him to laugh out loud.
“And there’s me thinking you were embarrassed as hell.”
“Maybe I was a little but not as much as you probably think.”
“Good to know. Hey, are they still watching us from the door?” His back was to the house so he didn’t know and he didn’t want to turn and make it obvious that he was looking.
Peering around him, she noticed that Brooke and Lucas were indeed watching them and waiting for them to drive away. “Uh huh. Why?”
“Let’s make this look even more natural,” he said before lowering his head to hers and kissing her mouth softly.
Haley’s eyes fluttered shut as she anticipated his kiss and almost instinctively, her arm came up to wrap around his neck and hold him to her as he nibbled and then suckled on her lips.
Nathan could feel himself getting lost as he continued the kiss and he was almost on the verge of slipping his tongue into her mouth before he remembered exactly what he was doing. Reluctantly, he broke the kiss and he inwardly groaned when he watched her little pink tongue come out and lick her lips.
“They…They’re not watching anymore,” her voice broke the silence and she watched his lips curve up into a smile.
“No doubt she’s on the phone telling someone about what she just saw,” he said. “C’mon, I’ll take you home.”
“Or…”
“Or what?”
“Or we could go to your place and start looking into getting a marriage license.”
“Uh, how do you mean? It’s pretty late so I don’t think anywhere we call will be open.”
She shook her head. “The internet never closes,” she said, giving him a grin. “We can at least look into it so that we can get the ball rolling next week.”
“That’s a good idea but I thought you were feeling tired.”
“I am a little but we need to do this, Nathan, and the sooner we start the better, right? I’m working again tomorrow and it’s a double-shift so I doubt I’ll feel like doing anything afterwards.”
“Okay then, let’s go.” Unlocking the car, he opened her door for her and waited for her to get in before closing it and going around to his side. Before getting in though, he couldn’t help licking his lips and he was happy to realise he could still taste her on them. He knew whatever happened between them, it was going to be an interesting experience.