Shane’s chest tingled. What about her? That was the million-dollar question, wasn’t it?
“I don’t know,” he said. “But this isn’t about her. It’s about me. And finally letting go of things I should have let go of a long time ago.”
“Well, I’ll be damned. I never thought I’d see the day.”
Shane frowned, because this conversation was suddenly way more real than he needed right now. “Don’t get all excited. I’m not there yet. I said maybe.”
A slow smile inched across Tony’s face. And his light eyes sparkled when he nudged Shane in the shoulder. “It’s a start. Hot damn, but it’s a start, wife. I’m gonna go do those interviews so we can make tracks. Something tells me you won’t be staying long in Chicago.”
When he was alone, Shane sat in the chair by Hailey’s bed and took her hand in both of his. Her fingers were long, her skin soft, her nails—he hadn’t noticed them before—neat and trimmed, perfect. Just like her. There was so much about her he hadn’t noticed, like the faint freckles across the bridge of her nose or the way her hair formed a swirl, right at her temple.
One thing he had noticed, though, was how calm she’d been in that scene with Eleanor. And how she’d trusted him to be there for her. Even after admitting to Eleanor that she loved him. That hadn’t been an act. And every time he thought of it, he felt this sharp stab right beneath his breastbone.
Her head moved slightly on the pillow. Her fingers tightened against his. He tensed when he saw her eyelids flutter and finally open to stare up at him. She blinked several times before she rasped, “You don’t look like Prince Charming.”
The relief at hearing her voice was swift and consuming. “I’m not. But now that I know you’re okay, a razor and a shower should take care of the ugly old troll look.”
She didn’t laugh at his stupid joke, but he cut her some slack, seeing as how she’d just come to after surgery.
“What are you doing here, Maxwell?”
Not Shane. But he’d cut her some slack on that as well. He squeezed her hand. “I told you I wasn’t leaving until I knew you were okay.”
She rolled her head to look up at the ceiling. “Well…now you know I’m fine, so you can go.”
She was giving him an out. All he had to do was take it. He’d told himself from the start this was where it ended. Not with her in this bed, but with her alive and safe, the person who was setting her up in custody or dead. There wasn’t any logical reason for him to stay, and yet, he wasn’t moving.
She loved him.
“I do actually have to leave,” he said cautiously, because something strange was happening in his chest. Something that felt a lot like all that regret he’d heaped on himself being slowly replaced with warmth. “Ah, Tony’s here. O’Conner needs me to go back to Chicago to clear up a few things.”
“Then you should go.”
Her words were cold. Her attention anywhere but on him. The hurt in her voice stabbed at him, but he dealt with the pain because somehow he knew he was going to make this and everything else up to her. He just wasn’t sure how yet. “I…I have a few things I need to take care of in Chicago, but I want you to know I’ll be back.”
“Don’t bother.”
“I will. That’s a promise, Hailey.”
She rolled away from him, and he knew the movement had to cause excruciating pain, but she didn’t make a sound.
He rubbed a hand over that ache in his chest. “Stella’s been waiting to see you. I’ll send her in on my way out.”
When even that didn’t garner a response, he rose slowly and headed for the door. And in the silence, knew exactly what he needed to do. Maybe knew, for the first time in his life.
Florida
Four weeks later
“Man, that’s a big crowd.” Nicole’s voice echoed through the room as the office door snapped shut behind her. “The place is packed.”
The coffeepot bobbled in Hailey’s hand, and she took a deep breath to settle the nerves bouncing around in her stomach. Slowly, as conversation picked up behind her, she lowered the carafe so no one would see her hand shake, reached for a packet of sugar and winced at the dull throb in her shoulder.
She was still working through physical therapy, but her doctor had assured her the bullet hadn’t done any lasting damage. At least not to her shoulder. The fallout from the scene in Jamaica, though, was another matter entirely.
“Jeez,” Nicole said, brushing past Hailey to reach for a bottle of water on the counter. “I’ve never seen you this nervous. I didn’t realize public speaking freaked you out so much.”
“It doesn’t,” Billy piped up from his spot on the couch, where he’d been munching on trail mix from a bowl at his elbow. “At least it never did before.” He grasped Nicole’s hand when she got close and tugged her onto his lap. Nicole giggled as Billy planted a kiss near her ear. “So what gives, H?”
“This is a big day,” Stella interjected before Hailey had to answer. “The press isn’t nearly as interested by the changes you both have planned for Roarke Resorts as they are in getting info about what happened with Eleanor.”
Hailey glanced at her mother—her real mother—standing near the big oak desk in the middle of the room. It’d taken a couple of weeks, but that’s how she was starting to think of Stella. Like the mother she’d wished she’d always had. Stella was a lot like Teresa Sullivan—strong, opinionated, but with a heart as big as Hailey had ever known. And for that reason, it hadn’t seemed strange at all when Stella had introduced Hailey to her husband—Mark Walker—a rancher from Texas Stella had met at a gallery opening in Dallas eight years before.
The woman had every reason to despise everything Roarke related after what had been done to her and her father, but here she was, welcoming Hailey and Nicole into her family, taking a break from her own work so she and Hailey could get to know each other better, supporting Hailey and her decision to stay on as CEO of RR even though it had to stir painful memories inside her.
Painful memories had to swell in Nicole, too, but you’d never know it by looking at her with Billy now. Hailey glanced at her sister and the silly smile on her face. For all the years they’d spent being resentful of each other, it was odd to have Nicole here now, though Hailey was thankful for her company. And completely blown away by the fact Nicole had put her personal feelings aside and seemed to understand their father hadn’t pulled back just from her but from both of them, and only because of Eleanor.
It was both Stella and Nicole’s strength Hailey was clinging to now as she faced her own insecurities. She’d half expected Nicole or Billy, or even Allie, to try to talk her out of leaving the Key West PD for good. But none of them had. She and Nicole were working together to run Roarke Resorts. She as CEO and Nicole as president of Operations. And when Hailey had announced she wanted Billy heading security, no one had seemed surprised. But the kicker had come later, when not a single one of them—Stella included—had protested Hailey’s suggestion to convert RR from a private company to a public one and open it to shareholders, even though that had never been part of her father’s vision.
Graham had told her once the reason she hadn’t excelled in law enforcement was because deep down, it wasn’t her passion. Maybe he was right. Maybe this was what she was meant to be doing. It felt right, just as donating all the artwork in her father’s storage bunker to Stella’s Gate House had felt right, but she wished the ache she’d been carrying around in her chest the last month would ease up and cut her a break.
“They already have enough details about Eleanor,” Allie said from the conference table, where she was studying Hailey’s notes for the press conference. “And Bryan. And Paul.” She looked up. “The only thing you might want to mention is Madeline’s role in all this. If she hadn’t called Graham to warn him about Eleanor, things might have gone down very differently.”
Yeah, Hailey already knew that. If Graham hadn’t shown up in Jamaica to try to stop Eleanor, she and Stella might
be dead now. Pain stabbed at her, like it did whenever she thought of Graham, but she breathed through it. And thanks to Stella—even though she’d been the one wronged in all of this from the start—no one knew a thing about what Graham had done to earn Eleanor’s loyalty all those years before.
Another reason Hailey was falling for her mother.
“Why don’t you all give Hailey and me a moment alone before the press conference,” Stella said, eyeing Hailey at the counter across the room.
“Good lucks” were tossed Hailey’s way as everyone filed out of the administrative offices at the Roarke Royal Floridian. It had been her father’s first hotel, where he’d met and fallen in love with Stella. For some reason it seemed fitting to hold this press conference here, now.
When they were alone, Stella crossed to the minibar and pulled out a can of ginger ale. “Drink this. It’ll help settle your stomach.”
Hailey took the offered can. “Thanks. It’s just nerves.”
Stella eased her hip against the counter. “For the record, I had horrible morning sickness with you. Granted, mine didn’t start this early, but it used to wipe me out for the entire day. I’m afraid genetics are not your friend on this one.”
Hailey’s hand halted in the act of setting the can on the counter. “I…don’t know what you’re—”
A sad smile slid across Stella’s face. “You can’t keep dodging him, you know. You’re going to have to face up to this and tell him.”
That ache she’d been fighting flittered across Hailey’s chest. Now she could add mind reader to her mother’s list of skills. Not only was the woman a world-class painter, charitable philanthropist and amazing wife, she also didn’t miss a thing.
“I’m not dodging him.”
“Hailey, he’s called every day for the last two weeks. And security at the RR building downtown said you have a standing order not to let him past the elevators. I’d say that’s dodging him.” Her voice softened. “I haven’t pushed you on this because you’ve been dealing with a lot, but you’re miserable. And this has nothing to do with your father’s company or what happened in Jamaica. It has to do with him, doesn’t it?”
Tears Hailey hated with a passion burned the backs of her eyes. Dammit, she’d only just found out she was pregnant and the hormones were already doing a number on her. “He’s only persisting because he feels guilty over what happened. It’ll pass.”
“Honey, that’s not guilt. That’s a man who wants a second chance. Trust me, I’ve seen him.”
Hailey’s eyes slid sideways to glance at Stella, and in the silence between them, she asked the question she’d been grappling with for the last month. “What if he doesn’t deserve one?”
Stella rested a hand on Hailey’s arm. “Everyone deserves a second chance. Don’t harden your heart so much you miss the good parts in life that are right in front of you. That’s what Eleanor did. It’s what I was doing before I met Mark. It’s what your father did for way too long.” She ran her fingers down Hailey’s cheek and smiled. “There’s way too much passion inside you to let life pass by like that. Don’t waste the precious gift you were given.”
Stella’s words echoed through Hailey’s head as she made her way to the ballroom in the east wing of the resort. Nicole had been right, the room was packed, but there were familiar faces as well. Billy and Nicole stood off to the side. From the corner of her eye, she caught Stella’s proud smile and the way Mark slipped his arm around her waist in a protective move. She spotted Pete and Kat, Rafe and Lisa, Allie and both her parents in the crowd, all there in support of her and this new chapter in her life.
Okay, so it wasn’t the traditional family she’d always dreamed of, but it was hers, and Stella had been right about one thing: she wasn’t about to waste any of the gifts she’d been given.
When she was done with her statement outlining the changes to the company, she opened the floor to questions. Most were, like she’d expected, centered on the scandal with Eleanor, but Hailey dodged as many as she could, just like she’d practiced. And finally, realizing the crowd was getting antsy for something juicy, she decided it was time to pack it in.
“I’ll take one last question.” She glanced around as hands shot into the air and voices shouted out, then stopped cold when she heard a voice she knew all too well.
The reporters in the front of the room must have noticed her strange expression, because they turned to look, and like the sea parting, they split down the center of the room to where Shane was standing in the back wearing jeans and a long-sleeved blue T-shirt stretched across his chest that read:
Sometimes a prayer is really all you need.
Just ask Tommy & Gina.
Her heart kicked up against her ribs. Her stomach fluttered. The stubble she’d gotten used to seeing on his jaw was gone, his hair was shorter than she remembered, and he looked tan from this distance. But no matter how sexy he was, the only thing she could think about was how she’d felt on that plane just before landing in Jamaica.
“I just have one question,” he said. “The Cubs don’t hold spring training down here. Are you sure you still love this town?”
She caught the reference to her favorite Bon Jovi song, the one she had programmed into her phone, and his teasing tone. And knew she was seconds away from a complete meltdown. Damn hormones.
She leaned into the microphone and sent him a withering look. “Thank you, everyone, for coming out. But I’m afraid I don’t have time for any more questions after all. This press conference is now over.”
Shane figured he’d broken at least three laws getting into this damn place. And thanks to that fence Billy hadn’t warned him about, which he’d had to scale to avoid Joe Six-Pack the security guard, his right knee was now lit up like a Christmas tree. All that, coupled with the fact Hailey had been giving him the slip for two weeks, was enough to get him good and pissed. So there was no way she was slinking away now.
He watched which door she headed for, and as the press was swarming, trying to get the rest of their questions answered, he hit the back exit, looped around the property and used the key card he’d swiped from the security office—thanks to Billy—to get into the main building.
It took about ten minutes, but just like he’d expected, the stairwell door opened and closed with a snap, followed by Hailey’s deep intake of breath and slow release. Her shoes clicked as she moved up the steps, then stopped abruptly when she turned and found him sitting on the second flight, waiting for her.
The scent of lilacs surrounded him. And okay, yeah, that wasn’t happiness to see him, but he was going to change that.
He rose slowly. “I’m really hoping that quick exit meant you just didn’t hear the question.”
Irritation coated her features. “How did you know I’d be here?”
“A little bird told me you haven’t been too hot on elevators lately.”
Her jaw clenched. “Nicole needs to keep her mouth shut.” She moved around him and reached for the railing on the far side of the wide steps. “Excuse me, I’m busy.”
“Hold up, Hailey.” He turned to look after her. “I just want to talk. You can slow down for a couple of minutes, can’t you?”
He thought he heard her mumble not for you, but ignored it when he saw her moving up the stairs without even pausing. “I left CPD.”
That did it. She stopped. And a flicker of hope went off like a firework in his chest.
“Turned in my resignation and got a job doing investigative work for…this place I know. A lot less stress. Better hours. And people aren’t dying to meet me.” When she didn’t laugh at his joke, he scrubbed a hand through his newly cut hair and added, “You were right. About the job. It was eating away at me. I didn’t realize how much until I left.”
“I’m glad I could help,” she said, not turning to look at him. “But I really have work to get back to.” She started climbing again.
“How’s your shoulder?”
“Fine.”
/> He skipped steps quickly to get in front of her. She stopped and glared at him. “You’re in my way.”
“Look, I know you’re ticked at me, and you have every right to be. I was a jackass, and I don’t deserve a second chance, but…” It was now or never. “That’s what I want. It’s why I’m here. For a chance to make things up to you.”
“Don’t, Maxwell.” She pushed past him.
He ignored her words, gently grabbed her good arm and turned her to face him, one step up at eye level. “I know you love me,” he teased. “I heard you. And if you didn’t, you wouldn’t still be so damn pissed. Just to show you how serious I am, I’ll let you kick my ass. Right here. I won’t even try to fight back.”
Her expression didn’t change, not even when he smiled and moved a fraction of an inch closer. “Come on, Roarke,” he whispered. “We both know that’s an offer you can’t refuse.”
“I’m pregnant.”
His smile wobbled. “What?”
“I’m pregnant. I found out a few days ago.” When his mouth fell open, she added, “I didn’t plan it, if that’s what you’re thinking. Apparently antibiotics mess with birth control pills. I knew that…know that…but I think it’s safe to say I was under a little bit of stress when James gave them to you for me, and everyone knows stress also screws with birth control so, yeah…surprise.”
She didn’t look happy about this little surprise, and he couldn’t quite read her mood to tell if she was serious or just trying to make him suffer, so he asked, “You’re pregnant? Really? When—”
She huffed and moved up two steps to put distance between them. “I was going to tell you when I figured out what to say. I mean, it’s not like this isn’t a big shock to me, too, you know. I wasn’t planning on having a kid right now, at least not until I found someone who really wanted to have one with me. But I’ve already decided I’m keeping this baby, so don’t even think about trying to talk me out of it. And I don’t need your help in this. I’m only telling you because you deserve to know and…” Her brows snapped together. “Why are you smiling?”