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He set his beer on the counter with a hard clunk. As he headed for the door, he shoved me in the shoulder.
“You’re on, Greely.”
We raced down the stairs, jostling each other to get to the foosball table first.
***
By the time Haley returned, the rest of the Talbot family was in bed, asleep. Chase and I sprawled in the living room, watching cop show reruns and flicking popcorn at each other. Neither of us addressed the fact that Haley was late getting back home.
Very late.
I tried not to think about what that might mean.
His name is Brendan,Haley had said.
Had Brendan kissed her? Had he slid his hands under that snug dress of hers? Had they…done other things? Maybe in the backseat of a car?
I stifled a groan. I had to stop thinking like this. Haley was my best friend’s sister and entirely off limits.
No one will ever be good enough for her, you realize that, right? No one.
When the crunch of tires on snow sounded in the driveway, Chase was out of his chair and striding for the entryway in the blink of an eye. He reached the door before Haley did.
“How was your night out on the town, Cinderella? Glad to see you back home before the clock strikes midnight.”
Haley murmured something as she entered the cabin but I couldn’t make it out. Then Chase spoke again.
“Whoa, hey, hey. Haley, what’s with the waterworks?”
The soft echo of crying had me across the living room before I even knew I was moving. I peered around the corner and into the entryway.
Haley had her head down, tears on her cheeks as Chase rubbed her arms.
“He never showed,” she whispered, her voice wrecked.
My heart ached for her. She’d been looking forward to her first date and it was a bust. And right before Christmas, too.
“Oh, Haley,” Chase sighed. “I’m so sorry.”
She swiped at her cheeks and leaned forward, resting her head on Chase’s chest.
“I waited for two hours. He’s traveling for the holidays and I thought maybe the snow held him up or something. But he wasn’t returning my texts or anything.”
She rummaged around in her purse before pulling out her phone.
“Then he sent me this.”
Her voice cracked and fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. I clenched my hands into fists at my sides, steeling myself from flying to her and scooping her up into my arms. Chase had to comfort her right now. He was her brother and she needed family to support her, to ease the heartache she was going through.
But I wanted to be the one she came to when she was upset. I wanted to be the one to wipe her tears away and kiss her forehead and tell her everything would be all right in the end.
“It was just a joke,” Haley said. “He never intended to show. He said I was gullible and naive and he thought it would be fun to…to string me along…and that I made it so easy for him.”
Chase took in a deep, bracing breath and he said nothing more. I knew he must have a thousand things he wanted to say right then and none of them were favorable.
Instead, he smoothed his hand down Haley’s hair and pulled her close, muffling her sobs in his shoulder.
Chapter Five
