“You’re kidding me.” My jaw slacks open, yet she remains cool and professional.
“I’m not kidding, however, as far as my qualifications are concerned, you are correct in that I do have a considerable amount of experience for the job opening you originally listed, but that was before Greta’s position also became available.”
“You live here now,” I say, because, while I might’ve hoped she’d stay, she’d never given any solid indication that she’d planned to make that a reality.
“I do. And we have a meeting in a couple of weeks with the Cole Creek Elementary principal and Jett’s preschool teacher, as well.”
Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. Preschool? Here?
“For the record, that appointment has been scheduled since last Monday. Before you questioned my intentions.”
“Hayden…” I don’t know what to say. Jett living in Cole Creek? Going to the school I went to as a kid? I could fucking cry.
“You asked me to take a risk and this is officially my first.” She pulls in a deep breath and then carefully blows it out. “If you’ll look in the folder beneath the one you have open, you’ll see a job description. It’s a draft, so it’s subject to discussion and change, but I think you’ll find it to be a fair consolidation of the administrative position you were looking to fill, as well as the vacant accounting position. I’ve also added other duties, such as answering all incoming calls and job scheduling, so that you won’t have to continue juggling those while you’re out in the field.”
“You can’t do all of that. You just…” A strange pressure rises in my chest and I have to keep myself planted firmly in the chair to keep from going to her and pulling her to me. “You can’t do all of this and what you’re doing now for your own business. It’s too much and I can’t put that kind of pressure on you.”
“Both of my current contracts end in August. I don’t plan to renew them. I also turned down a third opportunity, because being here is more important.”
“Hayden,” I exhale again. Fuck. “You’re serious about this?”
“For the past four years, you and I have been partners. Damn good partners. We’ve already proven that we can work together. What’s more, you want to be out in the field. You always have. It’s where your heart is and it’s where you do your best work. I thrive in here. And I have a vested interest in the success of this company, since there’s a very good chance it could be our son’s someday. I also love you and I know your vision for this place. I want to help you achieve that.”
I swallow hard. “You’ve put a lot of thought into this.”
She nods. “I planned to have this discussion before Friday night. I just hadn’t found the right time to bring it up.”
I don’t know what to say. Obviously, having her on board here long term would be amazing. She’s smart and intuitive, and she knows where I want to go with this company. But this isn’t the kind of career the twenty-year-old girl sipping on hard cider six summers ago had wanted.
“I don’t want to hold you back.”
She tips her head to the side, the professional Hayden giving way to the softer, sweeter one I love so much. “Not letting me love you and be part of your life like this would be holding me back. It’d be holding us both back, because we’d be amazing together.”
She’s telling the truth. I see it in her eyes and… “I want to kiss the shit out of you right now.”
She laughs softly. “As much as I’d love that, I’m not done yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have more in me. To convince you that I’m exactly where I want to be.”
“Babe, I get it and I’m sorry I doubted you.”
She swallows and folds her hands together over her knees. “You weren’t wrong. I was afraid to screw up and I held back because it was safe. But the second I realized you’d felt something too, no matter that it was four years earlier, security didn’t matter anymore. I knew I had to come here and see if we still had a chance.”
“We do. And if you want this job, it’s yours. We can cancel the other interviews.”
“There are no other interviews.” She smiles, dark eyes dancing back and forth between mine. “Your mom called the others and told them the job was filled by some nice girl from down south.”
“Of course, she did.” I chuckle. It’s almost like she knew.
“I accept the job, but I’m not done proving myself to you.”
“Babe, I don’t need any more food.”
She laughs and it’s the sweetest, sexiest sound I’ve ever heard. Too bad Ma and Amelia are waiting out front or I’d suggest we kiss and make up, right here and now.
“I need a little more time,” she says, pulling in a deep breath. “I want to get this right.”
And as much as I want to put this behind us, I promised I’d give her time and that’s what I’ll do.
“Do what you’ve gotta do, babe. I’m all yours. Whenever you’re ready.”
HAYDEN
Everyone set for Saturday? I text Hannah later Tuesday night.
Yep, she replies. Paul even canceled his golf trip so he could come along.
Oh, good. Jesse will love that.
Does he know you moved out of the house yet?
No, I wanted to surprise him. I even parked the trailer in the neighbor’s driveway to throw him off if he comes by.
Clever! How did Lane take everything?
Ugh. It’s too much to text, so I hit the call button instead.
“That bad, huh?” Hannah asks by way of greeting.
“He didn’t trust me to be there by myself, which is funny, considering I’m still paying half the bills. Anyway, he took off of work and basically sat in the living room and watched me and Jinx pack and move.”
“Oh, my God, you didn’t tell me Jinx helped!”
“I knew better than to think Lane would do any heavy lifting and I didn’t like the idea of being alone with him.”
“What did Lane say when he saw him?”
“He asked if I was fucking him, too.”
“He did not!” Hannah howls through the phone. “God, he’s an ass. I’m not sure I’ll be able to supervise visits with him and Jett and be able to keep my mouth shut.”
“Jett hasn’t asked about him for a few days, so I’m not worried about it. Besides, Jesse may have something different to say about them visiting since Lane came to Cole Creek to start crap. We’ll talk about it after the festival.”
“Dad is super pumped to come up, but Mom’s already annoyed, knowing how sloshed he’s going to get.”
I laugh. “Uh huh. I remember how fond Dad is of Polish vodka.”
“Anyway, it should be a good time. Will Aiden be there?”
“Hannah Lee, you’re married.”
“Married, but not dead.”
I snort. “I’m not sure if he’ll make an appearance. He’s a bit elusive. I’ve only seen him once since I’ve been here.”
She sighs. “That’s a shame.”