Page 75 of Hold the Line

“Am I fired?”

I stopped in my tracks. “Why would you be fired?”

Her cheeks flushed bright pink, and she couldn’t seem to bring herself to look at me. Scuffing her feet on the linoleum floor, she said, “First, I used a fake name on my application. Even though I was sure you wouldn’t have hired me if you’d known I was a Slater, I shouldn’t have done that. Then I left early yesterday, and you closed alone. I shouldn’t have done that either. I’m so sorry. Linda told me no matter what happened with…well, you know, I should have fulfilled my responsibilities.”

I put my hands on my hips. “I hope you know by now my choice of hiring you had nothing to do with your last name. Sure, some people in our town can be close-minded, but I won’t ever let myself be one of them. Got it?”

She nodded and whispered, “Got it.”

“I didn’t love you running out like you did, but not because of anything to do with work.” She peered up at me, and I went on to explain. “I was worried about you, sweetheart. You were upset, and I was afraid you wouldn’t find your way home.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad?”

She went back to looking down at her shuffling feet. “For running away yesterday…and not telling you Deke’s my brother.”

The way her voice cracked on that last word made my heart ache. I hated that she was hurting and even more that Deacon was feeling the same way.

“Not at all. That was your business to tell when you were ready.” I took a couple steps closer and propped myself on the edge of my desk. Hailey wasn’t a big girl, and with my height, I towered over her. Sitting put us closer to eye level. “I have to say, I’m glad it’s all out in the open now.”

She tilted her head. “Did he tell you about me?”

I nodded. “I knew he had a little sister who’d lived with him, but your name had gotten lost in the shuffle. Last night, after you left, he told me everything.”

The breath she took was fractured. “Is he mad at me? Well, I know he’s mad at me, but how mad? He hates my guts, doesn’t he? He has to. I wou—”

I grabbed her hand. “No, Hailes. He isn’t mad at you. Not at all. If he’s mad at anyone, it’s himself. Definitely not you.”

“Oh,” she whispered. “But I’m the reason he was sent to prison.”

I had to stop myself from gasping. “Oh, baby, no you’re not. Have you been blaming yourself this whole time?”

She shrugged both shoulders. “It’s my fault. I should’ve said what they told me to. If I’d been able to keep it together, he never would’ve—”

Her hand flew up to cover her face, but there was no muffling the sob that broke loose. I didn’t think; I just pulled her into me and curled my arms around her. She shook as I held her, crying softly.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” I assured her. “No one’s mad at you.No one. I promise you that, okay?”

“Really?” she squeaked.

“Really and truly. I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn by telling you Deacon misses you a lot.”

“I miss him too.” She swallowed so hard her throat bobbed. “Before I moved in with the Spellmans, he was kind of…not really a dad, but way more than a brother. My birth parents pretty much gave me to him, you know? And he took me when he didn’t have to.”

“Do you think you’d like to talk to him about all this?”

Her eyes rounded with worry, but slowly, she nodded. “If he wants to talk to me.”

“He does.”

“Do you think today’s too soon?”

I let out a thick laugh, loving how eager she was to reconnect with Deacon. I was just as excited. Heneededthat connection. One member of his family who was good and loving and cared for him. I hoped having Hailey back in his life would open him to seeing neither his last name nor the mistakes he had made defined who he was. And maybe he’d be able to forgive himself and move on from his troubled past to the beauty that lay ahead for him.

“Why don’t I call Linda and Deacon and see if we can set something up?”

“Yes, please,” she whispered.

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