Promises to Keep (8 page)

“Have you decorated your tree yet?” asked Cole.

Hayley shook her head as she picked up a box of
napkins. “I thought I’d put on some music, pour myself a glass of wine, and go
about the task tomorrow.”

Maybe she’d invite him over to the inn to help her
out.

“Sounds like fun.”

“You feel like joining me?”

There she’d been bold. She’d taken the first step.

He shook his head.

Well at least he was honest. He wasn’t going to get
her hopes up and then let her down like her former lover. Still it hurt.
Rejection was never easy. And now that she knew there wasn’t any hope in
pursuing him, it was best she exited as soon as she could.

“I guess I should be going back to the inn to make
sure everything’s okay. Nice seeing you again.”

“Yeah, and thanks for cooking the pancakes,” said Cole.

Hayley grabbed her coat and gloves from the peg on
the wall and headed outside. Would she ever get used to the cold? And it looked
like it was going to snow again. She pulled the collar up on her coat and
rushed to her car and sat there.

She’d thought there was some electricity between her
and Cole, the sly glances, the smiles, but she’d been obviously wrong. Maybe
she was getting needy and desperate. She’d heard of women imaging men were
attracted to them when it was all due to politeness.

Better luck next time.

****

Sadie looked into her crystal ball. It was early
days for the new pair, so she wanted to check on Cole and Hayley’s progress.
Seemed the young lady had been bold enough to ask Cole to the inn, but the
cowboy was stubborn. His heart was still broken and fragile, but what he didn’t
know was Hayley could mend it so it didn’t hurt so much.

She tapped her fingers on her desk. These silly
mortals; when would they learn? And when would the Department of Love learn
that it was a necessity for Sadie to intervene sometimes. Like right now.

These two had to get together somehow. If they were
in constant contact with one another, the barrier Cole had erected around his
heart would eventually crumble away. If only he’d stay at the inn for a few
days…

Sadie smiled. That was it. Now she had to figure out
how to get him there.

Chapter
Nine

Cole opened the door and immediately sensed that
something was wrong. The toasty warm house they’d left to go help at the
pancake breakfast was now freezing.

“Hey, kids, keep your coats on for a bit. I need to
check the furnace.”

He headed down into the basement and switched on the
light. He grabbed the flashlight off the shelf near his workbench and made his
way to the furnace. He couldn’t see the usual blue flame. He tried lighting it,
but nothing. Damn, it wasn’t that old but he knew these things didn’t last
forever.
Shitty time for it to go wrong.
He put his
hand on the water heater and discovered that too was cold.

Shit
and double shit.
Fixing both of these things was probably going to
be pricey.

He headed back up the stairs, seeing both Jon and
Nina shivering even with their coats and gloves on.

“I’m going to call the repair guy. Looks like both
our furnace and water heater have decided to quit at the same time.”

“It’s really cold in here,” said Nina.

“I know, honey, but keep your coat and mittens on
and we’ll have it fixed soon. Why don’t you go and sit in the family room with
the quilt over your laps and watch TV while I get it sorted out. It shouldn’t
take too long.”

****

Hayley sat on the chair in her office and tried to
calculate how much it would cost her to open for breakfast, how much she could
charge, and if it would disrupt her paying guests at the inn.
 
Maybe she could start with weekdays only.
Basic pancakes and sausages.
Maybe some
biscuits, too.
She could make eggs and bacon, neither of which would be
too costly because she had to buy them for the guests anyway. She punched in
some numbers on the calculator and then heard the bell over the front door
ring.

Standing up, she crossed her fingers that it was
someone wanting to check in for a long time. She didn’t expect to see Cole and
his kids standing there with backpacks and a small case.

“Hi,” she said.

“Don’t suppose you happen to have a couple of rooms
for the night?” asked Cole.

“I do. What, you decide you wanted to try out the
Rustic Inn?” asked Hayley.

“Both our furnace and water heater just gave out.
The technician promised to get the parts to fix them by tomorrow afternoon.”

“Sorry to hear that. I mean them breaking down, not
that he’ll have parts by tomorrow,” said Hayley, sliding a registration card
toward him. “Not that I’m not happy to see you here.”

Cole picked up a pen and began filling in his name
and address.

“It smells sort of musty in here. Can’t we go to the
Hampton Inn instead?” asked Jon. “This place doesn’t even have a pool.”

Cole didn’t say anything to his son. Instead, he
addressed Hayley. “Sorry to say my son left his manners someplace,” he said
without looking up. “Maybe he’d like to go out to the car, bring in the other
bag, and look for them while he’s at it.”

Hayley tried to suppress a laugh. Cole’s humor was
dry, but she liked it.

“Geez,” said Jon.

“The truck, the bag, now,” said Cole, pushing the
keys toward him.

Cole finished writing and gave Hayley back the card.
She was headed over to the desk with the keys just as Jon arrived back with the
bag.

“Found your manners while you were out there?” asked
Cole.

Jon nodded. “Sorry for the remark about the smell,
and the lack of aquatic entertainment.”

“Jon,” shouted Cole. “What did I just say about the
sarcasm?”

“Hey, that’s okay, he’s got a sense of humor and I
like it,” said Hayley.

Cole shook his head.

“I have room fourteen for you and Jon, and for Nina,
the room across the way, which is number eleven,” she said, handing them the
keys.

“Hey, how come Nina gets a room all to herself?”
asked Jon.

“I’m a girl, that’s why.” She poked her tongue out
at her brother.

“Okay, both of you, that’s enough. We’re cold. Let’s
head upstairs and take showers to warm up. Then we can go and eat someplace,”
said Cole.

Hayley watched as Cole headed up the stairs with his
kids in tow. Seeing him again so soon had been quite the surprise. It was thoughtful
of him to think of her inn rather than a hotel closer to town or one with the
aquatic entertainment.

****

“Do you think this place is haunted?” asked Jon as
they sat on the bed and ate the burgers they’d brought back with them. “Maybe
that’s why there are only a handful of people staying here.”

“Dad, make him stop,” said Nina.

“Jon, quit it because you’re frightening your
sister,” said Cole.

“That’s the idea.”

Nina stuck her tongue out at him.

“Okay, you two, time for bed.”

“It’s Saturday night,” said Jon.

“Yeah, I forgot. One movie and then
it’s
lights out.”

“That means lights out for you too, Dad.”

Cole had forgotten he was sharing a room with his
son.

Jon settled down on the bed, Nina in a chair, and Cole
turned on the TV.

“Hayley should think about getting flat screen TVs
for all the rooms,” said Jon.

“I don’t think most people stay at these sorts of
places to watch TV,” said Cole, unpacking his bag.

“So what do they do?” asked Nina.

“They explore the area and…”

Cole knew most people had romance on their mind.
That and sex.

He looked at Nina who he knew was waiting for him to
finish what he’d started.

“Shopping,” he said.

The kids found a movie to watch, but he walked to
the window and pushed the drapes to one side and looked out. It was snowing
again. He had a feeling this winter was going to produce more of the white
stuff than usual. Something caught his eye and he realized it was Hayley taking
out the garbage. She was wearing a quilted blue coat as she rushed to the
dumpster and pulled up the lid.

She turned around, noticed him, and waved. He waved
back and smiled. His face was already beginning to hurt from all the smiling
he’d done since she’d wandered into the tree lot. She disappeared out of sight
and he pressed his forehead against the coolness of the pane. When he’d figured
out they couldn’t stay at the house until the appliances were fixed, he hadn’t
phoned one of his sisters to see if he and the kids could stay with one of them
for the night. He hadn’t called any work buddies. He hadn’t thought of the
Hampton Inn. His first thought had been the Rustic Inn. While he’d driven there,
he’d told himself it was because he wanted to help Hayley drum up some business,
but that hadn’t been entirely true. He’d wanted to come here so he could see
her again.

The coolness crept over the rest of his head and it
felt oh so good, like it was helping him think. He’d been abrupt in turning
down her offer to come here and decorate her tree with her. He’d so wanted to.
He’d regretted it all the way home.

He took a deep breath. He had to get his act
together, because she probably suspected he had a thing for her. Poor woman was
no doubt going crazy wondering why he kept saying no to all her invitations.

****

Hayley sat bolt upright in bed. Someone had screamed,
and it hadn’t been in her dreams. She squinted at the clock. She didn’t have
her contacts in, so she tapped the bedside table hoping to find her glasses.
She slipped them on and saw that it was a few minutes past after one in the
morning.

She got out of bed, pulled on her sweats and t-shirt,
and headed out into the hallway where she saw a few guests gathering and then Cole
standing with his arms around Nina who had her face buried in her father’s
upper stomach.

She walked toward him. She should have been more
concerned about the screams and the cause of it, but all she could focus on was
the fact that he was only wearing pajama bottoms and nothing else.
 
His arms had well-defined muscles, and he had
a tattoo on his left bicep. His chest and belly looked like he kept in good
shape, and she was pretty sure she was drooling.

“What’s wrong?” she finally asked.

“Nina had a bad dream, so I’m going to take her into
my room for the rest of the night.”

“Someone was scratching at my window,” sobbed Nina.

“Oh, honey, I forget the tree outside that room
sometimes rubs against the pane when it gets windy. I’ve been meaning to get it
trimmed. I’m so sorry,” said Hayley, grabbing her hand. “It probably did sound
like someone scratching.”

“It’s not your fault,” said Cole.

“Can I get you anything?
 
Some milk or hot chocolate
maybe?”

Nina shook her head.

“I think she’s just shaken up. She’ll be fine once
she gets back to sleep, but thank you,” said Cole.

“If you change your mind or need anything, I’m just
down the hall.
Fourth room on the left.”

Cole nodded and took Nina into his room and closed
the door.
 
The other guests had also gone
back to their rooms, so Hayley headed back to her own, not able to put the
sight of Cole’s gorgeous body out of her mind.

It was nice having him at the inn but knowing he
obviously didn’t want to get involved, even go on a date, was driving her
crazy.

****

Nina was fast asleep. Jon was snoring beside Cole.
He hadn’t liked the idea of sharing a bed with his father, but Nina now needed
his bed as she wouldn’t go back into the other room after the incident with the
tree scraping against the window. He put his hands behind his head and looked
up at the ceiling, sensing that now that he was awake he’d have a tough time
getting back to sleep.

Hayley had been sweet to Nina, explaining to her
what the noise was and taking the blame. Most people would just think his
daughter was being stupid over a silly little noise, but not Hayley. He took a
deep breath. She was a sweetheart of a person.
 
He’d tried not to focus on her body as she’d stood holding Nina’s hand,
but he was only human. Hayley hadn’t been wearing a bra and her nipples had
pushed against the thin and flimsy material of her t-shirt.

He hadn’t thought about a woman in that way for
years. He turned over onto his side, hoping the movement didn’t disturb his
son. The moon was full and shining into the room where he hadn’t closed the
drapes properly when he’d looked out of the window earlier. He rested his face
on his hands.