Ever After Read online

  Every word Todd had said came to Hallie and her face showed it.

  “Okay,” Jamie said, his hands up in surrender. “I get it. You’ve had enough of us.”

  “Your family is lovely,” Hallie said, “but I want to make it on my own.” When Jamie just nodded, Hallie thought how astounding it was that you could spout a current cliché and be believed. Every TV show and movie had some smart-talking girl saying she wanted to make it on her own, so when she said the same thing, no one seemed to question it.

  But Hallie didn’t actually want to be on her own. She would love to have help and get a job someplace where she knew people. How could she do it all by herself? Get an apartment, furnish it, meet people, make a social life as well as a professional one? Or could she stay on Nantucket and try to meet people here?

  But she didn’t let Jamie see any of her doubts.

  By evening she’d sent out over two dozen emails of inquiry. She’d asked people for letters of recommendation, asked institutions about possible jobs, and had even printed out a few pages of places to live in some glamorous cities. But the thought of leaving her house in Nantucket made a wave of sadness pass through her.

  At dinner—prepared together—Jamie reminded her that Jilly’s wedding was tomorrow. “You want to go with me?”

  “I’m not sure I should go,” Hallie said.

  “Mom sent over a dress for you to wear. She said it’s really pretty.”

  “I can’t accept—”

  “It’s a loan,” Jamie said, sounding agitated. “Not a gift. It belongs to one of the cousins and you can give it back to her after tomorrow.” He put his hand on hers. “Hallie, please tell me what I or my family have done to offend you.”

  She pulled her hand away. “Nothing. All of you are perfect. You are beautiful to look at, interesting personalities. There’s not a flaw in any of you.”

  “Okay,” he said. “Just know that Aunt Jilly will be hurt if you’re not there. What happened between you two the night she and Uncle Kit came over? She’s called me twice asking about you.”

  “Nothing happened.” She couldn’t meet his eyes. Maybe the females in his family knew about the pregnancy, but few of the males did. And until Hallie knew for sure that Ken had been told, she wasn’t saying a word.

  “I see,” Jamie said and got up from the table.

  “You don’t want any dessert?”

  “No, thanks,” he said. “Just leave all this and I’ll clean it up later. I’m going to the gym for a while.”

  Of course Hallie didn’t leave the cleanup to him. After the kitchen was tidy, she thought about what to do. The big TV was still in the living room and she could watch it, or she could go into the tea room and read the research Cale had assembled.

  But Hallie couldn’t bear to go into that room. Jamie’s clothes were still in there, piled on the sofa, and she didn’t want to see them. The clothes she’d purchased for herself were still in bags in her bedroom.

  As always, when Jamie wasn’t around, the house seemed big and empty. Like my life, she thought, but then brushed the thought away.

  By nine Jamie still hadn’t returned to the house. Hallie was tempted to go out to the gym, but she didn’t. Instead, she went upstairs and got into bed, planning to read one of the novels on her eReader. Instead, she fell asleep so deeply that she didn’t hear Jamie come up the stairs.

  A pounding woke her. At first she didn’t know what it was and she lay there for a few seconds before she realized it was someone at the front door. “Jamie!” she said, thinking that something was wrong with him. She leaped out of bed and ran to the stairs.

  But Jamie was already halfway down, clutching the banister, his crutches nowhere to be seen. When he turned to her, his face was white, and she knew what he was thinking, that something horrible had happened to his family.

  “Stay back,” he said. “I’ll handle this.”

  “Your family wouldn’t knock,” she said as she hurried past him and flung the door open.

  A young man she didn’t know, college age, was standing there. The goofy grin on his face made her realize he’d been drinking. “He said he was staying at the Hartley house. We had a hard time finding the place.” His words were slurred. “If you’re Hallie, he says he loves you.”

  “Who says that?” she asked.

  Jamie was behind her and opened the door wider. He was taller and could see over the boy’s head. Behind him were two more college boys holding a man upright. He was in his thirties, rumpled suit, dirty blond hair, and was clearly feeling no pain. “How much has he had?”

  “A lot,” the boy replied. “He said he wanted to go back to college and do everything all over again.”

  “Who?!” Hallie asked again.

  The boy stepped aside.

  “Braden!” Hallie ran to him.

  “Hallie,” Braden said, smiling, his eyes half closed. “You are beautiful. I don’t remember you ever before looking this good.” Grinning, he looked at the three boys around him. “Didn’t I tell you she was great?”

  “Yeah, you did,” the first boy said appreciatively, then looked at Jamie. “Can we leave him with you?”

  “Take him upstairs to the bedroom on the left,” Jamie said.

  “But that’s your room,” Hallie said.

  “I have a feeling you’ll want to be near him tonight and there’s no place for you to sleep downstairs.”

  “But you—” She stepped aside to let the young men toss Braden’s luggage in, then push-pull him up the stairs.

  “Don’t worry about me,” Jamie said. “Take care of your friend.”

  Part of Hallie was pleased at Jamie’s words, but part of her was annoyed. What happened to that delicious jealousy of his?

  “And put on some clothes!” he added.

  Hallie glanced down. Her big T-shirt exposed her bare legs. When she walked up the stairs in front of Jamie, maybe she swayed her hips just a tiny bit more than was necessary.

  She went to her bedroom to pull on jeans and apply a bit of makeup to her sleepy face. It was Braden! He was here!

  When she got to the hall, the college boys were just coming out of the bedroom. “That guy sure knows his stuff,” one of them said.

  “Braden?” Hallie asked. “Did he give you some legal advice?”

  “Him? No.” They were laughing. “He told us to stay away from women forever.”

  “He’s had a hard time lately,” Hallie said. “Do you guys need a ride somewhere?”

  “No, we’re walking.” They went down the stairs and paused at the bottom. “He’s too old to go drinking. You better keep him home with you.”

  “I’ll do that, thanks,” Hallie said. They left and she went into Jamie’s bedroom.

  Braden was in the bed, half sitting up and grinning.

  “He threw up outside,” Jamie said, “so he should be better tomorrow. We got his clothes off and put one of my clean shirts on him. He still stinks, but I wasn’t going to hold him up in a shower and wash him.” He looked at her. “Or maybe you’d like to do that.”

  “I’ll pass on that, but thank you for doing this. I hate running you out of your bed. You want to use mine?”

  Jamie took a moment to answer. “I’ll accept that invitation when you’re included in it.” He stepped back from her. “I’ll leave you to it. See if you can get some more water inside him. But then I’m sure you know that.” He left the room.

  “Hallie,” Braden said as soon as they were alone.

  “How are you?” she asked as she bent over him. Jamie was right: He did stink.

  “I’ve been better.”

  She went into the bathroom, got a washcloth, soaked it in cold water, and took it back to put on his forehead. She considered pulling up a chair, but it would be too short for the bed. Instead, she climbed up beside him, sitting on top of the covers.

  Braden’s eyes were red and seemed to be floating around in his skull. He took her hand in his and kissed the back of it.