Page 23 of Ruff and Tumble

“He’s at home with his brothers and sisters,” Hailey said as Mia disentangled herself from her legs.

“Oh.” Mia’s face fell. “So it’s just…you?”

Hailey was struggling to come up with an appropriate response when Regina laughed. Like the smile, there was something unsettlingly familiar about it. “Listen to the two of us. You’d think we’d never had company before. We’re delighted you’re here, Hailey, and don’t require anyone else—human or canine.”

It was such a nice thing to say, coming from such a nice woman in such a nice house, that Hailey wished she’d never come. She should have channeled her inner Jasmine while she’d had a chance and maintained a strict professional veneer over the rest of her interactions with Cole instead of gallivanting about with his sister.

“If it helps, I do have this.” Hailey pulled out her phone and pushed a few buttons. A gray, grainy image of her kitchen popped up. The camera was focused on Bess and her puppies, most of whom were contentedly napping on her stomach. Even with the pet sitter thoughtfully provided by Jasmine’s deep company pockets, Hailey had some qualms about leaving them alone any longer than she had to. Bess was starting to show signs of neglecting poor Rufus. “See? So I can check on them while I’m gone.”

“Gimme!” Mia didn’t wait for permission before she yanked the phone out of Hailey’s grasp. Regina admonished her for it and began to apologize for the girl’s behavior, but Hailey was too grateful for the change of topic to care.

“I don’t mind,” she said. “It’s not a very exciting thing to watch, but I remember doing the same thing when I was little. There was this channel on public access that showed nothing but an eagle’s nest and a bunch of eggs that were getting ready to hatch. I used to watch it for hours.”

“Hours” was an understatement. She’d actually spent weeks sleeping in front of the group home’s television, fearful of missing even one minute of the big event. The anticipation of those eggs cracking open, of the babies being welcomed into the world by two loving parents who took turns carefully watching over them, had been her everything.

In the end, they’d hatched while she was at school.

“Well, isn’t that the sweetest thing,” said a low-pitched female voice. They were in a formal living room daintily decorated to match the historic characteristics of the home, but the woman who stepped in didn’t match. For one, she was six feet tall. For another, the first thing she did upon sight of Hailey was whisk her into a hug that was incredibly strong and just as strongly scented with rose. “You must be Cole’s friend from that TV show. Aren’t you lovely? And so darling to offer Mia one of your puppies. Isn’t that darling, Reggie?”

“The darlingest,” Regina agreed but with a wink that showed Hailey she knew where to assign the blame. “Hailey, if you haven’t guessed, this is our mother, Paula. Dad is already parked in his favorite chair in front of the game, so don’t expect anything out of him but monosyllables until the final whistle. He takes his football very seriously.”

“Wealltake our football seriously,” Paula said. She released Hailey from the hug, but only enough to wind an arm through hers and start leading her through a pair of double doors. “My mother-in-law is pottering around here somewhere, too, but don’t pay any heed to her. She uses game day as an excuse to hit the gin a little harder than usual, if you catch my meaning. She loves a prelunch tipple. Sam is coming, too, isn’t she, Reggie? With her family?”

Hailey’s head was starting to spin.

“I think they’re already here. The Wegmores too.” Regina quirked a rueful smile at Hailey. “I’m sorry. I should have warned you that Sundays are a kind of family reunion around here. You’ve entered the official home of the Cole Bennett fan club.”

The cheese log was starting to seem woefully inadequate in face of all these new revelations. So was Hailey. She’d had the foresight to google the address before she came, so she knew she would be entering a neighborhood where million-dollar properties were on the low end of the price value scale. She’d expected wealth and abundance. She’d expected to find herself a weed among gilded lilies.

She hadn’t expected every branch and twig on Cole’s family tree.

“Sam and her wife are lovely, but don’t sit near the Wegmores unless you want to be bored to death hearing about their recent trip to Italy.” Paula gave Hailey’s hand a warm pat. “If I have to hear one more word about the correct pronunciation ofvermicelli, I’m going to swear off pasta forever.”

As it turned out, Sam and her wifewerelovely. Sam was some sort of cousin who worked in a high-powered financial firm downtown, but who always—always—took football Sundays off to watch the game. The Wegmores weren’t half bad either, even if they did wax poetic about the health benefits of hand-pressed olive oil. From all that Hailey could gather, they were related to Cole in a vague, nebulous way that no one was willing to define.

Apparently, no definitions were needed. They were here to watch the game and support Cole, and that was enough.

“Shove off, Gertie,” said a frowning, powerful bear of a man seated in a deep leather recliner in the center of the television room—which, as far as Hailey could tell, was a modest descriptor for a room that contained at least twenty thousand dollars’ worth of audiovisual equipment. “Let the new girl sit next to me. She looks sensible. She can help me break down the plays.”

His words had the effect of causing the woman seated to his right—Gertie Wegmore—to slap him playfully on the arm. As she also got up to leave, Hailey could only assume she was used to being treated so cavalierly.

“What’s your name again?” Cole’s father asked as Hailey approached his chair. “I can never remember all of Cole’s girlfriends.”

“Oh, um.” Hailey felt the blush mount to her cheeks. Even though everyone in the room was politely pretending they hadn’t heard the remark, Cole’s father spoke much too loudly not to be overheard. “I’m Hailey. Hailey Lincoln. And I’m not Cole’s girlfriend. I’m—”

“She’s the woman who’s going to help with the you-know-what, Dad.” Regina swooped in and planted a kiss on her father’s cheek. She lowered her voice in an attempt at discretion, but Hailey was still close enough to hear. “So be nice.”

“What?” Cole’s dad turned to stare at Hailey. “That’s bullshit.”

“Dad!”

“Julian!”

“Uncle Jules!”

“Grandpa said a bad word!”

Hailey was oddly grateful to the older man for drawing the room’s attention away from her. He reminded her a lot of her own father—gruff and rough and a little bit cranky, but with a twinkle in his eye that made it difficult to take offense.