Page 39 of Up for Heir (Westerly Billionaire 2)
“Don’t you mean time?”
Her eyes shone with emotion. “I don’t have time. That’s the point. I won’t be here forever, Spencer. I have done many things in my life that I regret, but none more than telling you about Dereck the way I did. I thought you knew, but that’s no excuse. I haven’t slept well since that night. I hoped if you fell in love with the right woman, she might bring you back to us.”
Spencer sat back and folded his arms across his chest. “So you hired Hailey and arranged for us to meet.”
“Yes.”
“That’s—”
“Brilliant,” Delinda cut in.
“Machiavellian. You used her. How do you think she feels about that?”
Delinda deflated a little at his accusation. “Not good, I imagine.”
In the quiet that followed, Spencer weighed the wrong of what she’d done against the outcome. “Hailey said her niece is talking again, and she credits you.”
“Skye is a remarkable little girl. All I did was nudge her.”
“You were lucky it worked out that way. What you did wasn’t right, Delinda.”
Delinda’s chin rose. “It wasn’t all wrong, either.”
He stood. “No, it wasn’t all wrong, but I don’t know what the hell to say to her to make this right. Where do I even begin?”
Delinda pushed out of her chair and stood beside him. “Tell her you love her.”
He nodded and turned to walk away. She halted him with a hand on his arm. “I am sorry, Spencer—more sorry than you’ll ever know. And I do love you.”
Suddenly there was nothing intimidating about Delinda at all. She looked almost frail and sincere in her need to be forgiven. Her fear of being left behind reached past years of anger and questions and touched his heart. He knew exactly how it felt to desperately want to be part of something yet have no idea how to be. He opened his arms to her.
She hesitated, then stepped into his embrace. She was so small he wondered how she could intimidate anyone. When she stepped back, she looked up at him with her usual stern expression, and said, “Quit stalling and go after Hailey. Don’t you dare come back without her. Remember, Westerlys don’t give up.”
“I’m not—” Spencer started to say that he wasn’t a Westerly, but stopped mid-sentence. He saw his family through the solarium window. From his quiet mother to a still-angry Nicolette, from a worried Rachelle to a supportive Brett and Alisha—our family is what we make it. His gaze settled on Dereck, who was standing off to one side of his mother, looking as lost as Brett once had. “I am a Westerly.”
She nodded in approval. “Yes, you are.”
A warmth filled him that he’d waited a lifetime for. Things hadn’t always been bad between them, and the early days were becoming easier to remember. “Hailey isn’t going anywhere.”
“Michael,” Delinda called out, then issued instructions to her butler in a tone too soft for Spencer to hear. Michael returned moments later with a small box that he handed to Delinda before once again leaving.
She opened the box and took out an antique round diamond ring that had to be at least five karats. “You may need this. It was my husband’s grandmother’s ring—your great-great-grandmother’s. Hailey will say the diamond is too big, but tell her this story when she does . . .”
Chapter Sixteen
In the kitchen, with Hope in hand, Hailey froze when she heard Spencer at the door. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him. She wanted nothing more than to throw open the door, jump into his arms, and let their passion chase away her doubts.
Life didn’t work that way.
“Hailey?”
She walked over to the door but didn’t open it. “Go away, Spencer.”
“I’m not going anywhere until we talk.”
She put Hope down, then placed a hand against the inside of the door. Opening it would be so easy. Forgetting the scene back at the main house wouldn’t be. We were all wrong. Delinda manipulated me. I wasn’t honest with Spencer, and he wasn’t honest with me. We all thought we knew what was best and look where it brought us—here we are crashing against the shore again.
It was all too good to be real . . .
“The person you should be talking to is Delinda. She’s obviously willing to do anything to get your attention.”
“What she did was wrong, Hailey. I’m not defending her choices, but I understand her motivation now.”
“I don’t. I thought I did, but I don’t know anything anymore.”
“Open the door, Hailey. This is an impossible conversation this way.”
“No. I want to, but I have zero confidence in my judgment right now. I’m not angry with you; I’m angry with myself. I’m too old to be as gullible as I’ve been lately. A part of me knew it was all too easy, but I saw what I wanted to see. I wanted to believe in miracles, I guess.”
Hope peed a little on the floor near her feet, and Hailey shook her head in resignation while cleaning it up. Now there is a sign if there ever was one. Reality always crashes in.
“Open the door, Hailey.”
“Have you heard anything I’ve said?”
“Yes, but I’m not a boy anymore. I know what I want now. And that’s you, Hailey. I lost you once because I wasn’t ready. I’m ready now.”
Hailey opened the door. They stood simply looking at each other for a long time. The attraction between them pulsed through them, complicating her feelings further. “That was an ugly scene.”
“I know,” he said.
“You were cruel to Delinda.”
He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “I’m not proud of my behavior, but Delinda and I had to clear the air.”
“And now that you have?”
“Oh, there are still glitches. My whole family is batshit crazy. There’s no denying that.”
Hope whined at Hailey’s feet. “She needs to go out.”
Spencer walked Hailey through the house and out to the backyard where Hope circled a few times before relieving herself. Hailey sat on a step as Hope bounced through the grass. Spencer took a seat beside her. The heat from his body warmed her side, igniting a desire she did her best to deny. He turned his head and looked like he might kiss her.
She raised a hand. “Don’t.”
He stayed where he was, but his eyes burned with a yearning she felt just as strongly. If only this, their hunger for each other, were enough.
She mustered irritation with him. “And don’t look at me that way.”
“Which way?” He leaned closer.
She couldn’t look away, couldn’t stop herself from flicking her tongue over her bottom lip. “Like there is any chance that you and I will—that there’s something you could say that would—you know exactly how you’re looking at me.”
The corner of his mouth curled in a hint of a smile. “Yes, because you’re looking at me the same way.”
She shook her head, but couldn’t tear her eyes from his. Being close to him—knowing that all she’d have to do was stretch ever so slightly to once again feel his lips on hers—made it difficult to remember why she was upset with him. “This isn’t enough,” she said for her own benefit as much as his. “I have responsibilities. I’m still trying to wrap my head around what Delinda did and what that means for me and Skye. If my talk with Delinda doesn’t go well, I’m essentially homeless.”
“That would never happen. You and Skye would come with me.”
“To where?” she asked hoarsely. There was nowhere she could imagine bringing Skye that night.
“My place is big enough—”
“It’s not that easy, Spencer. She doesn’t know you. You haven’t even met her. You may not like her.”
An expression entered his eyes that she’d seen before, but this time it was more intense. “I don’t have to meet her to know that I’ll love her because she’s part of you.” He took out a box and opened it, revealing an enormous sparkling engagement ring. “I’m not asking you to move in with me. I’m asking you to marry me. There has never been anyone else for me. I love you, Hailey Tiverton.”
Hailey blinked back tears, wanting to believe in second chances but afraid to. “This is too fast.”
“Is it? I knew you were the one the first time around; I just wasn’t ready to do anything about it.”
I wasn’t, either.
Don’t—don’t open yourself to hope again. It never ends well. “Did Delinda give you the ring?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
He frowned, hesitating before answering. “Does it matter?”
“Maybe. Have you thought this through? Skye and I are a package deal, and parenting is a full-time gig. Skye takes riding lessons twice a week. Saturday shows. School starts in the fall. That will mean homework. She may take an instrument—maybe an ear-piercing one like violin.”
“You’re not scaring me.”
“No?” Did he understand how big of a commitment it was? “She’s getting to the age when she’ll want friends to sleep over. That means girls giggling all night. I want her to have all of those experiences. She’s not only my responsibility; she’s also a priority. A wonderful, miraculous, sometimes terrifyingly overwhelming priority.”
“Hailey?”
“Yes?”
“I had an amazing father who would have loved every moment of the life you’re describing. I will as well. You think I can’t handle giggling? I was raised with two sisters. In a pinch, I can braid hair and apply nail polish like a pro. It’s not something I normally brag about, but I’ve got skills. I’m up for this. The question is—are you?”
Spencer held his breath. He didn’t want to rush her, but he felt like he’d waited half of his life for this moment. In the movies, women broke into tears and threw their arms around a man who proposed, then the credits began to roll. Reality was much more gut-wrenching. Hailey went pale and hugged her stomach while leaning forward as if she were about to retch. I’m a selfish bastard. She’s been through hell and back, and all I can think about is making her mine before I lose her again. This isn’t business, where closing the deal is all that matters.
