Page 36 of Up for Heir (Westerly Billionaire 2)
“What’s the matter, Auntie Hailey?” Skye asked.
Hailey forced a smile. “Nothing, sweetie, I just remembered that Delinda asked me to be there for some business she’s conducting. It’s all really boring adult stuff. Mrs. Holihen, if she finishes her lessons early, maybe you could take her to the park?”
“That sounds like a wonderful plan,” Mrs. Holihen said before tapping the table to bring Skye’s attention back to the paper they were working on.
Hailey walked as casually as she could to their door and down the steps. As soon as she knew she was out of view of the guesthouse, she sprinted the rest of the way. Spencer was already inside. Hailey wasn’t surprised that Michael didn’t open the door. He would be in the wings making sure Delinda was okay.
Does he know? Is that why he’s here?
Hailey sped to the door of the solarium, but didn’t enter. Spencer’s visit might have nothing to do with her. If that were the case, then waiting to tell him later when they were alone might still be the best option.
“You’ve gone too far this time,” Spencer’s voice thundered.
“Would you like some tea, Spencer? It calms the nerves,” Delinda answered, not sounding at all intimidated by his anger.
“No, I don’t want any fucking tea.”
“Watch your language.”
“What a hypocrite you are. You think I’m poorly behaved? What would you call being petty enough to block an innocent woman from getting a job? That’s a new low for you, Delinda.”
Delinda blocked me from working at SmartKart? Oh, Delinda.
“If you calm yourself, perhaps we could discuss it like two civilized people,” Delinda said in her haughty defensive tone.
“There is nothing to discuss. I don’t care what you thought you would gain by using Hailey as a pawn, but she is off-limits to you. If I hear you so much as say her name to anyone else—”
“What? What will do you, Spencer? This entire conversation is ridiculous. Instead of coming in and threatening me, perhaps you should ask me why—”
“I know why, Delinda. You can’t lose, and you don’t care who you have to hurt to win. What is it you feel like you lost when I walked away? Was it your pride that took a hit? Did your old cronies suggest you should have been able to bring me back under your control? It’ll never happen. The only reason I was ever nice to you was because it was important to my mother. I don’t give a shit about you or—”
“Stop,” Hailey said, stepping into the room. “Both of you—stop.”
In a few long strides, Spencer was at Hailey’s side. “What are you doing here?”
Oh, God. “I work for your grandmother.”
He shook his head as if warding off a blow. “What do you mean you work for her?”
When she put her hand on his forearm, Hailey felt the tension raging through him. I wanted to do this in a much better way. “She’s the employer I told you about, the one who has been so good to Skye and me.”
He blinked a few times slowly. “You’re living here? With Delinda?”
“Yes.”
He spun and stood protectively in front of Hailey. “Get your stuff, Hailey. Get Skye. We’re leaving.”
Hailey looked from Delinda’s carefully composed face to Spencer’s tight and flushed one. “No,” she said softly.
“Yes,” Spencer countered. “I’ll explain it to you when we’re alone, but you’re going to have to trust me on this. You can’t stay here.”
“I’m not leaving,” Hailey said in a firmer voice. “I won’t uproot Skye before I understand what’s going on.” She looked across at Delinda. “Delinda has been good to us.”
Spencer put his arm around her waist. “She wants you to think that, Hailey. She is a manipulative liar. She wants you to believe she cares about you. She doesn’t. She’s been using you to get to me. It makes me sick to see how far you’re willing to go, Delinda. She has a child, for God’s sake.”
All color left Delinda’s face. “I would never do anything to harm Skye.”
“You’ll never be given the chance to prove that. We’re leaving. All of us,” Spencer said.
Hailey planted her feet when Spencer urged her to walk off with him. “Spencer, she loves you. Give her a chance to speak.”
He frowned down at her. “Why are you defending her?”
Hailey glanced over at Delinda. She was trying to hide it, but she was hurting. “Because I’ve gotten to know her, and she would never—”
“You don’t know what she’s capable of.” His frown darkened. “Why didn’t you tell me you were working for her? What is this all about?”
She hated the doubt in his eyes. “I was going to explain it all to you tonight.”
He stepped back from her. “Explain away. I thought I’d had my fill of lies, but I’m honestly curious. What were you going to tell me?”
“I’ve never lied to you.”
He held her gaze and waited.
“This isn’t what you think. It’s a coincidence. Or, I like to think, a nudge from Ryan. I didn’t know she was your grandmother when I took the job, and she didn’t know about us until after she’d interviewed me. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true.”
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Spencer said in a tight voice.
“Well, do you believe me?” She put a hand on one hip.
“Yes, but that’s more of a reason for you to leave with me now.” His arm was protectively back around her waist. “You see the good in everyone, but this time it’s not there. She duped you. Tell her, Delinda. Look her right in the eye and tell her the truth, if someone like you even knows how to.”
Delinda’s eyes narrowed, and she looked down.
No. Hailey shook her head vehemently and went to kneel beside Delinda’s chair. “I’m the one who found the ad. I’m the one who called you. Tell him.”
Delinda refused to meet her gaze.
Hailey took Delinda’s hand in hers. “I know why you blocked me from getting the SmartKart job. You were afraid I would leave you. What you need to see, Delinda, is that what you do to keep people with you is actually what drives them away. I’ve seen the good in you. No one could change our lives as much as you have and not be a good person. Don’t shut Spencer out. He won’t ever see the loving side of you if you let your pride stop you from showing it to him. Tell him you missed him. Tell him you’re sorry. Show him the real you.”
Delinda’s lips pressed together in a straight line, then she said, “Ask him why you were offered that job in the first place. Are you as honest as you think everyone around you should be, Spencer? Are you?”
Hailey stood and slowly turned toward Spencer. It was his turn to look guilty. “Did you get me the job at SmartKart?”
Confusion and anger blazed in Spencer’s eyes. “You said you felt trapped in your job. I wanted to help you.”
Hailey’s emotions roller-coastered. She looked down at Delinda. “I did feel trapped but taking the job at SmartKart would have changed that. We weren’t going anywhere. Skye and I were still going to be here with you. Did you know about us before the interview? How? You need to be honest with me, Delinda.”
Looking like a child who was cornered into admitting a wrongdoing, Delinda said, “I might have learned your name from his mother. She told me you were the only woman Spencer ever loved.” She glared at both of them. “Was it so wrong to give you a chance to get it right?”
“But I found the ad. It was on the seat next to me on the bus.” Hailey’s chest constricted painfully. “Did you have someone put it there?”
“I only did what I thought was the best for both of you.”
Hailey swayed on her feet. “I feel so stupid. I knew it was too easy, too convenient, but I wanted to believe Ryan was somehow looking out for us. All this time, I felt like I was being guided, and I was.”
Spencer put a hand on her lower back. “You were manipulated, Hailey—that’s what she does. I wish I could spare you from the truth, but yo
u need to see her for who she really is.”
Delinda rose to her feet. “If you weren’t so stubborn, Spencer, I wouldn’t have had to—”
“Don’t put this on me,” Spencer growled.
“It is your fault. You won’t forgive me for being the one who told you that Dereck wasn’t your biological father. I’ve said I’m sorry. I’m eighty-one. Are you waiting for me to die before you forgive me?”
