Hailey slipped an extra pair of jeans into her suitcase and checked one more time to make sure she’d packed her toothbrush. She flipped the top and pulled the zipper closing around the ends of the bag.
She turned, suitcase in hand, to find Dee standing in her doorway wiping at red eyes with the hem of her sundress.
Hailey’s mouth curved into a sad but affectionate grin. “I’ll be back soon, Deedles. Don’t cry.” She set her case down and stepped forward, giving the tiny girl a full hug.
“I’m not cryin’ cause of that.” She wiped her eyes on Hailey’s shoulder. “I’m cryin’ cause of my daddy and Uncle Paul breakin’ up your planes.”
“Sweetheart, we don’t know they did it.” She knelt eye level to Dee. A twinge of guilt tugged at her heart. How much had Dee overheard this morning?
But Dee’s curl’s bobbed. “Uh-huh. ’Cause they were here last night.”
“Are you sure, sweetheart?” Her stomach roiled. Part of her brain knew it had something to do with them, but a small part still wondered. “Did you hear Kisses barking last night?”
She nodded again. “For a bitty minute, but then they gave him something to eat. I saw them. And then Kisses went really to sleep and didn’t say nothin’ to them. I saw them.”
Hailey bit her lip. So that’s why Kisses seemed groggy this morning. They drugged him! Still, it was beyond her comprehension that Kisses would take food from them, or that they could even get close enough to give him food.
“Please, Hailey. Please don’t be mad cause I didn’ tell you this mornin’. I was ‘fraid you’d be even madder at my daddy and Uncle Paul. You’re always mad at ’em.” She sniffed hard. “You always don’t like ’em.”
Hailey closed her eyes and buried her face in Dee’s hair. She had decided to pick and choose which of her father’s traits to honor, and mercy toward the Watson boys hadn’t been one of them. “It’s okay, baby. I’m not mad at them anymore.”
Dee pulled away from her in wide-eyed wonder. “You’re not even mad at ’em for breakin’ Papa Web’s planes?”
Hailey shook her head slowly, standing and stroking Dee’s hair. “No, sweetheart. We’re going to get Papa Web’s planes fixed.” She felt a tug of forgiveness, for the boys and for herself settle into her heart. “And we’re going to get a whole bunch of other things fixed, too.”
“Can I tell Felicia and Lindsey?”
Hailey’s mouth curved with tenderness. Was there anything as pure as the love and innocence of a child?
She grabbed Dee up in a grand hug and kissed her on the nose before setting her back on her little bare feet. “You bet! You can tell them all about it.”
Felicia appeared in the doorway. “Hey, little gal, your daddy’s waiting in the driveway for you.”
“Can I tell him, too, Hailey?”
Hailey straightened her shoulders and sucked in a deep breath. This would take more strength than she knew she had. This would take God.
“I think I’ll tell him myself. How would that be?”
Dee’s fair curls bounced around her head in an enthused nod.
Before turning to leave, Hailey reached into the top drawer of her vanity and pulled out an unopened sack of chocolates. She placed it in Dee’s hand. “This is all yours. Now go tell Granny Rinnie you’re leaving. And I’ll walk out and speak to your daddy.”
Dee bubbled her thanks, and Hailey turned to take steady steps to the driveway, a silent prayer filling her heart.
Yes, it was definitely time to get a whole bunch of things fixed.
• • •
Neal Watson leaned his tall lanky frame against the rusty pickup, seemingly preparing for the worse as Hailey made her way through the front gate. He muttered something she couldn’t hear to his brother, who waited inside the ragged cab.
Neal tipped his cap briefly, avoiding her eyes. He eyed the suitcase in her hand. “Runnin’ away?”
Hailey shook her head. “No. Just going to take care of some important business.” She walked to her own truck and set her suitcase into the back. “We need to have a little talk, Neal.”
“Ya know I’m always happy to talk to ya, neighbor.” His eyes seemed to drink her up.
She chose to ignore his lewd expression, returning his stare with solemn concentration. “I’m holding you responsible for the damage to our planes.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but before he could respond, Paul yelled out from the passenger side of the pickup. “We didn’ do nothin’! You can’t say we did, neither.”
Neal tipped his cap back on his head. “Oh, shut up, Paul!” He turned his attention back to Hailey. “I’m not admittin’ nothin’, you understan’, but if I was, how’d you find that out? About us, I mean.”
“I kind of fooled myself at first. But I can see clearly now.” She took a step closer to him and he leaned back harder against his truck.
“We haven’t been very nice to each other, have we, Neal?” Her heart swelled with unexpected forgiveness. In her eyes, the boys didn’t look evil and mean anymore. They looked pitiful. Scared. Like frightened little boys who bully others because they don’t know any other way to make themselves feel worthy. “And Neal, I’m sorry about that.”
He cocked his head at her. “Why would you be sayin’ somethin’ like that to me? We’ve given your papa and the whole county a whole buncha grief. Why’d you be so nice to me, now? It’s a trick, ain’t it.” he said flatly.
“No, no trick. But I think it’s time we all grew up and stopped this ridiculous fighting. You and Paul. Me. It’s time we started acting like neighbors and care for each other instead of hating each other.”
Paul bellowed from inside the truck again. “Don’t talk to ’er, Neal. Ya know she’s full hatin’ on us. I’m warnin’ ya, bub.”
“I did feel something wrong for you — I’m not sure it was really hate — but I really don’t anymore.” Her words were true. “I don’t think that’s the way we’re supposed to act. Do you?”
Neal responded quickly. “Why ya doin’ this turn around fer now? Why ya’ wanna care now? All a sudden.” His suspicion laced voice questioned her. “If it’s cuz you want us to fix your planes up, well, we don’t have no money to fix nuthin’.” His eyes narrowed. “Why you doin’ this, actin’ all nice?”
“Because. That’s what my dad would do. And he’d do that because that’s what Jesus would do. And those are the footsteps I think, from now on, I’ll follow.”
Paul stuck his head through the open window and called to his brother. “Are you gonna listen to this hog manure, Neal? Come on, grab the kid and let’s git outta here.”
Neal hesitated, keeping his eyes fixed on Hailey. He seemed to be rolling her words around in his mind, half confused, half suspicious. After a while, a sorrowful look came over his face and he cocked his head in her direction.
“No. It’s time to stop all this hatin’ Paul. It’s caused nothin’ but trouble. An’ I’m sick ’n tired of it all.”
“Don’t talk thata way!” Paul demanded.
Hailey felt for a moment that he might jump right through the window and grab hold of his brother. “You know it’s her pa’s fault that our pa got kilt. If her pa hadn’t asked him to get that tractor unstuck out ’o the mud, Pa wouldn’t ’ave fall dead of a heart attack.”
Hailey lowered her eyes. She knew that wasn’t right. And she was certain Neal knew it, too.
“Paul, that’s not ’xactly how it was. It was jus’ his time, that’s all.”
Neal turned to face Hailey. “We’ll fix the plane for ya while you’re gone, Hailey. And we’ll not touch a drink, neither. You got my promise on it.”
“I believe you.” She held a hand out to him. “And as long as the two of you are in church with your mom and Dee, starting this Sunday, I won’t report the vandalism to Sheriff Maxey.”
Neal hesitated but finally nodded. “You got my word on that, too. We’ll be thar.”
Paul threw open the pickup door and then closed it again in a huff. He sank down into the seat with an angry snarl and flapped his arms across his chest.
A few moments later, Hailey was on her way to Cryder, feeling a peace settle over her that she hadn’t felt in a long, long time.
It was going to be a long, long drive to Cryder, she knew. But somehow, flying there didn’t seem the right thing to do.