Page 58 of I Always Will

Hailey’s mind whirled. A big deal? Here? At Mash-N-Go? Was Alexandria here to declare her feelings? Was this the moment? Had she spent yesterday preparing for this?

“Eh,” Dan said, waving her off and leaning over the counter to plant a swift kiss on Esme’s lips. Hailey yearned for that with Alexandria.

“It’s just Mum,” he said, looking back at Alexandria. “It’s going to be fine.”

Hailey felt her face go red. Of course it was about her family. She’d been foolish to imagine—to hope—it could be anything else. The way Alexandria had looked at her, the way her helpless heart wanted her… She hadn’t been able to help herself. But Alexandria had other, bigger things happening.

“Daniel,” Alexandria said, her voice stern, alarmed, “you haven’t spoken to Mum and Dad in a week. Mum’s apparently getting divorced and moving out and changing her whole life up, and she’s meeting us to set things right, and you’re this nonchalant about it?”

Dan laughed. “I’m not the one she called at three in the morning yesterday to talk through her divorce and life with. I got more than enough sleep and didn’t have to spend all of yesterday attempting to sort out someone else’s life. So yeah, I’m a little more casual about the whole thing. It’s hardly like this is a surprise, is it? They haven’t been happy for years.”

“Have they not?” Alexandria asked and, even through the world spinning on its axis again, Hailey knew she wasn’t actually surprised about that.

She stared at Alexandria. She’d left because Susan called her? She’d been missing because she was busy with Susan taking her life apart all day? It wasn’t because she was running from Hailey?

Alexandria looked over at her, their eyes catching and holding, a million things passing between them.

It was a little bit about the CDs and the fear of exposing herself. She’d have texted if it hadn’t been. But it wasn’t entirely that. Susan was leaving Richard, and Alexandria was helping her put herself and her life back together again.

And was Susan coming here? Alexandria would be leaving again in a few hours. They didn’t have time for all this. She’d be back in a week, sure, and what was a week after seventeen years, really? But Hailey had already waitedseventeen years. She wanted answers now.

Dan was talking Alexandria's ear off about what he needed to hear from their mum to forgive her, about what was going on with their dad, and on and on about the wedding, when Susan finally appeared and Hailey still didn’t understand what was going on.

As the three of them talked quietly off to the side, Hailey served customers and forced her customer service smile onto her face, all while her brain and her emotions were someplace else entirely.

When the crowd of customers thinned out, Susan approached the tills, her two children flanking her. Alexandria was avoiding looking at Hailey, she was certain of it, but she looked very slightly calmer.

Susan cleared her throat, looking at Esme, who beamed at her. “Hello, Mrs. Daley. It’s so nice to see you. How are you doing? I hear you’re getting divorced. I’m sorry that’s happening to you.”

Susan took a steadying breath. “Esme, I’m sorry for failing to be as excited as I could have been for your wedding. I was projecting my own feelings about my marriage onto you and Daniel, and that wasn’t fair. I do worry about how fast you’re getting married, but I know now that pushing the idea of the traditional white wedding and waiting longer was not the way to manage those fears. That timeline and those events aren’t what you or Daniel want, and they don’t suit who you are as people. I apologise for all of the hurt I caused and, if you would be willing to have me, I would be honoured to attend your wedding next weekend.”

Esme looked from Susan to Dan, slightly bewildered. “I didn’t actually realise that’s why you were doing it. I just thought it was because you were older and old people are really attached to white weddings.”

There was a moment of shock before everyone laughed. It was such an Esme response.

Hailey caught Alexandria’s eye mid-laugh and felt that connection between them again. It was part of the foundation of who she was. Alexandria Daley had snuck into the very fabric of her twenty-four years ago and never left. She wondered whether Alexandria felt the same way about her. She hoped she did.

Esme looked around. “What are you all laughing at?”

Dan leant over the counter and kissed her. “Only how perfect and wonderful you are.”

“Oh. You too,” she grinned.

They really were so right for each other. Life might be long and marriage could be tough, it wasn’t something Hailey would recommend rushing into, but she felt like these two just might defy the odds and make it.

“And you’re definitely welcome at the wedding,” Esme said, smiling at Susan.

Susan’s shoulders relaxed at the same time Alexandria’s did. It was kind of cute to see.

“Is Mr. Daley going to be coming too?” Esme asked and they both tensed up again.

Dan reached out to take her hand. “We’re not really sure. Dad’s being a bit… stubborn right now. But he’s got a week, so we’ll see how it goes.”

“Oh, I hope he comes around,” she said, frowning slightly. “It’s no way to live, being stubborn and holding grudges and missing important events. It will never make you happy.”

For someone so innocent, Esme couldn’t half be insightful. Life was too short not to try everything in the world to live it happily.

Alexandria would be leaving in a few hours and, given everything happening with her family and the wedding, it was looking less and less likely that Hailey was going to get a minute with her. And she’d need more than a minute for the conversation they needed to have. But she couldn’t leave it another week, either.

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