SWNOVELS Finding Hayes: Chapter 3
“Open the goddamn door, Sav,” I said for the third time.
Seeing her upset had always done strange things to me.
I heard the click of the lock, and I pulled the door open. It was cold as hell outside, and she’d left twenty minutes ago, so she must be freezing if she’d been sitting out here in a car with no heat.
Crying.
Savannah Abbott was crying.
I could count on one hand how many times she’d cried in all the years I’d known her.
She was always a bright light, even when shit was raining down on her. That’s why I’d been so surprised that she’d walked away from me so easily. I hadn’t expected it. Not in a million years.
Maybe I didn’t know her at all.
I bent down, because the sound of her sobs was too much. I placed a hand on her back and moved close to her ear so she could hear me.
“Let me give you a ride, Shortcake. It’s cold out here.”
She gasped a few times before wiping her face and turning to look at me. Honey-brown eyes locked with mine. They were puffy and wounded, and she just shrugged. “It’s just been a day. And now my car broke down. I’m just—”
She didn’t finish the statement.
She didn’t need to.
She was sad and tired, and I understood it.
Without thinking, I shifted forward, sliding one hand beneath her knees and one behind her neck, and I pulled her out of the car.
I expected her to freak out.
Slap me. Yell at me.
But she did none of that. Instead, she just buried her face in the crook of my neck as I carried her to my truck. I set her on the passenger seat, pulled the seat belt across her body, and buckled her in.
She didn’t fight me.
“I need to get my keys and my purse and my suitcase,” she said, her words shaky.
I nodded before moving to the driver’s seat and turning on my truck and cranking the heat.
I jogged over to her car and grabbed everything she needed. I noticed her bumper was barely holding on when I opened her trunk, and I knew this car was old as shit and on its last leg. By the condition of it, I guessed she didn’t have the finances to put into it yet. This money from Abe would help her, and I was glad he’d left it to her.
I placed her suitcase in the back seat of my truck and climbed into the driver’s seat, handing over her keys and purse.
I drove out toward Abe’s place, and she was quiet as I turned down the dirt road and glanced out at the water on my right, just as I saw her swipe at fresh tears.
“It’s all right to be sad. You were close to him. I’m sure it’s a lot to process.” I pulled into the long driveway and made my way toward the old farmhouse.
“His dream was to renovate this place someday. He wanted me to come do it, and we talked about how we’d do it together one day.”
I put the truck in park and turned to look at her. “Did you say that’s what you do for a living?”
“Yes. I’m an interior designer. I’ve flipped a few homes on the side for myself. But my day job is designing for clients. Or at least, it was. I was working for a big firm in the city. But I lost my job a few weeks ago. So, yeah,” she said, her voice starting to quake again. “My life is a mess. I’m jobless, and I just agreed to let my apartment go at the end of the month because I’m broke.”
“Well, you’ve got a home here now and an inheritance worth plenty of money to cover your expenses in the city,” I said, reaching into the center console for some napkins and handing them to her.
“Yeah, sure. I’ve got it for thirty days, and then they’ll take it all away.” She shrugged.
“Remember the words you painted on your bedroom wall in high school? One day at a time. Isn’t that your mantra?”
She ignored me, staring out the window.
“Come on, Sav. It’s me. You can talk to me. Peas and carrots, remember?”
“Some days are harder than others. And yes, it’s permanently on my skin, so of course, I remember.” She tugged off her pink mitten and held up her wrist for me to see the tiniest tattoo of a carrot there.
I traced my thumb along the ink before she pulled away quickly, sliding her mitten back in place.
“Why’d you lose your job?”
“Because this client was inappropriate with me. He was much older than I was. The guy was married and very wealthy,” she said, as she glanced out the window, watching the falling snow. “I told my boss that I wasn’t comfortable working with him, and a week later, I was fired.”
“That’s fucked up. What did the guy do? And why didn’t you sue the asshole for firing you?”
She looked back at me. “I’m tired, Hayes. I don’t want to talk about everything that has gone wrong in my life with a man I barely know anymore. Thank you for the ride.”
Shots fired.
I wasn’t going to remind her that she’d been the one to walk away from me. I’d tried to reach out to her many times after she’d left—an embarrassing number of times. She’d clearly wanted nothing to do with me.
But now wasn’t the time or the place to bring that up. She was grieving the loss of a man she loved.
I pushed out of the truck and grabbed her suitcase from the back seat, just as she was coming around to get her luggage.
“Here, I can take that.”
“I’ve got it,” I said.
“I don’t need your help, Woody!” she shouted. “I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
“Stop being a stubborn ass. Your car broke down. You have no job. You just inherited millions of dollars and found out that you need to find a husband in the next few weeks. A man you loved is being buried tomorrow.” White snow covered the top of her head, and I leaned forward. “You. Need. Help. Let me carry your goddamn bag inside and make sure the heat is working, and then I’ll leave.”
She whipped around and huffed toward the front door.
“The driveway hasn’t been shoveled, so it’s probably pure ice,” I grumped, just as she lost her footing and started skidding toward the front porch.
But in typical Savannah fashion, she righted herself, did some sort of spin, and then threw her hands in the air like she was saluting the judges after a skating routine. “Remember that time I wanted to be a professional ice skater?”
I chuckled as she made her way up the steps and paused when she got to the door, searching for the right key. It was dark and difficult to see, so I pulled my phone out and turned on the flashlight.
“Thank you,” she said, as she put the key in the door and pushed it open.
She flipped on the lights, and I was surprised that it was warm inside, but the place was a mess. Her eyes widened as she took it in. The old wallpaper throughout the entry was faded and peeling, and several wood floorboards had been pulled up. I followed her deeper into the house, and when she turned the lights on in the kitchen, she groaned. There were dirty dishes piled in the sink, the oven was old and rusted, and the whole place appeared to be in a time warp. Renovating would be a huge undertaking.
“Well, at least it’s sort of a blank canvas. Everything needs to be redone.”
“Are you sure you’re okay staying out here alone?”
“In this mansion?” She quirked a brow and chuckled. “Yeah. It’s warm, and the electricity works, which is more than I can say about my apartment in the city at the moment. I’ll be fine. Thank you for the ride.”
I nodded, feeling uncomfortable about her staying out here alone. It might be grand, but it was a fucking mess.
“All right. Let me just walk through the house and check all the rooms, okay?”
She sighed. “Fine. Let’s go together.”
We made our way through the formal dining room that was as dated as the rest of the place. The living room had no furniture in it anymore, as Abe was clearly only using the small den off the kitchen to watch TV. The rest of the house was similar. Seven of the eight bedrooms were practically bare. Like he’d gotten rid of the furniture, but never got around to replacing it.
“Looks like me and my future hubby will have our work cut out for us fixing this place up,” she said, as she turned around and waggled her brows at me with a laugh.
That was Sav. She’d just lost it in the car, and her world was crumbling around her, but she was cracking jokes now and making the best of the fact that she was staying in this scary-as-fuck house alone.
Some people were glass-half-full people. Others were glass half empty.
Savannah Abbott’s glass had always been overflowing.
But I didn’t know her anymore, and I’d seen cracks in that exterior already tonight.
She was trying to hold it together. And she didn’t need to do that on my account.
“You’ve got my number if you need anything. Just text me. Unless you deleted me, seeing as you haven’t used it in a long time.”
“I’m fairly certain you’re still blocked.” She smirked. “But if someone tries to murder me during the night, I’ll unblock you if I’m desperate.”
She fucking blocked me?
“Good to know that you’re willing to unblock me if you’re being murdered.” I walked toward the front door, still trying to wrap my head around the fact that she’d really wanted to be done with me when she left all those years ago.
“Desperate times and all that,” she said, pausing at the front door. “Thank you for the ride. I really do appreciate it.”
“How will you get your car in the morning?”
“I’m a very resourceful girl, remember?” She shrugged, and then her gaze softened. “I’ll Uber to the funeral and deal with the car after.”
I wanted to offer her a ride, but I stopped myself. She’d made it clear she didn’t want my help, or maybe she just didn’t want to be around me at all.
I nodded. “All right. I’ll see you there.”
“Sure. Thanks for the ride. Get home safely.” She pulled the door open and nearly bumped into me, trying to get me to leave.
My God. She couldn’t get me out of here fast enough. I leaned down and took a little whiff near my armpit. Maybe I stunk.
Her head fell back in laughter. “You don’t have BO, Woody.”
“What? I know.”
“I know what you’re doing. You used to do that all the time. That little sniff test. And trust me, during your football years, you smelled rancid. I hated getting in the car with you.”
I barked out a laugh as a memory flashed through my mind of the way I used to grab her and shove her head toward my armpit when she’d gripe about my stench after practice.
“I remember. You were very dramatic.” I walked backward out of the house and into the cold. “Lock the doors.”
“Thank you, caveman. I will.”
I turned around and jogged to my truck after she closed the door.
Tonight had been a blast from the past.
Seeing Savannah had brought back a lot of memories. Good and bad.
I turned on the engine and cranked up the heat, rubbing my hands together when my phone vibrated in my pocket for the millionth time.
My best friends and I had an ongoing group chat, and someone was always texting something.
Romeo
I heard Savvy is back in town. Have you seen her, Hayes?
King
That’s who you should have dated all those years ago, instead of that evil, cheating hellion.
River
She’s back for the funeral. Ruby called and asked me to look over the will. Abe left her everything but has some requirements in there that are a little… unusual.
Nash
He left her everything? That’s pretty amazing. It’s great when the good guy wins, you know?
Romeo
Savvy was always nice to everyone. What kind of unusual requirements could he put in the will?
King
Does she have to share the land with the Mexican cartel to bring drugs across the border? Provide a safe house for homeless alpacas? Start a cannabis farm and keep the whole town high as a kite?
Nash
Where do you come up with this shit?
King
The inside of my head is a beautiful place.
River
Well, it’s also a crazy place. None of those things are correct, you crazy fucker. I don’t have the details, so I’m waiting to look over the paperwork on Monday.
Romeo
Have you seen her yet, Hayes? I know it’s been a long time. But you two were tight back in the day.
King
You never once hooked up? All those sleepovers and all that time you spent together?
Nash
He has no reason to lie. He was with Kate. He and Savvy were always just friends.
Romeo
Demi said Savvy stopped into Magnolia Beans, and she went on and on about how stunning Sav is. And she said that she’s just as nice as she always was.
What the fuck is this? An episode of The Bachelor? Why are we talking about this? We were friends, and then we weren’t. I saw her. She seems like she’s doing well. Still hates me for no fucking reason. I’m glad you’re going to help her out, River. She deserves to keep that inheritance.
River
Yeah. I’ll do what I can to help her. It’s not my area of expertise, but I’ll read it over and hopefully, I can help.
Thanks. Nash, do you think you can get your friend, Warner, to help out with a car that needs to be towed and fixed?
Nash
Yes. The dude never sleeps. He’s always working. I’ll send you his info now and you can text him.
Thanks.
King
So… we’re dying to know if Beans is right. Young Savvy was cute back in the day. Is grown-up Savvy hot?
Beans was the nickname we used for Romeo’s wife, Demi. There was a long pause, and I refused to answer his dumbass question.
Nash
He isn’t answering, which means she’s definitely hot.
Romeo
He sure as hell isn’t denying it.
<middle finger emoji>
River
Oh, he’s using emojis. She’s definitely hot.
King
The one who got away is all grown up now. And she’s hot. Our boy doesn’t know what to do with himself.
Your boy is going to kick your ass the next time he sees you. I’m heading home. I’ll see you at Abe’s funeral tomorrow.
King
You sure will. And we’ll all be seeing Savvy there, as well. <heart eyes emoji>
I sent a quick text to Warner about getting Savannah’s car towed from Whiskey Falls bar. She may not want to see me, but I was fairly certain she didn’t have the money to fix that piece-of-shit car of hers right now. We had a history. She was going through a hard time. The least I could do was help her out with her car.
We were friends once, after all.
And that’s what friends do.