The Art of Starting Over

Hayden had all but fallen asleep when his phone startled him. He answered groggily and rubbed his eyes clear.

“Hey, it’s Colt. Can you come down to the pub?”

“Uh, what time is it?” Hayden pulled the phone away from his ear and looked. It was almost midnight. He had fallen asleep after spending all day working with Link. They were close to finishing the framing on Hayden’s house. It had also been hot out earlier, and he was certain he hadn’t drunk enough water. After his shower, he’d collapsed on his bed and fallen right to sleep.

“Late. Look, my sister’s down here, and things aren’t pretty. I’d call my dad, but he’s with Maren, and I don’t want to call one of his deputies.”

“What’s wrong with Dev?”

“I’m not exactly sure. She said something about a piece of shit and started drinking. I’m assuming this has something to do with Chad.”

Hayden groaned. He liked Devorah. A lot. He was ready for more, but she wasn’t, and he wasn’t willing to push her. Devy didn’t even have to tell him. He could sense it from her. And he was okay with that. Besides, he had enough things to keep his time occupied with building his house and making sure Conor was fitting in.

“Yeah, I’ll be down in a minute,” he told Colt and then hung up. Hayden sat, ran his hand through his hair, and sighed. In the time he’d spent with Devorah, she hadn’t drunk a thing other than water and soda. He figured she didn’t drink or didn’t want to give Chad something to use against her. Hayden respected her choice. Applauded her for it.

After Sofia passed away, Hayden had spent three nights on a bender, trying to numb his thoughts. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw his wife, the tree, the damage it had done to her, and Sofia’s cousin, standing on the side of the road, sobbing. If it wasn’t for Conor, Hayden would still be drunk.

He pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, slipped on his cowboy boots, and hopped into his truck, only to get out and decide to walk to the Lazy Lamb. If Devorah was drunk, he’d prefer to walk her home from the pub so she could get some fresh air.

The Lazy Lamb was a hot spot, which surprised Hayden. Maybe he was just too old for any type of nightlife. He opened the door and found the place packed. There wasn’t an empty seat in the entire place. People stood three to four deep around the bar or lingered where their friends sat. Music played from the back, where the arcade and meeting room were.

Hayden walked the length of the bar, peering between people until he spotted Devy sitting at the end, next to some man who looked pretty into her. A bout of jealousy bubbled in his gut. He pushed it down. He had no right to be jealous. Devy could speak to or flirt with anyone she wanted. Even though Hayden wanted it to be him.

He worked his way through the crowd, bumping shoulders and jostling other body parts until he’d made it to the end of the bar. Hayden held his finger up, and the other bartender came over.

“What can I get you?” she asked.

“Water. On the rocks,” he said, trying to be funny.

The bartender didn’t laugh. The bar was busy, and the water meant no tip. Hayden threw a five-dollar bill down and got a smile in return.

He stood there for a minute, sipping his water and waiting for Devorah to notice him. When it didn’t happen fast enough, he slipped next to her free side and touched her hip. She turned and looked. Her glazed eyes took him in, inch by inch. A smile spread across her face when she met his penetrating stare.

“You’re really hot,” she said, slurring her words. “Like, really, really hot.”

Hayden returned her smile.

“Hey, man,” the other guy said as loud as he could.

Hayden leaned forward, pretending to give a rat’s ass about what he had to say.

“We’re sort of together,” the guy said, which made Hayden’s blood boil.

“Yeah, I don’t think so, buddy. She’s not going home with you.”

“I beg to differ.”

“The only thing you’re going to beg for is mercy when I kick your ass. She’s drunk, now get lost.” Hayden motioned for him to scram. The man opened his mouth to say something but seemed to think better of it when Hayden set his water down. He threw some money onto the table and left. Hayden sat in the now-empty chair.

“What’s going on, Devy?”

She cupped his cheek and leaned toward him. “Hi, Hayden.”

“Hey. You doing good?”

She nodded, and then her lower lip quivered. “I hate him.”

“I know you do,” he said. “I think we all do. Why don’t we head outside for some fresh air?”

She nodded as he helped her off the barstool. He motioned for the bartender to come over. “If she has a tab, tell Colt. He’ll take care of it.”

“Got it.”

Hayden held on to Devy tightly and maneuvered their way through the crowd. At the door, she pulled him toward her.

“Wanna dance?”

“Another night,” he told her as he pushed the door open. As soon as they were outside, she started crying.

“He had sex with my best friend and humiliated me,” she said as she hiccupped.

“Yeah, that was a pretty shitty thing to do.” Hayden held her hand as they walked toward Crow’s.

“Men are pigs.”

That stung, even though she knew not all men were like Chad. Despite her strained relationship with her father growing up, Crow had always set a damn fine example of how men should act.

“Not all men cheat, Dev.”

“Do you?”

He shook his head. “I would never.”

“He wants us to move back to Chicago, and so does Maren.”

Hayden’s heart twisted at hearing those words. He didn’t want Devy and Maren to leave.

“Chad said things would be easier for him. For him.” She all but spat the word out. “Better for our daughter.”

“Divorce is messy,” Hayden said, even though he had no idea. His parents were still married, and both sets of his grandparents had still been married when they passed away. He had friends whose parents had divorced, but he’d never experienced it firsthand.

“Maren doesn’t like it here,” she said, almost crying. “What’s not to like?” Devorah twirled and held her arms out. “She can be Pearl of the Ocean if she wants.” She stopped, swayed, and looked at Hayden. “I don’t want to move back. I want to stay in OB and just be me. I don’t want to be a Stepford wife or see them together.”

“You don’t have to. Maren will adjust. It’s only been a month. With everything going on, these things take time.” He wrapped his arm around her waist.

“He’s pissed I went on a date with you. He said I should’ve known better. Are you bad news?”

What in the actual fuck?

They weren’t dating, and even if they were, Chad had left her. He’d chosen another woman over her. What was she supposed to do, pine for him until the end of time?

“No, Dev. I’m not bad news.”

She stopped walking and began crying. “He’s mawipulating my daughter.” Her words slurred. “Asking about me. Pretending to care so he can tell me what do to. And she tells him because she loves him. He knows this and uses her.”

Hayden pulled her into his arms. “She’s a child. Maren didn’t do it to hurt you. She loves you, Devy, and doesn’t understand what’s going on. All she knows is her life got uprooted one day. If it’s a lot for an adult to process, imagine being nine.” Hayden expected that Chad had prodded the information out of Maren.noveldrama

“I have to stop him from hurting her.”

Hayden couldn’t agree more.

“Come on, let’s get you back to Crow’s.” He put his arm around her to keep her upright. After another block, she slumped against him. Hayden lifted her into his arms and carried her the rest of the way. It was a good thing he’d been slinging tools lately and had built up his strength.

When they arrived at Crow’s, he was standing on the porch waiting for them. “The light’s on upstairs. Take her on up.”

Hayden expected to find Maren waiting, but her door was closed, as was the shared door to the bathroom. Honestly, he didn’t know if he’d say anything to her. As it was, he was pretty hurt by what Devorah had told him.

He laid her down on her bed, slipped her shoes off, and pulled the blanket over her. Before he left, he brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. “Please don’t leave,” he whispered to her.

Downstairs, he found Crow outside, rocking in the chair.

“That husband of hers said some things on the phone, which put her in a precarious position with Maren. She wants to blame her, when it’s Chad’s fault. He’s a piece of work and is intent on destroying what spirit she has left or has built up since she returned to OB.”

“He’s gaslighting her and using Maren to further his agenda.”

Crow nodded. “I spoke with Maren after Devorah left. Stressed the importance of keeping her conversations with her dad about herself. She’s old enough to stand up to her father. I wish there was something I could do.”

“I think . . . ,” Hayden started and then paused. “I think we have to be on her side. That’s all she needs right now. To know she has people who support her. We can’t even pretend to know how she feels. Her world is upside down. People talk about her constantly. The woman she thought was her best friend betrayed her in the worst possible way. Devy needs the people around her to stick up for her.”

Crow glanced at Hayden. “I’ll do better,” he said gruffly. “I want to do better for her.”

“That’s all she wants, and from what I’ve seen, you already have,” he said as he headed down the stairs.

“Hayden?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Since the kids have a baseball game tomorrow, what do you say me, you, Conor, and the old man go fishing after?”

“We’d love to. See you in a few hours, Crow.”

The next morning, Hayden and Conor showed up at the ballpark with a giant thermos of coffee, just for Devy. Hayden figured she would need it once the noise level increased. When he came to where she sat, she looked up at him, with dark sunglasses on. He set his chair next to her and sat with a sigh. Cordelia, not to be forgotten, stood and rested her head on Hayden’s leg until he’d given her enough attention.

“I’m sorry,” she said right off. “Chalk it up to another embarrassing moment in Devorah Campbell’s life.”

“Crowley,” he said.

“What?”

Hayden shrugged. “I don’t know. I think you should use Crowley. It sounds better.”

A small smile appeared, but not for long. “Theo asked me if I wanted to change my name back, and I said I didn’t know. Mostly because of Maren. I guess it doesn’t matter, if we go back to Chicago.”

His heart twisted again.

He could tell her how he felt. How he wanted to date her and really get to know her. That he loved spending time with her and Maren. Conor did as well. Or he could sit back and let her make what he felt would be the worst decision of her life.

Nope.

He reached for her hand. Not giving a shit what others thought. If Devorah didn’t want to hold his hand, she’d let him know.

She squeezed his hand and smiled.

“Giving in to what Chad wants isn’t how you should live your life, Dev. You have a good thing going here. You and Laila are friends again. Your dad is cooking dinners. All you’ve ever wanted from him is an effort, and he’s giving you that. Do you want to leave him?”

“Not really.”

“So tell Chad no. You don’t need to move to make things easier for him. It should be the other way around.”

“I don’t want him to move here.”

Hayden laughed. “No one does. Although I’d love to see what the Crafty Cathys do to him.”

“Me too.”

And Crow. If he had his way, Chad would end up in the slammer for the night.

“Maren wants to move back.”

Hayden nodded. “I’m sure Conor wants to move back to Wyoming, because that’s what he knows. Kids like things to be easy. People move all the time. Kids adjust. She hasn’t been here very long, and her father is yapping in her ear about how much he misses her. If I had to bet, I’d put money on Chad telling her she wants to move back.” He shook his head and looked out to the field, where Maren and a couple of boys were tossing the ball back and forth.

“Has Maren told you she wants to leave?”

Devorah shrugged. “After I got off the phone with him, I asked her. She misses her friends, which I get.”

“And she’d spoken to him beforehand?”

Devy sighed. “Yeah, I think so. Although I don’t know when he’s calling.”

“As much as I hate the guy, at least he’s calling her.”

“There’s that.”

“Look at her, Devy. Does she look like a kid who hates it here?”

Maren stood among her teammates, laughing. Conor stood next to her, doing the same. To anyone watching them, they looked like happy, well-adjusted children.

“No, she doesn’t.”

“At least take that into consideration before you make a decision. And if you decide to go back to Chicago, let me or Colt help you. I don’t want you making that trip alone.”

Devorah nodded and leaned into his arm as it extended over her chair. She squeezed his hand again.

Hayden leaned over and pulled Devy’s sunglasses down a bit. “You owe me.”

“Oh God. Did I puke on you last night?”

He smiled as her eyes widened. “No, I’m only teasing.”

“I’ll make it up to you,” she told him.

“Oh yeah? How?”

“Dinner, or I’ll wash your truck.”

“Dinner it is.”

Crow and Colt, along with Lee and Darcy, joined them right before the game started. The six of them cheered until their throats went raw. Each time Conor or Maren came up to the plate to bat, Hayden and Devy went quiet. With every pitch and every swing, Devy would grip Hayden’s arm, while his heart did somersaults.

When the last out was called, the six of them cheered wildly, along with the other parents and grandparents. Oyster Bay had won the game.

Maren and Conor ran toward them, laughing.

“Mom, did you see my hit?” Maren asked.

“I did! It went so far. You ran really fast,” Devy said.

“Did you see my hit?” Conor asked.

Hayden held his hand up for a high five. “Great hit, bud. You ready to go fishing?”

“You’re going fishing?” Devy asked as she looked at Hayden, then at her dad, both nodding. “Oh.”

“We won’t be gone long. Home by dinner,” Crow said.

“Well, it looks like it’s just us,” Devy said to Maren. “These guys are going to go catch dinner.”

Maren’s face scrunched. “Fish is gross.”

“Corn dogs for you then.”

“Can I have corn dogs?” Conor asked.

Devy looked at Hayden and laughed. “We still need to go to Hank’s Fish Fry!”

“Next weekend, for sure!”

“Maren and I will go to the store and grab a few things for dinner. Darcy, would you like to join us?”

Hayden’s eyes widened in surprise as he stared from Dev to his mom.

“I’d be honored. I’ve wanted to spend some time getting to know your daughter.” Darcy came over and put her hand on Maren’s shoulder. “Come on, we’ll use Grandpa Lee’s credit card and buy up the entire store. Tell me, Maren,” Darcy said as they started walking. “Do you like chocolate chip cookies?”

“I love them.”

“Me too!”

The men stood there and watched as the women left them at the park. Lee sighed, shook his head, and looked at the others. “Happy wife, happy life. Now come on—the boat is gassed up, and I’m ready to drop a line or two.”