Sometimes it pays to lie...to Kalen.

I sat propped up against the headboard, trying to keep my eyes open. I'd held my cell phone in my hand since I'd gone to bed, awaiting Hailey's text message. I glanced at the clock and noted with disdain that it was a little before midnight. Hailey said earlier that she had to work the next day, and I figured that she must've been having a great time if she wasn't home yet. I couldn't help but feel a bit anxious about that. Who was entertaining her?

I nearly cleared the bed by six inches when my phone vibrated.

Home safe and sound.

Have a good time?

They were a rowdy group. Alicia was as you described.

s.h.i.t! She was there. I chewed the inside of my cheek.

I put her in her place. Hailey wrote before I could respond.

Thank you for letting me know that you made it in. I'm coming home tomorrow. We arrive at three.

Hailey's reply was immediate. Is something wrong? I thought you'd stay longer.

Dad and Mom are fine. Kalen is missing her hubby and is ready to get back.

Then you should be in bed. Your flight is probably early.

You should be, too.

See you tomorrow then. Sweet dreams.

My dreams would be anything but sweet. Images of Alicia coming on to Hailey like a freight truck were already flashing

10.

*through my mind, then Alicia telling Hailey in lurid detail what we'd done.

The next morning, Kalen and I were aboard a plane full of a group of teens who seemed to have had energy drinks for breakfast. For a church group, they were high on something, and I wasn't sure it was the Lord. Kalen listened to their conversations as we sat on the tarmac, shaking her head. When she turned to me, her eyes were wide. "If my kid behaves like any of these, I'm not going to make it through the teen years. Why don't you keep him or her until they're twenty-five?"

"I'm moving to Canada when your offshoot hits p.u.b.erty. I remember what you were like at that age, and these kids pale in comparison."

Kalen waved her hand in my face. "New topic, this one is making me queasy. You've been texting a lot. Are you and Marci still talking?"

Lie to her! My brain screamed. S top that bouncing leg.

"We're not going to see each other again, remember?" I crossed my legs as best as I could in my cramped seat.

"Then who is it?" Kalen raised a brow as I tried to meet her stare."I have friends."

Kalen's eyes narrowed. "Stop being evasive. Who were you texting with? And who did you call while on the beach?"

Both of my legs started jumping then. Change the subject, my brain ordered. Do something with those legs, for Pete's sake! "You said you were going to take a nap. Did you lie so you wouldn't have to clean the kitchen?"

Kalen leaned in closer. "Who?"

"Hailey."

Kalen's mouth twisted. "You're playing with fire, little sister, and you're going to get burned."

"You've made up your mind without ever meeting her. I don't think she's the monster you believe she is."

"Shannon." Kalen caressed my arm. "I don't mean to be such a downer. I'm just trying to protect you. Think about the things

10.

*you've told me. She cheated on her husband, and she conveniently neglected to mention that it was her you were chatting with online until you busted her." Kalen tugged on my arm until I looked at her. "You've really been coming out of your sh.e.l.l lately. I don't want to see you get hurt and start living like a hermit again."

I nodded and looked out the window as our plane began barreling down the tarmac. Hearing it all laid out like that did cast Hailey in a disparaging light. But Kalen didn't know Hailey like I knew her, well, like I thought I knew her.

"Shannon?" Something in Kalen's tone made me face her. "I think I'm going to be sick."

We both began digging in the pockets of the seats in front of us for a barf bag. I nearly broke Kalen's nose as I shoved one in her face. She missed anyway.

When I was allowed to get up from my seat, I soaked the miniscule bathroom, trying to rid myself of the stench of bacon and eggs. I was nearly sick a couple of times, too. I repeated the process on our layover in Atlanta and emerged from the bathroom looking like I'd wet my pants. Kalen was nice enough to buy me a sweatshirt to change into, but we had no time to search for pants.

She apologized all the way from the airport and was still begging my forgiveness when I was tempted to put my foot in her chest and shove her from my car when we arrived at her house.

The high side was that the subject of Hailey didn't come up again.

I could torment myself on that one without Kalen's a.s.sistance.

I looked at my watch as I entered the courtyard and was relieved to see that it wasn't quite five. I figured that I'd beaten Hailey home from work and wouldn't have to greet her smelling like vomit. I was wrong. She was in her usual spot on the bench.

"Hey, welcome home," Hailey said with a bright smile that faded the minute I got within a foot of her. Even Fuzzy appeared put off by my odor.

"I know I reek," I said, keeping my distance. "Kalen got sick the minute we left the ground in Miami."

"I was going to ask you to dinner, but I just lost my appet.i.te,"

Hailey said as she fanned her grinning face.

10.

*That invitation would've thrilled me before the conversation with Kalen. Now I stood mute, pondering a comeback.

"I'm just teasing," Hailey said as her expression turned serious. "You're probably tired and just want to relax."

"It was a h.e.l.lacious flight," I tried to explain. "Can I take a rain check?"

Hailey looked disappointed but recovered quickly. "Sure, go shower. We'll get together another night."

I smiled as best I could and kept my distance as I made my way to the door. I heard Hailey and Fuzzy come in behind me, and I turned to look at them. "You may not want to ride up in the elevator with me." I gestured to the stain on my pants.

Fuzzy looked as though she agreed wholeheartedly. The ball clamped between her jaws was not rubbed on my pants.

Hailey pursed her lips. "Good point. We'll take the stairs."

I put my jeans into the washer, then turned it off when the tub filled to let them soak and went straight to the shower. As I washed the rank smell from my body, I thought about Hailey and the way she looked when I declined dinner. I hated to disappoint her, but Kalen's words floated around in my brain, filling me with doubt.

I felt like there was something good between us. Something we could build on, but then I'd hear Kalen's voice warning of disaster. I was in deep thought when I got out of the shower and heard my cell phone chime in the bedroom. Wrapped in a towel, I retrieved it and read Hailey's message. Is something bothering you? Why did I have to be surrounded by intuitive women? Couldn't they just be dumb like me? And speaking of dumb, I responded without thinking. I think we should talk, but not tonight. How about dinner tomorrow night?

Hailey's reply was slow in coming. I think I understand. Some things are better left unsaid. Let's just leave it at that.

My heart sank. I called her and waited until her voicemail picked up. "Please don't do this, Hailey. I...I don't want to talk via voicemail and text messages. Please call me." She didn't return 110.

*my call, nor did she answer my text messages. With a head full of wet hair, I pulled on a pair of sweats and marched down to her apartment. She didn't answer my knock.

I pressed my face between the door and the facing. "This is usually said of me, but don't you think this is a bit childish?"

"She's not home."

I turned to see Kevin, the maintenance man. He'd been standing a few feet away the whole time with a paintbrush in his hand. He jutted his chin toward the elevator. "She left about ten minutes ago with her dog and what looked like an overnight bag.""Umm, thanks," I said before taking the stairs up to my place.

111.

Chapter 17.

a.s.sumptions make an a.s.s...

I awoke the next morning and checked my phone. No messages from Hailey and no voicemail. I sent her another text message asking for a chance to talk. It went unanswered.

I switched on the TV for something to take my mind off of her while I waited for an answer that I figured would never come.

A used car commercial caught my attention. I glared at it as it summed up my life.

Are you looking for a girlfriend? Someone to fill those lonely nights and warm your heart, as well as your bed? Hurry in now and trade your peaceful albeit empty life for one of our slightly used models. You'll be cruising along life's highway in no time.

Of course, they always forgot to mention in those commercials that your new ride will be slightly damaged, confusing to operate, and sometimes will leave you stranded on life's highway-alone and wondering why everything came to a screeching halt.

I just didn't have it in me to browse the lot any longer. I'd found the one I wanted, but it seemed that I'd gotten caught up in the flashy exterior and neglected to see if I was investing in a lemon.

You always hear of people having epiphanies. One morning they wake up and have a moment of clarity. I thought I was having one of my own. I'd been so focused on having someone to share my life with that it made me kind of pathetic. "Love me, love me, please pick me and complete my life." I suddenly had a mental 112.

*image of myself as a pooch in the pound barking and pawing at my cage door as prospective owners came looking. Well, s.h.i.t on that!I threw the covers back and jumped out of bed. Ten minutes tops, I was dressed, my hair was sticking out the back of a ball cap, and I had an apple in my hand for breakfast. I was a woman on the move with my tennis racket tucked under my arm. As briskly as I could manage, I walked to the health club, rented a basket of b.a.l.l.s, and loaded up the machine.

When the first ball shot toward me, I smacked the h.e.l.l out of it, then apologized to the woman on the adjoining court. She rubbed her hip as she glared, and I continued undaunted. I pounded all my frustration away on those b.a.l.l.s until I was drenched with sweat.

"Someone must've really p.i.s.sed you off. I don't think I've ever heard anyone growl like that."

I turned and faced a sporty-looking woman who was probably in her mid-thirties. She was all smiles standing there in her starched white tennis outfit looking like a million bucks. The Shannon who went to sleep the previous night might have been beguiled by the way she looked me over, but today's Shannon was a different breed of cat altogether.

"I'm Sue," she said as she thrust out her hand. "Are you looking for a partner?"

"Well now, that depends," I said haughtily with my hand on my hip. "Do you have road rage? A cat that bites? Did you just leave your husband? Are you looking for a really kinky good time and think I may be interested?"

Sue's eyes bulged and her jaw went slack before she replied, "I'm just looking for a tennis partner."

"Sure you are." I waved my racket. "Start stepping, sister, you're outta luck here."

Sue held her racket in front of her like a weapon and took a step back. I mimicked her stance as if we were about to sword fight. "You're insane," she said as she backed away.

I turned and noticed that the two women playing on the court beside me were standing completely still. The ball in play was bouncing right past the woman that I'd hit earlier.

11.

*"That's right, I'm nuts," I said as I tucked my racket under my arm. As I walked out, I guesstimated how long it would take Sue to get to the front desk and report the raving lunatic she'd just encountered. I exited the side door and never looked back at the club I was certain that I would never be welcome in again.

The song They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-haaa! played through my mind as I walked back to my apartment.