Searching for Hailey Bradshaw

Chatper 8

Daniel had planned on sleeping in Saturday morning. But as dawn approached, he found himself wide awake. He'd fallen asleep, thinking about the kiss he'd shared with Heidi. And it was still on his mind when he woke.

This was new for him. He'd never felt so confused, so happy, and so miserable, all at once before. Who'd have thought that some female could get under his skin like this, and a freshman he knew basically nothing about, at that. But those details didn't seem to matter.

She'd gone off like a firecracker in his arms. Good Lord, his Heidi could kiss. He wished she hadn't fled into her room and shut him out so quickly. For the first time in his life, he wanted to talk to a woman and figure out what she thinking, what she was feeling. He didn't like this uncertainty. He wanted to know if Heidi liked him as much as he liked her.

But that sure as heck hadn't happened.

Connell was passed out with one foot still on the floor when he'd returned. So, he'd settled down onto his bed and watched his sleeping brother snore as his head filled with thoughts of Heidi.

She wanted to be with him too. He could see it on her face; sense it in her very being. She was just scared. Well, so was he. This was way more intense than any high school crush he'd ever had. It felt... wow, it felt like the real thing.

Sighing, Daniel crawled out of bed with the sun and took a nice, long shower. Though he kept thinking about Heidi and what his next move should be concerning her, he settled down at his desk and tried to catch up on homework.

Three hours passed before his brother woke with a splitting headache. Connell moaned in distress and stumbled his way into the bathroom where he grumpily slammed the door. Shaking his head, Daniel commenced to ignore him and concentrated on a new journalism assignment.

He'd just finished the rough draft and was saving the article on his laptop, when he glanced at the Hailey Bradshaw file sitting nearby.

Gritting his teeth, he picked it up and flipped the folder open.

The Bradshaw family was obviously hooked on the letter H. Henry and Helen Bradshaw had named their quintuplets Holly, Heath, Hailey, Hugh and Heidi (to which seeing the name Heidi immediately made him recall his late night kiss). Henry Bradshaw was a high school history teacher and Helen, a large animal veterinarian that "healed horses" as the article claimed. Oh, and they had two toy Havanese dogs named Hazel and Hubert.

"How, h...h...Hmm." What was a good H-word he put in there to finish the alliteration he was going for? "Heavenly," he finally muttered as he continued to scan the article he'd found about the family. "Or hokey," he added sullenly. But Good God, he couldn't help but be a little bitter over the fact that he hadn't gotten the information he'd wanted for his article.

"Though Hailey has a scholarship to IUPUI," Daniel read aloud, pausing to snort at that part—because, hey, no one could prove it by him she was actually on campus. "The two oldest quints, Holly and Heath, however, plan on attending Indiana University-Northwest in Gary, Indiana where the family currently resides."

Daniel paused and frowned. Hey, Heidi—his Heidi—was from Gary. He should ask her if she knew the quintuplets the next time he saw her. Maybe she could help him track down the missing Hailey Bradshaw. His friend, Chad, certainly hadn't bothered to return his call yet.

"Lordy," Connell said, cradling his head as he exited the bathroom. "I feel... awful."

"Hey, Con," Daniel said, glancing over his shoulder at his brother. "Has Chad ever returned my call?"