Searching for Hailey Bradshaw

Chapter 16

'Tonight' never seemed to come. Hailey kept waiting for a moment when she was alone with Daniel before she could confess the truth. But he seemed to have other plans. Thinking he was preserving her chastity, he made sure they were always chaperoned by either his brother or her roommate. And so, Hailey didn't get the chance she'd wanted, to talk to him privately.

That Friday, he came down to her room to give her a sheet of paper that had come in the mail to him. It was a crayon-colored picture of a kitten. At the top of the page, in a child's scrawl it read, "To Hidy, From Kerry." Hailey stared at the handmade card and almost started bawling.

"That's so sweet," she managed to say and covered her mouth with her hand.

Daniel shrugged and made a face as he studied the drawing as well. "Sorry she misspelled your name."

Hailey merely shook her head, not mentioning just how truly misspelled it was. She made a big production of finding a piece of tape and pasting the picture above her desk. As Daniel studied the single drawing, his eyes narrowed. He quickly glanced around for other pictures.

"Don't your younger brothers and sisters send you drawings?" he asked, looking a little confused.

Hailey quickly darted a warning glance across the room to where Sasha was sitting on her bed with Tony. The two remained quiet, but they both became suddenly alert to Hailey and Daniel's discussion.

"Uh... no," she finally answered, nervously shoving her hands into her back pockets. "No," she repeated. "They're a little too old for drawing these days." Shrugging helplessly, she sent him a forced smile. "My brothers and sisters and I are a lot closer in age."

Yeah, like only seconds apart.

"Oh," Daniel replied and nodded.

But he still seemed suddenly very interested in her desk area as if looking for signs of her family. But Hailey had all of that paraphernalia tucked away in the bottom drawer of her dresser, right under her winter sweaters.

"Didn't your younger sister send you a picture last week?" Tony spoke up suddenly only to suck in a breath when Sasha elbowed him in the gut.

But, yes, Heidi had sent Hailey a new engagement picture of her and Scott. Turning to give her roommate's boyfriend a glare, Hailey vaguely murmured, "Mm-hmm."

Afraid to face Daniel yet, she kept her back to him and mouthed the words, "What is he doing?" to Sasha. But Sasha looked equally confused by Tony's antics.

"What did you say her name was again? Your youngest sister?" Tony asked.

Realizing he was going to get Hailey into trouble if she and Daniel stayed much longer, Sasha glared at her man as she spoke to her roommate, "Hey, Heidi. Can Tony and I have a moment alone?"

"Sure," Hailey answered, already grabbing Daniel's hand. "Let's go to your room."

Frowning in confusion, he glanced toward Sasha and Tony and back to her. "Umm, okay," he answered and he good-naturedly followed as led Hailey lead him away. But once in the hallway, he pulled her around and eyed her curiously.

"What was that all about?"

Hailey slowed, her mind spinning. "What?" she asked innocently.

"With your roommate and her boyfriend."

"Oh. They're... They're fighting."

His eyebrows rose. "About you and your sister?" he asked in disbelief.