Busted (Promise Harbor Wedding) - By Sydney Somers Page 0,100

on the couch in her gramps’s den, she trudged back to her bed and spent the next three hours tossing and turning, unable to get back to sleep. Right up until she came awake to the sound of hammering.

She rolled over, staring once more through blurry eyes at the clock. It was nearly ten o’clock now.

Dragging the pillow over her head, she rolled back over. She’d already ignored a few phone calls, a couple of them from Jackson, whom she’d foolishly agreed to meet for breakfast. She knew she needed to get it over with and just be perfectly clear that she was not interested in keeping anything going between them.

Last night had shaken her. She hadn’t been fully prepared for their suspect to be someone she knew, let alone someone she saw regularly, interacted with and liked. And she definitely hadn’t been prepared for the intensity of the emotion that nearly knocked her on her butt when Jackson had reached for her.

She could have stayed right there in his arms all night, could have given in to the tears she’d been holding on to, but then she wouldn’t have been able to do her job. It had taken everything inside her to let go of him and do what needed to be done.

And now she had to do it again.

She couldn’t hide from Jackson just because she’d been stupid enough to fall for someone whose life was now on the opposite side of the country.

She’d survived her father’s death, along with the grief and anger and lashing out at the world when she would have given anything for few more minutes with him.

She had made herself understand when Gavin moved away, and focused all her energy on building a career. And she’d done what she had to when things didn’t work out with Eric.

Although the pain of losing Gramps was still fresh, she still had Matt and her mom. And Jackson…

Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest.

She’d find a way through his leaving too. What other choice did she have?

Outside, the hammering continued, and she dragged herself out of bed and to the window. With her view obstructed by the oak tree in the corner of the yard, she walked down the hall to her nan’s sewing room. She brushed the plastic aside and looked down at Bernice pounding a real estate sign into the ground.

For fuck’s sake.

Groaning, she stopped in the bathroom long enough to splash her face with cold water and brush her teeth. Afterward she dressed in clean jean shorts and a white T-shirt and walked out to talk to the pain-in-the-ass real estate agent.

Maybe Bernice hadn’t gotten the memo that the house wasn’t ready yet. Or maybe she was intentionally trying to get on Hayley’s bad side today. It wouldn’t be difficult.

She knew Matt had signed off on the house being listed at Gramps’s request, but had assumed his passing would have slowed the process.

Gavin met her at the bottom of the stairs, looking equally unimpressed with their wake-up call. “Is that Brace-Face Bernice out there?”

Still rubbing her eyes, Hayley nodded, yanked the door open and stopped. Bernice had added a SOLD sign to the hooks hanging beneath her picture and company logo.

What the hell?

The house hadn’t been sold. Hadn’t even been looked at by anyone. How could it have been sold?

“What’s going on?” Hayley crossed the yard separating them.

Bernice looked up, nodding to the guy who’d put the post in the ground. “That’s great, Carl. Thanks.” She turned back to Hayley. “I thought you’d be thrilled. Hope you don’t mind that I put the sign up anyway. Every bit of advertising is good for business.”

Hayley didn’t bother pointing out that it was the last house on a dead-end street. Not exactly a high visibility area.

“We didn’t even show the house. The work isn’t finished.”

Bernice frowned. “I don’t believe the new owner is worried about it being a fixer-upper. Matt’s been looking after all the details if you want to talk to him.”

Recognizing the stubborn tilt of Bernice’s chin, Hayley pivoted back around. “Yeah, I’ll do that.” She’d wanted Matt to handle that side of the sale, but she’d expected him to at least keep her in the loop. Why hadn’t he told her that someone had put in an offer on the house, let alone that he’d accepted it?

The sound of a car pulling up stopped Hayley before she reached the steps.

Her mother emerged from the vehicle, looking more tired than Hayley could remember