Hailey took a deep breath and nodded. I knew that she was on board. The weight of telling her I had a son was off my shoulders and had gone better than anticipated. I couldn’t imagine that things would go so smoothly with my mother, though. She would be furious that I’d kept things from her, possibly even enraged if I didn’t fix things fast with Stacy.
“So, what’s your plan?” Jackson asked. “Are you just going to send Hailey in there and hope that she can convince a gun-shy mother to sign over her soul to the Wheeler family carnival?”
“Of course not. I don’t want Stacy to do anything she doesn’t want. I just need someone who she knows to advocate for me. Maybe I’m a terrible guy, and I just don’t see it.”
“You aren’t a terrible guy,” Jackson said. “Sure, you aren’t the greatest catch, but I keep telling the ladies, I’m off the market now, so second best will have to do.”
Hailey rolled her eyes as she playfully slapped Jackson. “Sure, sweetheart, you are God’s gift to woman. I always wanted a gift that snored and left his socks lying around.”
“Ouch, queen bee stings again,” Jackson joked.
“Have you ever stopped to think that maybe you just aren’t what she wants, and you need to accept that?” Hailey asked.
Jackson and I both glared at her. The notion of not being the one for Stacy struck me as both aggravating and infuriating. Deep in my heart, I knew that we were supposed to be together. I was almost certain it had been that way from the very first second I’d met her. Of course, I’d wanted things to go differently, but now that I had her somewhat in my life, I didn’t want to let go.
“Why would you think that?” I asked. “Did she say something?”
“Well, no. She also didn’t seem very interested in you when I brought you up at the party. OF course, maybe she was just trying to play it cool given you are her baby daddy.”
“Oh god,” I groaned. “Please don’t say it like that. I really care about her.”
“We know you do,” Hailey said. “So, you just want me to talk to Stacy and find out where she stands on your, correct?”
“Pretty much, but the faster you can do it, the better. I don’t think my mom is going to wait around for answers like she said.”
“I don’t blame her,” Hailey added.
We both glared at her.
“What? Come on, I would be just as worried if one of our children was acting funny. You know that you’d do some snooping too. Especially if it started messing with the ranch.”
I groaned. “I missed one meeting!”
“You missed your first meeting,” Hailey corrected. “You’ve never missed one before, not through heartbreak or mergers or jetlag. But you still missed one, and now you won’t tell your mother why. So, of course, she’s going to worry.”
“Are you going to help me or not?” I asked.
Hailey moved from where she was sitting next to Jackson on the sofa and plopped down on my chair's arm, pulling me into a bear hug around my neck. I wrapped my arms around her and sighed. With my only sister being years younger than me, we’d never bonded. Hailey had stepped into the role of that older sister without missing a beat. She was just what I needed in a friend.
“Of course,” She said. “It wasn’t even a question. We will get this all figured out, then you and Jackson can go back to driving me nuts in other ways. I notice my fencing still hasn’t been fixed?”
“Well, it’s getting late,” I joked.
Hailey laughed. “I’ll stop into her shop in the morning and talk with her. Maybe then you’ll have a sense of what direction to go.”
“Thank you,” I told her. “It means the world to me.”
“I know. If she weren’t special, I wouldn’t be doing it. I think you crazy kids might just have a chance, though. Plus, it keeps your mom off my back.”
We all laughed. We talked for a little while longer before they disappeared back down the private road to their farm. It felt like a weight had been lifted. I was still a bit upset that my mother had gone behind my back. Picking up my phone to call her, I saw a missed call from Stacy. Mentally kicking myself, I quickly dialed her number, but it went straight to voicemail. It was late.