Chapter 8


"Haley…sorry to say this, Squirt. But I think you've been stood up."

Haley's brown eyes continued to search the sandy beach. "No," she disagreed. "She said she'd be here. She promised. Sheridan wouldn't do this to me. I know she wouldn't," she mumbled.

Miguel squeezed her shoulders. "Look…Haley…I know you wanted her to be the one' You really liked her. But it looks like…"

"Haley! I'm so sorry I'm late! You'll never guess what happened to me," Sheridan waved breathlessly.

Haley's entire face lit up, and her nose crinkled in that odd way of hers. "Sheridan! I knew you wouldn't let me down," she cried, hugging her.

"Of course not, Silly," Sheridan laughed. Noticing they weren't alone, she held out her hand to Miguel and introduced herself, "Hi! I'm Sheridan. Nice to meet you…"

"Miguel," Miguel helpfully supplied.

"Sheridan…this is my uncle," Haley said proudly.

"Wow! This is your uncle," Sheridan grinned. "Cute," she teased.

Haley snickered when Miguel actually blushed.

Haley spread Sheridan's soft blue blanket out on the sand and promptly plopped down.

Miguel laughed in embarrassment when she pulled him down beside her.

"So…tell us," Haley encouraged.

"Tell you what?" Sheridan asked distractedly as she opened up her beach bag and withdrew twin pairs of shades. "Here. I got you these," she smiled. "Sorry I don't have any for you, Miguel," she apologized. "But then…I didn't know I'd have the pleasure of meeting you today."

"Quit staring," Haley hissed, punching him in the gut.

"Ow! That's okay," Miguel grinned.

"What happened, Sheridan? Why were you late?" Haley got them back on track.

Sheridan's blue eyes narrowed. "Can you believe it? Back in Harmony less than a week. And I get a ticket."

"NO!" Haley said in disbelief. What would her dad think? He was an officer of the law, after all. Very by the book.

"Well," Sheridan bowed her head. "I deserved it, I guess. I was speeding," she admitted, a pink tinge to her cheeks as she remembered the incident.

"Speeding? Hear that, Haley? What would Luis think?"

Haley jabbed her elbows in her uncle's ribs for that little comment.

"Speeding 5 miles over the limit…or speeding 20 miles over the limit?" Haley asked.

Sheridan blushed a deeper hue of red. "Keep going."

Haley's brown eyes grew wide.

"On second thought…you don't even want to know. But it's not like…things weren't so bad until I…" Sheridan trailed off, embarrassed.

"Until you what?" Miguel asked curiously.

"I hit his jeep," Sheridan whispered sheepishly.

"You what?" Haley exclaimed.

"Actually hit…that's too soft a word," Sheridan felt the need to clarify. Her blue eyes were twinkling as she spelled it out for the both of them by using a much more appropriate word. "Try crashed."

"Oh my goodness! This is not good." Her dad…with a…what would he do? Sheridan was on the other side of the law.

"No, it isn't," Sheridan grumbled. "I told him it was an accident. And he was real nice about it…well, as nice as someone can be when a complete stranger smashes into their car—until I told him my name."

Miguel and Haley looked at each other.

"What?" Sheridan asked, offering them each a plump red apple.

"What did he look like?" Haley questioned.

Sheridan's blue eyes glazed over, and a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Well…he had dark hair. Spiky," she laughed.

Miguel's brows raised.

Uh oh, Haley thought. Sounds like…

"…the most amazing brown eyes. A body to…um, too much information for your young ears. Sorry, Haley. Haley? Are you okay?"

Haley dug her toes into the sun-warmed sand. The juice from the apple trickled down her arm unnoticed as she pressed Sheridan for more details. "What was his name? Did he tell you his name?"

"Yeah," Sheridan said. "Why?"

"Um…"

"He told me that and SO much more. Boy did the kind officer have a few choice words for me," Sheridan said sarcastically. "I'm supposed to go down to the police station later today. The jerk couldn't just give me a warning. I didn't have enough cash on me to pay the ticket."

Haley gulped. "His name?"

"Officer Lo-Lopez. No. That's not right. Officer Lopez…it was a long name."

"Lopez-Fitzgerald?" Miguel offered.

"Yes! How did you…do you know him?" Sheridan asked.

Miguel chuckled.

"What? What am I missing here?"

Haley jumped to her feet and started pacing back and forth. Of all the ways the first meeting could have gone…this was SO not how she imagined it. How was she ever going to convince her dad Sheridan was the perfect woman for him now? The perfect Mom?

"Haley? Is something wrong?" Sheridan asked in concern.

"NO! No," Haley said in a softer voice. "Was he really a jerk to you?"

"Really," Sheridan said.

"Oh no. Oh no. This wasn't the way it was supposed to be," Haley fretted.

"The way it was supposed to be? Haley? What's going on?" Sheridan looked to Haley, confused.

"Nothing!" Haley cried.

"Good," Sheridan smiled in relief. "I still don't know my way around Harmony too well. What do you say? Will you go with me to the police station? I'm afraid I'd just get lost. And Officer Uptight would write me a ticket for that."

"No!" Haley blurted. "I can't!"


The infamous first meeting, lol.

He wrote her a ticket and she still can't help but look back on him fondly.

;)