Chapter 20

"Haley…it's me. Your mother. Don't you know who I am? Look at you. Aren't you…"

How could she, Haley thought. How could she carry on like she hadn't missed the last 10 years of their lives? She just couldn't understand it, and she didn't think it was because she was a kid. Grandma didn't look like she could understand either.

"You're so pretty," the woman in front of her gushed.

Haley tensed when she suddenly drew her into her arms.

"Oh Haley," she sighed. "It feels so good to hold you again."

Haley didn't say anything. She didn't have to really, because her mother did all the talking for her.

"Shy? I used to be a bit shy when I was younger…it's nothing to worry about. I'm sure we'll get caught up soon. Come on, Haley. Say something."

How could she? How could she? How… "Say something? What do you want me to say? Thank you? Thank you for being such a kind, wonderful mother? Thank you for loving me and Daddy," her voice broke as the words spilled from her lips. It'd been a while since she'd called Dad Daddy, a really long while. "Thank you for loving us so much you had to leave us? Thank you for missing all my birthdays, every Christmas, my first day of school, everything? Is that what you want me to say?"

Her mother, no the stranger standing in front of her, looked stunned, completely stunned. Her brown eyes were wet with tears.

Haley didn't have to look in a mirror to know that her own eyes were overflowing. "Why now? Why did you come back now?"

"Mi hija…" her grandma spoke softly, trying to calm and comfort her. "Mi hija, don't. MI hija!"

Her grandma's voice echoed in Haley's ears as she raced out of the house, running blindly in the renewed rain and letting her heart lead the way. By the time she got to Sheridan's cottage, Haley was drenched. She shivered as she raised a shaky hand to knock on the door. Please, Sheridan. Please be in there. Please. I need you. "I need you," she sobbed, her tears mingling with raindrops as she realized…the cottage was dark.

Sheridan wasn't at home.

Haley didn't know who to go to, but she was sure of one thing…she couldn't go home. She couldn't be there, in the same room, with the woman who just decided today would be the perfect time to come home and pretend the last ten years hadn't happened. So she just started walking. She didn't care that the rain made her clothes heavy and uncomfortable or that she most probably looked like a drowned rat with her hair plastered to her skull.

Night was falling.

Though Haley knew Harmony like the back of her hand, tonight was different. She couldn't think clearly. It was harder to concentrate on where she was going, but her feet led her forward. Why did she come back? It wasn't fair. She was supposed to be over her, over being abandoned. Sheridan had shown her it wasn't her fault, it hadn't been anything she'd done, she was too little. Sheridan… "Where are you?" Haley muttered as she ducked her brown head against the driving rain, shivering as the rivulets of water rushed over her toes. Her sandals offered little protection. She hugged her arms around her waist. She was freezing! If only she could find… "SHERIDAN!" Haley yelled, frantically waving to gain Sheridan's attention as she exited the Book Café.

Maybe it was the rain and the pitch blackness of the night, maybe she was just a little bit too water-logged, maybe it was her mother's sudden reappearance, maybe it was the relief of seeing Sheridan's unmistakable smile when she finally spotted her across the street and the warm, comforting feelings that bubbled up to overpower all the hurt that had come rushing back the minute she'd seen her for the first time, not as a baby but as a young girl…

If someone asked Haley to pinpoint the exact reason why she took off running across the street, ignoring the headlights that cut through the murky darkness, she wouldn't have been able to answer them. Maybe it was a combination of all those things.

Haley thought she heard her aunt Theresa screaming at her, but she couldn't imagine why. She couldn't imagine why the smile left Sheridan's face, and Ivy seemed frozen in place, a look of horror on her face. Time slowed down as the blare of a car horn cut through her consciousness, and she heard the frightening squeal of the car's brakes just before she looked up. And when the harsh headlights blinded her…time stood still.

Poor Haley!

What was she thinking?