Chapter 2

She was putting off the inevitable by hiding away in the dusty house. She had cleaned most of the bottom floor rooms in two days. Scrubbing, dusting and packing kept her mind off of what the present Tree Hill had to hold.

Tucking her hair behind her ears, she sighed. "Today's the day. Off to Karen's Café, get the papers and get this over with." She knew she was being ridiculous. It had been eight years, she was a different person. As everyone else would be, people grow up and move on. It wasn't like she was a loser with nothing to show over the years. A Masters degree in Business hung on her apartment wall in Seattle, along with a reputable reward from Forbes. She had done what she wanted to do, all on her own without the help of anyone.

Yes, she had done well. "So then why am I so damn lost?" Grabbing her keys, she opened the door the unknown. The warm late spring hair hit her face immediately and a brief moment of contentment filled her. She would ask the why later.

It was a short walk and it was just what she needed after all the cleaning. The streets were empty for a weekend morning, but when she turned the corner, people were filing in to the few restaurants the town had to offer. One of them being Karen's Café.

She opened the door and was happy to see that at least this place remained the same. The same wooden counters and table, the same mugs and plates and the same smiling face greeting you.

"Well look who just walked in the door."

Haley laughed as Keith Scott jumped over the counter and picked her up, spinning in circles of merriment. "Well you don't seem any heavier."

She smacked his arm as he put her down and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Don't make me get angry. You know I lose all sense of wittiness when I'm dealing with anger."

"Don't I know it." He turned towards the shiny counter and yelled. "Karen! Karen get out here!"

"What?" Karen Scott came around the counter with a rag over her shoulder. "Will you quit yelling, our customers are going to think..." She stood still, grinning in disbelief. "I didn't believe your mother. I just shook it off as another one of her stories. But dear god here you are. Now get over here and hug me."

Haley's arms surrounded the ageless woman she loved as a mother. "I have missed you so much." Closing her eyes, she held tighter for one quick second memorizing everything about the moment. "I've even missed this place!"

Karen laughed and eyed Keith. "Well your welcome to come back to work while you're here, it seems my partner has been slacking." Pointing towards the stool, she ushered Haley to a seat. "So I suppose you want these." Pulling out a thick envelope she placed it on the counter. "I still can't believe your parents are not in Tree Hill anymore. So much has changed."

"Not so much." Keith came from behind and patted Haley on the head. "So miss big executive. How are you getting time off from your job for this?"

"I requested it. More like needed it. Seattle is so..so..gloomy. The sun of Tree Hill was a welcome from the constant rain." Holding the envelope in her hand, she bit her lip. So much of her life was in that house, so much of who she was. How could her parents just leave like this?

Keith wrapped his arm around her and smashed his mouth to her cheek. "Well whatever the reason, it is good to see your face and know you're alright." Looking back at Karen's glaring eyes he tried to hold his tongue, but couldn't. "So, it just so happens that Whitey is retiring in two weeks and there is this big party for him and..."

"And I'm sure the last thing Haley wants to do is go to a party for Whitey." What seemed like her sweet smile to some was her warning grin to her husband.

"Whitey is retiring huh? Wow, I figured that man would have died coaching." Taping her nails on the counter, she wondered for a brief second what it would be like to see some of the old gang. She wasn't even sure what most of them were up to, her constant letters with Karen didn't fill her in on everything. "So Karen, would you mind maybe stopping by the house sometime this week? I have some stuff I was hoping you could go through with me."

"Stuff?" Karen made sure that Keith was out of earshot. "What kind of stuff are we talking about here?"

Reaching for the cup of coffee Karen poured for her, Haley brought it to her lips and grinned. "You know, papers, pictures, memories..blah blah blah."

"Ahhh, memories." She turned her back to Haley, bagging a take out order. "Funny thing about memories, they tend to stick with you no matter what you do." For so many years Karen received Haley's letters, always about her life and what she was up to. But not once had she ever brought up Lucas' name. She had given up trying to find out what happened from Lucas. Every time she brought up Haley's name, he would warp into another world and irritably respond with a 'I don't want to talk about it'.

It had been eight years and they have both grown into different people with different lives. Eight years is a long time to hold whatever grudge they had towards each other.

"Yeah, especially when you don't want them to." Downing the rest of her coffee, Haley jumped off the stool. "Well I'm outta here you two." She turned and stopped when she was almost run over by a smiling little girl in pigtails.

"Auntie Karen! Auntie Karen!"

Haley looked up at Karen curiously, silently questioning who the little girl belonged to.

"Ali! Get over here young lady!" The strong male voice called out after the girl, stopping abruptly when he saw Haley. "Haley?"

She should have seen it the minute the girl looked up at her, she was a spitting image of Nathan Scott. "Nathan." She tensed as his arms came around her and hugged her. Though she let go of the anger a long time ago, she still resented his betrayal in high school. "It's good to see you." Backing away, she glanced at Karen and waved. "I'll talk to you later." Then as fast as she could, she left the café.

Nathan arched his eyebrows at Keith. "So Haley's back in town."

Keith smiled smugly as he wiped down a table. "Yep."

Bending down he tugged on his daughter's pigtail playfully. "And she doesn't know that Lu..."

Wiping more he smiled. "Nope."

"And he doesn't know she is.."

"Nope." Picking up the rag Keith threw it over his shoulder.

Nathan shook his head as he processed the new information. "Interesting. Very interesting."

Keith laughed, winking at Karen. "Yes it is."

______

"So what your telling me is that the roof needs to be redone along with replacing the furnace?" Rubbing her temples, she held the cell phone to her ear as she walked down Main Street. "Fine, fine I get it. It won't sell otherwise. So I'll find someone to do the work."

Closing the phone quickly, she put it in her purse and prayed for it to never ring again.

"You look like your ready to kick someone's ass." Nathan spoke sarcastically while walking behind her.

"Look Nathan, I would really love to talk and catch up, but I have a list of things to get done." She continued to walk as he followed her step for step. Glancing over, he was smirking and keeping pace. Stopping quickly she threw her hands in the air. "What?! What Nathan?"

"Well it is good to know some things don't change." She hadn't changed much at all, besides her thinner frame and shorter hair, she still seemed like the same old Haley. "Look, I just want you to know that I know how hard it is to sell your childhood house and if you need any help with it or..."

"Thank you. That is really kind of you, but I can do it by myself." Before he could say another word, she walked away towards her home.

Nathan was amused, chuckling at the recent turn of events. "Yes this is going to be very interesting."