A day early…I know. I leave for vacation tonight and won't be able to post it tomorrow.
She's watched more television today than she ever has before. When Vanessa told her that she called Trudy to tell her she wasn't feeling well, Hailey had felt guilty…and relieved. The idea of having to interact with customers after her night was not an appealing one, but she could have done it. Which is why she feels guilty. Trudy has been so kind to her and she doesn't want to let her down. Vanessa assured her that it was fine, that Trudy wouldn't hold it against her.
She'd also taken a lot of breaks during the morning, always coming up for little things…her charger, chapstick, a new hair tie…but Hailey knew what she was doing, and while it was incredibly sweet, it was also unnecessary. As long as she wasn't trying to sleep, she was fine. That's what she told her…multiple times.
"You um…need anything? I just needed to grab something." The fragile girl from last night, the one that looked like she could shatter at any second was gone. In her place was the Hailey she had first met. Quiet…shuttered...aside from telling her she was okay, Hailey hasn't said much all morning.
Hailey just sighs, standing from the couch with a stretch. "Vanessa…"
"I know, I know…you're fine. I just…you really scared me last night." Not her story, no, but the way she had so easily shut off her emotions, relaying parts of her past like they weren't hers. "I just want to make sure you know that I'm…here…if you need me."
"Thank you. Really. I think I'm actually gonna head down to the beach for a bit." With what she hopes is a convincing smile, Hailey squeezes her arm as she passes by, heading for the stairs.
"Oh, um…let me know if you decide you want to talk to Jay." Last night after things had calmed down some, Vanessa had casually mentioned that the sheriff could likely help. There was no response to that suggestion. Hailey had just sat there in silence. She had stayed though, and Vanessa counts that as a win.
A small nod is all she gives before she starts down the steps. Telling Vanessa was easier than she imagined it would be, but telling anyone else…especially Jay…she wasn't ready for that.
The temperature is just as hot as it was yesterday, but down here next to the ocean, it feels cooler. The breeze certainly helps. It's crowded today, and more than once she finds herself dodging a child running to and from the waves.
A dog barks, causing Hailey to look up from her wandering about, and she finds Levi sitting on his back porch. He looks lonely and a little sad. Guilt over missing their run creeps in but she isn't really up for conversation right now and just lifts her hand quickly to wave at him. Over the waves, Hailey hears him shout to his dad about joining her but the rest of the conversation is cut off when he goes inside.
"Hailey." Instead of Levi, it's Jay's voice that makes her stop. She should probably apologize anyway for this morning.
"Wait up…" Jay slows his jog, stopping completely when he reaches her.
"Hey. I'm sorry about this morning. I wasn't really up for…" She flinches, increasing the distance between them when his hand lifts to stop her from speaking.
"I don't really care about that, but this?" Jay pulls the paper from his pocket, unfolding it as he hands it to her. "What is this, Hailey? Who the hell are you?" Her hands are shaking so hard that she can't grab the paper right away. For the first time, a tinge of doubt creeps in, making Jay pause. She's either the best actress he's ever seen or Trudy had been right. There's more to this story.
"Hailey…" It's a sigh, a question, and an apology all in one word. He still has no clue what the paper means, but it's obvious he approached it the wrong way. "I'm sor…"
She runs. Literally turns and runs back towards her place. The paper is clutched tightly in her fist, her only thought to get away. She's going to have to leave…start over…again.
"What did you say to her?" Levi is standing at the top of the steps. From his window, he watched the two of them until Hailey had run away. He's never been this angry. It's not a feeling he likes.
Jay stares up at his son, unsure of what to tell him. Dragging a hand over his face, he settles on the simplest thing. "We have to go to Vanessa's shop." He's already pulling the keys for his truck off the hook, but Levi doesn't budge.
"Levi…" He's always had a fairly open relationship with his son, but right now, he doesn't know enough to talk to him about it yet.
"Did you yell at her? She doesn't like yelling…at all." Hailey never told him that, but it was easy to figure out. She tensed up whenever anyone near her raised their voice.
"Can you come down here? Please?" Talking up the stairs isn't working for him. He lets out a breath he wasn't even aware he was holding when Levi finally starts down the steps. Setting a good example for Levi was always something he focused on and treating others with kindness was very important to both of them.
"I didn't yell at Hailey." Jay reaches out, squeezing his shoulder. "But I wasn't very nice either and that's why we need to get to Vanessa's. I need to talk to her and then hopefully I can talk to Hailey too." Try and fix this mess he finds himself in.
It takes less than ten minutes to get there, and both of the Halstead men are rushing into the coffee shop.
"Hey, guys. I'm just closing up, but I've got a couple of things left if you want." Vanessa pops up from behind the counter carrying a stack of cups to restock the self-serve counter.
"Thanks, but we aren't…" Jay starts but Levi breaks in.
"We need to see Hailey. My dad hurt her feelings and we just really need to see her. Can you let us upstairs? Please?" His words are rushed and tumble together and Jay can see that Vanessa struggles to understand what she is hearing.
"Levi, slow down." Jay has to pull him back from running to the apartment door.
"Okay…I caught Hailey and hurt and not much else. What's going on?" Last she knew, Hailey was out walking the beach. A quick check of her phone confirms that there were no missed calls or texts from her either.
"Um…you know what? We're gonna need some dinner. Think you can manage to grab that for us, Levi? Pretty sure I saw Trudy at the cafe still." Jay hands Levi some cash and practically pushes him out of the shop. He knows he wants to see Hailey, but Jay needs to talk to Vanessa without him around to hear. At least until he figures out what is going on. They both watch as he crosses the street after looking both ways. As soon as the cafe door closes behind him, Jay looks at Vanessa.
"We need to go upstairs. I don't know…Vanessa, I think Hailey might be in some kind of trouble. And I'm pretty sure I made it worse."
Jay barely has time to think about the fact that Vanessa didn't seem surprised at all about what he said, just rushes up the back steps after her.
"Hailey?" Vanessa calls out but gets no response. On her way to Hailey's room, she finds the crumpled piece of paper that she must have dropped. A quick scan has her stomach dropping. It hits her now why Jay is here. She needs to get to Hailey. Her bedroom door is closed but it isn't locked so she knocks quickly before entering.
"What are you doing?" Hailey is standing at the foot of her bed hastily shoving clothes into the same backpack she came here with.
"I'm sorry…I…I can't stay." Pulling on her backpack, she turns to the door before freezing. The sheriff is standing just behind Vanessa. It's too late. She could tell from the way Jay approached her on the beach that he believed what that paper said.
The two of them step further into the tiny room, making Hailey shrink back against the wall. She's trapped. Again.
"I'm going. I'm leaving, okay? I'm sorry…I'm so sorry." She doesn't know what else to say. Getting out…getting away is all she's focused on.
"Okay, everyone needs to just stop." Vanessa steps up as the voice of reason for the moment. "Jay, can you wait for us in the living room?" It's not going to be easy, convincing Hailey to tell Jay everything. Hopefully keeping him at a distance will help with that.
"I know what you're going to say and I can't, okay? I can't talk about it with him…"
"You can. Hailey, I'm telling you he can help you. Jay is that kind of guy, but he can't help you if he doesn't have the whole story. And this?" She holds the paper out to her. "This isn't your story."
Hailey lets out a choked sob, swallowing down the urge to fully cry. "You're wrong. You didn't see the way he looked at me on the beach." Her back is literally against the wall which leaves her stuck as Vanessa moves closer to her. Her breath trembles out as her arm stretches out slowly towards her.
"I'm asking you to trust me." Vanessa carefully removes her backpack before setting it on the floor. "Please."
For the second time in less than 24 hours, Hailey's story is being told. The only difference is that this time, Vanessa is telling it. She'd tried to tell him but the words kept getting stuck in her throat. Vanessa had taken over, relaying everything she had been told the night before in a rush, the whole thing taking less than ten minutes to get out.
"That's how she got here…why she left."
It's completely silent. Jay's eyes are on Hailey, who's looking anywhere but at either of them. Levi is going to be back any minute but he needs to know the rest of it. There's more. He knows it, and he points to the paper Vanessa had brought out with them.
"How did it go from that to this? Just… tell me everything. I wanna help. I promise." Jay keeps all the emotion out of his voice. He's still angry but for a completely different reason now. No one should ever be treated the way she was.
"I don't…" "He was alive when I left." Vanessa and Hailey speak at the same time, but it's Hailey's voice that pulls both their attention.
"Ronnie, he was…" She's a victim, she knows this, but she also knows that she let things with Casey and his dad go on far longer than she should have. What if they think she deserved it?
"You can trust us, Hailey." He should have come to her with questions, not the accusations he had nearly thrown at her. She didn't deserve any of this.
Hailey looks over at him, studying his face. He means it. Whatever he had thought about her out on the beach, he no longer does. Just finish it…tell them the last of it.
"He wasn't going to stop. If Casey hadn't come back when he did, Ronnie would have…raped me." Her voice is barely a whisper as she says the last words. The familiar weight of shame courses through her. "One second he was on top of me and the next he wasn't. I didn't even hear Casey come in, but he was suddenly there defending me." Or that's what she thought at first. Casey had never seemed to have an issue with his father being inappropriate with her but he did then. Just not for the reasons she thought.
"I was…there was so much pain. It took me forever just to get to the front door but I didn't make it. Ronnie caught me, dragging me back to the floor before Casey came at him again." She should have closed her eyes then… when Casey jumped at his dad. "Ronnie let me go to focus on his son. He pushed him, really hard." She'll never forget the sound his head made as it connected with the edge of the entryway table.
"There was so much blood…so much. I thought I was going to be sick." It was like time had stopped in that moment. Ronnie was frozen above his son, probably in shock at what he'd done, leaving Hailey standing in front of the partially opened door.
"Maybe it is my fault…if he's dead. I just left. I didn't check to see if he was breathing or had a pulse…I didn't even call 911…I just took off." She'd managed to make it to a clinic where they cleaned her up before asking if she wanted them to call the police. Pressing charges was the last thing she was interested in, she just wanted to be free of them.
"I stayed at a shelter for women and children for a couple of weeks before I managed to get enough money for a bus ticket and well, you know the rest." Physically, Hailey had healed while she was staying in the shelter. She'd gone back to the clinic to get her cast taken off the day she boarded the bus, the last piece of physical evidence of what she had been through. The emotional scars were still there, even now.
"I'm sorry for bringing you both into this. If you could just…" Hailey stands, rubbing her hands on the sides of her legs in a nervous habit. "I just need a couple of days' head start. Then you can report me or do whatever you need…"
"Do you want to leave?" Jay is willing to help her no matter what she chooses. "Because if you want to stay…"
All three jump when a series of knocks echo through the apartment.
"It's just Levi. He has dinner from the cafe." Jay gives Hailey a wide berth as he moves to open the door for his son.
"Who are you planning on feeding with all this?" Jay takes some of the bags, setting them on the counter.
"I didn't know what to get for Vanessa and Hailey so I just got a bunch of stuff so they could choose. You owe Trudy $12." Levi smiles sheepishly at his dad, knowing full well that he went overboard with the food.
Jay shakes his head before telling Levi to go get the girls. It's not the most ideal time for food, but hopefully taking some time to just sit and digest all this new information will help him decide what he needs to do. There's only so much he can do without jeopardizing his career, but he wants to help her. That much he knows for sure.
"You should go play with them. Get out of your head for a bit." Jay hates that the sound of his voice startles her. Throughout dinner, Jay had kept quiet, focusing on his meal. Levi had dominated the conversation. He picked up on the tension within the group and spent the majority of the time telling jokes and funny stories. He's pretty sure he even saw Hailey crack a smile. She's not smiling now though.
"Doubt I'd be much fun right now." She is stuck in her head. A temporary truce had been called when Levi came in with food, but that's all it was…temporary. How much longer would they all pretend that everything was fine.
"Right…um listen. I wanted to apologize for ambushing you like that earlier. I should have…"
"You don't have to apologize. You've every right to be mad…" Hailey pauses when Jay sits down in the sand next to her, keeping more than three feet between them.
"I was out of line and for that, I'm sorry. I was only thinking about protecting Levi." Jay looks down to the edge of the water where Levi and Vanessa are examining something that must have washed up on the beach. "He's the most important part of my life. Can you understand that? He comes first, but I'll help you any way I can."
Hailey is momentarily shocked. Even after finding out the worst parts about her, he still wants to help her. The people of this town will never cease to amaze her.
"I get that, and I appreciate you wanting to help me but…leaving is probably best. If something happened to…"
"Hailey?" Jay cuts her off, waiting for her to look at him. It takes a moment, but finally she turns her blue eyes towards him.
"Do you want to stay?"
Of course she wants to stay but it's not that simple.
"Yes or no, Hailey? Do you want to stay?" He watches her think it over again, her eyes drifting down to the water where Levi's laugh is carried to them by the wind. Something very close to longing passes over her face before she gives him a small nod. She wants to stay.
"Okay." Jay stands, brushing at the sand on the backs of his legs.
"Okay?" That can't be it, can it?
He turns slightly, a playful smile forming. "Yeah, okay…we'll figure it out."
"But your job…and what about Levi? What if…" So many things could go wrong. She'd never forgive herself if someone else got hurt because of her.
"Hailey, we'll figure it out." The firmness in his words is balanced with the gentle smile he sends her way and because it was how he was raised, he offers her a hand up.
Hailey stares at his hand. He's not just offering to help her from the ground…if she takes his hand, she's agreeing to letting him help…to involve him…involve all of them…with all this.
"Okay." She surprises them both when she slides her hand into his, letting him pull her from the ground.
"Come on." Jay jogs away without waiting for her to respond, trying to downplay the heaviness of the moment. Seconds after he joins his son and Vanessa, Levi happily shouts to Hailey, who is slowly making her way down the beach. He shares a look with Vanessa, silently letting her know that things would be okay.
It wouldn't be easy, but like he told Hailey…they'd figure it out.
