Chapter 17 Settling In

December 27, 2013

India was beautiful. She and Mark had spent an amazing three days in Trivandrum. She'd dragged him along with her to all the sights and even though she knew that he would have liked to just stay in their hotel room he submitted to her determination to see as much of the city as possible with good grace.

The ship they were on began to turn back to the shore and Haley lifted her hair up off the back of her neck to cool off. Mark kissed her nape and she smiled.

"I can't believe that we came from snow into this." Haley grabbed a drink and pressed it to her forehead. "I feel like I'm overdressed when I wear a t-shirt."

"If you want to strip down that's fine with me." Mark laid out on one of the deck chairs.

"Maybe later." Haley took a long drink and sighed. "I just wish that everyone could've come with us."

"I don't." Mark slid on his sunglasses and admired Haley from behind. "I like having you to myself."

Haley sat on his lap and kissed him. Mark ran his hand up her back, easing his fingers underneath the straps of her bikini. They heard a clicking sound and the both looked up to see a smiling photographer.

"You two look so beautiful together, would you like to buy a photo?" he asked.

Haley grinned. "How much?"

January 5, 2014

Deb's doorbell rang and when she opened it she laughed a little with surprise.

"Haley, what are you doing here?" She hugged the young woman tightly and Haley shifted the box she had in her arms around so that she could return the embrace.

"I had to come back to pick up some things from my house and since you're on the way I thought I'd stop by."

"Is Mark with you?"

Haley shook her head. "He's waiting for me at the airport, we just managed to get a flight to New York that stopped over here."

"What am I doing making you stand in the doorway? Come in."

"Thanks, but I've got about three hours to get back so I can't stay long."

"How was India?" Deb asked.

"It was so beautiful, I must have taken a million pictures."

"Show me."

They both walked inside and Haley set down her box and pulled out her album. As she opened it a few pictures fell out and they both knelt down to pick them up.

Deb turned one of them over and saw Haley and Mark with their arms wrapped around each other. They looked tan, healthy and happy. The scene behind them was stunning, the setting sun made them look like they were glowing and the water threw off sparks of light.

"This shot is incredible." Deb flipped the photo around so Haley could see which one she was looking at.

"Oh," Haley smiled, "we had so much fun on that day."

"I almost wish I could keep this one for myself."

"It's yours."

"Haley, no—"

"I got doubles of everything. God, Deb, it was so beautiful, I wish you could have been there."

"Me too."

"How's everyone? How was Christmas?"

"It was great, Nathan came back down and Karen made us eat until we were sick."

"Sounds good," Haley said wistfully. "I'm sorry I couldn't be here."

"Next year you and Mark might have all of us descending on New York for the holidays."

Haley grabbed Deb's hands. "That is a great idea! Matt and Barb can celebrate their baby's first Christmas with us. "

Deb blinked. "Their baby?"

"Oh crap. They didn't tell anyone yet?"

"Barb's pregnant?"

"You can't tell anyone." Haley held Deb's gaze. "I promised I wouldn't say anything."

"Do they know if it's a boy or a girl?" Deb asked excitedly.

"Deb!"

"Okay, okay. No baby talk."

"Thanks. I've got to run, I'll call everyone when we land in New York."

"Mom?" Nathan walked into Deb's house, saw the pictures in his mother's living room and smiled.

She'd had redecorated in the short time he'd been gone. Before there had been maybe six pictures sitting on the small side table in the entrance. But now there was a whole wall dedicated to family photos. Nathan counted no fewer than fifty frames. A lot of them had him, Lucas, and Haley in them. One of them screaming and laughing on a roller coaster on the day Lucas and Haley had taken him to an amusement park; another with the three of them sitting in Karen's café, eating burgers; and another with the three of them sitting around a fire when Lucas had taken them all camping and showed him how to fish. Nathan grinned. He'd hated every minute of it and everything about it. The bugs, cleaning fish, and sleeping on the ground.

"Nate." Deb came out of the living room and gave her son a hug. "What do you think?"

"It's great, Mom. What made you decide to do it?"

"I was just cleaning out some things and I found a box full of old photos. I didn't just want to keep them in there or stuff them in an album so I thought I'd put them on display."

"It's really beautiful." Nathan glanced to the side and frowned. "Why is Dad on the wall?"

Deb turned and looked at the photo of a four-year-old Nathan holding a toy basketball in his hands. Dan was holding his son up to the basket so he could throw it in, and they were both laughing.

Deb thought hard before answering. "How I feel about your father now is no secret, honey, but it wasn't always bad. We had a good beginning. Your father loves you Nathan, he just . . . sucks at showing it."

Nathan studied the Dan's face with a set expression before shrugging it off. He saw another picture frame in his mother's hands.

"Are you adding to your collection?"

"Yep, it's becoming an obsession. The next time you come here all the walls might be covered with pictures." Deb held out the photo so he could see it and Nathan tilted his head to the side. It was Mark and Haley. He was kissing her. His eyes moved over Mark's hand—which was sliding up Haley's back. He blinked, took a deep breath, and then looked up at his mother's smile.

"Don't they look incredible?" Deb shook her head. "I forgot to tell you, Haley stopped by a few weeks ago and let me keep this. Looking at it makes me wish I could have done more traveling."

Nathan quickly looked away from the photo and smiled at his mother. "You still can."

"Maybe someday."

As Nathan got in his car he resolved to make an effort to stay busy. He'd told himself that he was leaving Tree Hill behind, so it was time that he really made the most of that resolution after he was done with this visit. Durham was his home now.

Cooper had been Nathan's hero when he'd been younger but—like most of his mother's family—he couldn't stand Dan so he'd been more distant than he'd wanted to be with his nephew.

After Deb had gotten divorced the little restraint that he'd shown when talking about his brother-in-law had left him completely. Nathan didn't think that Cooper had used his father's given name in years—his favorite nickname seemed to be "toad-sucking bastard."

Deb hugged her little brother as he walked up the driveway. Seeing Cooper always brought out the playful side of her that she'd thought she'd lost with her divorce.

"Hey! Sis, at least wait until I get in the house." Cooper grinned.

"Why don't you come see me more often?" Deb demanded.

"Why don't you come down and see me race?"

"You know I can't watch you do that." She led the way inside.

"I can't believe you let one little crash scare you away."

"They took you off the track in a helicopter!"

"It was a scratch," Cooper dismissed.

That "scratch" had put Cooper in the hospital for months while doctors fixed the leg he'd broken in three places. When they'd brought him out of the wreckage Deb had seen the condition he'd been in. Since then she flat out refused to watch him race. She could barely stand to see him get behind the wheel of his Ford.

"Where's my nephew?"

"Out picking up some of the junk I know you love to eat."

"You see, this is how I know you love me."

Deb rolled her eyes. "I think that me putting up with you is proof enough of that. Listen, thanks for coming up. Nathan's been so withdrawn lately, he barely comes down to see me anymore. Maybe you can cheer him up a little."

"Come on, Debbie. Your boy had to leave the nest sometime. You held onto him longer than most moms do. I was pretty much out the door by the time I was seventeen."

"Yeah, that was a real treat for Mom—and don't call me Debbie, you know I hate that name. I still can't believe that you didn't take advantage of the scholarship that you had."

"Here we go. Are you going to lecture me now about not going to college?"

"Nope, I accepted the fact that you didn't want to be a responsible adult years ago."

"As long as you've come to terms with it. Hey, maybe I can take Nathan down to the track and have him—"

"No, no, no."

"Deb, there wouldn't be any other cars racing with him. It would just be him driving in a circle. But I'm sure he'd love it and you said you wanted him to lighten up."

"I don't know . . ."

"I'm sure he's done more dangerous driving on the freeway."

Deb hesitated before relenting. "Fine."

"Uncle Cooper." Nathan gave him a hug and Cooper pounded him hard on the back. After Nathan was finished coughing he turned to his mom. "I got everything on the list."

Deb took the take-out and grocery bags out of Nathan's arms. "Thanks honey. Why don't you two go do your guy stuff? I can put these away."

"Guy stuff?" Cooper asked. "What would that be?"

"I have no idea. Which is why I call it 'guy stuff.'" Deb smiled at her son and walked out of the living room.

"So, I've been hearing great things from your mom about your team."

"Yeah, if we win the next two games we are definitely going into the championships."

"Sweet."

"Things are good."

"So I was thinking, unless you're too busy being a basketball star, that you could come down with me to the racetrack and hang with your uncle."

"Are you kidding? Sure."

"Nate, you seem a little distracted." Cooper looked up from the car engine and looked over at him.

"Sorry."

"It's okay, but I don't want to let you get on this track if you're not focused."

"I just . . . have a lot on my mind."

"What is it? Is your girlfriend driving you crazy? I can relate, I love Erin but sometimes she's the most infuriating woman on the planet."

"No. No, Katie's great. We're fine."

"So?" Cooper was careful to look at the engine and not at Nathan. "Hand me that wrench."

Nathan gave Cooper the tool and leaned against the side of the car. "I just . . . sometimes I wonder if things are going to happen for me, you know? I used to be so sure about what I wanted and now I don't even know."

"Are you talking about basketball?"

"I'm talking about everything. My dad practically had my whole life mapped out by the time that I was ten, and so far everything's going according to plan. And I just keep thinking, is this what the rest of my life is going to be?"

"I thought you loved to play."

"I did, I do. It's stupid."

"No, come on, tell me."

"It's just that I wake up some days and wonder, what's the damn point? Do I want this because of me, or because of what my dad told me?"

"I can't answer that question for you, Nate. I wish I could. Look, I left home so I could be, basically, a water boy for a pit crew because I knew I wanted to race. My mom and your mom flipped the hell out and I don't think they've forgiven me for it to this day."

Nathan smiled. "My mom collects all the newspaper and magazine articles that you're in and keeps them in a scrapbook."

Cooper looked surprised. "What?"

"You didn't know? She makes me print out everything I can find online so she can include that stuff too."

"Oh." Cooper was silent for a long time before returning to his train of thought. "Even though I knew what I wanted to do, hardly anything has gone according to plan. Sometimes you've just got to roll with the fact that you might end up in a different place than you thought. I never pictured myself with a librarian, for god's sake, but here I am, stuck on her after two years."

"She's definitely out of your league," Nathan teased.

"Tell me about it. She's not impressed by my superstar status at all."

"Superstar status? What are you, Dale Ernhardt?"

"Shut up."

"So, Nathan," Deb placed the salad bowl on the table and sat down next to her brother, "how did it go?"

"Hold up," Cooper said. "Did you make this salad?"

"So what if I did?"

Cooper took one cautious bite before using the salad tongs to scoop more of it on his plate.

"Never mind, Sis."

Nathan smiled. "It was great, Mom."

"He told me that you collect newspaper articles about me." Cooper looked at Deb. "Why didn't you ever tell me that you did that?"

"I . . . I don't know. I was worried that if you knew that you'd think that I didn't really want you to quit."

"Trust me, I would never think that," Cooper said with weary fondness. "But you do? Really?"

"I think the whole thing is too dangerous . . . but I can see that you're good at it and that makes me really proud," Deb muttered.

Cooper grinned widely and Nathan could see that he was genuinely pleased. "Thanks, Debbie."

Deb gave him a glare for using that hated nickname but continued on without mentioning it. "Anyway, I got a call from Brooke and Lucas this morning."

"What'd they say?" Nathan asked.

"Brooke promised to bring me back something from a fancy New York shop." Deb smiled. "She is on the shopping spree of a lifetime and Lucas is just trying to stay calm. He thinks that Brooke's going to spend so much that they'll have to take out a second mortgage on the house they're planning on getting."

Cooper laughed. "I still can't believe that Lucas is actually getting married to a shopaholic. He's got to be the thriftiest person I've ever met."

"Trust me, Brooke has a way of persuading people," Nathan said.

"And Lucas told me that they didn't get to see as much of Haley as they would like, she and Mark are still so busy."

"Busy?" Cooper's eyebrows rose as he looked at his sister while Nathan fell silent. "Newlyweds should only be busy doing one thing."

"Cooper," Deb said repressively. "They'll be back next week, Nate, maybe you could come down for the weekend so we can all have dinner?"

"Sorry, Mom, I'm going to be practicing. I don't think I'll be able to make it."

"So do you think that you'll finally win this year?" Cooper asked.

Nathan gave his uncle a confident smile. "We will if I have anything to do with it."

Karen answered the knock at her door and smiled when she saw Keith.

"What are you doing here?" She kissed him briefly on the cheek.

"I thought you might want some company with Lucas and Brooke off on their trip."

"It is really quiet." Karen turned and walked back into her kitchen. "And I've got all this extra food, I'm just not used to cooking for myself."

He looked down at the prime rib on the table and grinned at her. "I haven't had any dinner yet."

"Sit down, please." Karen grabbed two glasses and sat down at the kitchen table with him.

Keith took a bite of his mashed potatoes and closed his eyes in ecstasy. "I swear that you've put something in here that's got to be illegal to make it this good."

Karen laughed. "You caught me. I slipped some real butter in them instead of margarine."

"Remember that time when Lucas picked up his bowl and dumped the whole thing on his own head?"

"Lord, don't remind me," Karen groaned. "I think I was picking potatoes out of his hair for a month."

"And now he's engaged to be married and he might have his own messy kids soon."

"I can hardly believe it. Sometimes I feel like I just brought him home from the hospital."

"I know what you mean. Time just sped up for all of us, I didn't think that so many years could go by without me really noticing."

"You're talking like we have one foot in the grave."

"No," Keith laughed. "I'm not feeling that morbid. It's just that sometimes I wonder where all the time went." Keith smiled at her. "Karen, do you want to go the new play showing at the Pantages Theater?"

"Yes, I've been dying to see it. So has Deb, we should make it night and all go out to dinner or something."

Keith looked a little surprised but smiled. "Sure."

February 20, 2014

As Nathan left the gym, still sweating from practice, his phone rang.

"Hey, Nate, are you almost done?" Katie asked.

"Yeah, I'm heading out right now. What's up?"

"I thought I'd pick up some pasta from Felluchio's, maybe some fettuccini alfredo?"

"That sounds good, but I can't eat anything that even looks like junk food right now."

"So, fettuccini for me and a boring chicken salad for you."

"I love the way you make it sound so tasty," Nathan said.

"I'll see you when you get home."

"Bye."

His phone rang again and Nathan looked at the name flashing across the screen of his cell and closed his eyes briefly before pressing the talk button.

"So we're coming down for the big game," Haley said excitedly.

Nathan smiled. "That's great." He was a little anxious about it, this would be the first time that he'd seen her since she'd gotten married. But Cooper was right, just because his life wasn't what he'd expected it to be didn't mean that he should dwell on it like his father had. The man was bitterness personified.

"And I'll finally be able to meet the mysterious Katie."

"Mysterious?"

"From what everyone says, she's only been spotted once, even though you two have apparently been dating all this time."

"Well, she's excited to see everyone again, too. You'll love her, she's really great."

"I'm sure."

"We're the same age, but she's already a junior. Much smarter than I'll ever be. I'm being forced to become more cultured to keep up."

"You're kidding."

"Haley James, you are talking to a man who's been to more art galleries, operas, plays, and musicals in the last year than I've been to in my entire life."

"I'll believe that when I see it," Haley said. She and Lucas had tried and failed to get Nathan to have more than a cursory interest in the arts, especially literature—which they both loved. "I've got to go pack, I'll see you in a couple days."

"Can't wait."

Haley glanced at her watch as she tried to get inside Cameron Stadium. She barely noticed the crush of people and scanned the crowd for the familiar faces of her best friend and his fiancé.

She glanced up at the tier numbers and bit her lip. She wasn't sure if this was the place where she'd told Lucas that she'd meet him.

"Haley!"

She turned to see Brooke and Lucas making their way towards her through the crowd. Haley hugged him hard and laughed as he picked her up off the floor before turning to Brooke to embrace her as well.

"I should be so mad at you Tutor Wife, I haven't had a chance to see you in months and we've barely talked." Brooke glared at her.

"I'm sorry," Haley looped an arm through hers. "But you know that everything's been crazy from the moment we got back from India. Mark's jumped right into trying to expand his family's business."

"Where is Mark?" Lucas asked.

"He's having an affair with his calculator."

Lucas laughed but Brooke frowned. "I don't think I've even talked to Mark since you two got married, is he working a little too hard?"

"He's definitely working too hard," Haley sighed. "But he's a workaholic, like me. Every little detail has to be perfect so . . ." Haley shrugged.

"Anyway, we're in section nineteen! Can you believe it?" Lucas grinned.

Off of Brooke's blank look Haley explained, "We're practically on the court, there are people here who'd probably kidnap us and ransom us off for the seats we got."

Brooke nodded appreciatively. "That's great. Hey, you'll finally get a chance to meet Katie, the last time I met her she seemed normal. How Nathan convinced her to date him is beyond me."

"Brooke," Lucas said.

"Kidding!" She smiled.

"What's she like?" Haley asked.

"We didn't get a chance to talk that much, I only met her once. But I'm going to try and learn more about her today. And maybe tell her a few things about Nathan."

Lucas gave her a look. "Be nice, Brooke."

"I'm always nice." Brooke smile would have looked innocent to anyone who didn't know her.

The three of them walked up the stairs and looked around. Brooke glanced down. "I think that's Katie." Brooke waved and the pretty brown-haired girl waved back.

"Hey," Katie said.

Brooke grinned with relief. "I was afraid that we'd never find you in this crowd."

"I swear I think I've seen a couple of your twins roaming around, I must have waved to five strangers."

"Hi, nice to see you again." Lucas held out his hand and Katie shook it. "I don't think that you've met Haley."

"No I haven't." Katie gave Haley a friendly smile.

"I hope Nathan hasn't been telling you terrible things about me," Haley said.

"Nothing bad, I promise."

"How you managed to get in here with these crazy Devils fans all around is a miracle." Brooke sat down. "Now I remember why I never came to any of the games."

Lucas shook his head at Brooke and laughed. "Sometimes it's like we're from two different worlds."

"Where's everyone else?" Haley asked Lucas.

"They should be here soon, I talked to my mom right before we left, she's riding with Deb and Keith."

Their seats were incredible, she had no idea how Nathan had managed to get them for everyone but she was so grateful. They were so close to the player's bench that she could read the expression on Nathan's face when the opposing team managed to slam home a basket, right in the face of their center.

Nathan felt a prickling sensation on the back of his neck and locked away the urge to turn and look behind him. He knew that Haley was here, and he wanted to turn around and give her a wink or nod. It's what he'd done for every single game that she'd ever attended in high school. He knew that his family thought he was acknowledging them all, but it was for her.

Haley felt the excitement rise in her throat as Nathan finally got onto the court. He managed to save the ball from going out of bounds, throwing a quick pass to a teammate before running up the court. She could see the moment when things clicked into place, and was the only one who wasn't surprised when Nathan received the ball and sunk the fadeaway jumper.

He was so meticulous and disciplined with his training that it was a pleasure to watch the slow improvement of his skills; it was a shock to see how far he'd come since the last time she'd seen him play. The coaching staff had obviously worked hard to improve his defensive skills.

Over the years she'd come to recognize when there was something in the air, she wasn't sure if it was a look in Nathan's eyes or the expression on his face, but she knew when he entered the state of mind where the world narrowed to him, the other players, and the ball. She called it his "game face" and he had it on now.

Haley frowned as she watched Nathan sit on the bench, resting. The game had been incredibly close, neither team had been able to maintain a decisive lead and now they were down to the last minute.

They had the seniors out on the court now; Nathan was riding the bench. She could tell that Nathan was itching to get his hands on the ball. A Devils player got off a jump shot, it rolled around the rim before finally falling in.

The crowd surged to their feet, their cheers rocking the stadium. When the player who'd scored the basket came back down, somehow his ankle twisted under him and he staggered before one of his teammates caught his arm. Haley watched worriedly as he limped off to the side.

Virginia managed to widen their lead over the next fifteen minutes by ten points. And everyone could see the Devils coaching staff was becoming more and more tense.

There was heated discussion between the coach and one of his assistants, and then suddenly Nathan was standing up and pulling off his warm-ups. Haley grinned as he took his place on the floor for the last five minutes of the game.

Nathan moved up the court like he was born to do it . Haley watched, completely focused on how he handled the ball.

He'd become a better player, for himself and his team, setting up assists and nailing the perimeter shots. He'd been slightly selfish in high school, focusing only on getting the most points and the best plays for himself. Dan's influence, she supposed. But he seemed to have shed that persona completely.

Nathan and his team managed to close the gap to a two point deficit as the last seconds ticked off the clock. Haley saw Todd, one of the Devils best shooters put the ball up from half-court . . . but it didn't go in. Nathan rushed towards the basket to grab the rebound and a Virginia player checked him hard and knocked him to the floor.

Haley and more than nine thousand Devils fans held a collective breath, waiting for the ref to call a foul so that they could get their free throws and force Virginia into overtime.

The referee didn't call the foul and Haley looked at her family and Katie. They all had identical looks of shock on their faces. None of the fans could believe it, but the Devils lost to Virginia 81 to 79.

"What an idiot! Can you believe this?" Deb shouted over the noise of the crowd.

"No!" Haley yelled.

"Tell me that didn't just happen!" Lucas said to Keith.

Karen shook her head incredulously and then leaned over to them. "Katie just told me that she can get us downstairs so we can meet up with Nathan."

"Yeah, he's probably going to need someone to talk to about that goddamn foul. What the hell! That damn ref! I've heard that he calls loose games but this is fucking ridiculous!" Lucas looked like he wanted to go down to the floor and knock heads together.

Keith's normally calm expression reflected his annoyance. "As crazy as these fans are I'm surprised there isn't a riot going on right now."

Haley put an arm around Lucas. "Everything's going to be okay. Why don't you guys go ahead and I'll meet you there. I've got to use the bathroom." Haley slung her purse over her shoulder.

Nathan looked up to where his family had been but the only one still standing there was Lucas, and he could tell he was pissed off, even from where he was. He supposed he should be too—and was a little surprised that he wasn't—but he knew he'd played a good game. He should be angrier, his team had clearly been robbed. There was a time when he would have yelled at one of his teammates or gone out and done something stupid, but now he just felt a mild sense of disappointment. He was just glad that Haley and his family had been there to watch him play.

Now that the game was over and his mind didn't have to focus on it anymore, he kept thinking about how strange it was to see Katie and Haley sitting next to each other. He pushed the thought away. What difference did it make?

He made his way to the locker room. They were probably all on their way down.

"Nathan!"

He turned and saw his mother coming towards him and smiled. "Mom!"

Trailing behind her were Katie, Brooke, Karen, and Keith. They all pounded him on the back and offered their sympathy.

Nathan leaned down and kissed Katie quickly on the lips, holding her carefully so he wouldn't mess up her clothes. "Thanks for coming you guys."

Lucas finally appeared. "Not bad little brother, not bad."

"Thanks." Nathan looked around for Haley.

"So does this mean that Duke's going to have to depend on an at-large bid to get into the championship?" Keith asked.

"Yeah, it does," Lucas gritted out.

"Try not to think about it," Deb said. "We're going to head home, I'm sure you want to go out and hang out with your friends Nathan."

"Or get drunk and curse out those sh—"

"Lucas," Karen said, glaring her son into silence.

He rolled his eyes but shut up, folding his arms angrily. Nathan smiled slightly, amused that Luke could still be brought in line by his mother with one word.

"I was thinking we could all go out to dinner." Nathan's gaze moved over the crowd again. "My treat?"

"I'm definitely not paying," Brooke said.

"What a shock," Nathan said dryly. "I'll meet you guys outside after I hit the showers."

"You were awesome, baby," Katie said.

He kissed her once more.

"Do you want to ride with us, sweetie?" Karen asked her.

"Sure."

As they all walked away, Nathan caught his brother's arm. "Where's Haley?"

"Oh, crap. She was supposed to meet us down here. I'll call her on her cell and have her meet us."

"Maybe you should go look for her."

"She's fine, don't worry. I'll go get her."

Nathan watched his brother disappear into the press of people. He looked around but couldn't spot Haley in the milling crowd. Ignoring the questions from his teammates, Nathan made his way back to the court and looked up at the last place that he'd seen Haley. She was gone. He felt his breathing quicken as he turned around twice but he still didn't see her.

Nathan rushed through the locker room and out the doors into the hallway where the crowd was. He didn't even see the girls who smiled at him flirtatiously.

"Nathan!" He heard her shout behind him.

He whirled and wrapped her in his arms. She didn't seem to care that he was soaked with sweat and she hugged him tightly and laughed. "I can't believe this! You've worked so hard—and you were awesome tonight by the way—"

"Haley," he interrupted.

Haley fell silent when she heard his tone. "What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you stay with everyone else?"

"Well, we got separated and the line to the ladies' room was just ridiculous. But I didn't want to leave before seeing you, I was so excited that I just thought I should come down."

"You shouldn't be on your own," Nathan said harshly, "you need to be more careful."

A look of annoyance was growing on Haley's face and then she realized something and she was calm again.

"You don't have to worry about me, I can take care of myself." Haley opened her purse and pulled out a small container of pepper spray. "I never leave home without it."

He felt the corner of his lip twitch up in a small smile.

Nathan was still the only person who knew about what had happened with Chad. She'd gone on to press charges—not because she wanted to but because she didn't want what had happened to her to happen again. Unfortunately Chad came from money and the lawyer he'd been able to afford had gotten him off with a slap on the wrist. Nathan had been so furious that she was afraid that he'd go after the guy on his own.

"Come on." Nathan pulled her behind him and made his way back to the locker room.

"I can wait outside for you, there's plenty of security . . ."

"No, you're coming with me."

"Come on, Nate. Your coaches aren't going to let me in there, and do you really want me to be standing next to your naked friends?"

He stopped. "I guess not."

"Don't worry so much."

What Haley had said before finally registered. "Wait, what do you mean that you didn't want to leave before seeing me?"

"I've got to fly back to New York in an hour."

"What? We're all going out to dinner."

"I'm so sorry, Nathan. Mark wants me back so I can help him with this huge presentation that he has tomorrow. I practically had to threaten his life to come down here for the game."

"Haley, I don't . . ." Nathan started to protest but then he thought about what Cooper had said. "I'm glad you could be here."

"Me, too. Say goodbye to everyone for me?"

"I will."

Haley hugged him and turned to disappear out of his life, again.

Katie and Nathan walked down the hallway of the airport, while she went on and on about the dinner they'd had with his family.

"It was really nice seeing everyone again," Katie said. "And your brother is just the sweetest guy, he and Brooke seem so happy . . ."

Nathan smiled and nodded but he wasn't really paying attention, he'd heard it all before. Even though it had been a week, Katie was still excited over how well everything had gone after the game. She and Deb and Lucas had really had a good time, there hadn't been any of that awkwardness that sometimes arises when introducing a new person to old friends and family.

". . . so many stories. I really wish that I could have had a chance to talk to Haley to see if they're true."

"What?" Nathan suddenly focused on Katie. "Sorry, what was that?"

"I was just saying that Lucas told me so many stories. He says that if I want to know about the really bad trouble you used to get into that I should talk to Haley." Katie grinned up at him. "I can't imagine you as a troublemaker."

Nathan shook his head slowly. "I used to be one. Just ask my mother."

They stopped in front of the baggage claim turnstile and watched the luggage go around and around.

Katie turned to contemplate Nathan. "Nope. Can't see it. I have a hard time even getting you out of your dorm on Friday nights."

"Trust me, that's not how it used to be," someone said behind them.

Nathan turned around, surprised. Tim stood there with his carry-on and rolling suitcase.

"Hey, man, what are you doing sneaking up on us like that?"

Tim grinned and shook his hand. "Sorry."

"Katie, this is my best friend Tim."

"Nice to meet you," Katie said.

Tim smiled. "You too."

"So you used to play with Nathan back in high school?"

"Play with him?" Tim looked shocked. "I practically carried his sorry behind through the championships."

Katie laughed and Nathan pretended to glare at him.

"So maybe you can give me all the good dirt on Nathan."

"The things I could tell you—" Tim started.

"Let's just get in the car before he starts spreading his lies," Nathan said, punching his friend.

Tim rubbed his arm and laughed. "Thanks for picking me up, man."

". . . and we were so damn drunk that Haley had to come out and drive us home."

Katie swirled the spaghetti on her fork and took a bite before talking. "You're kidding. Nathan managed to superglue basketballs to the guy's ceiling after drinking that much beer?"

"I don't know if he could have done it sober!"

Katie and Tim laughed while Nathan buried his face in one hand.

"If you're done destroying my reputation Tim . . ."

"I swear I thought that Justin's father was going to sue Dan for everything he had so he could get his living room renovated," Tim went on animatedly, "and Deb was so pissed that she wasn't even speaking to him except to threaten him with boot camp. But we were lucky because Haley took us down to the hardware store to get this solvent so we could get the balls down and she showed us how to repaint the ceiling as good as new."

"That was nice of her," Katie said.

"No, it wasn't," Nathan said with a smile. He exchanged a knowing look with Tim. "About three days later she told us that we deserved a break for working so hard and she drove us up to a cabin on a lake that her brother owned for the day."

"I don't understand, that seems—" Katie started.

"Wait for it," Tim said.

"Then she convinced us that an early morning swim would be great and she'd have a hot breakfast waiting for us when we got back. Tim and I go down—even though it's a little cold—and swim, but when we get back to the cabin, it's locked. The car Haley drove us up in is gone and so is all of our stuff. So there we are in our swimming trunks and flip-flops—"

"Freezing our parts off," Tim interjected.

"Freezing our parts off," Nathan agreed, "and with no idea what to do."

Katie burst into a fit of incredulous laughter. "She made you guys walk all the way home?"

Tim shook his head. "When we realized that she wasn't coming back we walked down to the local gas station about five miles down the road and she was there."

"She had hot coffee, cinnamon rolls, and blankets for us," Nathan shook his head and smiled to himself, remembering. "And she told us that the next time that we got drunk and did something stupid, she'd think of a more creative way to punish us."

"So that's why you're such a boy scout!" Katie laughed. "I bet that was the last time you ever stepped out of line."

"Oh, no," Tim shook his head, "That was the last time I stepped out of line. This one—" he nodded at Nathan "—forced Haley to get more creative. I might have drunk more than I should have, but from then on, I was just along for the ride."

Katie narrowed her eyes at them both. "I believe you . . . but I still want this story verified. The next time Haley's in town you can bet I'm going ask her to confirm all this."

Nathan face didn't show anything but amusement, but Tim's smile became a little awkward.

"Trust me," Tim said, "it's all true."

Tim thought about all the meetings that his father wanted him to attend tomorrow and sighed to himself. His father was impressed with him for the first time in his life and that felt good, but he was treating him like he was already an employee. He was still only twenty-one, and as much as he liked what he was doing he still wanted more time to try other things. He shook off those thoughts and turned to his friend.

"Sorry about the game, Nate."

Nathan shrugged. "I'm just going to have to step it up next year."

"That's really . . . mature of you."

"You think that I'm not mature?"

Tim just gave him a look. "Do I really need to remind you about what you used to do every single time we lost a game?"

Nathan flushed uncomfortably when he thought about the fights he used to get into with his teammates. "That was a long time ago."

Tim just smiled, pulled out the futon, and stretched before climbing into bed.

"So are you going to need a ride tomorrow?" Nathan asked, putting some plates into his sink.

"Ah, I thought I'd just catch a cab to my dad's office."

"I'm going to be driving around anyway, man. I can drop you off."

"Thanks. So . . . that was Katie."

"Yeah. Isn't she great?"

Tim nodded. "Uh-huh."

Nathan thought he heard something in Tim's voice. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Tim. What?"

"Nothing . . . it's just . . . nothing."

Nathan turned away and then turned back to Tim. "Why did you tell Katie that story about the cabin?"

"I don't know . . . she asked to hear about some of the stuff we used to do."

"I hadn't thought about that in a long time." Nathan smiled, remembering.

Tim nodded, but he didn't even think that Nathan was seeing him. There were things that he wanted to say, things that he wanted to ask, but Haley was married now and there was no point anymore.

"'Night."

"What?" Nathan looked up at him. "Oh . . . yeah. Goodnight."

Karen looked in the mirror, turning her head from side to side. She was getting ready to go out on a date with Adrian, a man that she'd been seeing, off and on, for eight years. Both of them had been burned in the past and what they had was nice, but it had never progressed to anything serious.

She didn't even really want to go out tonight but sitting in the house by herself was starting to drive her a little bit crazy.

The doorbell rang and when she answered the door Adrian greeted her with a kiss.

"Thanks for calling, I was wondering when I'd hear from you again. Are you ready?"

"Yes." Karen turned around to grab her purse and then froze. "On second thought, no. I don't want to go out."

Adrian looked baffled. "Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine." Karen walked forward, grabbed the lapels of his coat and pulled him in for another kiss.

When she let him come up for air he grinned. "I'm getting the feeling that I just wasted my money on those concert tickets I got us."

"You're right," Karen said as she pulled him into her bedroom.

Karen and Adrian sat across from each other the next morning, drinking coffee and eating breakfast.

"I was a little surprised when you called me," Adrian looked at Karen over the rim of his mug, "I thought that you might have started seeing someone else."

"No," Karen tilted her head, "have you?"

Adrian shook his head. "Listen, Karen, I know that in the past we've pretty much stayed out of each other's lives . . . but I'm not getting any younger."

"What are you saying?" She felt a little uneasy.

"Don't worry," Adrian said, "I'm not asking you to spring me on your family or anything. I just want to know if you're available this weekend."

"You want to do something on Saturday?" Karen asked. "That would be great. I—"

Not just one day, I mean the whole weekend. There's this wine tasting event my brother's hosting and there's going to be great food and good company."

"It sounds fun . . ." Karen trailed off, thinking hard. She and Adrian had been so casual for so long that she wasn't sure how she felt about changing the status quo. The people in her life knew his name and not much else, she'd compartmentalized her romantic life so completely that it was startling—even though she knew it was absurd—to think of meeting people in Adrian's family. With a faint sense of shame she realized that even though she'd been seeing him for years, she knew more about what was going on with Cooper than she did about her own sort-of boyfriend.

"I'm sorry about Lucas. I know that he's old enough to be able to handle me seeing someone. I'd like to take you as my date but he doesn't really know you and I don't want the first time you two meet to be—"

"Karen, you don't have to explain. I understand. I've always understood. I don't think I'd have been ready to meet him until recently either."

"I'd love to go."

Adrian looked surprised. "Really?"

"Do you really want me to?"

"Of course, I just thought that you'd turn me down."

"Well," Karen got up and leaned over Adrian's chair, kissing him, "you're very convincing."

Karen took the plates and put them in the kitchen sink while Adrian admired her from behind.

"Then maybe," he said, walking up behind her, "I can convince you to be late for work and come back to bed with me."

"No, I'm sorry but I have to go."

"Come on, what's the point of being your own boss if you can't take one morning off?"

Adrian pulled Karen back into her room with her protesting and laughing the entire way.

June 7, 2014

Haley stood there at the altar with Nathan, looking around the small, but lovely church. She didn't think that Brooke would actually go through with having a small wedding, but she had. The only people there were their little family: her, Nathan, Deb, Keith, and Karen. Nathan had brought Katie along and she sat next to Deb. Both women looked misty-eyed.

Nathan stood across from Haley, slightly amused that he was in a wedding with her, again. This time, though, he was proud and honored to be the best man. She looked beautiful, she always looked beautiful, but this time the feeling of suffocating pain wasn't there. He wasn't sure why, but he was grateful. He knew that he'd always love her, for who she was and everything she'd been to him, but now he could distance himself from it a little.

His mother had been right. Time and distance had given those emotional wounds time to heal over.

Brooke walked up the aisle on Keith's arm and Haley smiled at her. The only thing that Brooke had really splurged on was her dress and the clothes for the wedding party. The gown was completely traditional, snow white, with an impossibly long train. Haley, Deb, and Karen were wearing a cream-colored dresses that were deceptively simple, each dress was subtly different in order to complement each woman. Haley's dress skimmed her curves perfectly. She planned on finding at least ten other occasions to wear it because it was too beautiful to sit in a box forever.

Nathan, Lucas, and Keith were wearing matching suits, also cream-colored and expertly tailored.

Brooke reached Lucas, kissed Keith on the cheek and went to stand in front of her future husband as she handed Haley her bouquet.

The minister nodded to them both and said, "We are gathered here today to bless the union of Lucas Eugene Scott and Brooke Lenora Davis. Lucas and Brooke have decided that they wanted to write their own vows."

"Brooke," Lucas swallowed against the tears in his throat, "I thought that I'd be afraid to take this step, but as I walked in here today I realized that I was more afraid of not taking it with you. When I'm with you I feel like I can be the kind of man that I've always wanted to be. I thank you for that, and I love you."

Brooke didn't cry but her eyes were very bright. "Lucas, I knew that I wanted to marry you from the first moment that I saw you. I've gone through life running, and you're the first thing that ever made me slow down. You make me feel like I'm perfect, but I don't have to be perfect. You make me feel like I don't have to pretend or lie, or be anyone other than who I am, and you still love me."

"By the power vested in me," the priest said, "I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Brooke and Lucas kissed. It went on for so long that the priest started to blush. Haley and Nathan just stared at them in amazement before starting to laugh.

They finally broke apart, looking a little sheepish, and walked back down the aisle together with Nathan and Haley following behind them.

Nathan felt Haley grip his arm hard and he looked down at her, there were tears falling from her eyes. He put one of his hands over hers and then looked back up at his brother.

When they got to the end of the aisle Brooke wrapped one arm around Haley and they both laughed and hugged.

"We did it!" Brooke said.

"When you said that you wanted to keep things short and sweet, you weren't kidding," Haley said. The wedding and reception had been over with in four hours. "I feel bad, though. I wanted to be able to do more for you."

Brooke shook her head. "No, this was perfect. If we really want something with all the frills, Lucas and I can do something horribly extravagant for our twentieth anniversary."

They were all at Deb's beach house, enjoying the air and eating.

Haley picked up her huge piece of cake and ate a forkful. Brooke wandered towards Deb who was speaking to Katie. Haley made her way inside and saw Lucas and Nathan sitting together; she walked over and sat between them on the couch.

Haley waved her fork at Lucas. "You've been married a whole five hours now. How does it feel Mr. Davis?"

"Incredible." Lucas grinned. "I feel like I'm just coming down off a high."

"That's because of the drugs I slipped in your water," Nathan said. "I knew that was the only way to get you to go through with it." Brooke slapped Nathan on the back of the head. "Ow!"

"What was that?" she demanded.

Lucas drew Brooke down into his lap. "He was just saying how lucky I am that you didn't pick some other guy."

Haley leaned over and shoved some cake in Nathan's mouth. "Less talking, more eating," she said.

Nathan chewed and swallowed. "All I'm saying is, my brother is embarking on a journey, a dangerous journey—"

Whatever Nathan had been going to say was lost when Haley took a handful of cake and pushed it into his face.

Brooke and Lucas laughed hard as Nathan jumped up and wiped the frosting off his eyes.

"What is up with you two?! Is this 'let's all get Nathan' day?"

Haley licked the buttercream frosting off her fingers. "I just thought you might want some more of this delicious cake."

"And you have officially made this the best day of my life," Brooke said as she hugged Haley.

Katie looked over at them and laughed in amazement, touching Deb's arm so she could see her son.

Nathan took out his handkerchief, wiped off his face, and glared at Haley. She grinned at him; she could tell that he really wanted to laugh but he didn't want to give her the satisfaction. The playful light in his eyes said that he wanted to get her back, maybe by tossing her over his shoulder and throwing her into the water—he'd actually done that to her once when he had had enough of her teasing—but he just sat back down.

After everything wound down Haley saw Lucas sitting by himself outside and went out to join him. They just sat in silence for a moment before she turned to smile at him.

"Can you believe that we're married people now?"

"A part of me feels like I never left high school." Lucas picked up and handful of sand and let it trickle through his fingers. "I actually wasn't sure that I'd ever get married, my mom hasn't yet."

"You never know, she might find someone. Hasn't she been seeing someone?"

Lucas shrugged. "I think so. She never talks about it with me much. You know, I don't even think if she wants to. Dan really hurt her."

"Even if she doesn't get married, I hope she has a chance to be with someone that she really wants."

Lucas nodded. "What happened to Mark?"

"Oh, he couldn't come, he's been working himself to the bone trying to get this firm off the ground."

"He couldn't fly down for one day?"

"You don't know how cutthroat the accounting business is in that city. I had no idea that underneath the custom suit and calculator lays the heart of a fierce beast."

Lucas laughed. "Sounds dangerous."

"Oh, it is." Haley leaned back against the log. "His mother's been showing me how to strategically plan dinner parties and get-togethers. It's all very fascinating."

"Well," Lucas stood up, "come on, Hales. Before you go back onto the battlefield, have some more cake."

Lucas laid next to Brooke on the most luxurious cotton sheets that he'd ever felt. He planned on taking his new wife to some exotic location for their honeymoon like Hawaii or Spain, but all she'd wanted to do was to stay in a hotel for a week. It was the most expensive hotel in all of North Carolina, but still, he'd expected her to want something more extravagant.

Brooke giggled and turned to look at him. "Do you think you might want to actually leave the room today?"

"Why?" Lucas put an arm around her waist and pulled her close. "We have room service, we have this bed, and we don't have to be anywhere or do anything for at least three more days."

"I guess we could try to get started on the next branch of the family tree."

Lucas blinked with surprise. "Don't you think that it's a little soon to be thinking about having children? We haven't even been married for a week. Maybe we should wait until we finish off the leftover wedding cake."

"Yeah, but . . . we've been together for five years. We talked about starting a family soon."

"I know it's a little selfish, but I'd like to have you to myself for a while before we start making more people."

"Is that right?" Brooke said, moving so that she was straddling him.

"Yeah," Lucas gasped.

"Well," Brooke pulled her sheer nightgown over her head and tossed it to the side, "I would hate for you to think that you can't have me all to yourself."

Karen put down a plate in front of Keith and smiled as he pretended to pay homage to the food before picking up his fork.

He'd stopped by after hours and she was grateful that she didn't have to eat by herself. After they finished their meal, Karen invited Keith to stay and keep her company. She was surprised at how lonely she was. Haley was back in New York now, and even though she called often it wasn't the same.

When she'd helped plan Haley's wedding she was here so often that it was like having her back but now her life was in another state. And her son was officially a part of his own family. She hadn't expected to feel so . . . left behind. Trust Keith to see that and come over to help her through it.

"Karen."

"Hmm?" Her eyes rose from the book she was reading.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to this new restaurant that opened up on the riverfront, I've heard they have great food."

"Sure, I always like to size up the competition. Why don't I call Deb, I bet she'd love to go too."

"No, Karen . . . I was wondering if you wanted to go there with me."

"What, like on a date?" Karen smiled but it dimmed slightly when Keith didn't laugh.

"Yes, like a date."

"Keith . . . maybe we can do that later? I know that Deb's been feeling a little abandoned herself, Nathan's not coming down nearly as much as he used to."

Keith stayed silent for a few moments before finally saying, "Sure."

"Are you ready to go?" Katie walked into Nathan's apartment with her laptop bag slung over her shoulder. "I haven't really packed yet, but it'll only take me a minute since we're only going to be there for two days."

"Katie, I've been trying to call you. I can't make it back home this weekend."

"What?" She looked at him in shock. "But your mother is expecting us."

"I'm really sorry, I thought I'd be able to get away, but there's practice . . ."

"Some of the other players are taking some time off—"

"Some of the other players don't want a championship as badly as I do."

"Nathan . . . I rearranged my entire schedule for this."

He didn't apologize a third time, but he did sigh deeply. "I'll make it up to you, I promise. Besides, don't you have a lot of work to do anyway?"

Katie glared at her boyfriend. She used to find it comforting that Nathan had such a mild disposition, but now she really wished that he would show some temper so she could shout at him without feeling like an unreasonable harpy. It was madness, but she wanted a fight and his state of perpetual calm and tranquility made it nearly impossible. And the longer they were together the more serene he became.

She'd tried to explain some time ago how much this bothered her to Nina, her sister, and all she'd gotten was an incredulous look.

"You want to fight?" Nina had said with a roll of her eyes. "Take my boyfriend, all we do all the goddamn time is argue. It's freakin' great."

Katie had turned to her best friend with a pleading look on her face, hoping she could find the words she couldn't.

Olivia looked back at her, hesitating before speaking. "I think I get it," she said slowly, "you're excited by seeing a guy get angry with you?"

"No!" Katie threw up her hands with exasperation. "But it's like . . . everything I want to do, we do. He just goes along with it."

"What a nightmare," Nina had said dryly. She stood up and took her phone out of her pocket, checking it to see if her boyfriend had called or left any messages. He hadn't. "Listen, come talk to me when you have an actual problem."

She had given up then, knowing that it was no use.

Katie glared into Nathan's eyes. "I was really looking forward to this," she said, trying to prevent let the edge in her voice from becoming too sharp. "Maybe next time you'll give me a little more notice before you cancel."

"I will, I promise." Nathan hated to do this to Katie, he really did, but he just couldn't go back to Tree Hill. Right now he had to focus on basketball.

August 24, 2014

When Brooke picked up her ringing phone she was surprised to hear Deb's voice on the other end. "Hey, I thought that you'd be at the airport by now."

"No," Deb said, "Nathan just called and told me that he won't be able to make it. He'd like for me to come up and visit him," Deb's voice lightened when she told Brooke about her son's invitation, but her tone became disappointed as she continued, "but I'm right in the middle of drawing up the grant requests for the Mendota charity."

"Did Nathan say why he couldn't come?"

"Something to do with some Katie and an important event. I wasn't really paying that much attention after he said he wasn't coming." Deb was almost apologetic.

"Sorry, Deb."

"It's not a big deal," Deb said brightly.

"Sure," Brooke said, not believing her for one minute. She was still far enough in the loop to know that there was a huge party on the Duke campus over the weekend. And she also knew for a fact that Katie was going to be holed up at the library for at least another week working on a major paper for herart theory class but she had been planning on coming down to Tree Hill for the weekend with her laptop in tow. She supposed Nathan had no idea that she and Katie had been calling each other on and off since the last time they'd met.

None of that knowledge was reflected in her voice when she spoke to Deb. "I'm sure that once things cool down he'll be down here bugging you until you can't wait for him to leave again.

"That would be very nice." She'd only seen Nathan once since Brooke and Lucas' wedding—even though he called all the time. She'd been hoping that he'd visit since summer was almost over and once class started he'd be busy again.

They chatted for a little while before Deb had to get back to work.

Katie hadn't said anything explicitly but she got the impression that things weren't as perfect as she said they were. She went on and on about how nice and supportive Nathan was about everything. Brooke snorted to herself. There were only two things that made a man act like that: wanting to get laid and guilt. Knowing how crazy Katie was over her boyfriend she was damn sure that it wasn't the former, so what did Nathan have to feel guilty about? Something was going on, maybe, but she had no idea what it was. She and Lucas had seen even less of him than Deb had lately.

And this last minute cancellation was becoming typical of him—when was Nathan going to grow up? Brooke wondered. Sometimes she thought that Lucas and Haley were too willing to excuse his behavior. Maybe they didn't recognize it, but she'd seen it before.

She'd dated guys involved in one sport or another and even the ones who were pretty decent changed because the pressure they felt to win always turned them into assholes. Most of the time. Lucas was definitely an exception, but he'd never really planned on playing professionally—even before he'd been injured. As much as he loved basketball, he loved academics more. That's what had really attracted him to her; after they'd gone on a couple dates she'd expected him to take her to a game but instead they'd spent the day at a poetry reading.

If she was honest, it hadn't done much for her. Most of the language was above her head but what she had liked was watching Lucas' face as the reader spoke. He'd looked so focused and interested in what they were hearing that she gained a new appreciation for literature through him.

She'd seen time and time again (in her own experience and second-hand) how players pulled away from the people that they knew—even family—and were drawn deeper into the world of sycophants and fame-hungry people.

But if that was the road Nathan was going down—and she thought it might be—there were some things that just didn't make sense. His having a steady girlfriend, for one. But she'd only met her twice and since then . . . nothing. Nathan seemed to have a separate life in Durham and she knew Luke was a little worried—but he just brushed off her concerns. He was convinced that Nathan was just asserting his independence.

"He's never really been on his own," Lucas had explained. "I've always been around, and if I wasn't he had his mom or Haley. I think this is the first time in his entire life that he's lived in a city without any family there."

"He doesn't come down as often as he used to. When was the last time you guys played a game?"

"I never thought I'd see the day when you would be concerned about Nathan not spending enough time here. Aren't you the one who's always pushing him out the door?"

"And what about Katie? He says that he's still seeing her but do we really know if they're really together?"

"Of course they're together."

"Maybe he's just telling us they are so we won't know about all the womanizing he's doing up there."

"Nathan is not a womanizer." Lucas was getting a little annoyed.

"I'm sorry. I know he's your little brother but even you have to notice that he's . . ." Brooke thought hard. "Something's different."

"You worry too much."

She would have liked to talk to Haley, or even maybe Deb or Karen, but she felt awkward about bringing it up. She wasn't sure what she'd say about it anyway, she didn't know Nathan as well or for as a long as they had. And the kicker of it was that the only reason she was concerned about his behavior was because she could see that Haley and Lucas both noticed it. They didn't seem worried, exactly, so maybe she really was being too nosy.

Haley sat in her apartment, enjoying the incredible view, and sighed. New York was beautiful and she really did love the city, but she wished that she had more time to enjoy it. She hadn't counted on all the things that were involved in being the wife of a very busy man. They had dinner parties, lunch meetings, plays, and charity events to attend almost five times a week. At first it had been exciting but it was just getting exhausting. It would be better if she felt like the people they were meeting were actually interested in having a conversation but most of them were only there to see others or to be seen.

Mark was very committed to what his parents wanted and she admired that, she really did. But sometimes she got tired of feeling like they had to jump whenever they called.

The few times she'd tried to bring this up with Mark they'd always ended up arguing. It wasn't something that she was used to, they rarely even got annoyed with each other—a fight was something so out of the ordinary that she always felt off-balance for days. She knew that he felt the same way.

Haley stood up and walked into the kitchen. Mark had hired a chef for a very important dinner they were having with one of his father's younger clients. Haley shook her head. She loved to cook but she'd hardly done it since they'd arrived here.

Haley watched the chef rush back and forth and when he looked up she smiled at him.

"Do you need any help?" Haley asked.

"No, thank you ma'am. Can I get you something? I could whip up some lunch if you want."

"No, I'm fine. I'll get out of your way."

Haley walked out of the kitchen and up to her bedroom.

"So I've been thinking about transferring my credits over to Columbia so I can finally get my masters."

Haley sat back on her sofa, sipping wine and relaxing now that their guests had gone.

"That sounds great," Mark said. "It's just . . . I really need your help. Just for a little while longer."

"Can't you hire someone?"

Mark took a deep breath. "Haley, I've been meaning to tell you something but I just didn't know how."

"What?"

"We're in some trouble, my father thought that he'd be able to bring in some accounts that just didn't pan out so right now we're staying afloat with money that's been loaned to us."

"How bad is it?" Haley asked incredulously.

"Bad enough that we have to worry, but not so bad that we should panic."

"If we're that short on cash what are we doing living in this ridiculously expensive loft and driving a Porsche?"

"If our potential clients get wind of us selling off property or assets it's going to make it impossible for us to do business with them. No one wants to deal with an accounting firm that can't maintain it's own cash flow."

"You're kidding."

"I wish I was."

"Mark . . . I want to help you, but I'm not sure what I can do."

"It's a lot of secretarial work and event planning."

Mark sounded so apologetic that Haley didn't feel annoyed, but she was concerned.

"I'll help out any way I can, but Mark, we should have some kind of plan if this doesn't work out."

"I know, I just . . . my father has so much tied up in this. I don't want to disappoint him."

Haley nodded and sighed to herself. "Don't worry, everything's going to be fine."

Lucas looked up as his wife walked in the door. His wife—he still wasn't quite used to thinking about her that way, even though they had been married for four months.

Brooke came over and kissed him, her lips were still slightly cold from being outside.

"Hey you."

"Hey." Lucas watched as she hung up her coat. "Brooke, I have an idea and I want to run it by you."

She looked up at him and then sat down at the table. "Sounds serious."

"It is, a little." Lucas took a breath. "I'm thinking about leaving my job."

Brooke's eyebrows rose a little with surprise. "I thought you liked your job."

Being an editor was okay, but Lucas didn't feel very challenged by it. Things at the newspaper would run smoothly no matter what he did.

"It's not bad, but, I don't know, I want to do more."

"Like?" Brooke listened carefully.

"I want to open up a small tutoring center."

Brooke looked really surprised. "Like a school?"

"No, it'd be a place where parents can send their kids if they need help with their homework," Lucas' voice became excited, "we could even offer classes in literature, have book club meetings, and really try to encourage their literary interests."

Brooke grinned. "Well, if you could get me to sit through a poetry reading I think that anything's possible."

"You think it's a good idea?"

"I think it's a wonderful idea," Brooke enthused.

Lucas sighed with relief. "Really?"

Brooke got up so she could sit on his lap. She straddled him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him breathless.

"You really do." He grinned up at her.

"Of course."

"You don't have to worry about money," Lucas put his hands on Brooke's waist and pulled her closer, "I'll keep working until I have enough saved—"

"Don't you dare. You'll quit tomorrow."

"Brooke!"

"Business at Vistas is good, really good, we might have to cut back a little on some things—"

"No," Lucas said firmly, his sensible side reasserting itself. "I have a truckload of planning I still need to do and there's no point in quitting my job when I can do both. And I don't want to put off buying a house." He glanced around the duplex they were renting. "This place isn't bad but I'm a little tired of listening to our neighbors fight over who's supposed to be responsible for their checkbook."

Brooke shuddered. "Mr. and Mrs. Bolonski are going to kill each other one of these days, I'm calling it now."

"And I want to have some savings to fall back on before I try to make this work."

Brooke ran her hands down his chest. "Okay, Responsible One. But as soon as we can, we're going to get started on making your idea a reality. Is that clear?"

Lucas' eyes were warm. "I love you."

Haley looked over the business plan that Lucas had emailed her and shook her head.

"Lucas, this is great."

"I'm glad you think so," she could tell that Lucas was relieved, even over the phone. "Brooke keeps telling me that it is, but she's so supportive I think she'd say that no matter what I did."

"Well, I have no feelings for you whatsoever so you can believe me when I say I think this is awesome."

"Thanks, Hales. Just think, by this time next year I might be Tutor Man."

Haley groaned. "Is that what you're going to call your business? If so I take back all the nice things I said."

"Of course not. I'm just having some trouble thinking of a name."

"Yes," Haley glanced down at the paper she'd printed out, "'Place where kids come and have fun learning' is very descriptive but hard to fit on a business card."

"Don't tease me, naming things isn't my talent."

"I can see that."

"I gotta run."

After her friend hung up, Haley studied the paper again, a wry smile on her face. What he'd talked about sounded like something she would do. After all she had been dubbed, courtesy of Brooke, Tutor Girl.

The truth was she wasn't sure what she wanted, even though she'd talked about going back to college. She'd been so caught up with Mark and his business that she hadn't really thought about what she'd do after he finally got the firm on its feet.

Haley picked herself up and went to the kitchen to pull out the lasagna she'd made to take over to her brother's house. Both Matt and Barb were a little clueless about cooking so when she'd offered to make something they'd both sighed with relief.

She was feeling a little lonely without Mark, he'd flown out to Houston for some negotiations and she hadn't been needed, so she was treating the next five days as a mini-vacation. She'd actually have time to spend with her brother where she wasn't running to or from something. She was sure Matt would be thrilled, he'd started dropping not-so-subtle hints that she hadn't been coming around often enough.

September 12, 2014

Matt looked over at his sister and frowned when he saw her glance at her watch.

"Will you stop looking so anxious? I'm sure that Mark can make it without you for a few more hours."

Haley grinned at her brother. "Now that he's back I'm meeting him later and I don't want to be late. Besides who are you to talk? Didn't you spend two hours looking for a tie that your wife found in two minutes?"

"I'm sure he would have found it own his own . . . eventually," Barb murmured. She wasn't really paying attention to their conversation, she hadn't eaten all day and she was starving.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Matt said before turning back to his sister. "You need some time off, anyway. You spent more time with us last week than you have in a year and it's been great—"

"Because I was doing all the cooking," Haley said.

"But once Mark got back into town you disappeared again."

"What? I'm right here Matt."

"You're obviously thinking about whatever project it is he has you running yourself ragged for."

"Where is this coming from?" Haley said. "You know that Mark's been working really hard, I'm just helping him out."

"What about school?"

"I'll be going back soon, when we get the business on its feet."

"Soon can become never if you're not careful. Mark's being a little demanding, don't you think?"

"Matt," Barb said warningly. She was concerned about Haley, too, but her husband seemed to have taken all that worry and channeled it into a growing dislike for Mark.

"I don't think that Mark's being any more demanding than you've been," Haley said, frowning.

"What are you talking about?" Matt looked taken aback.

"Your dream is to be an actor, and Barb's supporting you."

Matt glared at Haley. "What are you trying to say?"

"That's enough," Barb said, a sudden stomachache making her voice sharper than she intended.

"Sorry, Barb." Haley looked chagrined.

"Sorry, hon." Matt's expression was even more embarrassed.

"Matt, butt out of Haley's business. Haley, your brother and I worked our issues about his career out a long time ago—"

"I'm really sorry, B," Haley's tone was apologetic, "I shouldn't have said anything."

"It's all right."

Barb excused herself to go to the bathroom and Haley and Matt turned to each other.

"Hales . . . look, it's not that I don't like Mark. I just don't want you to put what you want to do on hold for him."

"Thanks, but you don't have to worry, Mark knows what I want to do and he's been really supportive, but right now his business needs to be our focus. There's so much tied up in it."

Matt opened his mouth to reply and then left it open as he watched his wife walk slowly back to the table with her coat on.

"What are you doing, babe? We haven't even ordered yet."

"I think I'm having the baby," Barb said calmly.

Matt looked scared to death; Haley felt guilty about wanting to laugh at him. After sitting in frozen shock for a minute, Matt exploded into action. He practically threw himself in front of a cab to flag it down, scaring Haley and Barb to death.

They all climbed inside, to find that they'd been unlucky enough to end up in the cab of the slowest driver in New York. Luckily the hospital had been close.

Haley handed her brother a cup of coffee and gave him a supportive smile.

"Barb's doing great. Don't worry, everything's fine."

"You really think so, Haley?"

She wasn't used to seeing her brother like this, he was usually so self-possessed. Where had that guy gone?

"Of course."

"She's doing better than I am." Matt ran a shaky hand through his hair. "Thanks for staying, Hales."

"Please, like I'd go anywhere when my new little niece or nephew is about to pop into the world. Are you ready to get back in it?"

Matt nodded. Haley grabbed his hand, pulled him out of his chair, and they walked back into the birthing room together

Haley walked into her apartment and dropped her purse and coat on the sofa before falling into it herself. Finally, at three in the morning, Barb had given birth to a beautiful baby boy. It had been the most amazing thing. It was only afterwards that she realized that she'd completely forgotten to call Mark in all the chaos.

Haley slumped back in a chair in the lobby. She felt like she was coming down from a high. She'd been right there when Matt and Barb had delivered their child. And their baby . . . was one of the weirdest looking things she'd ever seen, but somehow still adorable.

"Are you okay? Where were you?"

Haley sat up, turned around, and saw Mark with a very angry look on his face.

"I was with Matt, he—"

"I just had to explain to Kenneth Ludrow why my wife was a no-show for dinner!"

"Was that tonight?" Haley rubbed her forehead. Damn it, now she remembered. Mark had arranged a meeting with some prominent executive.

"Haley, you knew how important this was for me, if you couldn't come the least you could have done was give me a call."

"I sorry, I meant to, but things got so crazy tonight, I—"

"My entire family is depending on this man to give us his business—"

"Can you shut up for five seconds and let me talk?" Haley snapped. "Barb went into labor tonight. She and my brother had a boy. I'm sure you're very happy for all of us."

Haley jumped up and stalked into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind her.

Things had been strained between Mark and Haley over the past week, they were still both tiptoeing around each other. When she got home after visiting her newest family member she was slightly disappointed that Mark was there, she could hear him in the kitchen. She'd hoped for some time to just be by herself and relax.

"How's Barb doing?" Mark asked.

"She's fine," Haley said without turning around.

Mark hesitated. "I'm sorry. I should have given you a chance to explain."

"Yeah," Haley stood up, "you should have."

"Look, of course I'm happy for your brother. And I'm really glad that Barb and the baby are okay, but I don't think you understand how important this business is to me."

"You're right," she turned to face him, "I don't. It's just a business, Mark. And you should know by now that with me family comes first. I really don't give a damn who you were having dinner with, there's no way I'd be sitting there eating a thirty dollar steak while they're at the hospital."

Frustration made Mark's voice sharp. "I'm not saying that you should think that the business is more important, it's just that sometimes we need to balance out—"

"I'm really tired. Can we talk about this some other time?" Haley didn't wait for him to reply before walking upstairs.

"Fine," Mark said to the empty room.

As soon as Jimmy and Lydia had heard that Barb had delivered they got on the road and were in New York in record time.

Lydia looked like she'd never let her grandson go. She gently rocked him and kissed his cheek softly.

Jimmy put an arm around his son's shoulders. "How are you doing?"

Matt just gave his father a bewildered look and Jimmy laughed. "Yeah, I know the feeling. Just imagine doing this five more times."

"No way." Matt shook his head. "Barb and I have talked about this and Zach is going to be an only child."

"You say that now," Haley said, "but when you see what a good baby he is you'll change your mind." She put her index finger in Zach's tiny fist and smiled when her new nephew gripped it hard.

Barb's still tired voice came from the hospital bed. "Oh, no he won't. And even he did, I won't, and the only opinion that really matters is mine."

"That's right, honey." Matt kissed his wife gently on the head.

Jimmy pulled his son over to the side and they watched the women in their family fuss over the latest addition.

Jimmy opened his mouth but Matt shook his head at his father. "Don't, Dad. I already know what you're going to say."

"Listen," Jimmy said in a low voice, "Maybe you should consider letting me make a few calls and getting you a job. Something temporary until you can get on your feet."

"Barb and I have been planning for this for a while and we have enough for the baby, I worked hard over the last few months building up our savings."

"That's good, son, but what about the long term? Health insurance and emergency expenses?"

"Barb and I have already worked things out, okay? There's nothing to worry about." Jimmy was about to add something when his son interrupted him. "We're good," Matt said with a slight snap to his voice.

"I was just going to congratulate you," Jimmy said mildly.

"And ask me to marry Barb, right?"

"No. I'm just happy to have a healthy grandson."

"Barb and I are happy with things the way that they are. We're committed to each other, we have baby, and we're fine." Matt said, a tad defensive.

Jimmy just made a placating gesture and left his son's side to join his wife.

Mark rode the elevator up, nearly falling asleep as he leaned against the wall. He only had maybe two hours free before he had to drive home and get some rest for the ordeal tomorrow. Another business lunch in an endless parade of meet-and-greets. He was getting sick of wearing a suit and trying to charm clients, but it had to be done.

He knocked softly on the door and entered when he heard a voice say, "Come in."

Barb was alone in the room and Mark handed over the flowers he'd bought her and kissed her on the cheek.

"Oh, Mark, these are beautiful."

"You look great," he said warmly, "I can't even believe that you had a baby last week."

"Thanks."

"Where is everyone?"

"I sent them on a glorified scavenger hunt."

"What?"

"I asked Lydia and Jimmy to go to our apartment to get me a change of clothes, I sent Haley to the bakery for some brownies, and I sent Matt to pick up some Chinese. I love him and I love his family but there are times when I just need a break!"

"I was going to stop by Lowell's and get some chocolate chip cookies. Do you want me to pick some up for you?"

Barb grinned. "More food? Do I look that hungry?"

"It's been my experience that everyone could always use more cookies."

"No, I think I'm fine."

"Okay. It's just as well, I got so turned around coming here that I'm not sure where the place is."

You should ask Haley's twin," Barb said. "He knows the area better than anyone I know."

"Haley's twin?" Mark asked.

"Oh, that's what Lydia started calling Matt when he and Haley were younger because everyone kept asking if they were twins."

Mark laughed. "If you don't need anything I'll step out and let you have your alone time."

"No, it's fine. It's just that the phone has not stopped ringing once since Zach was born."

"So is the entire clan going to come down and take over New York?"

"I think that Taylor and Jen might visit soon, but everyone else is so busy right now. I can't wait to get out of this hospital, though."

"You deserve to take it easy for while, don't rush yourself."

Barb grinned. "Do you have any idea what it's costing us to stay here? The budget Mark and I have has no wiggle room whatsoever. I'd leave tonight if I could."

Mark nodded. "So what's the baby's official name?"

"Zachery Andrew James."

"Great name." Mark glanced around the room. "Where is he?"

"Downstairs, they'll be bringing him up in an hour."

"I'm really sorry, Barb, I can't stay that long. Do you mind if I go down and visit him?"

"Of course not."

Matt walked up the hallway with a paper bag full of Kung Pao Chicken and Pork Mei Fun. He saw Mark gazing at his son through the glass and smiled at him when he looked up.

"He's a great-looking kid."

"I know," Matt said proudly.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't come down to see him sooner, but work—"

"Don't even worry about it, if I know anything, its how work can eat up your time."

"Speaking of, Haley told me that you're between jobs, and we could definitely use more help around the office if you're interested. We've got great benefits."

Matt stiffened. "No, thanks."

"Are you sure? Haley would love to see more of you but we're at the office so much—"

"I don't need your help to support my family," Matt snapped.

Mark stared at his brother-in-law. "I never said that you did."

"Please. Like you weren't wondering how an out-of-work actor is supposed to support his wife and kid?"

"I didn't know that—" you and Barb were married. Even though Mark cut himself off, both men realized what he was going to say. Mark cleared his throat. "The thought had crossed my mind, but I assumed that you have everything under control. I'm sure Jimmy and Lydia are a huge help."

"Yeah, and if they don't have enough spare cash at least I've got a sister that married rich, right?"

Mark wasn't sure how it had happened but he realized that nothing he was saying was making the situation any better. "Forget it."

"You know—" Matt started.

"If you think you're doing enough, I suppose everyone's just going to have to be satisfied with that," Mark snapped. He had no patience left after the day he'd had. "Tell Barb I said goodbye."

Mark stalked off before Matt could say anything more. He might have stood there longer, but he realized that the food was getting cold. He gave one last loving look at his baby before leaving himself.

"Honey, did you have to have food from that specific restaurant? I passed like six Chinese places on the way there."

"Sorry, I just had the strongest craving." Barb smiled sweetly at him. "Did you run into Mark on the way up?"

"Yeah," Matt said, his tone lowering the temperature by a few degrees.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just . . . beginning to be sorry that Haley married that jackass."

Barb looked shocked. "How can you say that?"

Matt repeated the conversation he'd had with Mark, and Barb just looked at him narrowly.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it like that."

"Look, Haley's told me about how he talks to his brother and it's the exact same thing. He thinks anyone not working for corporate America is wasting their time."

". . . I think he's just trying to be nice. I mean, we were talking about how ridiculous our hospital bill is going to be and my insurance isn't going to cover all of it—"

"Did you ask him to offer me a job?" Matt asked incredulously.

Barb rolled her eyes and didn't say anything.

"Did you?"

"Matt!" Barb snapped. "I just had a baby! After hours of labor I am in no mood for another fight!"

His face fell. "Oh, God . . . I'm sorry. I am so sorry. I don't know what got into me, this should be the happiest day of our lives and I'm acting like such a—"

"It's okay." Barb relented. "You're just scared. So am I, because it's real now. We have a baby and it's wonderful . . . but I don't think I've ever been this afraid of screwing up."

Matt put his arms around her and held her tightly. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Barb . . . would you marry me?"

She pulled away with surprise. "Has your father been talking to you?"

"No. I just . . . I love you and I know I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Plus, now we have this new, small, bald person."

Barb laughed. "But why now?"

"I'd like to make it official."

Barb thought for a long moment. "Let's talk about this more after we get Baldy home, okay?"

"Okay."

"Tell your sister that we said congratulations, Hales." Brooke listened to Haley's reply with a smile and then hung up. "Can you believe it? A baby boy."

"I'm really happy for Matt." Lucas sat back in his chair with a grin.

"Yeah." Brooke sat down across from him, feeling a little anxious and staring down at her plate. She pushed her food around with her fork, her appetite suddenly gone.

"What's wrong?" Lucas asked.

"It makes me wonder when we're going to have one. When we're going to get started on making a family."

Lucas's smile faded and he reached for Brooke's hand. "We are a family."

"You know what I mean."

"Brooke, come on, we're both busy right now. Don't you think we should wait?"

"No, I don't. I want to start planning for a baby."

When Lucas remained silent she continued. "I've been thinking that maybe we should go see a doctor, you know, get a check up to make sure that we're both healthy."

Lucas frowned. "A doctor? Brooke, there's nothing wrong with either of us."

"I'm not saying that there is," Brooke tried to keep a lid on her rising frustration. "But I just want to be sure—"

"If that's what you want it will happen in its own time, we don't need to see a doctor, not yet."

"What are you talking about? We discussed this, I said that I wanted to start trying to get pregnant soon, and what do you mean if that's what I want? Don't you want a child?"

"I just want whatever makes you happy."

"Will you stop with that? I had a father that had a baby to make his wife happy and that's not what I want for my kid!" Brooke couldn't keep still and stood up so she could pace.

"If you don't think I'd be a good father why the hell do you want to have a baby with me!" Lucas exploded.

"I have no fucking clue!" Brooke shouted.

"Maybe you could—" Lucas cut himself off.

"What? What?" Brooke pushed Lucas. "Don't stop now, have the balls to say what you want to say!"

"Maybe you could go find Chase, I'm sure he'd be more than happy to get you pregnant!"

"Go to hell," Brooke said coldly. "At least my ex had the decency to make sure I knew where he really stood when I talked to him about starting a family."

"I'm not ready Brooke," Lucas said, making a sincere effort not to shout.

"Have I been talking to myself for all this time? What do you mean you're not ready? We both have good jobs and we just got this huge house! What the hell did we buy it for if you're not ready?!"

"I just don't see why we have to be in such a rush. I'm going to be leaving my job soon, don't you want to wait until we're really prepared to have a child?"

Brooke glared at him for a long time. "Fine," she said, and left the room.

November 17, 2014

Haley sipped the drink in her hand and earnestly wished that she was spending the night with her adorable nephew. Even though Zach was only two months old, she could swear that he knew who she was. He was already smiling at her.

"The party is lovely, Haley," Diane said.

"What? Oh, thanks." Haley focused on the present with an effort.

"I was a little surprised that you went with a different appetizer than the one I suggested."

"I thought that if we're having this thing after these people had a long day's work then they'll probably be hungry and need something a little more substantial than cucumber sandwiches."

Mark's mother nodded and glanced around the room. He eyes rested on her husband, who was sitting down with an executive from a rival firm.

"Are you all right?" Haley put her hand on Diane's arm. "You seem a little on edge."

"I'm just tired. And I guess I'm nervous for Mark, this is kind of like his debut into the business world and every thing has to be perfect."

Just then the man in question came up behind them, kissed his mother on the cheek and took Haley's arm.

"Thank you," he said. "Everything's going great."

"Oh, you know," Haley said with fake nonchalance, "I just threw this shindig together at the last minute."

Mark laughed. Haley had been in the middle of all the planning for weeks.

When the door finally closed behind the last guest, Haley groaned and kicked off her heels. Rubbing her cheeks, which were sore from all the fake smiling she'd done all night, she made her way back into the living room and sat down. The sofa chairs were ridiculously comfortable, Diane had impeccable taste, but right now she was too tired to appreciate her home.

Mark found a seat next to her and laughed tiredly.

"So?" Haley asked. "How did it go?"

"Great, I think. Everyone seemed impressed."

"Where are your parents?"

"Probably going over everything that was said, everything that wasn't said, the subtext of—"

Haley cut him off. "The only thing I'm going to be talking to for the next ten hours is my pillow. Are you ready to go home?"

"How tired are you?" Mark asked with a smile.

"You have a window of about forty-five minutes before I pass the point of no return. You get me home before then and I'll do anything you want."

Mark leaned over her chair, his eyebrows raised. "Anything?"

"As long as I can stay in bed, anything."

He kissed her quickly. "Get your coat, I'll just run up and say goodbye."

Haley slipped her shoes back on and walked to the door. After a while she glanced up the stairs, wondering what was taking Mark so long. She was about to follow him to see what the delay was about when Diane ran downstairs, looking more frightened than she'd ever seen her.

"What's wrong?" Haley gasped.

"Haley, God, call an ambulance! Paul's having a heart attack!"

Haley sat in the waiting room with Mark with her arm around him and her chin resting on his shoulder. Diane sat next to Parker, her face grey from worry. Periodically her eyes would flicker to the doors that the doctor had come through two hours ago to give them an update on Paul's condition. Dominick stood with his arms folded, staring out the window at the abysmal weather.

Haley rubbed Mark's back. "Can you tell me what happened?" She still wasn't sure what had gone on after making that frantic phone call.

"Dad just finished up a conference call, then Dominick and Mom broke out the champagne because it went well," the corner of Mark's mouth lifted with a ghost of a smile, "then Dad said he wasn't feeling well so he went up to the bedroom. I was a little worried so I went to check up on him a little while later and I found him in there on the floor he was . . ." Mark gritted his teeth and paused before going on. "He looked terrible; holding his arm and breathing hard. I told someone to call 9-1-1 . . . everything's a blur after that."

"He's going to be fine," Haley said firmly.

"He's just been pushing himself so hard . . ." Mark said as if he was still dazed. "But I didn't think . . ."

The doctor came through the doors and they all stood up. Haley saw his smile and relaxed.

"He's going to be fine," he said.

Mark's mother sobbed once and put her hand over her mouth as Parker hugged her hard.

"Your husband is extremely lucky Mrs. Fowell, he had a minor heart attack. It wasn't a complete blockage and we were able to remove it fairly easily."

"Minor?" The look on Diane's face reflected her thoughts. This ordeal had been anything but "minor."

"He's going to make a full recovery but he has to take better care of himself. We'll talk more about that later."

"Can we see him, doctor?" Parker asked impatiently.

"Of course. But not all at once, please."

Mark looked at Haley and she pushed him forward gently. "Go on."

The Fowells disappeared behind the doors and Haley sat down with a sigh of relief and looked over at Dominick. He hadn't said a word but he definitely looked relieved.

"How lucky are we?" Haley said.

Dominick nodded. "The old man gets on my nerves all the time, but I definitely wouldn't wish this on him."

Haley smiled and tried to think of something else to say to Paul's chief financial officer. She'd never spent much time around Dominick outside of business dinners and when she was at the office. The only thing she really knew about him was that he was frighteningly competent, Mark often said that he was worth his weight in gold.

He stretched a bit before grabbing his coat. "Can you tell the boys that I'm happy for them?"

"Don't you want to stay and see Paul?"

"Now that I know he's going to be okay, I have to make sure that the business is going to be okay. Money waits for no one, not even people who have heart attacks."

"Okay." Haley tried to muster up a smile and failed.

"Tell Mark I'll call him later." Dominick patted Haley on the arm kindly and left the room.