When Deb and Haley returned home that night, they found a note scratched out in Nathan's handwriting pinned to the fridge telling them that he and Dan had gone to the local sport's bar. Since it was late, they had already eaten, and they were relaxed, their faces glowing with healthy serenity, the two women decided to call it a night.

Haley awoke the next morning feeling refreshed. She stretched her arms above her head and found herself grinning just because her body felt so good. A glance beside her showed that Nathan was still sleeping, but even in sleep he didn't look like he'd had a good night's rest.

He probably hadn't, she realized with a twinge of guilt. While she and Deb had been having their day of heavenly pampering, Nathan had been subjected to only God knew what from his father.

Haley felt a spark of gratitude toward him and rolled out of bed, intent on making his favorite breakfast as a 'thank you' of sorts. She understood that they were his parents and ultimately it was for his sake that they were putting on this charade, but it hadn't been necessary for him to sacrifice himself for a day so she could relax. She wanted to make sure he knew that she appreciated what he'd done for her.

The quiet groan from the mattress stopped her as she was tiptoeing toward the door. "Good morning," she said, turning on her heel to see him looking at her through sleep-bleary eyes. She smiled and walked back to the bed, perching on the edge of the mattress by his side. "How was yesterday?"

Nathan sat up, still blinking the sleep from his eyes. "Fine."

They were close on the bed, close enough to touch, and Haley could detect the faint scent of alcohol on his breath. "That good, huh?"

"It was fine."

"Nathan, if you want to talk about it, I'm willing to listen," she offered, knowing that Dan would sense his anger or uneasiness and count it as a triumph if it affected Nathan that day.

He looked at her, the dark eyes that had so many times turned her insides to melting butter for once unreadable, and said nothing for a long moment. Then he pushed aside the covers and stumbled out of bed, his hair mussed and his shorts and T-shirt rumpled. "I'm going to take a shower."

The words had barely left his mouth before the bathroom door slammed shut.

Haley blinked, startled. The cold response wasn't what she had been expecting—anger, sure, but not directed at her.

She reminded herself that he had a reason to be grumpy and that everything was probably just misdirected at her in Dan's absence, then rose and headed for the kitchen.

Inside the bathroom, Nathan braced himself in front of the sink, his arms holding tight to the countertop, and stared at himself hard in the mirror while taking deep breaths. He hadn't done that right, he knew he hadn't done that right, but he just couldn't seem to help it. Snapping at Haley wasn't the way to get on her good side… but he felt so much frustration that he couldn't seem to repress that side of himself.

She had begged his mother to take her somewhere away from him.

He really was losing her.

No, he told himself insistently. You haven't lost her yet. Change her mind. Remind her why this marriage will work.

Determined to do just that, he stripped his clothes and stepped into the shower, hoping to wash away the stress and negativity that plagued him.

Unfortunately, the moment he stepped into the living room and saw his father, that smug look on his face, it all came rushing back to him. Haley wanted to get away from him and his father knew it.

Try as he might, he was cross with Haley all through breakfast, their morning at the house, the ride to the Huntington Library, the guided tour, and lunch. The sympathetic looks from his mother and Haley's overcompensating for Nathan's moodiness only seemed to make things worse because it worked to prove, in his mind, that everything Dan had said the day before was true.

As they left the tea room after lunch, Haley took Nathan's hand in hers and pulled insistently towards the rose garden, answering his sullen look with a one of her own that read loud and clear that they needed to talk. "I think we're going to see what we can find over here," Haley stated, directing her words to Deb, who out of them all would have to understand the undertones of her voice. Deb was a woman, so it had to be a voice she herself had used on more than one occasion.

Deb picked right up on it. "Okay, well I wanted to go see the British Art, so why don't you meet us in that gallery when you're done?"

"Perfect." Haley smiled and began to walk towards the garden, leaving Nathan no choice but to plod along beside her.

The scenery was gorgeous. The day was clear and sunny, and the garden was lit with every brilliantly colored rose that Haley could have imagined into existence.

If only she could allow herself to relax and enjoy it all.

After casting an anxious look over her shoulder to make sure they were alone, Haley turned concerned eyes to her husband. "What's wrong with you, Nathan? What did Dan do to you yesterday?"

"Nothing, Haley. We just played some ball," Nathan said. "Of course, you'd know that if you'd been around."

"What?"

"I just mean that maybe things would have been better if you and mom hadn't been off getting facials."

She froze, her lips turning down in a frown at his harsh tone. Confusion didn't even begin to cover what she was feeling. "Yesterday morning you said it was okay that I go out with your mom for a day," she pointed out.

"How do you think the fact that you wanted to be away from me looked to them?" he demanded. His eyes were stormy as they fixed on hers in an angry stare. "Not exactly the picture of the happy couple we want to give out, Haley."

Her eyes narrowed when she saw something else floating around in the darkness of his eyes—hurt. Immediately she realized that whatever was bothering him went beyond the image they presented to his parents. What the hell had Dan said to him the day before? "Nathan, me going with your mom had nothing to do with me wanting to get away from you. Deb was the one who suggested it, and I thought it would be something fun I could do with her. I'm sorry if Dan thinks otherwise. I'll make sure Deb corrects him."

"You weren't the one who brought it up?"

"No, your mom thought a girly day would be fun, and it was, except apparently the consequences of taking a day off completely suck."

Deb was the one who suggested it. It took a second for that to register in Nathan's mind, but the moment that it did he felt the tension that had plagued him all morning immediately ease up. Here he was thinking that his wife was desperate to escape him and it was all the work of Dan's lies.

He exhaled loudly in relief before noting the stung look on Haley's face. A knot in his stomach formed; he had been curt with her all morning and she hadn't done anything to deserve it. If anything, it was probably his behavior sending red flags up in Dan's mind while he unfairly hurt Haley.

"I'm sorry," he sighed, feeling his heart sink when she just looked at him blankly. "My dad just… he said some things that got me worrying that maybe you were trying to get away from me and I know I shouldn't have let him get to me but I guess I did."

"Of course I wasn't trying to run away from you, Nathan. That doesn't make any sense. You should have come to me about it before you went around trying to bite off my head."

"I know I should have, but I freaked out. The thought that you were dying to get rid of me hurt and I acted stupid, trying to make you feel the same way. I'm sorry, Haley."

She studied his face and, noting the sincerity, managed to shake off the apology. Was this what had driven them apart in the first place? Work had played a large part in their separation, sure, but a lack of trust had been an underlying factor in the past few months. "It's fine," she sighed quietly, looking away in disappointment at her revelation. "Let's just forget it."

"No," Nathan objected, seeing that behind Haley's forced smile she was upset—and rightfully so. When she started to walk away, headed in the direction of the British art exhibit, he sighed and went after her, wondering exactly how much more he could possibly screw things up. "Haley—"

"I just have to know," she interrupted, whirling to face him so that he nearly barreled into her, "do you really trust Dan's word over mine? I mean, does it really seem likely that he would tell you the truth concerning our relationship when he's been against it since we got together?"

"Well it wouldn't have been the first time that you left to get away from me."

Haley's mouth dropped open in shock, more taken off guard than she would have been if he'd clocked her in the jaw. Thankful that no one else was around, she balled her fists at her sides and hissed back accusingly, "Like you weren't dying for me to get out of the house by the time I left!"

"Of course I wasn't!"

Her mouth, open and ready to fire out a comeback, snapped shut and she found herself without words. She'd been gearing up for a battle but the building white-hot rage had just been completely extinguished by confusion. What?

This wasn't how or where he wanted to have this conversation with her, but it would have to do. His mother's words of warning were ringing in his head, a constant source of internal encouragement. "I know that things got messy but I never wanted you to move out," Nathan told her honestly, taking advantage of her silence. "I guess that's why I freaked out at what my dad said. I thought we've been getting closer this week and you retreating again… it was like we were going backwards."

"Nathan, I… wow." Haley immediately realized how stupid her words were, but her mind was going a thousand miles an hour on too many other things to care how she sounded. "We were driving each other crazy."

"We always drive each other crazy."

If her mind hadn't been so clouded, she would have laughed at that, if only because it was true. The lingerie and all the little things that he had done for her over the last few days spun around in her head. Had those things, some of which her heart had wanted so badly to believe were genuine, been real or part of the act? "But—"

"Nathan!" Both Haley and Nathan turned at the voice to see Dan standing at the far edge of the garden, an impatient look on his face as he shaded his eyes from the sun with a hand. "Come on, your mother wants to get to the other exhibits."

"Afraid your ugly lies are coming to the surface, Dan? Too late," Haley murmured quietly as Nathan waved at him to indicate that they were coming.

"I guess we'll have to talk about this later," Nathan observed in annoyance. The discussion about the fate of their marriage wasn't one that he really wanted to put on hold, but they didn't seem to have much of a choice.

Haley, for her part almost grateful for the temporary reprieve that would give her time to think through their conversation, nodded her head and managed a shaky smile at Nathan. "Yeah, we will."

And when they finally got the time, there would certainly be a lot to go over.