Was it possible Bryan was cheating on me?
Chapter 19
Bryan
“Holy fuck. How long has it been since we’ve been here, man?”
“It was before Hailey’s art tour,” I said.
“Dude. Not cool. I’ve missed this place’s milkshakes,” Drew said.
“Me, too. These seasoned fries and their banana-mocha shake? There’s nothing like it,” I said.
“I feel like it’s been fucking forever since I’ve seen you.”
“Because we don’t hang out as much anymore. We got adult shit to do,” I said.
“Well, screw that stuff, man. When are we going surfing again?”
“I don’t surf. You surf.”
“Then when the hell are you gonna let me teach you how to surf?” he asked.
“Never. I’m about to be a dad. I can’t be drowning in salt water,” I said.
“Imagine that. Us busy with women and careers and families. Glad we could carve out some time to come enjoy this greasy joint with their awesome milkshakes.”
“No joke,” I said, chuckling. “And speaking of women, how’s stuff going with Anna?”
“You guys ditched us at that club, man.”
“But did you guys even notice?” I asked.
“When we woke up the next morning in my bed, yeah.”
“Oh, shit! So, things are going well?” I asked.
“Oh yeah, man. Better than I would’ve thought. She’s stopped by the shop on a few occasions when I’m closing up, and we’ve gotten lunch a couple of times together.”
“Now all you have to do is not fall back into your workaholic routine,” I said.
“I’m not, and I know she’s trying not to as well. She’s got this project from the foundation that’s keeping her busy, but Sunday nights? She’s all mine, man.”
“That’s enough details about that. Hailey would be pissed if I knew the intricate details of her sister’s sex life.”
“Can’t imagine you’d wanna know that anyway,” he said. “You’ve never been that kinda guy.”
“But you’ve always been that kind of guy, so keep your mouth shut.”
“I wanna thank you guys again. For setting up what you did,” he said.
“It’s not a problem. Hailey and I had a wonderful time too.”
“Especially when you got home?” he asked.
“Cut the shit,” I said. “That’s my wife.”
“My bad, man. I’m glad you guys got some time too. I know you’ve been stressed with shit lately, so I can only imagine how Hailey’s been.”
“It’s been rough. I’m worried about her. We’ve got this kid coming in less than five weeks, and she’s up in arms.”
“What do you mean?” Drew asked.
“My mother’s being a bitch, and she’s stressed with training this new girl at the gallery. She’s got all this baby stuff and becoming a new mom. And again, I’m back to feeling like there’s something she’s not telling me.”
“She makes a habit of that, doesn’t she?”
“You think so?” I asked.
“Uh, you don’t? First with the shit with your brother. Then the shit with her being sick. It’s kind of her thing.”
“You think that’s a bad thing?” I asked.
I watched as Drew turned the question around in his head. I darted my eyes to look out the window and settled them on Hailey’s gallery. By all accounts, my dreams had come true. I built a successful business, and I had a job I loved. I found the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and we were expecting a child. All of those boxes I had set out to tick off my list as a young man emerging from college had been accomplished.
So why wasn’t I happy?
“I think it could become a bad thing if she makes it a habit,” Drew said.
“For all the grief and heartache my mother has caused, she did point that out about Hailey’s personality.”
“What did she say about it?” he asked.
“That it made her unreliable and that, eventually, she would betray me.”
“Yep. Sounds like a load of shit from your mother. Hailey not telling you things like that doesn’t mean she would betray you. That sounds like your mother’s manipulative train of thought.”
“At least we agree on that,” I said.
“What it does mean, though, is that Hailey is still struggling to open up.”
“But why?” I asked. “Why? After everything we’ve been through? Haven’t I shown her I will stand by her side through anything?”
“Dude, it’s got nothing to do with you. Hailey’s her own person, and not all the things she deals with will center around you, man. Maybe this is just her shit. I mean, she’s not close with her family, right?”
“She was when she was sick,” I said.
“Okay, let’s start there. So, they were around when she was sick. She relied on them, probably. Leaned on them maybe?”
“Yeah? They came to visit a lot,” I said.
“Then, they what? Left? Have they been back?”
I leaned back in my chair as I chewed on a french fry.
“No. They haven’t been back,” I said. “But, we also went on that European tour.”
“You guys have been back for almost a month now. Have they come to see their pregnant daughter?” he asked.
“No,” I said.
“You’ve only been in her life for, what? A year, maybe? But she’s lived with her parents and their bullshit her entire life. You saw what they went through with Anna when her sister branched out and shit. They’ve reinforced that mindset, man, that unless shit really kicks up, they won’t be there.”
“Holy hell. It’s got nothing to do with me,” I said.
“Nope. She made decisions with her life, and her family left her. So she keeps tough and hard decisions close to her for ... I don’t know. It could be many reasons. Maybe she feels like people will only be there if she’s suffering. Or maybe it’s her way of testing people around her, to see if they will stay despite the tough calls she makes. Or maybe it’s her way of protecting herself because the most important man in a girl’s life is her dad, and hers wasn’t there. Who the fuck knows? I’m not a head doctor. But from being back around Anna, that shit has affected her. And Anna has only dealt with it the past year or so. Think about how Hailey’s formed, having to deal with it ever since she was eighteen.”
“Where the fuck was this wisdom a year ago?” I asked.
“Sitting in some dumbass vault while I drooled over women, man. But being with Anna and owning my own business? It’s given me time to think and reevaluate things. I like where I am, so I want to figure out how to make this current state of life better.”
“Sounds like we got dreams coming true all over the place,” I said.
“You’re damn right we do. But it isn’t always rainbows. Building our business taught us that. And with Hailey? And Anna? We’re building something from scratch. So expect the road bumps and the fights and the moments where you wanna give up, man. Because they’re coming full force.”
I looked back over at the gallery and saw Hailey come out. She looked exhausted, and I made room for her to come sit with us at the diner. I watched as she waddled to her car and opened the door. Then her eyes panned up to me and found mine. She studied me as I looked at her through the window of the diner, my hand raising to her and beckoning her to come over.
But instead, she dropped herself into her car and drove off.
“Looks like someone had a bad day,” Drew said.
“I need to go.”
“Whoa, whoa, man. Wait a minute,” he said.
“She’s upset. I have to go after her,” I said.
“Just give her some space to breathe. Hailey’s always been that way, right?”
“Not always. I mean, I don’t know. Look, she’s carrying my child, and she’s not okay. I have to go make sure she’s—”
“Bryan, sit the fuck down,” he said.
I sat back down into my seat as Drew released my wrist.
“Just finish your dinner and then make your way home. Give Hailey some time to decompress. In the past, you pushing and poking and prodding didn’t get her to open up any fucking sooner. So try something different. Give her space to process.”
“She’s not okay. You saw that look. The way she was hunched over and walking.”
“And my advice still stands,” he said. “Finish your food and give her some space.”
“Part of my duties as her future husband is to be there when she’s had a bad day,” I said.
“And the other part is understanding when she needs you to butt out. And that look? It had ‘butt out’ written all over it,” he said.
“Drew, I—”
“Man, if there’s one thing I know about women, it’s to not go looking for trouble when there’s no trouble to be found. Right now, you’re making assumptions based on a look from across the street. Anything could be wrong, and if you assert yourself too soon or start making assumptions while she’s racing with hormones and exhaustion, you’re gonna make things worse.”
I sighed as I grabbed another french fry and tossed it into my mouth.