“No.”
“For crying out loud—”
“Wait, you don’t need a statement from me or anything?” Glen interrupted.
Lisa Walker scoffed. “Waste of my time. We’ll be calling them to court before they have the chance for any more threats. Once they realize there’s no way they’ll win, they will back off. Case closed.” Her attention turned to me next. “How did you get mixed up in this anyway?”
Haylee’s worried eyes begged at me from across the coffee table.
I wanted to rub my hand across my face but dug my fingers into the arms of the chair instead. “We’re neighbors.”
“Case closed?” Glen echoed blatantly. “What if they are happy to go to court?”
Mrs. Walker narrowed her eyes, and for a moment, she looked gruesome, but then the clint in her eyes and twitch of her lips shattered the illusion. “Then I will hear your statement. I said I will take care of it.”
She was really not interested in discussing it further, and I got the impression she hadn’t dropped what she was doing to get here this quickly because of the accusation. She was here because of me. And Haylee. And what Haylee had said about her insisting on a background check. I was under inspection. Was-I-good-enough-for-her-daughter type of inspection.
“Neighbors with benefits?” Mrs. Walker’s gaze danced around the room, taking in Haylee’s jerking and my calculated stiffness.
I caught Haylee’s eyes and did my own begging. I refused to lie. “Neighbors with feelings,” I amended.
Haylee sagged into the pillow and hid her face behind her curls.
“Haylee?” Mrs. Walker’s biting voice rang out, pulling the girl out of her curling position.
Haylee’s gaze was all fire when she met her mother’s jeer. “What? I told you last time. I’m not having this conversation with you.”
“Just tell me one thing, then. Does he treat you well?” A softness I didn’t expect to see crossed Lisa’s features.
Haylee took no time to reply. “Yes.”
Lisa Walker nodded, then turned to me again. “You’re leaving at the end of the week, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” I didn’t need the reminder, but coming from her in that sharp tone was the worst.
“That will be resolved then, too,” she said, then set to dodge the antiques on her way out, waving a hand dismissively at Glen. “Don’t bother standing up, I know where the door is.”
The moment Mrs. Walker was out of the room, I was on my feet and between Haylee and Glen on the couch with my arms around my girl. She remained tense until the front door closed with a resounding click, then she melted into my embrace.
“Resolved,” Glen huffed. “Since love totally works like that.”
It was strange, I must admit, but I had no experience with mothers. Grandmothers, yes, but not mothers. I tried not to think too much of it because, for me, nothing would be resolved when I left, and I hoped Haylee saw it my way, too. I wasn’t quite sure if it was me Lisa disliked or the idea of Haylee dating in general. The idea of Haylee dating someone other than me—that got me to squeeze her tighter against my chest.
I breathed in her sweet scent, and whatever clots had begun forming in my gut loosened up. Fuck, I was a sucker for this girl.
“Oh, and she didn’t even care about A&R’s threat to me,” Glen fumed on. “That was just a side-gig. The main issue was that Haylee is seeing someone. That’s not normal, is it?”
Haylee’s face rubbed against my chest as she shook her head while I mumbled, “I don’t know” into her locks.
“It’s not,” Glen decided. “What kind of mother wants their daughter unhappy? She didn’t even ask you if you were happy only if Luke treated you all right.”
“Haylee did say she didn’t want to talk about it,” I offered, not ready to make a judgment of my own, but realizing there must’ve been a bigger reason for Haylee’s jarring reaction. I might’ve not understood it, but I saw how she’d tensed up. I’d felt her rigid against me before she’d allowed herself to relax. She was still not speaking.
“Whose side are you on?” Glen scoffed.
“Yours. I was just stating the facts.”
“The facts are,” Glen blabbered on, “that she wholeheartedly didn’t care for whatever case is going to be started on my behalf with A&R, and she really doesn’t like you, Luke. Coming from her that was mild, too. She can express her dislike in much, much worse ways than simply bidding you good riddance at your departure.”
