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I rolled my eyes at him. “The bedroom. Yeah, yeah, I get it. You don’t want someone around, cramping your... style.” I made a face at his couch.
Hayes pretended to be wounded. “You think I’m that shallow?”
I gave him a look. Wasn’t it obvious he cared about surface-level things only?
“What would you rather have, Princess? Freedom to do whatever you want whenever you want... Or some dude who farts when he sleeps, leaves his clothes on the bathroom floor, and forgets your anniversary as often as he remembers it?”
“Gee, you’re romantic,” I drawled, even as my heart was squeezing with worry. Was that really all there was out there for me?
“I’m a realist. And I don’t see the point in being any other way. Most women dream of a man who will sweep her off her feet. But the only thing waiting for them is some guy who will lift up his feet for her to sweep under them.”
My eyebrows pinched together. “Is that how you think of your brothers? Just losers for their wives to look after?”
“Of course not!” he argued. “But they’re the exception, not the rule.”
His cynicism was seriously getting me down. Especially considering I was about to move to get a chance at love. “You’re forgetting something,” I reminded us both.
“And what is that?” he countered, elbows resting on his knees.
“You don’t love someone just because of their good qualities. To love someone, and to really be loved, you have to see all their flaws and choose them anyway.”
Hayes was quiet for the first time that evening.
After a moment, I set my bottle on the table and said goodbye.
Because Hayes Madigan?
He would never understand.
7
HAYES
When I woke up the next morning and walked into my living room, Della was on my mind. The disappointment in her face when I reminded her how most relationships went. It was like waiting until Christmas morning to tell a kid Santa didn’t exist when they came running down the stairs to look for presents and found nothing underneath the tree.
A small part of me felt guilty. But wasn’t it better to know the truth and adjust to reality than waste your life waiting on a dream unlikely to come true?
It reminded me of my mom at home, dying. And everyone praying for a miracle when they all knew damn well she wouldn’t survive.
With a grunt, I went to the kitchen, made coffee, and then decided to spend my Sunday at the garage working on my 1969 Harley Davidson. I’d spent the last six months slowly restoring her. When she came to me, the paint was chipped, the leather cracked, and the insides just as much of a mess. Now, she glimmered in all her candy pearl sea-green paint, and the dark leather practically gleamed under the shop lights.
The final part I needed was set to arrive tomorrow morning, and I wanted to make sure everything was ready for the install.
It was early enough in the day that the light still had a pinkish-blue tinge to it as I drove to the garage. Over the lobby windows, the sign shone against the pale morning. MADIGAN AUTO.
My lips twitched at the sign, at seeing my name there. Even though I’d bought the garage over five years ago now, the sight of my name on the building never got old. Most people thought I would never amount to anything, and this sign was a giant middle finger proving them wrong. Proving my small group of supporters right.
With a sense of pride filling my chest, I got out of my truck and walked to the building. It took just a moment to unlock the door, go back to the garage, and roll out my pretty bike.
For the better part of the day, I tinkered with the motorcycle, making sure everything was ready for tomorrow. As soon as the part was installed, she should be ready to go. I hoped.
When there was nothing left to do, I cleaned up the garage and went into the office to do some paperwork. The monthly payment for the business was due, and I wrote the check, thinking of my dad, who made it all possible.
When I had an opportunity to purchase the business, he cosigned the loan. He could have lost everything. Still could if things went south.
It kept me working harder than ever.
I snapped a picture of the check and texted it to him.