and stays through Christmas.”
“You two close?”
“We’re only a year apart in age so, yeah, we’re pretty close.” She smiled, thinking of Rick. “He’s
married. I’m not crazy about his new wife, though.” Haley had had the pleasure of meeting the silly twit
last Christmas and she wasn’t impressed. She shrugged. “She seems a bit too into herself to me. But if
that’s what he wants, I’m happy for him.”
Page 30
“What did he think of Eric?”
“He never cared for Eric. Rick used to call him The Salesman because he seemed a little too smooth.”
He nodded. “And when you divorced, did you tell Rick about the abuse?”
“Yes. Rick wanted to kill him, too. Like any good big brother would, I suppose.”
Jay smiled ruefully. “I’m glad he didn’t. I’d have hated arresting him for murdering the asshole.”
She laughed and playfully waggled her eyebrows at him. “But then you and I would have met a lot
sooner.”
“Mmm, yeah, that would have been a definite plus.” He paus
ed and said, “Tell me some of your
favorites. You know, favorite color, favorite flower, favorite movie…that sort of stuff.”
Haley was charmed. She couldn’t believe how nice it was to have a man so interested in what she had to
say. “Okay, this one’s easy. First, my favorite color is yellow. It reminds me of sunshine. My favorite
flower is the tulip, because they can stand so tall and sturdy alone, but they’re even prettier in a group.
My favorite movie… I guess that would be ‘No Man of Her Own’.”
Jay reached toward her, lightly touching her cheek, and muttered absently, “Never heard of it. Is it
new?”
She laughed. “Lord, no. It was made in the thirties. It’s a romantic comedy, so I’m not surprised you’ve
never heard of it. Not exactly a guy movie.”
Jay looked at her thoughtfully. “Why that one in particular?”
She shrugged. “Partly because I love old movies. There’s something pure about them. And because it
fascinated me that the lead actress and actor were married in real life. That sort of gave it more of a
romantic feel.”
They were both quiet a minute and Haley asked, “What about you? What are your favorites?”