"What?" Hayden asked.

Calli narrowed her eyes. "What"s going on with you?"

Hayden looked straight ahead as she drove. "Nothing is going on." Hayden tried to suppress a smile.

"You seem different."

"Different how?"

"More relaxed. Actually, I"ve never seen you this relaxed."

"Calli, nothing"s different," Hayden said nervously. She was happy to park the car and head into work. Hayden walked quickly as if trying to get away from Calli and her questioning. When they got to the a.s.signment office, Calli was almost out of breath.

"Holy cow, Hay, where"s the f.u.c.king fire?" A light film of sweat glistened on Calli"s forehead.

"I don"t want to be late." Hayden scanned the bulletin board for their names and a.s.signment.

"Well, maybe you should try coming home before the sun comes up."

"Here we are." Hayden pointed at their names on the a.s.signment sheet for the day.

Calli"s shoulders slumped. "Great, it looks like funnel cake h.e.l.l again."

Hayden smiled. She didn"t care where they were working. Nothing could dampen her mood and the happiness she felt in her heart.

Chapter Seventeen.

Abbey returned to the hotel room. As she bent down to pick up the shirt she wore the night before from the floor, she noticed a plastic card almost underneath the bed. It was a driver"s license, Hayden"s driver"s license. Abbey looked at it and quickly did the math. Her heart froze. Although many seniors were eighteen before graduation, Hayden was not among them. If the date on her license was correct, it meant that Hayden was only seventeen! Seeing her birth date in print felt like reality smacked her in the face. Oh, my G.o.d, what have I done?

Abbey plopped down in the middle of the bed and rocked back and forth. She recounted in her brain over and over again the previous night in this room with Hayden. What the h.e.l.l is wrong with me? What if someone finds out? What if Ann found out? What if the school board found out? Could she really get into trouble? I mean, Hayden was no longer her student, right? And it wasn"t like what they had done wasn"t consensual, right?

If Abbey thought her life was a mess before, heaven knows what ramifications this latest incident would bring. She couldn"t call anyone because she was afraid if this got out, all h.e.l.l would break loose. She needed to find the strength to take care of this herself.

Abbey held her head in her hands as she went over the past twelve hours in her head. First of all, I need to stop drinking, and second, I need to talk to Hayden and explain to her that what happened last night shouldn"t have.

Abbey pushed herself off the bed. "I gotta fix this," she said as she hurriedly brushed her hair and secured it in a ponytail. She grabbed her purse and car keys and headed out to Waldameer.

The park was already crowded by the time Abbey reached the funnel cake booth. Before approaching the booth, Abbey stood back and watched Calli and Hayden wait on a group of customers. Hayden looked so beautiful. So pure and innocent. She was a good person, wise beyond her years. Abbey didn"t want to mess up Hayden"s life. After all she did for Abbey, she deserved better. Isn"t that why she was here? To tell Hayden that she deserved better. Someone who had their s.h.i.t together and not some basket case, like Abbey.

As the group dispersed, Abbey walked closer. Hayden was wiping off the counter and looked up as Abbey approached.

Hayden smiled and sent Abbey"s heart racing.

"Abbey," Hayden"s voice was as light as air.

"h.e.l.lo. How are you this morning?" Abbey"s voice was tight.

Hayden smiled again, and Abbey"s heart jumped. Hayden lowered her thick long lashes. A rosy blush crept into Hayden"s cheeks. "Fine." Hayden smiled as she continued to wipe down the counter, obviously finding it difficult to make eye contact.

Abbey looked around, then reached over and covered Hayden"s hand with hers. Hayden looked up.

"Hayden, we need to talk about last night."

Suddenly, Calli appeared at Hayden"s side. "Hey, Miss Spencer, what brings you here?"

Abbey quickly withdrew her hand from Hayden"s and slipped it into the front pocket of her jeans.

"Just stopping by to return Hayden"s license to her. She left it in the car last night." Abbey handed the license to Hayden.

"Hayden said you two had some night last night," Calli said.

"Calli, please," Hayden interjected.

Abbey"s heart screeched to a stop. Oh, G.o.d, she already told Calli about last night? s.h.i.t, s.h.i.t, s.h.i.t! Abbey fumbled to come up with a plausible explanation.

"Oh?" was all she could manage.

"Yes, Hayden"s never been out past midnight. I was teasing her this morning that I thought maybe you and her got lucky last night." Calli winked. "Know what I mean?"

Abbey could hardly breathe. "It"s not what you think."

Thankfully, a group of high school boys came up to the counter and placed their order. Calli was immediately drawn to them and left Hayden and Abbey alone.

"Hayden," Abbey whispered. "We really need to talk about last night." Abbey looked around, making sure no one could hear their conversation.

"Okay, let"s talk," Hayden said with a look of concern on her face.

Abbey noticed Calli was finishing up the boys" order. "Not here, though. Can we meet somewhere later?"

Hayden"s face brightened. "Sure. I get done at six o"clock. Do you want me to come to you or do you want to pick me up?"

Not wanting to run into Calli again, Abbey opted to have Hayden meet her. Afraid to be seen in public, she reluctantly agreed to have Hayden come to her hotel room where they could talk in private.

"Is seven o"clock okay?" Hayden asked.

"Seven is fine," Abbey said.

"Okay, see you then." Hayden watched as Abbey disappeared through the crowd.

"What was that all about?" Calli asked.

"She wants to meet me after work to talk."

"You two seem to be spending a lot of time together for a teacher and ex-student. What could you possibly have in common?"

Hayden tried to suppress her smile. "You"d be surprised."

Chapter Eighteen.

Hayden showered and changed clothes ten times before deciding on cargo shorts and a sleeveless b.u.t.ton-down shirt. She was so excited about seeing Abbey again, she could barely contain herself. She brushed and even flossed her teeth, something she hated doing because it made her gums bleed. n.o.body looked good with bleeding gums.

Calli was standing in the kitchen wearing only her bra and panties in front of the open refrigerator when Hayden walked in. "Too bad we couldn"t find a place with air conditioning," Calli said as she opened and closed the door, fanning herself.

"I think we"re lucky we got this place. A place with air conditioning would be too expensive."

"Whatever. Hey, you look nice. So where are you and Miss Spencer going tonight?"

"Not sure," Hayden said. "She asked me to pick her up at the hotel. I guess we"ll decide from there. What are your plans for tonight?"

Calli closed the refrigerator door. "While you were on break, Joey, the guy that was here the other night, came over to the booth. He asked me out to see a movie tonight."

Hayden"s stomach tightened as a flashback of Calli and this guy from the other morning shot through Hayden"s mind. Hayden didn"t want to start an argument with Calli now. She didn"t want anything to bring her down from the cloud of happiness she was riding on. "Well, that sounds nice."

"Yes, he really is a nice guy," Calli said. "In spite of what you might think."

"I don"t think anything about him. I don"t even know him."

Calli nodded. "I know."

"So tell me about him."

"He"s really good looking. Awesome muscles. Dark hair and dark eyes. He works in construction. He"s working at the Under the Clock Bar and Grill in downtown Erie doing wiring. He has great hands, Hay. And a great smile."

Hayden smiled as she watched how excited her friend was. "I"m happy for you. He sounds great. Have a good time."

"Yeah. You too. See you later."

Hayden grabbed her purse and keys and headed to Abbey"s hotel. As she drove the streets of Erie, she fantasized about what the night might bring. She hoped with all her heart that she and Abbey could be together again like they were the night before. She loved the way Abbey"s hair tickled her skin and how wonderful her soft warm body felt next to hers.

Hayden shivered with excitement at just the thought of being close to Abbey again. Never in her wildest dreams did she think they would come together like this-ever. She wanted to give Abbey something special, so she stopped at Mason"s Nursery on the way and bought her a bouquet of red and white roses laced with baby"s breath and lavender. She wanted this to be a real date, so she couldn"t pick up Abbey empty-handed.

Hayden"s heart raced as she pulled into the hotel lot. She shut the car off and took a deep breath. She checked her hair in the rearview mirror, then headed up to Abbey"s room.

As Abbey returned to the hotel from Waldameer, she spotted Ann"s car in the parking lot. She quickly pulled into a spot and hurried to get out of the car and into the hotel, but it was too late. Ann stood at the front of the car, blocking her path.

"What do you want?" Abbey said.

"We need to talk."

"There"s nothing to talk about." Abbey walked quickly around Ann and into the lobby.

Ann followed Abbey to the elevator. "Abbey, please? Can we talk for just a minute? There are some things I want to clear up."

"Clear up? There"s nothing to clear up. You"re straight now and you"re f.u.c.king your boss. I get it. No big misunderstanding there."

Ann leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, apparently trying to summon up whatever patience she had left to deal with Abbey"s obstinacy. "I"m sorry things turned out this way."

"Yeah, well, I am, too. But as usual, you got everything you wanted..." The elevator door slid open and Abbey stepped in. She pressed the b.u.t.ton for her floor and the door started to close.

Ann blocked the door with her hand and wedged herself into the elevator. "Not everything."

"Ann, please. I just want to be left alone." Abbey"s patience was wearing thin.

"You"re wrong. I didn"t get everything I wanted."

"What are you talking about? You"re living in our house, you"ve got Jackson doing G.o.d knows what for you, and you got your precious tenure. That sounds like everything to me."

Ann looked down at the rubber floor of the elevator. "I lost you."

"What the h.e.l.l are you talking about? I haven"t felt like you wanted me for a long time. And did you think I would just stand by and look the other way while you carried on living an entirely different life?"

"I had to show the board that I was a respectable person, living a respectable life."

"Respectable? Are you kidding me? What"s respectable about what you"ve done to our life?"

"You don"t understand. To get anywhere in this world, you have to fit in. Being in a relationship with Jackson helped me to fit in."

"He"s married! How does that make your relationship with him respectable?"

"He"s separated."

"Oh, big deal, he"s separated. So that"s acceptable? How about us? We weren"t separated." Abbey"s anger had risen a few more percentage points. "I loved you and I was faithful to you. That was a no-brainer for me. My mistake was thinking that you felt the same way."

"But we were living separately, by your choosing."

"So this is my fault now? Jesus, can you be any more ridiculous? How about the fact that I made sure to come home every weekend to be with you or how about the time when you had the flu and I drove up in a f.u.c.king blizzard to bring you Kravitz"s chicken soup and cough medicine? Does that sound like what someone does if they"re "separated?" Please, don"t insult me."

The elevator doors slid open and Abbey rushed off down the hall. She fumbled in her purse for the key.

"Just hear me out, please?"

Abbey leaned her head against the door. It felt to her that this nightmare would never end. She slid the key into the doork.n.o.b. Ann pushed her way into the room behind Abbey. "You"ve got five minutes."