36. It Takes a Village

Fatigue settled in Hailey's bones as she stood in the Loose Moose's living room. She hadn't slept in twenty-four hours—or was it thirty-six? She checked her Mickey Mouse watch but could barely make out the blurred face, let alone calculate her waking hours. In one corner, a drugged Chance lay on the fluffy bed Noah constantly tried to coax him to use.

"At least we know what it takes to keep him on that bed," she quipped.

Noah brushed past her with their bags. "I'd rather he felt well enough to not use it."

"He will soon, according to Neve. Remember how quickly he bounced back before?" She wandered to the kitchen counter and began unpacking their groceries. The thought of cooking and cleaning up the mess afterward weighed her down even more. She'd open a can of soup and grill some cheese sandwiches later. Much later. She still needed to muster energy to call Kaylee and tell her what had happened.

"I need to meet the Freemans in person someday so I can thank them. They are really sweet to let us keep Chance here," she called over her shoulder.

"They're nice people. Fall River originals," he said as he darted back outside. How did he have any energy? He'd been up as long as she had.

Maybe it was the bracing phone call he'd gotten from his father, who had heard about the fire from Noah's brothers. Their parents had offered to fly home—which Noah had politely declined—and also offered to have Noah and Hailey stay on their ranch outside of Fall River—which he had also declined.

As they slouched on the couch a half hour later, her head on Noah's chest, she stared at the TV without seeing what played on the screen. "That was really nice of your dad to offer to fly out here."

Noah grunted noncommittally. "It was probably Mom's idea, and he goes where she goes."

"I don't know your dad, but I think it's more than that." She tilted her head to look at him. "Family's so important. You are one lucky barkeep."

"Yeah, I am." He stroked her hair, and his eyes filled with so much tenderness she had to fight back another wave of tears. It was too much, and she laid her head back down.

"You still haven't told me what happened in your meeting with the Silver Summit partners." Had that only been yesterday?

He tipped back a beer bottle he'd been nursing since they'd sat down. "They went for it."

"All of it? The train too?" she squeaked and popped back up.

His grin spread wide. "They're all in. It's gonna be a helluva lot of work, but at least we've got some big money behind the effort now."

"Oh my God! Think of the boost for the town! All because of you."

"Think of your bookstore! It's going in at the perfect time. And it's not because of me. It takes a village … or something like that. In this case, it is a village. Hell, I'm too exhausted to know what the fuck I'm saying."

She beamed at him. "When do we start?"

"We?" he laughed. "I like the sound of that, surfer girl."

A text chimed on his phone, and his eyebrows crunched together as he scanned it. "Shane says the fire chief is positive the fire was intentionally set."

"I thought they already knew that."

"I guess they needed an expert to weigh in and write up a report. Between that, the notes on both our cars, and the video evidence, Sandy won't be coming around to hurt us."

His words struck a bell inside her head. "Notes on both our cars?"

He straightened up from his slouch and set the bottle on the coffee table. "I got a note too, babe."

"What? When?"

"The first day I met with Leo Cantrell at Silver Summit. It was on my truck when I came out. I didn't want to scare you, so I turned it over to Shane right away. I figured it was Ursula."

A shudder rippled through her. "And I thought it was Cliff."

"Everyone else thought it was Keating."

A knock at the door drew a halfhearted bark from Chance. Noah patted Hailey's knee as he rose to his feet wearily. "I got this."

When he opened the door, Dixie pushed in, her hands full of something. Dewey brought up the rear with a bag of something else. Dixie deposited her load on the kitchen counter and immediately came to Hailey, sitting beside her and sweeping her up in a hug.

Spent, she gratefully sagged against the woman's pillowy body. Dixie was like having a mom, an eccentric aunt, and a grandma all in one.

She held Hailey away from her by her shoulders. "Don't you worry, little china doll. Dixie's going to be sure you and the boss are right as rain in no time. We brought over some of Dewey's stew. Does that sound good?"

Dewey grimaced. "Fresh today, girlie. Just for you."

Hailey's lip wobbled. "Yes. Thank you so much." She felt like a china doll, made of thin, fragile porcelain.

As they said good night at the door, Noah's warm hand caressed her back. It was the only thing holding her up. The door closed, and she burst into tears, laughing and crying at the same time.

Without a word, he pulled her into his warm embrace.

"You must think I'm utterly insane," she blubbered against his T-shirt.

"Shh … I got you," he soothed, stroking her hair. "Always."

And yes, he did so have her. Always.

Over the next few days, Chance healed and Hailey regained sleep and her wits. Though the tavern had sustained only dry smoke damage, they stayed at the Loose Moose during the cleaning process. Noah focused on the tavern while Hailey spent her time unloading, inventorying, and stocking books at Mountain Coffee. They both devoted lots of time to their pup and were overjoyed when, like before, Chance rallied in record time.

Hailey was enjoying a brisk walk from the coffee shop to the bungalow in the late afternoon when her phone rang.

Recognizing the number, she frowned at her screen. Did the call have anything to do with Mousegate? She breezed through the Moose's front door as she picked up the call.

"Ashley?" she greeted. "What's up?"

Ashley rushed in without preamble. "Did you hear about Cliff Meissner?"

"Cliff? N-no." Hailey dropped her bag on the floor and darted a look toward Noah, who was prepping dinner beside the stove. "What did I miss?"

"He committed suicide."

Jolts of electricity zapped Hailey's nervous system. "He what?"

"Cliff hanged himself. They found him yesterday at a rental condo outside of Vail. I guess he was under suspicion for something or other. Do you know anything about that?"

"Um, no. Can't say I do. I'm pretty much out of the loop these days."

"Oh." That one word broadcasted Ashley's obvious disappointment that Hailey wasn't a source of more dirt. "Well, I just thought you'd want to know since you used to work for him."

"Yeah, thanks." She turned stunned eyes toward Noah. "Cliff Meissner killed himself."

He wheeled toward her. They stared at one another for long moments.

Guilt rapidly swelled and hit her like a superwave.

As if reading her thoughts, Noah took quick steps toward her. "Don't you even think of blaming yourself. He made his choice. What he did is totally on him, not on you—not even remotely."

Then he opened his arms wide, and she rushed into their shelter and wept.

As Hailey lay curled in Noah's arms later that night, she stared up at the ceiling, trying to process everything that had happened since arriving in Fall River. In a short time, her life had shifted. Seismically. While growing up, resiliency had been her mainstay, and she realized she still had it any time she needed to lean into it. She'd tried going the secure route, but that had been a fallacy. Nothing was secure, except those you loved—the tribe who supported you no matter what. And without even knowing how badly she had needed one, she'd found her tribe right there in Fall River.