Chapter 2
Hayden walked through the sliding doors at Clinton National Airport and then glanced at his watch: 10:30 p.m. He was a fewminutes early. He walked toward a group of tables and chairs near the coffee bar and sat down facing the escalators, waitingfor Erma’s mystery visitor to appear.
He stretched out his legs and thought about the text Erma sent him earlier that day with the flight details and thanking himfor doing this favor for her. If she’d asked him to jump off the top of the Knots and Tangles roof, he probably would have—orat least given it serious thought. She’d told him dozens of times since she broke her leg not to blame himself, but he couldn’thelp it. He knew the kind of pain an injury like that could cause, and it was probably more intense considering her age. Itwas his fault she had to deal with it. Why he hadn’t stopped a seventy-plus-year-old woman from rounding the bases, he didn’tknow. Not at the time anyway. He realized later he’d let his competitive nature get the best of him. He needed to work onthat. The days of wanting to win at all costs were over—forever.
Picking up someone from the airport hardly made up for what happened, but he was glad to do it. He just wished she hadn’tbeen so cagey about who he was supposed to bring back to Maple Falls. Erma hadn’t given him a name. All she said was the timethe flight was supposed to arrive, along with “You’ll recognize the person when you see them.”
Despite her insistence on keeping her visitor a secret, he wondered if he was picking up her granddaughter, Riley. He’d consideredasking Erma outright but decided to let the woman have her fun. There was a chance he was picking up someone other than Riley,who hadn’t returned to Maple Falls since . . . Actually, he had no idea when Riley had last been in her hometown.
A few minutes later, he saw several people taking the escalator from the gate section of the airport to the lobby, indicatingthat the plane had landed. It was the last arrival of the night. He rose from the chair and strolled toward the escalator,keeping a good distance but studying everyone who had arrived. He didn’t recognize any of the passengers as they walked tothe baggage carousels behind him. Hayden moved closer to the escalator, and soon it was empty. Huh. He hoped he hadn’t missedErma’s guest.
As soon as he started to head to the gates, he saw someone appear at the top of the escalator. When she was halfway down,he smiled. Well, well, he was right after all. Riley McAllister had returned.
She pulled a small roller suitcase behind her, and a large red duffel bag was slung over her shoulder. A small brown leatherpurse was strapped across her torso. She was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt that looked suspiciously like a man’s, slimfaded jeans, and hippie sandals with big buckles on them. But while her outfit was casual, the tense expression on her facewas not. Riley was home, but she didn’t look happy about it.
He met her at the bottom of the escalator. “Hey, Riley.”
She looked at him, her head tilting and her frown deepening, as if she didn’t know who he was. That pricked his ego a bit.Who in Maple Falls and the great central Arkansas area didn’t know Hayden Price? The small-town boy who made it big in theminor leagues, then went on to the majors only to blow out his shoulder when he threw the opening pitch of his first professionalgame. Then again, it had been almost a decade since he’d seen Riley. A lot had happened since then, but he didn’t think he’dchanged that much.
“Hayden?” she finally said.
“That’s me.”
“What are you doing here?” She dragged the strap of the duffel higher on her shoulder, sounding a little annoyed.
“I’m your ride. Erma can’t exactly drive right now.” He pushed away the niggle of guilt. “She asked me to carry you home.”
“Oh.” She glanced around the airport, which was nearly empty now. “I offered to get an Uber or a taxi, but she said she wouldtake care of it. I didn’t think she’d send you, though.”
Ouch.
“I mean, I figured she’d ask one of her buddies to pick me up.” An awkward pause. “I didn’t know you two were acquainted witheach other.”
“Everyone knows Erma.” He shifted on his feet. Not wanting to give Riley the opportunity to ask for more specifics, he added,“I’ll get your bag from the carousel.”
“This is all I brought.” She held both the duffel and the suitcase in a death grip.
Obviously, she didn’t need or want help. Fine, less work for him, and he pretended not to be put out that she had refusedhis assistance.
“I’m parked out front,” he said. “We don’t have to walk far.”
She nodded and headed for the sliding door, her gaze straight ahead like she was a woman on a mission, and he was suddenlytransported back to high school. To him, Riley McAllister always stood out from the other girls in his high school, not onlyfor her looks, although he’d always thought she was attractive. She was taller than average, with ash-brown hair that wasusually pulled back in a ponytail. Her eyes were her most striking feature, large and bright, like blue topaz. Right now theylooked just as hard.
He followed her, and when they left the lobby he gestured to the parking spaces in front of them.
“That’s my car,” he said, pointing to a twenty-year-old Subaru that had been put through its paces and needed a fresh coatof paint but still ran like a dream.
She turned to him, her quizzical gaze apparent under the bright parking lot lights. “I thought you’d have a Lambo or a Porscheor something.”
He laughed. “You have to play in more than one major league game to get that.” Fortunately he’d received a healthy signingbonus when he joined the Detroit Tigers, and the team let him keep most of it when he was unable to play anymore. After
