Beautifully Knight (Jordan Knight Fanfic, Liadan #5)

Bachelors and Batteries

-Hailey-

"If you want to be a whore, be a whore, but don't drag Mom into it. She got your message and she's been sick in bed all day because of you. She begged me to come get you, but since you don't have the decency to give your fucking address to your own brother, I was forced to tell her that you've shut the family out again. 

If you want to get to her, you're gonna have to face me first, 'cause at this point, Dad's not letting you back in the house. The only reason I'm calling you is because unlike you, I actually care about our parents' well-being. I'm not gonna stand back and watch you break their hearts. Not again. Mom's a mess. Dad plays tough, but he misses you too. There's right and there's wrong in this world, Hailey, and you're wrong right now. 

I know you don't like hearing that. I know you want to pretend that you're free to do whatever and whoever you want, but you're not. You made a vow and a commitment. You don't get to go back on that. You don't get to cheat on your husband and claim it's for your happiness. That's not how we were raised. You know that. I don't know what lies your new boy toy has filled your head with, but I know you're better than that, Hailey. You're smarter than that. You might act stupid ninety percent of the time, but deep down I know it's an act. I know you. Never forget that. I know you better than you know yourself. So does your husband. He's still out at sea. 

I talked to Brooke and she's willing to help you with your medical situation. We haven't mentioned it to Dad yet. So you can make this easy and let us come get you and we can figure this out before Cliff gets back. He doesn't have to know about this. He loves you and he's committed to you. You're committed to him 'til death, like it or not. That's how it is. We all want you home. 

Just do the right thing and come home, Hailey. You don't want to cut us off. I know you don't. We're your family. Come home."

"Name, beautiful?"

Startled, I pulled my phone away from my ear and looked up to find a pair of eyes staring directly at me while my brother's words banged around in my head.

"Pardon?" I blinked.

"I was asking for your name," the host repeated as his twinkling eyes seemed to wander my face and a prickly feeling roiled through me. "For the reservation," he gestured to the tablet on the podium in front of him.

"Oh, um, Hailey," I stammered. "Hailey Jacobsen."

"Pretty name for a pretty girl." he swiped his finger over the screen. "Table for one, Hailey Jacobsen?"

"Oh, no, um," I shook my head and slipped my phone into my back pocket as I tried to remember how many people were with me.

"No?" He arched an eyebrow. "What's the occasion? A prettiest of Boston gathering?"

Under normal circumstances, I'd have recognized that he was flirting with me, but my brain felt frozen.

"Uh," I scanned my eyes around the covered deck of the semi-upscale restaurant until my gaze landed on my group—or my boyfriend's group. They weren't mine.

After a day of painful reflection and reminiscing, I wasn't sure what—if anything—was mine.

My marriage was over.

My family was on the verge of disowning me for good.

All my greatest fears were unraveling.

And I felt lost.

Something about putting my entire childhood into words while drafting my divorce papers had stirred up emotions that I didn't even realize I'd ever felt. The past eight years of my life had largely passed me by without time for reflection or contemplation. Instead, I'd created a simple, concise narrative of who I was and where I'd come from in my head.