Hooked on You by Kathleen Fuller (hot novels to read .txt) 📕

usual, while Hayden picked at the lukewarm taco meat. This couldn’t be happening.First, Dad was selling the hardware store, and now the town had ended a decades-long parade and town event. True, the paradehad first started as a joke, but eventually it became a beloved tradition that everyone anticipated. Hayden hated that he’dmissed so many of them since the parade happened during baseball season, and he’d been excited about being at his first TooDang Hot Parade, minus the parade, in over a decade. Now he didn’t even have that.

He pushed his salad away. “I’ve got to get back to the store,” he said, sliding out of the blue vinyl booth. He couldn’t sithere and pretend to enjoy his food while his life was being turned upside down. He pulled out his wallet and put several billson the table. “Lunch is on me.”

“But you didn’t finish your salad,” Dad said.

“I’m not hungry.” Before his father could say anything else, he rushed out of the diner and headed back to the hardware store.An empty, helpless feeling washed over him. His baseball career was over, but he had been ready for a fresh start in MapleFalls, fixing up his house, working at the hardware store, and laying down some roots, God willing.

Frustration overtook him, and he clenched his jaw. His college coach once said Hayden must have ice in his veins because hewas so cool under pressure. What a joke. He felt anything but cool right now. As it was, he was itching to punch out a windowin one of the abandoned buildings. No one would care about the damage anyway.

Everything was changing too fast, and that made his head spin. When the doctors told him he’d never pitch again, he triedto prove them wrong and ended up setting back his recovery in the process and ensuring that he’d never play competitive ballagain. That had been hard to accept, but knowing he had a place to come home to and a job waiting for him had given him hope.Now even those weren’t what he thought they would be.

As he reached the store, he spotted Riley at the end of the street, coming out of Petals and Posies. Instantly he slowed,watching as she held a bouquet of flowers, then brought them to her nose. He’d sold so many packets of flower seeds over theyears that even from this distance he could name the flowers in the bouquet—red roses, pink and orange gerbera daisies, andat least two purple carnations. Riley was so beautiful in the sunlight, and when he saw her smile, it was as if an electricshock ran through him.

He watched her for a few seconds, mesmerized by her amazing smile. Instantly he relived the bliss he’d felt holding her lastnight when she had accepted a little bit of comfort. Unable to stop himself, he walked toward her.

“Riley,” he called out, unnerved by the cracking sound in his voice. Great, he sounded like a preteen whose voice hadn’t completelychanged. Or an upset man who needed to be around the one person he inexplicably knew could calm him down.

When she turned toward him, he half expected her to run off like she usually did, but instead she waited. As he neared, hecould see the concern on her face. That made everything worse. The Ice Man was losing his cool, and he couldn’t do anythingabout it.

“What’s wrong, Hayden?” she asked, moving the flowers away from her face.

He wanted to tell her that things were fine. That nothing bothered him, that what was happening around him wasn’t rockinghim to his core. But they would both know he was lying.

“Everything, Riley,” he said. “Everything’s wrong.”

Chapter 9

Riley tucked the flowers into the vase sitting on the counter.

After she’d taken a break from sketching earlier, she went back to organizing and cleaning out the bins and paperwork underthe counter. When she saw the vase at the very back of a shelf next to a tin of rusty buttons, she rinsed it out in the sinkin the bathroom, then decided to give Petals and Posies a little business. A small bouquet of flowers wouldn’t have a hugeimpact on the shop, but it would be something. Sophie, the woman who owned Petals and Posies, had been happy about the sale.

She hadn’t expected to encounter Hayden, and from the anxious way he’d called out her name, she knew something was wrong.The pained expression on his face confirmed it, and she didn’t think twice about inviting him into the store.

Now he was sitting on the old but still comfy lime-green velour sofa in the back room. She’d had to clear a spot for themto sit. As soon as he parked himself on the cushions, he raked his hand through his thick hair, then stared at the coffeetable covered in boxes of knitting needles that hadn’t been unpacked yet.

For once, Riley hoped they didn’t have any customers. She sat next to him but didn’t say anything. Not because she wasn’tcurious or concerned, but because she sensed he wasn’t ready to talk yet. When he was, she would be here to listen.

After a few minutes, he lifted his head and blew out a breath. “I’m supposed to be at work right now. We were so slow thismorning that Dad decided to close shop for lunch. He’s probably still at the diner jawing with Jasper, not worried about athing.”

“Should he be worried about something?”

“Yes, he should.” Hayden held his hands in front of him. “He should be as mad as I am that things have gotten so bad aroundhere.” He dropped his hands to his knees. “But he’s not. He’s moved on.”

Riley was confused, but she listened as Hayden continued to talk, expressing his anger over the cancellation of the Too DangHot Parade. That news surprised her too. She never imagined the town would cancel such a long-standing tradition.

He continued lamenting the fact that no one seemed to care what happened to Maple Falls. “Dad’s selling the store,” he explained,surprising Riley even more.