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already been through this. It was exactly like me. I walked out on two other men before Linc. It’s a pattern.”
    â€œTrue, but they weren’t Lincoln Billings. With Linc you had it made.”
    â€œSugar, stop it, you’re not selling me a house. The only reason Linc wanted to marry me was because I was a challenge and he was bored. Once the challenge wore off he’d have grown bored again and I’d have joined the ranks of all his other exes.”
    â€œWell, hon, you’re probably right about that…but, Haley, you would’ve had it made for a little while. I’m telling you, I’d have grabbed him up so fast—”
    â€œStop it, Sugar.” Haley couldn’t help smiling. Sugar was Sugar, her assistant by day but an aspiring actress on the side. If Haley thought she was in a cutthroat business, Sugar could really tell some horror stories. She’d bought into the whole Hollywood scene and was constantly auditioning for parts looking for her big break, knowing that every day that passed was another day taking her further away from her dream. But she was sweet and endearing, and Haley worried about her. Still, right now Haley just needed her to be her assistant and take instruction without all this chatter. “Sugar, I don’t want to talk about Linc anymore. I talked to him before calling you and all is well. He’s fine, I’m fine, so drop it.”
    â€œOh, all right,” she huffed into the line. “So if that’s not what’s got you so tied in knots, what is it? You just don’t sound like yourself, Haley.”
    She didn’t feel like herself, but she didn’t tell her friend that. “Look, Sugar, I’m fine. Just keep your eyes and ears open, and if any spectacular opportunities arise that I need to know about call me. Cell phones are worthless here, but leave a message on the machine and I’ll get back to you.”
    They said their goodbyes and, as soon as the line went dead, Haley felt isolated. Sugar was her connection to the world she’d come to know. The world she’d worked hard to belong to. So if that was true, then why was she back here in Mule Hollow? Why was she feeling so unsettled?
    Haley covered her face with her hands then raked them through her hair as she stared out Applegate’s kitchen window toward the barn. In a simpler time, she’d loved it here. Being homeschooled and living in a travel trailer was normal for many kids whose fathers worked the pipeline and whose mothers chose to travel with them. However, her parents chose to let her live with her grandparents because she’d loved it there so much when she was younger. But as a teen she’d grown restless and dreamed of more. Looking back, she realized that those dreams had overshadowed her love of the small-town life. Still she’d needed to leave. She knew that now. She’d had to prove herself by following her dreams. No matter what it had cost her.
    Which was all the more reason for the turmoil she was feeling.
    She might not be certain about why she’d come home, or why she’d felt the urgent need to come directly here after calling off her wedding, but she knew that she didn’t regret having left Mule Hollow. She regretted only having hurt Will Sutton. And, she had to admit, the way he’d hurt her.
    Not that it really mattered anymore, since they’d both moved on with their lives and it was obvious that he didn’t want anything more to do with her.
    Still he had hurt her badly. The pain had dulled over the years but it had taken time. Time to get past the questions that would sneak up on her when she least expected them. Questions such as why hadn’t Will loved her enough to believe in her? To come after her? Sure, a person could ask, Why hadn’t she loved him enough to stay? But things had been complicated. She’d only been in her junior year of high school when they started