Chapter Five Hailey Bravecci stood alone in the corner of a house party, wondering what on earth she was doing here. Her best friend and roommate, Rebecca, had dragged her to this party, and she had somehow managed to make the critical error of allowing herself to be peer-pressured into attending. She was not a partier. Hailey was a reader, and a studier, and a quiet, shy young woman, and she certainly did not belong on the outskirts of a group of people holding a young man upside-down as they pushed his willing head into a beer keg. Hailey held the same drink she’d had since she arrived an hour ago. She held onto it so no one would try to give her any more drinks, but she hadn’t even taken so much as a sip of it. Rebecca had slipped away with a member of the fraternity whose house they were at half an hour ago, and Hailey hadn’t seen her since. Of course, she’d given Rebecca the green light to recede into the boy’s bedroom when she’d excitedly looked to Hailey, her eyes begging for permission. Hailey had merely nodded and smiled tightly, not wanting to ruin Rebecca’s fun. Rebecca had enthusiastically gone with the boy, leaving Hailey alone in a corner of the room, feeling like a fish out of water. Rebecca had been Hailey’s closest friend since she started college a year ago. They were an unlikely pair, but they got along exquisitely nonetheless. Whereas Rebecca was lively and fun, and stayed up late on weekends going out and meeting new people, Hailey preferred to stay in their dorm room, reading and watching TV, ignoring the allure of the outside world. She didn’t find anything it had to offer particularly inviting, certainly not this over-indulgent scene in front of her. She’d allowed Rebecca to bring her here, allowing herself to be convinced by Rebecca’s insistence it’d be fun, and that Hailey needed to get out more and live her life instead of just sitting inside all day, but now that she was here she regretted letting her friend’s argument persuade her. “I haven’t seen you around before,” a voice woke Hailey from her reverie. She looked up into the glasses-shrouded brown eyes of a stranger. He was cute, in an innocent-looking sort of way, and he was smiling widely in a way that almost made Hailey put her guard down. “I don’t go to a lot of parties,” she admitted. “Ah, that explains it. My name’s Marc,” he introduced himself, holding out his hand. Hailey shook it in greeting. “I’m Hailey,” she told him. “Are you new here?” “Oh, no. I’m a sophomore.” “I graduated last year. I go to Hale Law School now. I just came by to visit my brothers who are still here,” Marc explained. Hailey wrinkled her nose. He was a frat boy. Typical, but he hadn’t seemed the type. “Don’t you go and start making assumptions now,” Marc spoke. “I can tell you don’t like frat boys.” “Sorry,” Hailey said. “I’m kind of an open book.” “That’s okay.” Marc tilted his head, studying her. He didn’t seem to be drunk. He seemed to be holding himself together well. “Why are you sticking around? You don’t seem to be having a very good time.” Hailey laughed lightly. “Well, I told my roommate I’d come, and I don’t want to disappoint her.” “Understandable. Still, you shouldn’t be somewhere you don’t want to be. Where is your roommate, then?” Hailey blushed. “Um, she went off with someone.” Marc nodded knowingly. “Ah. You must be the wingwoman, then.” Hailey laughed at the absurdity of the suggestion. “Oh, not at all. Rebecca doesn’t need any help there. Besides, I’m not sure I’d make a very good wingwoman anyway.” “My friends always try to make me their wingman,” Marc explained. “I’m supposed to make the girl laugh so that they can swoop in at the right time after I talk them up.” “Is that what you’re doing now?” “Oh, no.” Marc smiled slightly. “No, I’m talking to you of my own accord.” Hailey blushed. She hadn’t meant to insinuate any romantic interest on his part. Marc didn’t seem to notice. They spoke idly for a while, Marc making jokes in a nerdy sort of way, smiling and being as charming as possible. Hailey began to relax, the tension she’d held in her shoulders loosening as she laughed at Marc’s off-hand, casual conversation. After several minutes, Hailey noticed Rebecca returning from her rendezvous, her hair slightly matted and lipgloss smudged, but otherwise looking presentable. She grinned triumphantly at Hailey, who rolled her eyes in response. Marc noticed Hailey was distracted and turned to notice Rebecca making her way over to them, seemingly ready to leave. Rebecca might enjoy a good party, but she was still responsible and didn’t like to stay out too late. “Hi, I’m Rebecca,” she greeted Marc. He reached out and shook her hand. “Marc,” he introduced himself. “I believe I’ve seen you around a little before. I’m assuming you’re about to take your pretty friend with you and go home?” Hailey blushed at the reference to herself as “pretty.” Rebecca nodded, and explained, “We have a study group in the morning.” “Ah. Definitely important. It costs a lot of money to go to school, might as well succeed at it.” Marc looked back over at Hailey, his brown eyes searching her blue ones. “Can I get your number before you leave?” Hailey nodded before she realized what she was agreeing to, blushing deeply. She wasn’t one to be giving out her number very often. Marc procured a pen from his jacket pocket and held out his arm. “Sorry.” He smiled. “I don’t have any paper.” Wordlessly, Hailey quickly scrawled out her number on Marc’s arm, avoiding too much physical contact. He smiled at her. “I’ll see you around,” he said. “Enjoy your night.” He nodded toward Rebecca and walked away from them, back into the crowd of the party. Hailey watched him walk away, startled at what had just happened. “I told you you’d have fun,” Rebecca grinned at Hailey. “He’s cute. Don’t settle down too quickly though. There’s plenty of men in the sea.” “That is not the saying,” Hailey mumbled. “Whatever,” Rebecca said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Come on, let’s go home.” ⧫ “This is a great meal,” Marc said, smiling at Mrs. Bravecci. “So much better than anything I could make in my dorm room.” Hailey smiled. She had taken Marc home with her over Thanksgiving break to visit her parents, and so far, everything had gone great. He had said all the right things, in his usual charismatic fashion. He’d even managed to get on the good side of Hailey’s father, which was not an easy feat. He was a gruff, cynical man who’d vowed to protect his daughters at all costs, especially from men, or as he referred to any males below the age of 30, boys. Her father’s feelings about Lacey’s boyfriend were markedly different. He’d deigned to allow the young man, who was referred to as a “ruffian”, to eat with them for Thanksgiving, but that small act of charity was entirely his wife’s doing. Lacey’s boyfriend, Nick, (or as her father called him, “Dick”) and the father of her daughter, Anastasia, was a tattooed, muscly police officer who Hailey’s father had found entirely untrustworthy. He reminded her father of a schoolyard bully who’d grown up and somehow acquired a badge and a gun. Nick was merely five-foot-four inches tall and drove a pickup truck with some of the largest wheels Hailey’s father had ever seen, at least when Nick was off-duty. With no evidence at all, her father was convinced Nick was using anabolic steroids. He watched Nick like a hawk whenever he was in the vicinity. He had told Lacey on every occasion he could get her to somewhat listen that she didn’t need to stay with Nick just because he happened to be the father of her child; she could leave him and find a nice man who didn’t cheat on her even more than she cheated on him. Even better, she could be single and go to college while her parents babysat. Hailey’s parents were impressed by Marc and his high educational and career-related ambitions. Although skeptical by nature, Hailey’s father found Marc to be a promising addition to his daughter’s life. Regardless, were Marc to make any missteps, Hailey’s father would not hesitate to immediately and totally annihilate him, at least verbally. Marc’s gaze flickered to Lacey, curious. She was so different from her sister. Hailey was shy and careful, but Lacey was wild and uncaring. Marc wondered how they had grown up together and turned out so different from each other. ⧫ Hailey and Marc’s wedding was relatively small, but beautiful. She had avoided inviting a lot of people, as she hadn’t wanted to spend too much money on the event. Marc was just starting his job, and although it was going well, Hailey didn’t want to push their luck. She wasn’t earning much as a middle school English teacher, either. They had splurged on the dress, but had chosen a modest venue and a moderately-priced food service. Even still, the price gave Hailey pause, regardless of the assurances of her soon-to-be husband that it all would turn out fine. Hailey was excited to get married and start a family. She hoped she’d soon have a little girl, although a boy would be acceptable as well. She figured she should be able to get pregnant easily, considering how quickly her sister and mother had conceived. Marc seemed equally excited to start a family. He had proposed to her in front of the crowd of people at her college graduation, much to Hailey’s embarrassment. Unlike Marc, Hailey didn’t enjoy being the center of attention. Still, although marred by embarrassment, the proposal had been sweet, and Hailey had wholeheartedly accepted. Marc had a mental picture of exactly the way he wanted his life to go. His marriage to Hailey was a well-timed part of his life plan. He wanted a family-oriented wife who would raise his two-point-five future children, and Hailey had given him every indication that would be her. He fancied she would do great on his arm at political events and parties, where he would impress political allies and rivals with his knowledge and charisma. If everything went according to his plan (and he had no doubt everything would), he would soon be instrumental in local government, and before long, serving on the king’s cabinet, all while his dutiful wife followed loyally along. Marc grinned widely when Hailey stepped out into the hall with her father’s arm in her own. Damn, she looked beautiful. She was practically glowing. He couldn’t wait to get the wedding pictures from the photographer. Hell, he couldn’t wait to take his wife home and tear her beautiful dress off. The ceremony passed by in a blur, Marc and Hailey both overcame with emotion. It felt like only a few seconds before Marc was saying “I do” and scooping Hailey into his arms to kiss her. The attendants threw rice as the ceremony came to a close, and they all began making their way to the banquet hall to eat and drink. Lacey and Hailey’s parents sat with Marc and Hailey in the dining hall, Anastasia in a high chair by Lacey’s side. She and Nick had broken up, leaving Lacey with a baby and not much else. Lacey read a fashion magazine, uninterested in the affair. ⧫ Lacey had begged Hailey to watch Anastasia while she went out, and although it wasn’t a particularly good time for Hailey, as she was several months pregnant and needed to clean the house, she had reluctantly agreed. Lacey had sworn she’d apply for a new job if Hailey took Anastasia off her hands for the night. She had been working at a gas station during the night shift, and Hailey wasn’t sure it was an entirely safe position. Plus, she felt Lacey could work somewhere that paid a little better and ease the burden off their parents’ shoulders, as they were supporting both Lacey and Anastasia, especially considering Nick wasn’t very consistent with his child support payments. Lacey had accused Hailey of being spoiled by her husband and not understanding how hard struggling to care for a child really was, effectively guilt-tripping her. As Hailey had expected, Marc was not pleased by the state of affairs when he returned home from work. “You can’t solve Lacey’s problems,” he’d reprimanded her. “She has to figure her stuff out on her own. She’ll never learn if you always swoop in and save her.” “I know,” Hailey had mumbled her acknowledgement. She did, but she wanted more for her sister. She knew she couldn’t save Lacey, so to speak, but she was too softhearted not to try. It was naive, and she knew it, but she felt as though she couldn’t help herself. Lacey was her sister, after all. To add insult to injury, Lacey announced her arrival at the Tremaine residence by loudly honking her car horn. Marc rolled his eyes from where he sat reading a law book as Hailey carried Anastasia to her waiting mother. “Thanks,” Lacey said, popping her chewing gum while Hailey buckled Anastasia into her car seat in the back seat of the car. “No problem,” Hailey murmured and turned to leave Anastasia with her mother. “I’d say don’t let her take advantage of you again, but I know you will,” Marc chided Hailey upon her re-entry. Hailey rolled her eyes. “It’s hard when you have a sibling.” “I had siblings,” Marc defended himself. “Like, a hundred of them.” “That doesn’t count.” Hailey giggled. Marc had spent the majority of his youth in an orphanage. “Do you want the baby to have siblings?” Marc asked. “I don’t know. Probably. But being pregnant once is plenty. You’ll have to give me a few years’ reprieve.” “Fair,” Marc agreed, taking off his glasses and stretching out. “I’m about ready for bed. I’m no closer to figuring this stuff out than I was when I started.” “You’ll do great.” Hailey kissed Marc on the cheek and left to wash the dishes. “Of course I will,” Marc muttered quietly. “Everything is working out wonderfully, and it will continue to do so.” ⧫ A missing wife was not a part of Marc’s life plan. Hailey’s disappearance had sent Marc into a downward spiral. He wanted her to be found, but doubted she would be. The detectives had told him there was no sign of forced entry, no DNA or blood residue anywhere. It was as if she had simply walked away. Lacey was convinced Hailey had committed suicide. Hailey had been on antidepressants, and she suffered from the occasional bout of depression, but Marc had never known her to be suicidal. She had suffered greatly from postpartum depression, which was the reason they hadn’t yet had more children, but that was years ago, and Hailey had not exhibited symptoms nearly as severe since then. Marc could not wrap his head around the idea that Hailey might have decided, seemingly out of nowhere, to entirely end her life.