"She seems…" Riley started and then looked at Jack for reassurance. "We're worried she hasn't cried or anything similar since she arrived to live with us."
The principal made a small note in her file. "That isn't unusual. She seems, from what you say, to be well adjusted, and the counseling will ensure she receives the right help to flourish at this school. All of this of course would be carried out after full consultation with the two of you."
"Thank you," Riley said.
"Our students are such that Hayley will be among other children with similar emotional needs. This is something I think is very positive." Jack and Riley nodded. "There is one other thing that's important for me to cover here."
Jack narrowed his eyes. This sounded serious.
"It is important you realize you are not unknown to the school, Mr Campbell-Hayes." She was focusing her attention on Riley. "We pride ourselves on being a progressive school—"
"But you're worried about us being gay and married," Riley interrupted. Jack didn't like the tone of Riley's voice. He sounded resigned.
"Goodness me, no," she said instantly, "family is family. Our concern is the paparazzi that follow your story so very closely. The school is home to daughters of past governors, our elected officials, judges, and even one actor, and we have dealt before with press interference. I just need your reassurance that you will work with us to handle any problems that should arise."
"We will," Jack said, jumping in before Riley could say anything. How the hell they were going to do that was another matter altogether. The press ate up all the gossip surrounding the Hayes family. His emotions had gone from confrontational to agreeable in an instant, but Riley was still on edge.
"I can't control the papers," he said, and leaned forward in the chair. "But I can assure you I will always have my full resources at hand should there be any issues." She inclined her head in acceptance of what he said. "There's one more thing though," Riley said. "I need to make sure, need to know, whatever happens, as long as we can afford the fees, she can stay. Yes?" Silence. Absolute silence as she looked at Riley with a steady gaze.
"Are you expecting a problem covering the fees?" she finally asked with a look of confusion on her face.
"Not at all." Jack listened to Riley's instant words of reassurance, but he knew he was lying. What the hell?
"We have never refused a place to any child who deserved it, Mr Campbell-Hayes."
* * * *
All the way back to the ranch, Riley alternated between best dad in the world for Hayley and shiftiest husband in the world for Jack. When they reached the ranch, Jack thought about starting a conversation, but he needed to check on Taylors. At that moment in time, he had to put his horse first. Solving the puzzle of his husband at this very moment was something that would have to wait.
Riley was distant and thoughtful at dinner. His interaction with Hayley seemed normal, but his cell was never more than a hand's reach away from him. Jack tried not to feel jealous of the cell or the girl who had jumped into their lives with such impact.
"What's wrong, Riley?" he asked as they got ready for bed.
"Nothing. Just tired," Riley responded with a shrug. When they lay in bed at night and Riley turned away to sleep, it was the worst thing ever. He said it was because Hayley was down the hall, but Jack remembered back to the whole Jeff situation and saw the same things happening again in his husband. Something big was distracting Riley, and Jack wondered if it had to do with Jim Bailey and the discussion he had watched from the window. Since Hayley had arrived, they had slipped effortlessly into a routine. Of course, their sex life had taken a back seat, but it wasn't just the sex that Jack missed. Well, he missed the intimacy—of course he did. And the hot sex that burned him up every single time was a distant and fond memory, at least until Hayley went to school, but Riley had still held him in bed and never moved away. Intellectually, Jack was aware it was Hayley's presence causing Riley's reluctance to move past a kiss. But add in the constant worry on Riley's face, and he was left feeling like he was missing a part of the intricate puzzle of Riley Campbell-Hayes.
Several times that evening he had begun a conversation and left an opening for Riley to talk. But Riley, damn him, had a unique handle on Jack, and inevitably, Jack found himself talking about the ranch, about the horses, or about Hayley. Never about what was in Riley's head. Tricky bastard.
Then there was the interview.
C
HAPTER
11
Sean Harris arrived in jeans and a t-shirt and drove a beat-up Toyota that had seen better days. He wasn't overly tall, maybe a few inches shorter than Jack, and he had the toned physique of a runner. With long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and sun-kissed skin, he looked more like a surfer dude than any kind of serious journalist. He waited outside the house for a good five minutes, just casting his eyes around the D, whose land spread to each horizon. Jack watched him from the kitchen and made several assumptions that were based on nothing but a scruffy guy eyeing his land. No fucking way this was the journalist, even if Eden said it was. This was clearly some tabloid hack who made his living ripping the hearts out of families such as his, and there was no way he was letting that happen. Temper high in him, not least because Riley and Hayley had disappeared and Eden hadn't even turned up yet, he stalked out of the door and down the stairs.
"Can I help you?" Jack snapped, thrusting his hands in his pockets and refusing the guy's outstretched hand.
"Sean Harris," the other man said. Confusion crossed his face briefly, and he dropped his hand. "Eden Hayes said you were expecting me."
"We were expecting a high caliber journalist, not a hack." Sean's eyebrows rose in surprise, and Jack chalked that up as a success. Clearly, the hack hadn't been expecting someone to call him on what he was. He waited for the guy to turn tail but was stunned when the broadest grin crossed his face.
"These are my best jeans, dude," he said in the smile. Jack frowned at the informal tone. "Wait."
Surfer boy turned back to his car and reached into the back seat, pulling out a book and then thrusting it at Jack. Startled, Jack took the book and glanced down at the title Equine Therapy. The front was a picture of horse, not dissimilar in looks to Solo Cal, and Jack saw the name Sean Harris at the bottom. He turned the book in his hands.
"You wrote this?" His estimation of surfer boy rose a notch. Anyone who wrote about horses must be kind of okay.
"Horses are intuitive, sensitive animals with distinctive personalities." Surfer boy, wait, Sean, said simply. "I grew up on a ranch back in Cali. This place reminds me of mine. You can keep the book, Mr CampbellHayes."