Red Lily

you here on business or pleasure?”
    “Just pleasure.” Hayley gathered the bag. “Just lots and lots of pleasure.” She tucked her free hand into Harper’s as they strolled back into the lobby. “We’d better get home before Lily forgets what I look like and . . . oh man, just look at that bracelet.”
    The display showcasing a local jeweler glittered and shone, but all Hayley could see was the delicate bracelet with sizzling white diamonds framing gleaming ruby hearts.
    “It’s drop dead, isn’t it? I mean it’s elegant, even delicate, and the heart shapes make it romantic, but something about it just says: Hey, I’m an important piece. Maybe because it’s an estate piece. Antique jewelry has such a—what’s the word I want. Panache,” she decided.
    “Nice.”

    “Nice,” she said and rolled her eyes at him. “Such a guy. What it is, is stunning. Some of the other pieces in there have bigger stones, more diamonds, whatever, but this is the one that stands out. To me, anyway.”
    He scanned the name and address of the store. “Let’s go get it.”
    “Sure.” She laughed up at him. “Why don’t we pick up a new car on the way, too?”
    “I like my car. The bracelet would suit you. Rubies would be your stone.”
    “Harper, paste is my stone.”
    She tugged his hand, but he continued to study the bracelet. The longer he looked at it, the more clearly he could see it on her. “I’ll just talk to the concierge.”
    “Harper.” Distressed now, she stepped back. “I was just looking. That’s what we girls do—we look in shop windows.”
    “I want to buy it for you.”
    It was more than distress now, and closer to panic. “You can’t buy me something like that. It probably costs—I can’t even guess.”
    “Then let’s find out.”
    “Harper, just wait. Just . . . I don’t expect you to buy me expensive jewelry. I don’t expect you to do things like this.” She gestured to encompass the hotel. “It was the most incredible night of my life, but it’s not why—Harper, it’s not why I’m with you.”
    “Hayley, if it was why you were with me, you wouldn’t be. Last night was for us, and it meant every bit as much to me as it did to you. I’ve got enough of my mother in me that you should know if I do something like this, it’s because I want to. I want to buy this for you, and if it’s not out of my range, that’s what I’m going to do.” He kissed her forehead. “Just hang here a minute.”

    Speechless, she watched him walk to the concierge desk.
    And on the drive home, she continued to be speechless at the way the ruby hearts in their diamond frames glittered on her wrist.

eleven
    S HE FRETTED FOR the rest of the afternoon, and lavished attention on Lily. It was a strange and, she imagined, strictly maternal sort of juggling act to balance the fact that she’d missed her baby girl with the fact that she’d had the most wonderful time without her.
    Guilt, she thought, came in many forms. By the time Roz got in from work, Hayley had built up a sputtering head of guilt.
    “Welcome home.” Roz stretched her back, eyed Hayley who stood in the foyer. “Did you have a good time?”
    “Yes. Wonderful. Beyond wonderful. I should start out saying you raised the most incredible man.”
    “That was the goal.”
    “Roz, I can’t thank you enough for keeping Lily that way.” Unconsciously, she covered the bracelet on her wrist with her other hand. “It was more than I could expect.”

    “I enjoyed it. We all did. Where is she?”
    “I wore her out,” Hayley said with a weak smile. “All but kissed the skin off her bones. She’s taking a quick nap. I got you a gift.”
    “Isn’t that sweet.” Taking the box, Roz strolled into the parlor to open it. And beamed when she found the frame, already spotlighting a picture of her with Lily. “I love this shot. I’m going to put this on the desk in my sitting room.”
    “I hope she didn’t give you any trouble last night.”
    “Not a bit. We had ourselves a fine time.”
    “I—we—Harper. Hell. Can we sit down a minute?”
    Obligingly, Roz sat on the sofa, propped her feet on the table. “I wonder if David’s made any lemonade? I could drink a gallon.”
    “I’ll go get you some.”
    Roz waved toward a seat. “I’ll get my own in a minute. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
    Hayley sat, stiff-backed, her hands folded in her lap. “I got to know the mothers of some of the guys I dated. We always got