Free Hailey's Truth by Cate Beauman

retrieve her mask and snorkel. She was going to get this right, by God, without Austin’s help. She doubted he would be rushing to her aid anymore.
    Hailey spit into her mask, rubbed her saliva about, and rinsed. She slipped it on, adjusted the strap. “I can do this,” she said before popping the snorkel piece in her mouth. Determined to get it right, she submerged herself, kicking her flippered feet. As she took her first breath through her snorkel, she sucked in a mouthful of water and her mask filled. She thrust her head out of the water clumsily, coughing, losing her balance. As she fell backward, she tossed her mask off. “I give up . That’s it . Some people just aren’t meant to be scuba divers,” she said to no one. She yanked off her flippers, winged them through the air, and gasped when Austin caught one in his hand.
    He stood, staring at her with a full grocery bag in his arm.
    Oh, great. She closed her eyes as humiliation burned her cheeks. This just wasn’t her day. With as much dignity as she could muster, Hailey walked through the shallow end, up the stairs and grabbed her towel. She wrapped herself in the soft cotton, fighting the urge to shiver in the cool breeze.
    “Your mask’s too tight.” Austin tossed the flipper on the nearest lounge chair as he continued to look at her.
    She glanced up and back down at the brick inlay of the patio. How should she respond to his calm observation? Should she pretend this afternoon hadn’t happened? She reminded herself Austin was only trying to help, that he would never be intentionally cruel. But he’d said horrible things that weren’t true. Your brother’s bad news. Nothing good will come from having him back in your life, played like a mantra in her head. “It didn’t feel too tight.”
    “Trust me. I know what I’m talking about.”
    Her eyes flew to his, fully aware of his double entendre. She wasn’t going there again today, especially not when her temples were starting to throb. “I’ll have to loosen the strap, then.” Her teeth started to chatter, partly from the cold, mostly from nerves. He would continue to insist that her brother was the symbol of everything she stood so firmly against—drugs, useless violence.
    Her world was imploding around her—a good man, a person she trusted implicitly, told her what she couldn’t allow herself to believe, while her brother, a man she wanted to trust the same way, to believe in wholeheartedly, told her something different. Her stomach clenched from her mental tug-of-war.
    Hailey pressed her fingers against her head. No. She couldn’t do this anymore today. She’d always believed herself strong enough to handle anything. For so many years, she’d had no choice. But this was too much right now. The possibilities were too disturbing. “I need to get dressed. I’m cold.”
    “Okay,” was all he said as she walked away.

    He’d hated seeing Hailey like that—eyes vulnerable and weary, body braced as if waiting for his next verbal attack. He despised knowing he’d caused her misery.
    Austin cringed as he thought of how he’d handled things at the apartment. He couldn’t have screwed it up more if he’d tried. There were a hundred-and-one ways he could’ve presented Hailey with the facts.
    He shook his head, muttered a curse. Had he really expected Hailey to respond any differently than she had? He’d more or less called Jeremy a loser, a druggie, and a gangster. True, Jeremy was all three, but Austin had totally screwed up nonetheless.
    Austin scrubbed another asparagus shoot and placed it in the olive oil and herb marinade he’d prepared for the mix of vegetables he would grill later. He needed to make things right with Hailey, but wasn’t sure how to go about it. A simple apology wouldn’t get him out of this one.
    He picked up a zucchini next, ran it under tepid water. Should he tell her he’d made a mistake? She didn’t believe him in any case. Austin shook his head,