Free Operation: Married by Christmas by Debra Clopton Page A

important is all.”
    She kissed his cheek then sat back in her chair. “I promise when I go back to Beverly Hills, I’ll make it a point to come back more often. But you’ve got to stop telling me fibs about your health.”
    He harrumphed, surprising her with his stern gaze.
    â€œHaley, you don’t belong out thar. You belong here. Kin’t you see that Mule Hollow needs a real-estate agent? Why, we’re gettin’ more and more folks wantin’ to move out here. That agent out of Ranger’s tryin’, but that’s seventy miles away and she’s got her hands full in her own town.”
    For the briefest moment, Haley wondered what it would be like selling property in a rural setting. No glitz and glamour. She pushed the thought aside. She was good at what she did. She’d worked hard to get where she was. Not to mention, well, she didn’t think she could live in the same town with Will. There was simply too much of a strain when she was around him. And she felt completely out of her element when she was near him. The morning fiasco proved it. Every time they were near each other, she acted irrationally. Storming out of his house like a teenager. How could she have done that? It was embarrassingly adolescent.
    If she was honest with herself, Will and everyone who knew her were probably having a hard time keeping their faces straight when they were around her.
    After all these years of striving to be taken seriously, of trying to be more than little Haley Bell with her oddball mishaps, she’d accomplished nothing, really.
    Absolutely nothing.
    It was almost laughable even to her.
    It was just so absolutely Haley Bell of her!
    The thought was depressing. “Don’t get your hopes up. I could never live here again, Grandpa.”
    â€œHaley Bell, a girl like you can do anything ya want to do. That’s what I don’t git about all this.”
    That was exactly what she was trying to say. No one understood her, never had and it seemed never would.
    Â 
    Will realized right after he watched Haley drive away that he was going to have to figure out a way to put his feelings aside and be able to look at Haley without getting knots in his stomach. They were not kids, after all, and she’d been perfectly right…. They were walking on eggshells when they were around each other. It needed to stop. He needed to dig deep, work with her while she was home, and watch her leave again.
    Then his life would return to normal. He’d carved out a decent life for himself. He didn’t need Haley.
    So he gave himself and Haley an hour to calm down, then he went after her. It was the right thing to do.
    He found Applegate sitting on his front porch.
    â€œâ€™Bout time you showed up,” he called the second Will closed the door of his truck. “You had my Haley Bell madder than a swarm a hornets.”
    Will shifted from one boot to the other, uncomfortable that Applegate knew they’d argued. “I apologize about that, sir.”
    â€œNo need for apologies to me. A good fight now and agin keeps the blood flowing.”
    Will didn’t want to point out that his blood had been flowing fine before Haley showed up. “Is Haley around?” he asked, watching as Applegate whittled the head of what looked like a small duck. It was cool but the older man didn’t seem the least bit worried about the chill in the air. The sun was out and with a light jacket on it was pleasant.
    â€œNope,” Applegate said, spitting a sunflower seed into a bucket at his feet. The sound made a small ping as it hit dead center. App and his buddy Stanley were sunflower-seed maniacs. They bought them by the five-pound bags down at Pete’s Feed & Seed store and steadily chewed them as they played checkers down at the diner. They’d tried getting away with spitting the shells on the floor at one time, but Sam had put a stop to that right quick. Of course, the