Free A Forever Kind of Guy: The Braddock Brotherhood, Book 2 by Barbara Meyers Page B

could make her heart race. And if he was in close proximity to her? Forget it. She couldn’t control her reaction to him, and wondered if she even managed to hide it from him.
    Ray made her want all the same things she’d once wanted with Trey. Hayley remembered everything she’d thought she had, and how easily she’d lost it all. How easily she’d been crushed by Trey’s abandonment. She’d fallen into a black hole, and it had taken her almost a year to climb back out. Fletcher, at least, gave her a reason to try. But there were too many days when she felt she was teetering on the brink of falling back into that black abyss.
    Her cell phone rang, yanking her out of her potentially dismal thoughts. As a general rule, when her cell phone rang, it was one of her two close friends, Andre or Paige, or else it was one of her co-workers at the Y looking to switch classes. It was Paige. “What’s up, girlfriend?” she began in her usual upbeat style.
    Hayley smiled, which was what she normally did whenever she talked to or spent time with Paige. Her enthusiasm for life and the people she cared about was infectious. No wonder she loved Paige.
    “Not much, actually. We just finished dinner. Fletcher’s in the tub.”
    There was a pause. “By himself? Girl, you can’t leave a little kid in a bathtub alone.”
    “Uh, no. He’s not alone.” Hayley plunked herself back on the sofa, crossing her legs yoga-style.
    Another pause, then Paige said, “Explain please.”
    “It’s my neighbor. Fletcher seems to have taken to him.”
    “Him? Explain please.”
    “There isn’t anything to explain, Paige. He lives next door. In fact, he’s my landlord. A social worker showed up this afternoon before I got home, and he talked to her. He grilled some hamburgers. I made some truly disgusting macaroni and cheese. We ate, and now he’s giving Fletcher a bath. As soon as Fletcher’s in bed, he’s going to tell me what he and the social worker talked about.”
    “You’re explaining a lot for someone who claims there’s nothing to explain,” Paige pointed out.
    “That’s because I know you. Now that I’ve mentioned him, you won’t let it go.”
    “Because someone has to look out for you. And even if I’m two thousand miles away, I do a pretty good job of it, if I do say so myself.”
    “You do, Paige. I don’t know what I’d do without you and Andre.”
    “We’ll talk about Andre later. Don’t try to change the subject. So this next-door neighbor? He’s…single?”
    “Widowed.”
    “Widowed? Does that mean he’s ancient?”
    Hayley chuckled. “He’s a couple years older than me. I knew him from high school.”
    During the brief silence that followed, Hayley could almost hear the wheels turning in Paige’s head before she spoke again. “Name please. I’ll Google him right now.”
    “Paige, that isn’t necessary. I know him. He’s a good guy.”
    “He was a good guy when you were in high school fifteen years ago. Name please.”
    Hayley sighed. She knew Paige wouldn’t let it go. “It’s Ray Braddock.”
    An even longer silence ensued before Paige spoke again. “Not ripple effect Ray Braddock?”
    Having a BFF who knew all of your secrets was a double-edged sword at times. Paige had been there for the beginning and the end of her relationship with Trey. During one late night of girl talk their sophomore year, Hayley’d explained the ripple effect to Paige. She’d mentioned feeling it at a distance with Ray and up close with Trey. Paige filed it away in her memory bank like she did everything else.
    “Yes,” Hayley answered softly. It sounded like bath time was winding down.
    “Oh, girl. You better be careful.”
    “I am. I will.”
    “I’m going to Google him anyway,” Paige informed her.
    “Google away,” Hayley replied.
    “So what about this social worker? What’d she have to say?”
    “Not much. She has to drop by a couple of times unannounced and check things out here. Make sure