Chapter 91

Madison and Danielle fit in well with Hailey and Katelyn. The four young women spent evenings laughing and joking – when Katelyn wasn’t visiting with Bob Prohl in Cutter’s Crossing or in SouthPointe.

Katelyn and Danielle got into a lengthy political debate that spanned four days as the pair thought of different points they wanted to make. The highlight of Phil’s day was working with Hailey. Beth had moved a second desk into Hailey’s office but it proved unnecessary. They spent two or three days each week sitting side by side at Hailey’s desk as they digested the potential earnings reports from various companies that were looking for investors.

Beth watched with amusement as the pair worked. She noticed they would spend the entire day within a few feet of each other. Evenings were a different story. Hailey, Katelyn, Danielle and Madison would do something together for the evening or Phil would visit with his grandparents or with Scott and Lisa for a few hours.

They always made it a point to have supper together, though. They had found a way to make sure they didn’t get sick of the other. It was only for an hour or sometimes two, but they got some time away from the other.

“You’re doing really well,” Beth told her son one evening when the females were out doing some last-minute Christmas shopping and taking in an evening on the town.

“Thanks,” Phil told her. “Hailey knows what she’s doing and that helps.”

“I wasn’t talking about work,” Beth replied with a smile. “I knew that would be OK. I was talking about balancing your personal relationship with your professional one. I was a little worried about that but it looks as though I shouldn’t have.”

“We talked about it,” Phil said with a shrug. “We knew it could be awkward if we spent every minute of every day with each other. It won’t be so bad when we’re not working on the same project. We might be in the same building but we won’t be in each other’s hair all the time. It helps that Katie and the cousins are here.”

“They seem to be getting along well,” Beth mentioned. “Where are they tonight?”

“They went down to the club,” Phil told her. “It’s karaoke night. I wasn’t really interested in listing to cats fighting so I begged off.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Beth wondered, remembering the situation that arose the last time Hailey was at a club with friends.

“It’s fine,” Phil said. “She’s not the same person she was back then. She’s grown up a lot. She’s learned from some of the things she did – and some of the things I did.”

“She’s always been very good when we’re at work,” Beth admitted. “Things are better now, though. I really like the way you interact with her at work. There is a lot of laughter mixed in with the work. Bonnie and I get along well but it’s nice to hear two people enjoying themselves. It’s the same way here. I really enjoy having her here.”

“I’m glad you’re good with this,” Phil said. “I, uh, I’m thinking about asking her to marry me.”

There, Phil decided, it was out there.

“I was wondering when you’d reach that conclusion,” Beth replied with a laugh. “Are you asking for my permission or my impression?”

“Neither,” Phil said. “I was just making an observation. I guess I wouldn’t mind getting your impression, though.”

“I love her, Phil,” Beth said. “That’s not important, though. What’s important is that you love her and she loves you. I can see that. I can also see that it’s the ‘forever’ sort of love. I have no doubt that you and Hailey will one day be husband and wife. The only question is whether you know each other well enough to survive if it’s sooner rather than later.”

“That’s what I’ve been wondering,” Phil admitted. “I ... I don’t have much experience with serious relationships. You know that. She has less than I do. My only real example is you and Dad. I’m not willing to settle for less than that. I know Mark and Stephanie have a good marriage but I don’t see them often enough. The same thing is true with Grandma and Grandpa. I know there are times Hailey and I are absolutely perfect together. There are also times I want to wring her neck. I know she feels much the same.”

Beth burst out in laughter and buried her head on her arms.

“Do you think your father and I don’t feel the same way?” Beth asked when she could speak again. “Good God, Phil, there are times we can’t stand the sight of each other. It’s normal for all couples – even those who are good together. You and Hailey are good together. You complement each other very well.

“You are cautious and thoughtful. She is fun and a little bit impetuous. You temper her spontaneity. She makes you live a little bit. At work, it’s beautiful to watch. She has a wonderful eye for numbers. She can take a glance at the figures and have a pretty good idea of a company’s viability. You’re going to be good at making the deals and turning those companies around.”

“I’m not really talking about the company,” Phil mentioned.

“I know you’re not,” Beth said sympathetically. “I can’t really give you much advice on what you are talking about, though. That’s a decision that only you can make.”

“Yippee,” Phil muttered.

“I can tell you that your father had many of the same worries that you do,” Beth told him. “Maybe you should talk to him.”

“He said I should talk to you,” Phil said ruefully. “It’s one of those situations where I think I’m over-thinking the situation. We don’t have to hurry.”

“And you don’t have to wait,” Beth said with a shrug. “You know your father and I married when I was 21.”

“Because I was on the way,” Phil replied, smiling at his mother.

“We were engaged before you were conceived,” Beth told him. “It wasn’t a shotgun wedding. We decided we didn’t want to wait to have children. We wanted to be young enough to enjoy you – and we did. If you were to come along now, I’m not sure how much I would have liked being a parent. We were young and we were flexible so you were no trouble. Now our lives aren’t as malleable as they were 20 years ago. David had a good job right out of college and so did I. You and Hailey are in the same situation. You aren’t going to have to worry about money. You aren’t going to have to worry about putting in hundred-hour weeks to get ahead.

“The only thing you have to be concerned about is whether she’s the one. I think you’ve already made that decision. I know she has. But if you think that means you never have a cross word, you’re fooling yourself. You’re going to bicker about everything from the color of the drapes to what preschool your children should attend. It’s not what you argue about that counts. It’s how many things you agree upon. If you agree on the big things, you can argue about the little ones.”

The Christmas holiday saw Katelyn return to her mother’s house for a few days. She still called every day but she wasn’t willing to close that relationship completely. She still planned to return to SouthPointe with Molly and Tiffany right after the holiday.

Phil awoke on Christmas morning with Hailey in his arms. The gift exchange was planned for an hour or two in the future. He listened to his girlfriend’s even breathing and felt her chest rise rhythmically beneath his hand.

They were midway through their sophomore year of college. Both ranked in the top five percent of their class. They had jobs waiting for them to finish – or probably even if they didn’t. Phil’s mutual accounts were worth almost a million dollars and the Calder City building was valued at more than $150 million. They would never worry about money. He didn’t think there was anyone else in the world he wanted to be with and he no longer worried that Hailey might wander.

The main reasons people wait to marry didn’t apply. Then he considered the other reasons to wait.

He would love to spend a year in Europe and visit Australia and Asia. Outside of a brief trip to Montreal with his parents a dozen years earlier, he’d never been outside of the U.S. He knew that Hailey hadn’t either. There was no reason a married couple couldn’t travel – or even a couple with children. His job would require him to visit all over the world – if he took over Barton. Hailey would go with him. It was no longer necessary for the boss to be chained to a desk. He could handle problems and answer questions via email or over Skype just as easily as face-to-face.

He wasn’t sure about how soon he wanted children. He could already tell that Hailey wanted to start a family within a year or two – whether they were married or not. It might be nice to be young when the children were. Some of his friends’ parents were in their late 30s when they had kids. They were the ones who expected their kids to be miniature adults. They didn’t have the patience for mistakes and they didn’t seem to remember the mistakes they’d made in their teens.

Now those people were facing 60 with children who were still in college. They couldn’t retire because the cost of schooling had skyrocketed in the previous 20 years. His mother and father could retire in their mid to late 40s and spend next 30 or 40 years doing all the stuff they might have missed in their 20s.

He smiled to himself as he felt Hailey shift slightly.

“Merry Christmas, Love,” he whispered. Hailey rolled toward him with a smile even though she was still blinking sleep from her eyes. The mornings were too cold for naked sleeping and she wore fleece pajamas. Phil wore a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

“It is a Merry Christmas!” Hailey said as she snuggled against him. “Our first Christmas together!”

“The first of many,” Phil replied.

Hailey burrowed closer to him and kissed him on the chin.

“Yes,” she stated. “The first of many Christmases.”

The Warners and Bartons (and Hailey) sat around the Christmas tree. The rules were clear: No one could spend more than $75 on a gift. It made it more difficult but that was the point. A person had to really sit down and think about the other person and what to get them. No gift cards or cash were permitted for the public exchange.

Phil had passed his gifts to the cousins off to Hailey when the girls arrived. She didn’t really know them and hadn’t purchased them anything so he went with the second choice on his list. The gift exchange took up a good portion of the morning and then the family sat down to Christmas dinner.

The Bartons had taken to Hailey like a duck takes to water. Phil’s grandparents doted on her and his aunt and uncle treated her like she was their own child. Danielle and Madison spent as much time with Hailey as they could. Of course, Phil’s parents adored Hailey. In fact, almost everyone in SouthPointe adored Hailey (although Emily Rayford might be a stretch).

Hailey had charmed people at the stores and the restaurants and the clubs – just as she had charmed everyone at Barton Holdings (and just as she’d charmed Phil). Hailey had spent the year before skiing in Vermont with her prep school friends. Her mother had probably spent $4,000 on Hailey’s Christmas gift. Now she sat with a Heilman scarf and a Duke sweatshirt and a North Carolina baseball cap and beamed.