“Daddy,” Hailey grumbled.
“So is this something that happens a lot?” Jack inquired, seeming to enjoy making the kids squirm.
“She must be a really messy eater,” Jessica blurted, “because it took him a really long time to kiss her lips clean on the back porch the other night.”
Hailey’s head turned abruptly to her sister, fiery daggers shooting from her eyes.
Grant laughed. “Coach,” he shook his head innocently, “while one of your daughters is decidedly not the most elegant dinner guest, I must recommend that you first seek help for the delusional voyeur on the adjacent bed…because I, under no circumstance, make a habit of locking lips with your beautiful daughter.”
“I see,” Jack smiled.
“Never kiss by the garden gate,” Jessica sang. “Love may be blind, but the neighbors ain’t!”
“It was the icing, like he said,” Hailey offered.
“Right,” Jack nodded.
“Jack,” Nora laughed as she swatted at Jack’s arm across the table. “Leave the children alone!”
Jack stood to carry his plate to the trashcan. “You missed a spot,” he pointed as he winked at Grant.
Hailey blushed as she buried her face in her hands. “Daddy!” she grumbled.
Hailey wrinkled her nose as she walked from one hotel room back to the other she had just left. Jessica and Emily were both standing in front of the vanity outside the bathroom, brushing their hair and giggling over something trivial.
“Has either of you seen Grant?” Hailey blurted.
“Nope,” Jessica shrugged.
“I saw him earlier,” Emily said. “But,” she admitted, “that’s been awhile.”
“Maybe he walked to McDonald’s with dad?” Jessica suggested.
“Maybe he went to the lobby to use the internet?” Emily considered.
“Maybe he went for one of those walks he goes for sometimes?” Jessica declared.
Emily nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you know…one of those I can’t tolerate the ignorance of you commoners for another second, and I despise the sound of human conversation, so I must go and be alone walks he’s so famous for!”
Hailey frowned as she flopped down on the edge of one of the beds, discouraged. “What sort of mood was he in this morning?”
Emily turned to face Hailey, her arms raised above her head as she pulled her hair into a ponytail. “You know,” she smiled, “sullen, introspective, very Grant-like.”
The hotel room door opened, and Nora walked inside. “Has anyone seen Grant?” she inquired.
“Okay, that’s it!” Hailey popped up off the bed. “Where is he?”
“That’s what I figured,” Nora nodded. She shook her head dismissively. “I’m sure he just went for a walk…”
“Well, I’m going to look for him,” Hailey declared. Without looking back, she walked from the hotel room and stared over the wrought iron railing of the second floor balcony. She stuck her hands in the front pocket of her hoodie and felt the brisk wind against her face. Her eyes scanned over the cars parked in the parking lot below. She walked in the direction of the stairs, intending to head down and check the lobby, and that’s when she saw it. Across from the hotel was a shopping center with several retail stores, but Hailey only zoned in on the one she was now walking purposefully toward.
Hailey made her way down an aisle of books inside Barnes and Noble, and, turning the corner, she spotted an oversized, green chair with a stack of books sitting beside it. In the chair, lost in the pages of whatever he was reading, Grant was wearing khaki pants and an untucked, light blue, button-down shirt. Hailey moved slowly, enjoying watching him. Then finally, when she was standing directly behind him, she tapped his shoulder.
He glanced over his shoulder, unstartled.
“Excuse me,” Hailey smiled, “I’m looking for my boyfriend…tall, muscular, blond hair, brown eyes, moody and prone to running off for hours at a time. Maybe you’ve seen him?”
Grant grinned, and there was a softness in his eyes as Hailey walked around the arm of the chair, gently taking his book from his hands as she sank into his lap.
“I’m sorry,” Grant sighed. “Sometimes I just need to unwind and get away from everyone…”
“From me too?” Hailey asked, sounding too innocent to warrant an honest reply. “I was worried you might be sick,” she added when Grant didn’t answer.
“No,” Grant shook his head, the edges of his mouth turning up ever so slightly at the idea that Hailey had been so concerned that she set out looking for him. “I guess I just needed to be alone with my thoughts.”
“And that’s fine,” Hailey nodded, her eyes tender as they fell on Grant’s. “It would just be nice if I knew where you were, that’s all.”
“Deal,” Grant nodded, admiring her effortless beauty.
“What are you reading?” Hailey asked, turning the book in her hand over to read the cover. “A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles.” She raised her eyebrow at Grant, “boring,” she scoffed as she reached for the next book in the pile beside them. “Notes of a Native Son,” she wrinkled her nose. She moved to the next book in the stack and, one-by-one, sat them aside. Finally she came to the latest Grisham novel and decided it would have to do. She handed Grant back the book he had been reading and leaned against his shoulder as she opened the book she had selected.
With one hand, Grant thumbed through his book, finding his place. He began reading again, but soon his eyes wandered from the page and fell on Hailey, her nose wrinkled in concentration as she read. “I finished that one this morning; it has a truly surprising ending,” he smiled.
“You know,” Hailey said softly, catching Grant’s gaze. “Now they’re going to be looking for the both of us!”
Grant shrugged.
