"Mom said you need to call her." Brad Webb greeted Haley as she walked his daughter up the driveway. "She sounded kind of mad."
"Ah, well. You know how Mom is. She's always mad at me for something."
Brad held the screen door open.
Haley helped a sleepy Katie up the stairs, on the porch.
"We're both kind of tired." Haley explained. "We stayed up kind of late last night and had to get up early this morning."
"Would you like some coffee or something?" Brad offered his sister as he picked his daughter up.
"Nah, but I will take some water." She said helping herself to his kitchen while he carried Katie to her room.
Haley sat down at the round dinner table and picked up today's newspaper and skimmed through it.
"So, are you going to talk to me?" Brad asked coming into the kitchen, Katie-free.
"Whatever do you mean?" Haley pretended to be disinterested.
"Well, first of all Mom says you cancelled a date with some guy. Now, I know something has to be up. Who is he? Who are you dating behind Mom's back?" He teased his little sister.
"No one." She answered honestly. "I'm dating no one. I did however go to the movies last night with a certain guy that I don't think I'll ever see again."
"Did you scare him off that bad?" Brad joked, pouring himself a cup of coffee and joining her at the table.
"I'm afraid I did." She said sadly.
"Well, cheer up. Obviously, he's not the guy for you."
"Yeah, yeah. But Mom keeps pressuring me to get married and have grandkids. Ugh, I want to swear off dating forever." She put her head in her hands.
"It's okay, sis." Brad got up and patted his sister on the back. "Just don't listen to Mom. Take all the time you need."
"Thanks." She said half-smiling. "Well, I guess I better go now."
"Okay, love ya. Be careful out there on the roads. You never know what kind of idiots are out there." He gave her one last reassurring hug.
"Thanks. See ya later. Tell Kates I'll pick her up next weekend if she wants me too."
Brad promised he would and walked her out the door.
Haley stared nervously in her rear-view mirror as someone tail-gated her. She hated when people tail-gated her even when she was doing 10 over the speed limit.
"Fine. If that's the way you want it.." Haley slowed her car down. The guy behind her was really getting angry because it was a no-passing zone.
Suddenly, the lines backcame shorter as she headed into a passing zone. The ticked off guy, flipped her off as he sped around her.
"Yeah, you too." She muttered. "Why does this week have to end so badly? Everything was going just fine until I went to Pizza Hut."
**
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