Baby, Come Back Read Online Free PDF Page A

walk. Foolish or not, appreciated or not, she would offer her opinion and advice. And maybe she would be able to help.
    Hayes hadn’t moved from his position at the edge of the porch; he still gazed in the direction Jeff had disappeared moments before. As she approached, he turned to her and the unhappiness in his eyes tugged at her heartstrings. She drew in a steadying breath and reminded herself that she’d come to help Sheri and Jeff.
    She stopped at the bottom of the steps and tilted her face up to his. “Hello, Hayes.”
    â€œAlice,” he murmured, his jaw tightening. “I suppose you heard all that?”
    She lifted a shoulder. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”
    â€œBut you did anyway.” She didn’t reply, and he glanced at the street once more. “So now you know the awful truth. My son hates me.”
    â€œActually,” she said softly, “I think he loves you very much. That’s why he’s so angry.”
    â€œThis isn’t a good time, Alice. I’ll call you.”
    Even though he tried, he couldn’t quite hide his pain, his frustration. And he hated that, Alice knew. Because he hated weakness, and he perceived emotion as weakness. He always had.
    He would like her to leave him alone, give him time to compose himself, to box up and pack away his emotions. To hell with what he would like. She wasn’t about to give him the chance to put his armor back into place. She wouldn’t be worth her salt as a counselor if she did.
    â€œI remember Jeff as a little boy,” she murmured. “He was so sweet. So cuddly. I used to sit for hours and rock him. Do you remember?”
    Hayes’s mouth tightened and he didn’t reply, but Alice could tell by that very stiffening that he did remember. And that it stung. Badly.
    She laughed lightly, although the effort hurt. “Truthfully, I liked it as much as he did. Maybe more. I guess we both needed love.”
    Hayes made a sound of impatience. “Is there some message for me in this little trip down memory lane? Or are you just making small talk?”
    Alice looked him in the eye. “He’s still that same little boy, Hayes. He needs love. He needs affection.”
    â€œMeaning I don’t give it to him.”
    â€œMeaning you handled that all wrong.” The breeze blew her hair across her cheek; she swept it impatiently away. “He’s eighteen years old. Too old to drill with orders and expectations. He needs understanding. He needs you to sit down and talk with him, man to man. Like equals. Like friends.”
    Hayes curved his fingers around the balustrade, so tightly his knuckles whitened. “That’s where our thinking differs, Alice. He’s not a man. He’s still a boy. And I’m not his friend. I’m his father.”
    She climbed the steps to even their heights. “You’re pushing him away when he needs you most.”
    â€œYou overhear two minutes between us, and suddenly you’re an expert on what our relationship is lacking. Oh, that’s right,” he said sarcastically, “you’re a professional.”
    â€œYes, I am.” She caught his arm. “If you’re going to hang on to your son, you’re going to have to learn to give a little. Too much longer, and it’ll be too late.”
    Hayes narrowed his eyes, his look black with fury. “Still trying to create the perfect little family, I see.”
    She drew in a sharp breath and snatched her hand away. “That was low. But then, you never played fair.”
    â€œSee, you got out just in time.”
    She didn’t get out of his life. He’d booted her out. Alice worked to hold on to her temper. To the anger that charged through her. “I came to talk about Sheri and Jeff,” she said stiffly. “I felt I owed it to them to try to help.”
    â€œHelp by convincing me to allow Jeff to marry this girl? No