A Guide to Being Just Friends, page 16
Hailey listened, curious about the answer. Wes unbuttoned the front of his suit. “Ms. Lee is the director. The rest of us are volunteers. We’ll have more of a pull and impact with the community if we have a board. We’ll be able to ask for different funding, get more resources. They’ll research options and make decisions that benefit the greatest number of people so we can continue focusing on working with the kids and people who show up.”
Leo mumbled something, shrugging his shoulders. “Just don’t let them get rid of the three-on-three tournament.”
Wes laughed, looked at Hailey. “How’s your day so far?”
“Pretty good. I was going through my very large calendar—thanks for that, it takes up half my wall back there.”
“So you don’t miss anything.”
“I won’t miss the fact that I now have nine regular weekly orders for lunches at various businesses. Between you, your family, Fiona, and Piper, I’m getting referrals everywhere. People love the convenience of having something healthy brought in. Rob placed an order for double what he’s been getting for January because he says it’s his busiest month.”
“Right. Resolutions.”
Leo put Wes’s salad on top of the plexiglass. “Here you go.”
Wes’s gaze widened. “Looks delicious.” She hoped Leo recognized his tone as genuine.
“On the house,” Hailey said when he reached for his wallet.
He frowned at her but she held up her hand to ward off his words. “Stop. Consider it a thank-you for suggesting Leo.”
“Can you sit for a few minutes?” he asked.
She came around the counter, smiling at the girls who were packing up their things to leave. She was about to sit across from Wes when the bell jingled. Her greeting got stuck in her throat when Ana Pergo walked through the door. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a striking knot that accentuated her elegant features. She looked like a modern Grace Kelly. Her smile when she saw Hailey blossomed into a full-wattage grin when she looked at Wes. An uncomfortable prickle of jealousy weaved its way between each of Hailey’s ribs.
“Wes! What a happy surprise. Hello again, Hailey.”
Wes stood as she walked over. “Hi, Ana.”
Hailey smoothed down her apron. “Hi. This is a surprise.”
Ana didn’t look like she frequented a lot of tiny shops in the square. Her black skirt emphasized her slim hips, the pale pink blouse adding a soft pulse of color. The purse hanging over her forearm cost more than Hailey’s grocery bill for the month. She breathed through her nose, irritated at her own observations. She was past comparing herself to others. Wasn’t she? She really wanted to be past that stage in life.
“I came to order salads, of course. But Wes, I actually needed to talk to you as well.” She looked to where he’d been sitting. “Do you mind if I join you after I speak with Hailey?”
Wes’s mouth moved but no sound came out. So much for Hailey’s visit with him. His gaze locked on hers and she tried to convey a casual “sure, whatever” vibe.
He looked back at Ana, found his voice. “Of course.”
Ana turned to Hailey. “Do you have a few minutes?”
The bell jingled again. A couple of guys Leo clearly knew came through the door.
Business first. Always. “Sure.” Why did she feel so awkward?
Ana walked toward the counter. “I’d like to place an order for a staff luncheon we’re having in the third week of December.”
With another glance at Wes, who was looking at her with an unreadable expression, Hailey kicked herself into gear. “That’s great. Is it a holiday event?”
Ana smiled over her shoulder, then turned back to the menu board. “Yes. Just an appreciation lunch. We’ll be ordering from next door and a sandwich shop as well but I thought of you and your delightful little salads.”
Hailey’s fingers clenched. It was a compliment. What was wrong with her?
Ana looked at Hailey again. “I think it would be easiest to just let you choose.”
Hailey pulled her phone out of her pocket, pulled up her calendar. “Okay. How many and what date?”
She took the particulars, including a credit card number, promising they’d be delivered. When Ana gave her a fancy business card, Hailey held it in her hand for a moment, wanting to scrunch it into a little ball. Or maybe she wanted to scrunch into a little ball until the possessiveness she suddenly felt for Wes passed.
This very nice woman is offering you business that’ll probably end up being repeated. What more could you want? Maybe she was tired. Overwhelmed.
She forced a smile. “Are you sure I can’t get you anything to eat?”
The boys had settled on the far side of the counter so Leo could chat with them as he cleaned up.
“No thank you. I’ll be sure to share your cards with people at our company. I’m just going to chat with Wes. It was really nice to see you again.”
“You too. Thank you for thinking of me.”
“My pleasure.” She turned and walked over to Wes’s table, her high-heeled shoes tapping across the linoleum.
Hailey went behind the counter, focused on her phone, making sure she had the details she would then transfer to the physical calendar. That way, Leo and Bryce always knew what was going on as well. Her stomach grumbled, reminding her she hadn’t finished her Santa Salad.
She was doing her best not to watch Ana and Wes talk, trying even harder not to wonder what they were talking about, when Leo sidled up next to her.
“You okay?” His voice was low.
She crinkled her brow. “Of course. We just got more business. We’re going to have a great month.”
“She’s got nothin’ on you, Hailey.”
Hailey turned her head looked at Leo, her heart squeezing. “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh yeah?”
Her throat went dry and tight at the same time. “Wes and I are friends. That’s it. I’m not interested in Wes that way. Ana is lovely. They look great together.” She wanted her friends to be happy. They’re talking. That’s it. It’s probably business. It was none of her business.
Leo patted her shoulder and went back to his friends, leaving Hailey to wonder what Wes thought about Ana. It was more than a little obvious what the woman thought of him as she reached over, placed her hand on his. Wes slipped his hand out from under hers, shaking his head.
When she rose from the table a few minutes later, she shot Hailey a happy smile. “Take care, Hailey. See you soon.”
Hailey lifted her hand, saying nothing. Leo stopped talking to his friends when an older woman came through the door after Ana left.
“I got it,” he said, turning that happy smile on their customer.
“Bryce should be back shortly,” Hailey said, feeling inexplicably off.
She made herself busy, avoiding Wes’s gaze while trying to get out of her own head. She didn’t want Wes like that. He didn’t want her like that. They were friends. Good friends. She needed him in her life. What she did not need was a love interest. Everything was finally going so well; she felt like she was surfacing after being stuck underwater for too long. She could breathe.
When she turned around from getting herself a fountain soda, Wes was standing at the counter.
“I have to go. Sorry we never got to chat.” He was looking at her strangely.
Hailey shrugged, oversmiled. “We chat all the time. Not every day you get a Grace Kelly look-alike hanging out at the salad shop keeping you company.”
“We live in California, Hailey. There are many Grace Kelly look-alikes.”
She swallowed. Right. Might as well ask. “So, what did she want?”
A little V appeared between his brows. “She asked if I’d accompany her to an event. A party.”
“Oh.” She blew out a breath. Wes hated parties. He hated big crowds of people and pretending he was having a good time.
“It’s on Saturday so I’ll … I guess I’ll grab groceries earlier in the day but you probably have to be here.”
Her gaze widened. “You’re going?” She hadn’t meant it to sound so accusatory.
Wes ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up. “She put me on the spot. Some of the clients she’d like me to meet will be there.”
She could feel Leo’s gaze as he helped the woman so she forced herself to loosen her shoulders.
“That’s great. Saturdays were meant for dates, not groceries. That’s awesome.” Dial it back a bit, Hailey.
“It’s not a date.” Wes’s voice was tight. Quiet.
A sardonic laugh left her lips without warning. “That woman looks at you the way I stare at a chocolate brownie. It’s a date. Which is fantastic. You could use one you didn’t find on an app.”
Wes’s frown deepened, his gaze darkening. She’d hurt his feelings. Shit. What was wrong with her? She came around the counter, pulled his arm so they were away from anyone else.
“I’m sorry. I just don’t want you to have blinders on. She likes you.”
Again, he tunneled his fingers through his hair. “I’m not looking to date Ana. For a number of reasons, the biggest of which is I work with her.”
Had the biggest been because he wasn’t attracted to Ana, maybe she would have done something different. But that wasn’t what held him back. Hailey needed to push this because if she didn’t, it said something about her own feelings.
It said that she’d been reading them all wrong again. She couldn’t do that. She couldn’t have another one-sided relationship where she fell hard, then fell away. Wes had made it clear he didn’t see her like that. There was one night a few weeks ago that he said she reminded him of his sister.
“You look good together. Even if it’s not an actual date, going out with her, socializing and meeting people will be good for you.”
He was watching her far too closely, his jaw tight. “I think I socialize more than enough.” His voice lacked emotion. It was the tone he used when he was uncertain about something. A default tone.
“Your brothers don’t count.” She tried so hard to drown out the little voice in her head but it snuck through: neither do I. The thought physically hurt, like a needle poking into her skin.
“I’m going because it’ll be a networking opportunity. Can we shop on Sunday?”
Hailey’s throat went tight. He wasn’t blowing her off. She did matter. She was just making too much of things.
A small “Wes” smile appeared. The one he used to convince her to play one more game. “Of course. I need to start Christmas shopping.” With the excitement of being busy, Ana popping in, her out-of-the-blue whisper of jealousy, Hailey felt like she’d powered through a snowstorm without proper equipment. Tears threatened but she wasn’t entirely sure why. Just a tad overwhelmed. Everything is good.
He nodded, looking at her like he wanted to say something. He reached out and squeezed her shoulder, the weight of his hand steadying her from the inside out. “That’s perfect. You can help me pick something out for Ari and my mom. I need to get them in the mail.”
Yup. She could do that. That’s what good buddies who reminded a guy of his sister did. What is up with you today?
She pulled in a painful breath. “Good luck with your meeting.”
“Thanks. I’ll text you later.”
She nodded, watching him leave.
“Made you something,” Leo said, handing her a fruit cup with copious amounts of whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
She laughed. “If I could afford it, I’d give you a raise.”
He smiled, soft and sweet. “Remember that when you can. It’ll happen.”
It would. She couldn’t be sure about a lot of things because they changed in an instant. People fell in and out of love every minute. Tastes changed, friendships shifted. But Hailey could count on her shop, on things continuing to go well because that’s where her focus—her heart—belonged.
22
“I think you need to go on your own date. Stop worrying about him being on one.” Piper pulled a tray of cookies from the oven.
Hailey snuck a cooled one from the rack, breaking it in half and shoving the other half in her mouth just as her cousin turned around.
“Hey! Now you have one less to decorate.”
She shrugged, popped the rest in her mouth. When she finished, she took a drink of the soda Piper passed from the fridge. “I’m not worrying about him being on a date. I just thought it was weird that she showed up at the store.” She could have called in her order.
“Who showed up at the store?” Nick, Piper’s husband, came into the kitchen wearing a Lakers hoodie and a pair of checkered pajama bottom pants. He gave Hailey a kiss on the cheek. “How’s it going? Who came into the store? Someone famous?”
“Do you know someone famous, Auntie Hailey?” Cassie, one of Piper’s eight-year-old twins, asked. She’d followed on her dad’s heels. Her bright-red hair was up in two ponytails and she wore an apron.
“Not anymore. I used to,” Hailey said, tapping Cassie on the nose, then sneaking another cookie to share with her.
“No more, or we won’t have any to decorate,” Piper said, her stern mama voice wavering.
“I don’t want to decorate cookies,” Alyssa, the other twin, said, coming in from the other side of the kitchen. She wore an outfit nearly identical to Nick’s. Her red hair had been cropped to her shoulders. It was equally adorable.
Jason, their six-year-old son, who actually had Nick’s dark brown hair, followed behind. “I do. I want to make mine look like Iron Man.”
Nick scooped him up. “You want to make gingerbread look like Iron Man?”
Jason squeezed his father’s cheeks together, nodding seriously.
Nick smiled at Piper in a way that made Hailey’s heart muscles stretch too tight. “We’ve done everything right.”
Piper laughed. “Alyssa, if you don’t want to decorate, you don’t have to.”
“I’ll decorate yours,” Cassie said.
Alyssa shrugged, happy to let her twin do the work. “Can I play Animal Crossing?”
“Nope,” both of her parents said in tandem.
Hailey hid her smile. She loved being around their family whether it was low-key and sweet like this or high-energy and chaotic like one of the kids’ school events.
“Who came into the store?” Nick asked again, setting Jason on his feet.
“No one. Just a woman who wanted to order some lunches for her company.” Hailey hoped that would be the end of it.
She’d mentioned Wes’s date tonight in passing, but of course Piper wanted to dig deeper, pull out her feelings on the issue. She didn’t have any. Lies. You have too many. It was fine. What did she care? It had felt weird at the time but everything was normal. As it had been before Ana showed up. Except that he was on a date with her tonight instead of reminding Hailey what she needed for groceries.
Nick looked back and forth between Hailey and his wife. “Guys, go wash up in the bathroom if you want to decorate. Alyssa, you too. Even if you aren’t doing cookies.”
The kids groaned but took off down the hall. Nick put an arm around Piper, kissing her neck. Hailey’s heart spasmed again. Sharply. Just because she missed that particular feeling didn’t mean she was upset about Wes being on a date.
“Did you ask her?”
Hailey groaned. “No. She did not. What?”
Piper frowned. “Hey. Why did you say it like that? It’s a good thing. There’s someone Nick wants you to meet.”
“Let me think about it,” Hailey said, tapping her index finger on her chin. “I think I’ll pass.”
Nick laughed. “That’s not how I would have phrased it but, told you.”
“You can’t just pass.” Piper put her hands on her hips.
“I think I just did.” Hailey grabbed some food coloring, mixed it into one of the little bowls Piper had set out for icing. “I don’t want a date.”
“No. But you do need to meet Nick’s friend because he asked us to come to Finnegan’s with him. He works with Nick and is friends with the head chef. He jokingly asked Nick if he knew any women as pretty as me. Nick immediately thought of you.” Piper leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
His came around her automatically. Like a needle into a groove, they fit. That’s all Hailey had wanted back in the days when she’d thought there was someone for her, out there in the universe. It wasn’t that she didn’t think that anymore. She just didn’t need it the way she was once so sure she did. The world didn’t stop spinning when she split with Dorian. She got up every day, survived until she could live. Before Dorian, she’d been equally sure every guy was the one. It took her time—and none of Piper’s analysis— to realize the loneliness of her childhood made her a needier adult than she wanted to be.
Now, she was happy. Really happy. Just because Wes switched plans on what she considered their night didn’t mean there was a scratch on her own record.
Finnegan’s was a new restaurant that had a waiting list as long as Hailey’s torso. It was supposed to be incredible, the new “it” place outside of L.A.
“Did you tell him it would be a date?” She grabbed the green food coloring.
“No. But I did tell him you were great and would love the restaurant. There’s no pressure. If you and Seth hit it off, great. If not, no big deal.” Nick’s version sounded better.
Hailey arched her brows. “I can get my own dates, you know.”
“I do. I also know you and your cousin, who I love dearly, are absolute sweethearts most of the time but have tempers I’d rather not toy with. I like my balls where they are.”
As Piper and Hailey laughed, Jason pulled on his dad’s wrist. “Where did you put your balls, dad?”
The adults laughed but Jason looked expectantly at his father. “Right where I left them, buddy.”
The girls joined them and they spread out around the island countertop, each of them sharing the colored icings, passing the sprinkles and other toppings. Alyssa seemed to have forgotten she didn’t want to participate.
“I’m making my gingerbread BTS members,” she said.
“Ambitious,” Hailey commented.
