“Which would you choose?”
“Same as you.”
“Which would you want?”
She looked up from her phone. “I don’t know. I’ve never had the whole fanfare thing. My last birthday I spent at a party I didn’t want to be at, poured into a tummy tightener that was so tight it left bruises around my ribs.”
The truck jolted. Hailey realized Wes had slammed his brakes. Horns honked behind him. “Sorry. Sorry. What the hell are you talking about? Why would you be in a tummy tightener? Why would you go to a party you didn’t want to attend for your own birthday?”
Fortunately, he moved with the traffic again but his fingers were clenched white around the wheel.
There goes happy Wes. He was so protective of people he cared about. She wondered if he realized it. She reached over, ran her hand over his arm. “It’s okay. Relax.”
“No. That’s bullshit. First, you don’t need to tighten anything. Second, you should do what you want on your birthday.”
“Sometimes I forget that you’re the oldest in your family. You have this protective streak.”
“That’s not because I’m the oldest, it’s because I care about the people around me. I hope I never meet that asshole you were with.”
“Now you sound like Fiona and Piper.”
“Excellent. Just what I hoped for.”
She laughed, read through their descriptions. Her heart hummed with happiness that she was on his list of people he cared about. It gave her hope that her next birthday would be far better than her last. She’d found her own people. Maybe it was time to give herself permission to get attached.
“Come on,” he said, his tone more relaxed. “The suspense is killing me.”
With a smile, she read the results. “You are a highball. You’re honest, loyal, and straight to the point. You have your friends’ back even if you don’t agree with them.”
Something twisted in Hailey’s ribs. For a fun quiz, it certainly had Wes pegged.
“Interesting. What are you?”
“I’m craft beer. Laid back, a little too much sometimes but loyal and true. No matter how much time passes, I’m the kind of friend you can always come back to.”
He was quiet as he pulled out of the traffic, took their exit off the freeway.
“All these years, I’ve been trying to figure myself out. Turns out I should have just taken a Cosmo quiz.”
Hailey laughed. “I’ll add it to my grocery list.”
“You don’t make a list.”
“Then I’ll add it to yours.” He was definitely honest and loyal but in her mind, Wes was more complicated than a simple highball. She never would have guessed, months ago, he’d be such a huge, important part of her life. That he’d make her think, push her to be better, support her, or make her laugh as often as he did.
He’d given her all the things she’d craved growing up. He made her feel like she belonged. As she continued to watch him as he drove, she realized it was too late for permission. She was already attached. The best she could do was hang on and hope the feelings were mutual.
21
December
In the kitchen, Hailey went through the calendar, transferring the events from her phone to the physical page and vice versa. She would not screw up because of lack of triple-checking.
Leo and Bryce—Esther’s grandson—were both on the schedule today. Leo was currently serving a small group of teen girls and Bryce was out handling the lunchtime deliveries. Hailey thought about pinching herself just to be sure it was real. She had employees. After finishing inventory, making a list of needed items, she went to help Leo out front.
A couple sat by the window. The three girls he’d helped giggled on their way to a corner table. Hailey’s heart was full.
“Hey,” Leo said.
“Hey yourself. What are you making?” She watched him chop a variety of vegetables, taking longer than she should have to realize they all had something in common. They were either red or green.
He grinned at her, grabbing a large cup. “The Santa Salad. What do you think?”
Hailey walked closer. He’d chosen a bed of butter lettuce, followed by diced red pepper, green pepper, tomatoes, snap peas, radish, cucumber, red onion and a sprinkling of feta cheese.
“This is beautiful. I love it,” she said, holding it up to turn it when he finished layering. Some of the veggies were more expensive this time of year, like the snap peas, but she didn’t want to diminish his creativity or enthusiasm. It was another of those tricky situations: they cost more to make, but customers loved specialty items so they sometimes sold better than other menu items.