One By One by Freida McFadden(6)

“I wasn’t sure either,” she admits. “But Warner is just so amazing. Ever since I met him, it’s like I can’t imagine ever being with anyone else. But I’m sure you know what that’s like…”

I suck in a breath. I glance over at Noah, and it’s pretty clear he’s thinking what I’m thinking.

“Ooh, there he is!” Lindsay squeals.

I snap my head up and follow Lindsay’s gaze out the window. She’s been telling me about this guy for the last six months, but she’s never let me meet him, and she’s been pretty stingy with the details. So none of my Internet searches turned up anything, and I’ve been dying to meet the guy.

And now that I’ve finally seen Warner, well…

Let’s just say that this is exactly the sort of guy I would’ve imagined Lindsay would finally decide to marry.

First of all, he’s gorgeous. So gorgeous that I find my jaw dropping open a little bit. Not that Noah isn’t a decent looking guy—my husband can be downright handsome on the rare occasion he puts on a suit and tie. But Warner looks like he could be a movie star. Sun-streaked blond hair, clear blue eyes, bulging muscles visible under his fitted T-shirt. And he has a chin cleft. Lindsay loves chin clefts. She has this theory that every truly good-looking person has a chin cleft.

“Wow,” I say aloud.

“I know, right!” Lindsay looks pleased by my approval. “Isn’t he hot?”

Noah is rolling his eyes next to me, but even he has to realize how gorgeous Warner is. When I look back at Lindsay, I can see how smitten she is. She’s always been the pickiest person I know when it comes to men—she has dropped a lot of perfectly good ones for no discernible reason—but I have to admit, she knew what she was doing when she held out. She really likes this guy.

The other thing I notice about Warner is that he only has one piece of luggage. One small bag. Noah packed pretty light, but this guy wins. All he’s got is a single, small duffel bag that looks like it could only fit maybe a day or two worth of clothing.

Lindsay opens the back door and Warner ducks into the van. He flashes a smile that makes him look even more attractive, if that were even possible. He holds out his hand to me—his handshake is warm and firm. If this man were my surgeon, I would feel like I was in very capable hands. He could suck fat out of my love handles any day of the week.

“You must be Claire,” Warner says. His voice is a rich baritone that reverberates within the car. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“All good, I hope!” My voice trembles a bit. I’m oddly nervous.

“Exclusively.” He winks at me, which makes me titter like a schoolgirl. He turns his attention to Noah. “Noah, right?”

Noah shakes his outstretched hand with considerably less enthusiasm. “Nice to meet you. You’re the one who recommended this inn, weren’t you?”

Warner nods enthusiastically. “I stayed there many times before. You’re going to love it. I heard you were interested in going fishing?”

Noah shrugs, even though it’s all he could talk about for the last week. “I thought I might give it a try.”

“The fishing is great out there. The trout are jumping out of the water. You’ll love it.”

Lindsay reaches for Warner’s hand, and she slides her fingers into his. He grins at her with lust in his eyes. They make a very attractive couple. I pretend not to watch. I certainly don’t want to admit the whole thing makes my chest burn with jealousy. Noah and I used to be that way. But that’s just a distant memory.

As Lindsay and Warner get all cuddly in the backseat, I stare out the window, wondering where Jack and Michelle are. Michelle is always very prompt, but Jack sometimes makes the two of them late. I glance at the backseat, hoping they arrive before Lindsay and Warner start outright making out. He is stroking her chin, and I’m worried it’s not far off.

“So how did the two of you meet again?” I ask loudly.

Lindsay breaks away from Warner, her eyes bright. “Oh, it’s a great story! We were at the supermarket. I had just checked out and was carrying two bags of groceries to my car, and wouldn’t you know it—the bottom fell out of one of the bags!”

Warner smiles crookedly. “They always overpack the bags at that supermarket.”

She tilts her head affectionately in his direction. “Anyway, he was right behind me and he helped me to get all the groceries to my car.” She giggles. “Even though I later found out he was on his way to do surgery, and I made him late!”

He throws an arm around her and pulls her close. “It was just a boob job. Not life or death.”

Lindsay is positively beaming. She loves a good meet-cute. She has been convinced none of her prior relationships worked out because they didn’t have a good story about how they met. Now finally, she’s got her great meet-cute.

For a second, I catch Noah’s eye. He rolls his eyes at me, then quickly looks away. Noah and I don’t have a great meet-cute story. We met because he lived down the hall from me junior year of college. We didn’t so much meet as we saw each other around a lot over the first half of the year.

He often helped me carry heavy packages up to my room. I guess that’s sort of romantic. Usually, after he helped me with my packages, we would chat in my room for a while. One day he had just carried up a care package from my mother, and after he set the box down on my desk, he rubbed at the back of his neck and flashed me a crooked smile. “You want to grab some dinner?” he asked.