Beautiful Beginning(11)

head in some sort of bedazzled and bobby-pinned twist. And while Judith was

tall like Chloe, stopping just below my chin, Mary was barely pushing five

feet, and was probably as wide through the chest area as she was tall.

I reached out to shake each of their hands. “It’s nice to finally meet

you both,” I said, smiling politely. “Chloe’s told me wonderful things.

”

They were having none of that and each pulled me in for a squeezing and

rather lingering hug.

“Liar,” Mary said with a cheeky smile. “Our niece is a lot of things,

but full of false compliments, she is not.”

“She’s told me she used to spend summers with you. I believe the phrase

she’s used most frequently is ‘they’re a hoot.’” I left out the

phrases cougars and bat-shit crazy.

“Now that I’ll believe,” Judith said with a snort.

“And how are you ladies enjoying San Diego?” I asked leaning back against

the bar. I could see Chloe out of the corner of my eye, and just as I

expected, Bull had taken it upon himself to fill my seat and keep her

company in my absence. A part of me wanted to be her knight in shining

armor, and rescue her, but a larger part knew better: if there was one

woman who absolutely did not need rescuing, it was Chloe.

“Oh we’re having the time of our life,” Judith said, sharing a

meaningful look with her sister. “Or at least we will be. Did you know

this is the first time we’ve both been single in over thirty-five years?

This town doesn’t know what’s about to hit it. We’re going to make up

for lost time—or die trying.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. I was certainly beginning to see that blunt

honesty was a Mills family trait.

“So, what’s the plan then?” I asked. “You two going to spend some time

on the beach and break a few hearts?”

“Something like that,” Mary said, winking and doing a little dance to the

music overhead.

Judith moved to stand next to me at the bar, leaned in, and lowered her

voice. “Tell us about your family,” she asked, eager, bright eyes moving

around the room. “Just the one brother? Any uncles? Anyone single?”

I shook my head, laughing again. Frederick had nailed it. “Just the one

brother and sorry, other than the one currently talking to my fiancée”—

they looked over to Bull and deflated a little—“everyone’s spoken for.”

“My oh my oh my my my,” I heard Judith say, voice suddenly soft and low.

I followed her gaze to the front door, where Will and Hanna had just

arrived. There was a lot of giggling in that corner of the room, where

Hanna had practically been tackled by Chloe and Sara, leaving Will to stand

by and watch, wearing that stupid grin he never seemed to shake anymore. I

missed his ironic scowl. I missed his insistence that we were a bunch of

pussies. God, he was the biggest f*cking * now.

He looked up to find me watching and, apparently able to read the giant I

TOLD YOU SO in my expression, flipped me off. And suddenly, even though I

knew it was wrong and Chloe would kill me when she found out, a plan began

to blossom in my mind.

I mean really, how could I not do this?

“Who is that?” Judith asked in a breathy rush. I wasn’t sure if I’d

ever actually heard someone leer before, but I figured that was as close as

I was ever going to get.

“That’s Will,” I said. “He works with Max, the Brit with the pregnant

fiancée?”

“Is he available?” Judith asked at the very same moment Mary said, “Is

he straight?”

I could feel my conscience poking at me, nudging. Some small, shriveled

part of my brain was trying to stop me from what I was about to do,

insisting this was absolutely not a good idea.

“Oh, he’s definitely straight,” I said. Not a lie. “And he’s a lot of

fun, ladies. A lot of fun.” Technically not a lie.

Mary pressed up to my side, asking “Who’s the girl with him?”

“That’s Hanna. She’s . . . an old family friend,” I said finally. Still

not a lie. “You should go over and introduce yourselves.”

“So he’s not married?” Mary asked, compact already out and mouth shaped

in a little O as she reapplied her lipstick. These women were determined.

“Married? Noooooooo. Definitely not married.” What? Not a lie.

“Hot damn,” they both said in unison.

I glanced quickly around the room before wrapping an arm around each of

their shoulders, bringing them closer and bending to speak. “I’m going to

tell you two a little secret, but it’s got to stay between us.” I looked

at each of them individually and they nodded, eyes wide as they hung on my

every word.

“Our Will? He’s a bit of a wild boy. He’s insatiable, and he’s got