A Guide to Being Just Friends(29)

When they sat around the fire table, Hailey stifled a yawn.

“You okay?” Wes asked.

She nodded. “Great actually. Thanks for inviting us today. It’s been awesome.”

“We’re happy Wes has made a couple friends,” Chris said. “If nothing else, it’ll get him out of his carefully scheduled programming.”

“There’s nothing wrong with a schedule,” Wes said, leaning back in his chair, at ease with his brothers’ teasing.

“Nothing wrong with taking it as it comes either,” Noah said.

“To each their own,” Rob added, lifting his beer.

“What are you working on now, Fiona, other than the house article?” Everly nestled into the crook of Chris’s arm.

“I have a list of ideas so there’s always a lot going on in my head. The next one is ‘How Not to Date Your Ex.’ It’s about not making the same choices in the next partner.”

“I’m glad I took the dating apps off my phone,” Wes said.

“Oh, I should do a ‘which dating app should you use’ article. That’d be fun. Did you use a lot of them?” Fiona asked him.

Even in only the dancing light of the fire and twinkle lights, Hailey saw his cheeks darken. It was oddly charming.

“Not a lot. But that was before. I’m not using them anymore.”

“I’m doing an article on the benefits of speed dating. You ever tried that?”

Wes shook his head. “The only thing that sounds worse than dating right now is doing it with multiple women on Mach speed.”

Noah started to speak but Wes shut him down with a look.

“If you change your mind, let me know. I’d love some real intel, especially from the male perspective,” Fiona said.

Wes shook his head, his gaze holding Hailey’s, his brows arched. “This is the trade, isn’t it?”

Hailey bit her lip, nodded.

“Something tells me Fiona’s getting the better side of your trade. Be careful.”

Hailey leaned forward, rubbing her hands near the flickering flame. “I’ll have to delay judgment. That volleyball game was pretty intense.”

The others laughed.

Grace lifted her glass of wine. “To family, new friends, and detours that take you exactly where you’re meant to be.”

They all lifted their drinks, though Hailey’s was an empty cup, and said cheers.

She hoped this was actually the start of something real and solid and not just another detour. A person could only handle so many before giving up on the trip.





12


October

Wes pressed the button on the steering wheel to release his call. The CEOs of CoreTech, the newest firm he was trying to acquire, needed to be wined and dined and it pissed him off. He wasn’t into courtships when he’d proven himself time and again. Ana Pergo and her brother, Aidan, owned the security company that provided digital and physical security to their elite clients. They were looking for someone who could head the cyber piece of it and all but guarantee those clients there wouldn’t be breaches. That was never a guarantee but Wes was as close as it came.

He cut the engine in his truck and grabbed his messenger bag, heading toward the rec center. Ana wanted to do a dinner to finalize some terms. Wes did not. But he wanted that contract in their portfolio. Of all the tech stuff he did, cybersecurity, digging for minuscule holes and fixing them, was his favorite.

Rolling his shoulders to shrug off his mood, he walked along the cracked cement path toward the entrance. This neighborhood was right in the middle of the socioeconomic scale. Though Noah was the real estate buff in the family, it always interested Wes the way a street or two either way could show a completely different picture.

Their grandfather was big on looking at the whole picture and how, as a privileged man, he could give back but also get involved. He’d taught them as boys that it wasn’t enough to give or raise money. They needed to connect with people, build relationships that mattered. Their father’s vision was entirely different.

When Noah moved to Harlow Beach and got involved with the once thriving recreation center, he’d set goals: improve it, add onto it, be part of it. Chris and Wes were excited to jump on board. That plaque Chris had made said it all. They wanted to do the same jobs but differently than their father had.

Rob, who’d introduced them to the center, said they needed to focus on sustainable programming for now, so all of them had signed up to volunteer. He was excited that Hailey and Fiona wanted to get involved. But for long-term impact, he wondered how else they could get involved. Be more than suits with money. They lived here too. Chris and Everly’s kids could one day play at this very center. He smiled, thinking of his brother with kids. Of being an uncle.

The lobby was quiet, one teenager standing at the counter, playing on his phone. He looked up when Wes came in. “Hey. How’s it going?”

The kid looked familiar. “Leo, right?”

For some reason, Wes knowing his name must have put his guard up. The kid pocketed his phone, stood straighter. “Yeah. Who are you?”

Holding out his hand, he waited for Leo to take it. “Wes Jansen. My brothers and our friend Rob volunteer here.”

An oversized toothy grin burst from the teen’s face. “You’re Noah’s brother? Did he tell you how I always beat him in basketball?”