Wes nodded before sipping his club soda.
Tension hung in the air, thick like the smoke from the Eagle Creek Fire in the Columbia River Gorge two years ago. Annabelle Noble waspersona non grata. She’d broken up with Wes after his cancer diagnosis and moved to the East Coast, much to everyone’s relief.
Wes needed a woman in his life who cared about him, who wouldn’t be afraid of cancer, and who didn’t care about his money.
“Are you interested in going on a date?” Blaise asked, but he wanted to give Wes an out. “If not, no worries.”
“I guess I’d be up for meeting someone new.” Wes’s expression was unreadable. His tone steady and unemotional. “But one date is all I’m committing to. One.”
Blaise sat dumbfounded. This was almost too easy.Nothing had ever been easy for him. He wasn’t like the others, who’d had normal parents.
“One date is fine,” he said.
Because knowing Hadley, she would know exactly who fit perfectly with Wes. They didn’t call her the wife finder for nothing.
Blaise bit back a grin. He’d told his friends the truth about his past, and four accepted him. Wes was coming around. Blaise could be patient. He would focus on winning the bet.
Who would fall first? Wes or Dash?
Blaise raised his glass. He couldn’t wait to find out.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Saturday morning, Hadley woke to weak daylight filtering around the edges of the blinds. Rain pounded against the roof. Another wet and gray day in the Pacific Northwest, but she didn’t mind. All the lush, green plants and trees made up for the wetness. Besides, she didn’t have to go outside.
Not today.
She glanced at the clock.
9:28 AM.
That was later than she thought.
Though she wasn’t surprised she’d slept in.
Last night, Hadley had tried to stay awake until Blaise arrived home. She must have fallen asleep. Even though she had wanted to see him, that was a good thing. Rest was what she needed to continue to recover.
After a quick shower, she pulled on a pair of black leggings, a teal sweater, and pink, fuzzy llama slipper socks Audra had given Hadley for her birthday.
Thinking of her niece sent a swell of emotion through Hadley. She missed Audra, Ryder, and Fallon—Tiny, too—but tomorrow, she would be home.
Home.
She shimmied her shoulders in anticipation. Sure, they’d kept in touch via phone calls and video chats, but she couldn’t wait to be with them again. The noise, the mess, the chaos.
The hugs.
Hadley, however, would miss being with Blaise. This week with him had been not only surprising but also…
Special.
A ball of heat settled at the center of her chest. Who would have thought quiet evenings eating, watching movies, and talking with the same person could be so enjoyable? Especially when that person was Blaise Mortenson.
She would miss that.
Him.
He’d done so much for her since she’d been sick, but it was more than that. Something else was happening. Something she didn’t want to define. She couldn’t.
