AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With a tilt of my head, I asked, “How would she know…ohhh my gosh. You used to sign things with the XO to Mandy, didn’t you?”
His cheeks turned bright red.
I covered my mouth with my hand to keep from laughing.
“She liked it!”
“Was this in high school?”
When he didn’t say anything, I dropped my hand. “Wes, it isn’t going to work.”
He took another drink of his beer, and I could see the heartbreak on his face.
Ugh. I felt so bad for him in that moment. Just a little, though. “I’m so sorry.”
He let out a bitter laugh. “Are you really?”
I chewed on my lower lip, then sighed. “Of course, I am. Wes, have you thought that maybe Mandy just grew up? That she wants to move on? That she changed as a woman and fell out of love with you?”
His eyes met mine and he wore a cold expression. “You don’t know anything about her.”
“I know if someone I dated for that long asked me to marry them, I don’t think running my family’s pizza business would make me say no—unless my feelings for him had changed.”
Fire danced in his eyes and he looked like he was about to say something, then stopped himself.
“Wes, do you truly want her back, or is this some kind of revenge plot to hurt her because she hurt you.”
He stood and his chair nearly fell back. He pulled out his wallet, threw some money on the table and said, “Enjoy your lunch, Clare.”
Grabbing his coat, he turned and stormed out of the restaurant.
Wes
Candle Sticks and Jealousy
Presley, my brother Preston and sister-in-law Harmony’s almost three-year-old, was laughing as she ran from Flash, Finn and Rory’s dalmatian.
While I watched that scene play out, I held my five-month-old niece, Karleigh and played peek a boo just to hear her sweet little laugh.
Finn walked back into the room with a friend of his, Alex Montell. Apparently, his fiancée had broken up with him a few months back. According to Harmony, Finn was playing matchmaker and hoping to set Alex up with someone. The guy was good-looking enough. Maybe around five ten, brown hair, brown eyes. He had a decent build on him, but from what I could tell, his only downfall was he worked at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. At least that was what Harmony had said.
“Wes, you remember Alex, don’t you?” Finn asked as they both walked up to me. Finn took his daughter from my arms and started to kiss her, making her laugh. A strange tension in my chest built as I watched them.
“I don’t think we’ve ever met,” Alex said, drawing my attention away from my brother and his daughter.
I reached out my hand and shook his. “I don’t think so. How did they recruit you into helping make decorations?”
Alex smiled and pointed to multiple buckets full of flowers. “They needed me for the flowers.”
I smiled. “That’s right. You work at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Are you the gardener there?”
Laughing, Alex shook his head. “No. My father is the head gardener there; I am the head of financial operations.”
“A numbers guy,” I said with a smile.
“That’s right. Finn told me you used to be a broker on Wall Street. I bet that was exciting.”
I nodded. “It is. I still work part time for them since I also work with Finn at our company. I can buy and trade securities anywhere.”
