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“Good. I want us to have our own things, our own phrases, our own inside jokes that no one else does or knows about.”
Loud footsteps entering the store made Hallie jerk in Caden’s arms. He held her tighter and slightly behind him.
“Damn!” Garrett said, looking around. “What the hell happened? Someone have a beef with you?”
Caden loosened his hold on her, and Hallie visibly relaxed. “No. I don’t think so. Are the other storefronts’ windows also shattered?”
“Just the ones in this building. Whoever did this probably wasn’t sure which windows belonged to which storefront, or they didn’t care, so they took care of all of them. The cops are talking to your neighbors now, so hopefully we can figure this out quickly and make the necessary arrests.”
More voices trailed in from outside, and moments later, Luke, Tanner, and Martin came in carrying bags of what looked like food and drinks. Orly and Skyla came in behind them.
“What’s going on?” Hallie asked. She’d just been scared out of her mind. The last thing she was in the mood for was some kind of party.
“Hey guys,” Garrett said to everyone who came in, then turned to Hallie. “I hope you don’t mind, but I called in reinforcements. From what Caden told me, I knew this place was going to need a major clean up. So we’re here to help. And the ladies insisted on coming along and bringing food to feed us and keep us hydrated. We’re all hoping you’ll join in on the eating and drinking. No way is that guy,” he motioned to Caden, “going to let you anywhere near the glass and heavy stuff.”
Hallie was speechless. Utterly and completely speechless. She looked to Caden who just smiled at her with a knowing glint in his eye. “I told you they liked you.” He had, but that was before she’d run off on them, before they’d allowed weeks to go by without talking or seeing each other.
“I don’t even know what to say.”
Orly smiled. “How about you tell us where we can put this food so everyone can dig in and we can start catching up while the guys start cleaning?”
Hallie looked at Caden and Garrett and the rest of them. This was her place. Her responsibility. “You really don’t have to help clean this up for me. I mean, I can just come back early tomorrow morning and -”
“We’re doing it,” Caden said.
“And we’re not leaving until it’s done.” Luke added.
“And your windows need to be boarded up until they can be replaced,” Garrett said.
“And I’ve checked to make sure your locks haven’t been tampered with,” Tanner noted.
“And no fire codes or alarms were breached,” Martin said.
“And all the food has been eaten because I am not taking all this stuff back home with us,” Orly said.
“And once booze leaves the bar, it can’t go back. So I need your all’s help to polish it off or I’m going to be in big trouble on my day off,” Skyla said, already setting up a drink station on the register’s counter space.
Hallie watched as everyone got to work. “I can’t believe your friends are real,” she told Caden.
With his arms still around her, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “They’re your friends, too.”
Chapter 17
“I’m going to put the food in the back room on your desk,” Orly said, having just re-emerged from checking out Hallie’s office space. “There’s plenty of space there, and it’ll be out of the way to make sure no glass shards get into it. Is that okay?”
“Of course.” Hallie answered. “I’ll help you get it set up.” She coaxed her way out of Caden’s arms and followed Orly to the back room where they made quick work of putting out the food. Orly had brought a meatloaf, mashed potatoes, a mixed green salad, and a whole tray of cupcakes decorated with chocolate and vanilla frosting and rainbow sprinkles. “How in the world did you make all this food so fast?”
Orly smiled. “I made it before we found out about what happened to your store, but when Garrett called and told us he was on his way here, we packed it all up and brought it with us.”
“I’m so sorry. You didn’t have to change your plans for me,” Hallie said.
“It’s okay. Now that we’re married, Luke and I have all the time in the world. If we don’t have our night together tonight, we can always have it tomorrow, or next week. Our friends are like family to us, and I’m pretty sure you’re part of that family now.”
“I don’t know about that. I haven’t actually seen Caden since your party.”
Orly nodded. “I know, and the only reason I haven’t pried it out of Caden is because I wanted to hear it from you first. If this hadn’t happened tonight, I was planning to stop by in the next few days to talk to you. I know that makes me nosy and controlling, but Caden’s been on the awful side of miserable and I had to know why.”
Hallie had no idea Caden had been suffering as much as she had. All this time, she was sure she’d been the only one who couldn’t stop thinking about him. Knowing that it had gone both ways meant a lot to her.
