Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
The next morning, I head over to Jesse’s house bright and early, and Emma’s bouncing off the walls with excitement before we head out to Wren’s place for brunch. Wren fills us in on her whirlwind of a trip, and we laugh and eat far too much before going to the salon where Nat works.
Last night, after I left Jesse’s, I called her to fill her in on everything about Kim bailing and wanting to give Emma a magical day, so I shouldn’t be surprised when I realized Nat pulled out all the stops for her, but somehow I still am.
At some point between last night and this morning, she found an Emma-sized robe and a pair of slippers.
She even managed to squeeze in a manicure, pedicure, and facial with some of her coworkers after getting her hair done, deeming the day Emma’s luxurious makeover day.
Wren and I pull chairs over to her station, and the four of us chat as if we hadn’t seen each other in months instead of just over a week.
“We have to schedule our vision board night,” I say, the magazines reminding me of the stack I’d been saving in my house for that reason.
“Oh my god, can I come? I want to make one too! Hallie and I found mine after Christmas, and we did a bunch of things on it, and it was so fun!” Nat smiles at me in the mirror, and Wren nods.
“Oh, totally! We’ll make a girls’ night of it,” she says, and Emma’s face lights up.
“What do you want to add this year?” I ask, and Emma goes off on a tangent about all of the things she’s going to add to her board, and even more heartwarming, how I’m going to help her achieve them, just like I helped last year.
Nat smiles at me, and I shift back to the magazine, not liking the assessing look of it.
Emma asks Wren what she’s going to add to her board, and a blush crosses her cheeks as she says she’s planning for more travel with Adam, including a trip to LA since he has to go there anyway to talk to his new agent over spring break.
“I want to be more intentional about how I help out around town, so I’m trying to plan a big fundraiser to see if we can manage to get enough money together to hire a community event coordinator.
Adam offered to donate it,” she says with a disapproving grimace, and Nat laughs out loud.
“But I think it should be done the old-fashioned way by fundraising. I’m thinking of some kind of strawberry festival or something in May, a big event. ”
I give her a speculative look. “I don’t know how that would remove things from your pile, Wren.”
She shrugs. “I have a meeting next week with Mayor Calloway to talk about options and if we can make it work. I don’t want to do everything myself anymore, but community events are important to me.
” The reality is that Adam will force her to prioritize herself, but Wren will never stop being Wren.
We just have to hope she does it smarter, and honestly, hiring someone to manage the big picture makes a lot of sense to me.
Before I can say anything else, the spotlight moves to Nat, who tells us her goals are to build her clientele book, get certified in facials, and continue moving toward buying a house.
“What about you, Hallie?” Wren asks after a bit, and I startle when all three sets of eyes turn in my direction expectantly.
“Me?”
“What are you going to put on your vision board?” Emma asks, a wide, genuine smile on her lips, but nerves take over me as I try and flit through my mind, thinking of how to answer.
Instead of things I want to do, all that comes to mind are the things I didn’t do this year and the discomfort that came with realizing that earlier this week.
“I…I don’t know,” I say, and for the first time in a long time, I mean that.
“You don’t know?” Nat asks, raising an eyebrow.
I lift a shoulder nonchalantly, then drop my eyes to the magazine in my lap. “I just…I’m happy with how things are, you know? I wanted to get out of Colt’s house, and I did that. I guess I want to decorate it and make it mine.”
“What about work?” Wren asks.
“I have enough clients, so I don’t get bored, but not too many that I don’t have free time.
“ I flip the magazine page, then stop on a picture of a cat.
“Maybe I should add a pet to my board.” Silence has me looking up, and when I do, Wren gives me a look I know, from years of experience, means I am not going to like what she adds next.
“I think you should add dating to yours.”
I choke on air. “Dating?”
“Yes. Dating. Your goal has always been to have your own family, but I can’t remember the last time you went on a date. Or gotten…” Her eyes shift to Emma before moving back to me. “You know.”
“I can’t even think of the last time you were kissed,” Nat says, and I roll my eyes at their dramatics.
“I…” I start, trying to defend myself, then freeze when I realize the last time I was kissed was in February, not that I can tell anyone here that. Panic consumes me as I try to figure out how to respond.
“See! You can’t even remember!” Wren says, taking my hesitation the wrong way and throwing her hands up. “You need to go on some dates. Find your person. Add that to your vision board.”
I glare in my best friend’s direction, though somehow, I’m grateful for the diversion.
“Why do I have to add dating to my board? How come you aren’t on Nat’s ass about dating?”
“Because Nat actually dates.”
I turn to Nat and glare at her because we all know her version of dating isn’t about finding her person, but about pure entertainment. She gives me a smug, knowing smile, and I flip her off behind Emma’s back before returning my attention to Wren.
“Wren, as much as I love that you’ve found your person and you want that happiness for everyone else in your life, I don’t need a relationship. I don’t even want one.”
“Well, too bad,” she says, lifting her phone, and suddenly I sense danger. My entire body stills, and I close my magazine, turning to her fully.
“Too bad?”
“Too bad. I’m going to start setting you up with people.”
My stomach drops to the floor. “Wren, no. I really don’t want—”
“I already have the perfect option. His name is Kevin. He works at the school, and I already—”
“Wren, no. Please tell me you didn’t.” Nat lets out a laugh, not bothering to hide her amusement, and Emma sits there with a grin, even though I’m not sure she’s one hundred percent sure what is going on.
She’s just happy to be one of the girls right now.
“Please tell me you did not already tell a stranger that I would be interested in going out with him without running it by me.”
“Just for coffee!” she says in a near plea.
“Wren—”
“I know, I know. You don’t want to date, blah blah blah.
But he’s really nice, and he seemed interested.
Would a coffee date be that bad?” My phone dings in my pocket, and with utter dread, I slide it out.
When I look at the screen of my phone, there’s a new text from Wren, a line of numbers, and the name Kevin beside it.
“You just have to text him your availability and set something up.”
“Wren,” I say, giving her wide eyes.
“Just give it a chance! What could it hurt?”
“Well, for one, he could be a serial killer.”
“You said that about Adam, too,” Wren reminds me, and I shrug.
“Still no definitive proof he isn’t a serial killer.”
Wren glares at me, thoroughly unimpressed by my humor. “He’s a kindergarten teacher, Hallie.”
“I don’t think there are rules about where serial killers work,” I counter under my breath.
“Who is it?” Emma asks, curious as ever, and Wren turns to her.
“Mr. Klien.”
“Oh, he’s cute,” she says, nodding approvingly, and Nat lets out a loud laugh at that, clearly entertained by this. I would be, too, if I weren’t the one in the spotlight.
“Emma! He’s an adult!”
“That doesn’t mean he isn’t cute, though, for an adult,” she says with a shrug, and I just blink at her, jaw dropped.
“You’re a traitor,” I say, and she lifts one shoulder, completely unfazed.
“Or maybe she also wants you to be happy,” Wren says.
“I am happy!”
That’s when Wren gives me a look, one missing the playful humor from moments before.
It moves through me uncomfortably, and the breath stops in my chest, that single look saying so many things while saying absolutely nothing at all.
Her mouth opens, and I brace for her words, which, from years of experience, I know will be both heartfelt and cut me to the bone, but then her phone dings with a new message, distracting her.
When she looks at the screen, her face goes soft.
Adam. The source of her own lovestruck state and the reason she wants the same for me.
She sighs and stands. “We’ll have to continue this battle another time,” she says, and relief moves through me.
I know she won’t completely let go of the idea, but at least it will give me time to come up with better excuses.
“I need to get home before Adam comes by and drags me out of here. I promised him I’d be home by one so I can rest before school starts on Monday. ”
I can’t help but smile, knowing now that he will, in fact, do that. Adam Porter has quite the affinity for throwing Wren over his shoulder and marching off. He values her well-being above all else, which is the number one reason I love him for her.
When she gives us a dreamy look, thinking about her man, I almost contemplate giving the number in my phone a shot.
Because, despite my not dating, I want that.
I want to fall in love and stay in love.
I want to find someone whom I know to my soul will stay with me forever.
Who will love me for the rest of my life and won’t run off when things get tough.
I want someone who will look at me with stars in his eyes, the way Adam looks at Wren, who will stand up for me when I’m being too hard on myself.
I stand with Wren, hugging her, and when she pulls back, that determined look is on her face.