“Are you planning on going over there at some point?” he said with a teasing glance, getting his mind off his own worries.
She blushed and took a sip of her wine. “Yes. I’m just working up the nerve. I know I like Lainey and Hope…but I mean, Aiden, I’ve had no friends. In…forever.”
A stab of guilt hit him in the gut as he looked at her, as her words sank in. He could bet a thousand bucks that Maxi had friends. He was pretty sure her health problems hadn’t prevented her from having a good time when she wanted to, because they never had when she was with Aiden. But Janie didn’t have friends because she’d been taking care of his kid and working whatever jobs she could, instead of doing the things most people their age did.
“Well, this is perfect,” he said, spreading his arms on the counter and giving her a grin. “You’re very…likeable.”
Her eyes widened. “That sounds boring. That’s what I’m worried about. I think I’m a very boring person. What if I go over there and they regret inviting me?”
He shrugged. “They’ll make polite conversation, be nice to you, and then just never invite you out again.”
“Gee, thanks.” She inhaled sharply, and her face paled. “What am I even going to talk about? You? Will? Morris? Oh God, what if I start rambling about my cat?” Her eyes darted nervously to her glass. “I need more wine. Can you refill my wine?”
He swallowed a laugh. “Seriously. Why don’t you just walk over there and let whatever’s going to happen happen? Oh, and no, don’t talk about me. But Morris might not be a bad choice if there’s a lull in the conversation. He’s giant. You walk him on a leash. We could knit blankets out of all the fur balls he leaves around my house.” Aiden got the sense Janie wasn’t really listening. “Tell them about that time he ran for president and almost won. Or when he single-handedly stopped the aliens from destroying our planet.”
“Yeah, okay,” she said absently, then glanced over at the table they were all sitting at and turned back to him. “Are you sure you don’t want to join us?”
“Uh, more than positive,” he said drily.
Janie took a deep breath, braced her hands on the counter, and stood. “Okay, I’m going to sit with my new friends and pretend I’m outgoing and do this sort of thing all the time…like meet people at bars on the weekends instead of eat popcorn with my cat, binge-watching Gilmore Girls for the hundredth time.”
“You’ve actually done that with Morris? A hundred times?” His lips twitched, and he pressed them together. This would be a very bad time to laugh.
She threw her hands in the air. “I don’t make crap up, Aiden.”
“I know you don’t.” He grinned, liking the way she said his name, liking everything about her. “Listen, they are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. They’ve all had lots of stuff happen in the last few years that I’ve witnessed in the bar. None of them claim to be perfect or better than anyone else. And two of them are newlyweds, so they’ll probably just talk about their wonderful husbands the whole time.”
She was nodding but still not moving. He sighed and refilled her wine. “There. Tell them you like their wine choice. I import this stuff just for them.”
Her eyes widened. “Okay, yes! That’s gold. Thank you—I mean, not thank you. But…thank you.”
He tried again not to laugh. She was too adorable. “You’ll be fine, Janie.”
“All right. Here I go.” She took a deep breath and a long drink of wine, then marched off with the glass in her hand.
He turned away so he wasn’t checking her out from behind, because he shouldn’t be doing that and he really shouldn’t get caught doing that. But he was curious to see how this went. He wanted it to be good, for her sake. And maybe, too, he thought selfishly, if she had real friends here, she just might consider staying.
…
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Lainey said to Janie after she was seated at the table. Lainey had made introductions to their other friend, Sarah, as well.
Janie let out a breath, feeling her nerves dissipate at the genuine warmth from the other women. “Thanks for inviting me. I haven’t been out in a long time. And I love this wine,” she said, remembering to insert that instead of talking about how she had no life.
Hope smiled. “I’m so glad! Aiden is so sweet to bring that wine in for us. Organic wines aren’t usually on the menu here.”
Lainey laughed. “I think we’re the only people who ever order it. So, do you know how long you’ll be in town?”
Janie nodded, glancing over at Aiden. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of the handsome picture he made behind the bar. Tonight, he was wearing a navy and hunter green plaid flannel shirt paired with jeans. His black hair was disheveled due to his habit of running his hands through it, and his dark stubble only enhanced the hard lines of his face. “We’re thinking we’ll stay for a total of three weeks.”
“That’s fantastic. Are you thinking of moving here, too?” Sarah asked.
Janie shrugged, choosing her words carefully because she didn’t even know the answer to that herself. Things with Aiden were going smoothly so far, but nothing had been decided.
He’d made it very clear he was claiming his son, and that tended to make her wary. Normally he was easygoing. Pleasant. Too perfect. Then whenever the topic of Maxi or Will came up, his regret simmered to the surface. But Will had seemed very excited to stay for the extra time and had promised to keep up with his schoolwork. “It’s too soon to say. I guess it depends on how everything works out with Will. We just want the best for him.”
“How do you like Wishing River?” Lainey asked with a smile, and Janie suspected she was steering the conversation away from that topic on purpose.
Janie shot her a grateful glance and sat back in her chair, still holding her glass of wine. “It’s great. I’ve never lived in a small town, but I love driving country roads and seeing the farmland and ranches. There’s something about it that makes me feel like I can breathe.”
“I’m sure Aiden enhances the views,” Hope said with a mischievous tone.
Janie felt her cheeks burn.
All the women turned to glance at Aiden, then, and Janie waited, holding her breath, to see what they would do or say next. Much to her growing embarrassment, Aiden made eye contact with her and started walking toward them. She had asked him to come over, but right when his name had come up wasn’t the best time!
“Okay, we’ll stop talking about that and then resume after Aiden leaves,” Hope said with a laugh. “Janie, you should know that every woman in town has had a crush on Aiden at one point or another.”
Janie’s face burned even hotter, and an irrational jolt of jealousy spiked through her. She opened her mouth to ask if Hope was joking, but then Aiden appeared at their table.
“Hi, ladies,” he said with the grin she found herself thinking about at night.
Everyone greeted him, and Janie watched in fascination as Aiden somehow charmed the entire table just by asking them each how they were. That dimple probably helped a little, and so did the way he gave whoever he was speaking to his full attention, those sky-blue eyes filled with warmth and interest.
Janie ignored the sliver of insecurity that ran through her. Aiden was…very attractive. The face, the body—everything. But it was much more than that. It was that he seemed to genuinely like people and they found him easy to talk to. Obviously, she knew Hope was exaggerating and just teasing, by saying every woman in town had a crush on him. But Janie also knew there had to be a little truth to that.
Why did that bother her?
Maybe she didn’t like thinking of Aiden having all these women falling all over themselves for him. Is that what had happened with Maxi? But Maxi had never fallen over anyone but herself. Maybe it was the other way around, and Aiden had been infatuated with her.
But that was none of her bus
iness…because he was practically family. He could be a brother-in-law, really. So, whether or not women were infatuated by Aiden and his dimple and mysterious scar and tall, built body really was not her concern.
“Janie?” Aiden said.
With a quick look around, she realized he had been asking everyone for their orders and had now turned to her. “I’ll, um, have the burger and fries, too,” she said, not looking him in the eye for too long.
“Sure. And wine for everyone?” he asked, his lips twitching.
She shot him a quick glance so she didn’t seem weird. “Thanks.”
Hope and Sarah nodded, but Lainey’s face turned red, and she looked up at Aiden. “Uh, I think I’ll just have whatever carbonated water you have.”
Hope’s eyes grew wide as saucers. “Pardon?”
Aiden winked at Janie and left the table.
“There’s nothing to share,” Lainey said. “I’m just…not feeling that great tonight, so I’m skipping the wine. Organic or not. Anyway, back to Aiden—he really is a great guy.”
Hope gave her friend a long stare before turning back to Janie. “Even though we don’t know him really well, outside of seeing him at River’s, Aiden is a great guy. He’s probably listened to everyone’s story at least once as they poured their heart out to him on one of those barstools.”
“He’s definitely listened to me a time or two. So, your nephew is doing okay?” Lainey asked.
Janie sighed. “Better than I ever expected. Aiden has been fantastic. For a single guy who had no idea the bombshell I was about to drop on him? He’s been everything Will could ask for. He loves the horses at Aiden’s, too, and that helps.”
“That’s wonderful that you were able to raise your nephew. You must miss your sister so much,” Sarah said, her eyes filled with sympathy.
“Oh. Um, she’s alive. She’s just not…” Janie searched for the right words.
Sarah’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry. I assumed she had died. I don’t mean to be nosy. You don’t have to answer that.”
Janie waved her hand. “You’re not being nosy. The truth is that Will was…not planned, and she struggled with being a parent. I spent a lot of time with Will when he was born and helped out. He and I bonded, and I just wanted him to have a good life. So, I just tried my best, and here we are…”
“That’s very kind of you,” Hope said. “I’m a single mom, and I know how hard it is. But I wasn’t a teenager when my daughter, Sadie, was born. You and Will must have such a close bond.” She leaned back in her chair as a server delivered their drinks.
Janie was relieved it wasn’t Aiden who brought their order. She held the glass steady for a moment before taking a sip, then said, “We do. We both have grown a lot. Now that we’re in Wishing River and Aiden has opened his home to us, I’m starting to realize how stressed I’ve been for so long. It’s funny—I had gotten so used to the adrenaline keeping me going, I didn’t even realize I’d been running on adrenaline until now. For the first time in over ten years, I’m not worrying about rent or Will’s needs, and that’s…that’s an incredible relief to me. I feel like I can sleep at night,” she said, surprised she’d revealed all that to people she just met.
“Everyone deserves to be able to share the burden,” Lainey said gently.
Janie nodded. “It makes a world of difference. So, enough about me. Tell me about each of you.”
The women each told her about themselves—how Lainey came to own Tilly’s Diner and that she had gotten married a few years ago. Sarah revealed her own family loss and how she met her husband, Cade. But Hope’s story was the quickest and the saddest, and Janie’s heart went out to her. Luckily, Aiden arrived, carrying their identical orders, and soon they were eating and Janie felt a little more relaxed.
“Do you guys know Logan Miller?” she asked.
The three of them nodded. “Aiden’s best friend and the best vet for miles,” Lainey said.
“I start working for him on Monday.” Janie turned her concentration to the fresh, crispy, and perfectly salted fries. “It’s temporary, but it’s a great opportunity.”
“Logan is a really nice guy, too,” Hope added. “But I’m sure Aiden’s told you all about him already.”
Janie shook her head, reaching for the ketchup. “Not much, actually. Anything I should know about?”
“They grew up together. Best friends,” Lainey said. “Logan left for college and was away for a long time, because then he was away for veterinary college after that. Aiden’s dad died somewhere during that time, and Aiden was kind of MIA for a while, too.”
Janie swirled her fry in the pool of ketchup, absorbing that bit of information. She wondered if that was around the time Maxi came into his life. She glanced over at Aiden, who was serving drinks to a group of young women at the bar, smiling and laughing.
It was hard to picture Aiden as anything other than the responsible, easygoing, charming man behind the bar. One of the women reached across the bar top and ruffled his hair and laughed. Janie quickly turned away as though she’d been slapped. Which was ridiculous. Obviously women would be attracted to him. Obviously he’d been hit on many times here. He had his own life; she had her own life.
She glanced at her new friends. Okay, so she was just now getting a life. A month ago, she didn’t have people to go out with. She was desperate to distract herself and not look over at the bar again. “Aiden says you guys all meet up here once a week.”
“Yup, I’m the latest to join the crowd. We’ve also been getting together at other times, taking turns at each of our houses,” Sarah said.
“You and Aiden are welcome to join us,” Lainey said.
Janie’s face felt flushed. “Oh, that would be awkward… We’re not like that. At all,” she said, stealing another quick glance at the bar, because apparently she had no self-control whatsoever. She sat a little straighter and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she noticed the women still firmly planted at the counter like they were planning on spending the entire night there. Fine. That was totally fine. Again, that was none of her business. But did they all have to be so pretty and so decked out?
Janie was suddenly self-conscious of her appearance in a way that was new to her. Sure, she’d never been one to really care about makeup and hair and nails, but even her clothes were old now, and there hadn’t been extra money or extra time to notice what people her age were wearing. She could blend in, and she wasn’t completely inept, but she didn’t look like the women at the table with her, either. Lainey, Hope, and Sarah weren’t decked out, per se, but she could see they each had their own style, and it suited their personalities. Janie didn’t think she’d ever even stopped to think if her clothes matched her personality. She hadn’t used a curling wand or flat iron since she lived with Maxi and had to help her get ready for a pageant. As for makeup, who had money to spend on stuff like that, and who had the time?
But she noticed how pretty Lainey’s brown eyes looked with her subtle eyeliner and mascara and how her skin seemed to glow with her cheekbones perfectly highlighted. She glanced over at Sarah and noticed the same thing. Even Hope, who was a single mother to a much younger child than Will, had makeup on and gorgeous, glossy hair that fell in soft waves around her shoulders.
Did Janie want that? Not to prove anything to anyone, not to try and impress anyone—or Aiden—but did she want it for herself? Or had she always thought it was pointless because she’d always been tossed aside without any features worth enhancing? She pulled off her glasses and rested them on the table. Why hadn’t she ever gotten fitted for contacts?
She knew the answer, though. Money. Time. And she hadn’t cared about all that.
Until now.
She had told herself none of that mattered to her, but maybe it did. Just a little.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Lainey said. “I totally didn’t mean to make it
awkward. I just meant it would be great if you guys joined us. It’s not all couples. Hope and Dean are…just friends.” She shot Hope a strange glance.
Hope rolled her eyes. “That’s a story for another day. Once I have it figured out, I’ll be the first to let you know,” she said, wagging a french fry in their general direction.
“Aiden has been looking over here all night,” Sarah said with a sparkle in her eye.
Janie dismissed any meaning behind him looking over here. “That’s because I, like everyone else in this town, was pouring my heart out to him before I walked over here. I was nervous about hanging out with new friends, and he was reassuring me. He loves you ladies,” she said, smiling, hoping to deflect. There was no way Aiden was looking at her in the way that Sarah was suggesting.
“Well, he wasn’t looking at you concerned or anything,” Hope said.
“Agreed. It was a different sort of look,” Lainey said, glancing over at Aiden.
“I mean, not that it’s any of our business. We’re sounding gossipy,” Sarah said, wincing at Lainey and Hope.
“We are. Don’t mind us, Janie; we’re usually not like this. At least I hope we’re not,” Lainey said with a nervous laugh before picking up her glass of water.
Hope leaned forward. “We’re not. But that is the most interest we’ve ever seen Aiden show anyone. I mean, of course there’s the typical fan club he has that doesn’t leave the bar, but he never pays them any real attention. He just does what he has to for his customers. The problem is he’s too good-looking. Even Tyler, Cade, and Dean don’t want him around because they’re insecure.”
Sarah burst out laughing. “I always thought that was why Cade didn’t like him. I could never get him to pinpoint what it was about Aiden he didn’t like. I had a sneaking suspicion it was the looks thing.”
“Totally. Tyler said he didn’t trust him.” Lainey rolled her eyes. “It’s only because we were all talking about how good-looking he is. Typical guy behavior.”
“But Aiden isn’t the type to go home with just anyone,” Hope assured her.
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