It was time to realize that he and Meredith just weren’t meant to be. Dang. He took a moment to process and then thumped Asher on the back as their waitress walked up with their appetizer, crab cakes with Kam’s own tartar sauce.
“Wow, he must be in a good mood,” Pule said reverently as he took a large bite.
Asher nodded and took just as large a bite. “Please tell you brother that I love him and that he’s the most amazing chef in the world.”
Pule laughed and grabbed his napkin. “You’re just saying that to suck up. You don’t want your ribs cracked.”
Asher grinned and took a sip of water. “Do I look stupid? The guy is looking out for Meredith. If I screw this up, I’m dead.”
Pule considered that for a moment and then nodded. “True. So let’s make sure this works between you two. I don’t want to go to your funeral,” he said with a wink as Asher paled noticeably.
“Pule Matafeo and Asher Murphy. What a pleasant surprise.”
Pule turned around to see Taryn Moore standing beside them with a polite, shark-like smile.
“Hey there, Gorgeous. Care to join us?” he asked, with an exaggerated leer.
Taryn smacked him in the back of the head but sat down surprisingly. She grabbed one of his crab cakes and took a bite, smiling wickedly at him as he looked back at his one last remaining crab cake.
“Relax. Kam’s making you amazing food. I’m just helping you save room for the good stuff,” she said, dipping the cake in the sauce and smiling joyfully.
“Taryn, you have a cruel streak the size of the Puget Sound,” he said as he guarded his last remaining crab cake.
Asher pushed his last cake towards Taryn. “Have my last crab cake. I’m not that hungry,” he said with a kind smile.
Pule rolled his eyes. “What a suck up,” he said under his breath as he snagged Asher’s cake for himself and laughed at Taryn’s narrow-eyed glare.
“Taryn, just order dinner and eat with us instead of snatching everything,” he said, as he raised his arm for their waitress. She immediately came over and blinked in surprise to see her boss sitting at the table with them.
“Christy? Right? Will you grab another order of crab cakes for Taryn and tell Kam to send out an extra plate of whatever he’s making us. Tell him she’s eating with us and that he should join us too when he’s done,” Pule said.
The waitress glanced at Taryn for confirmation and whatever she must have seen on Taryn’s face had her hurrying off towards the kitchen.
“So what’s up? I was over there talking to a couple and I saw this amazingly tender man hug between you two. It usually takes something pretty important to get two guys to show their emotions. What’s going on?” she asked bluntly as she reached for the bread bowl.
Pule pushed the bowl towards her and then grabbed the butter for her. “Has Brogan been starving you? Girl, you’re eating more than I’ve ever seen. It’s like you’re a ravenous bear let loose in a honey factory.”
Taryn shrugged and took a bite of her roll. “I’m starving to death to be honest. I have no idea why. I think it must be stress. I keep telling Brogan I need a vacation. We’re hoping to take a few days and head down to San Diego in a few weeks for Valentine’s Day. Rayne offered us the use of her beach house and I can’t wait.”
Asher took a sip of water and studied her for a moment. “Rayne is a sweetie. We scheduled some gigs down in California this summer and Rayne is insisting that we stay at her place. It’s right on the beach and she has a huge storage shed right there to the side of the house with all of the surf boards and paddle boards and equipment you could dream of. It’s going to be amazing.”
Pule frowned. “Well, invite me with you. I want a week on the beach,” he said, knowing he was going to have words with Rayne. Why hadn’t she offered him her beach house?
Asher smiled. “Tai and Cleo are spending their honeymoon there since they both need to spend every penny on their new businesses. You should go with them. I bet they’d love that.”
Taryn laughed at that as their waitress showed up with a large plate of crab cakes and two sides of sauce.
“For you. And Kam says to tell you that if you need more, you just ask,” she said quizzically, looking at the large amount of crab cakes and the thin woman who was already inhaling them.
“Thanks,” Taryn said, with her mouth stuffed. “I probably will. Grab me a strawberry lemonade, will you, Christy?”
The girl hurried away again as Taryn closed her eyes in ecstasy as she took another bite. “That man is a genius. I love your brother, Pule,” she said reverently.
Pule grinned. “Most women do. Just don’t let your little sister hear you say that.”
Taryn laughed and took another bite. “Bailey knows my heart belongs to Brogan.”
Asher nodded his head in agreement. “That’s true.”
Pule gagged slightly. “Stop buttering up the woman or I take back my man-tastic bro bond with you.”
Asher put his hands up in surrender. “Fine, but I can’t stop. It’s just a habit.”
Taryn paused with a bite halfway to her mouth. “Man-tastic bro bond, huh? What exactly is that and how does one qualify for such an honor?” she asked, smiling back and forth between them.
Pule held up his hands and looked at Asher. He’d let his new bestie answer this one.
Asher laughed and shrugged as he wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Let’s see. A Man-tastic bro bond. How to explain it ….” He paused and then nodded his head. “It’s just where two guys who are good friends realize that they’re best friends and will be forever. I have Pule’s back no matter what and he has mine. If there’s anything I can do to help his happiness and well-being, I’ll do it. And he’d do the same for me.”
Pule swallowed and nodded his head. Just another nail in the coffin of his feelings for Meredith. He glanced at Taryn to see her reaction and his mouth dropped open as he saw her wipe a tear from her cheek.
Kam walked up with their waitress just then carrying platters of food. Kam took one look at Taryn and turned and glared at him. “What did you do, Pule?” he asked in a deadly voice.
Taryn shook her head as she blotted her eyes. “Kam, it’s nothing. It’s just me. It was the sweetest thing,” she said and motioned for Christy to put the food down.
Kam stared at the three of them quizzically as Christy served the food and then disappeared. Kam took a bite of scallops drenched in butter and lemon. “What is the sweetest thing?”
Taryn let out a shaky breath. “Your brother and Asher. They have a man-tastic bro bond. They’re best friends, brothers in life kind of thing. I was just sitting here and I could actually feel how much they love each other. And you should have seen Pule’s face, Kam. It was the sweetest expression. I could see the determination on his face to be there for Asher.”
Kam laughed lightly. “Pule and Asher Murphy? Yeah, right. Pule, what’s going on?” he asked turning to stare at him.
Pule glanced at Asher and saw the faith shining in his eyes and sighed. “Asher and I are best friends. It’s not a big deal. I already told you I’m going to do everything I can to help him with Meredith.”
Kam nodded his head gravely. “Okay, then. This is good. Asher, you be a good friend to my brother.”
Asher nodded his head quickly. “You have my word.”
Kam stared at him and then nodded before taking another bite, clearly accepting of Asher’s word. “Taryn, eat up, beautiful. I don’t want you fainting on me like you did yesterday.”
Pule raised an eyebrow and looked at Taryn closely. Eating a lot? Fainting? He glanced at her flat stomach hidden by the table. “Ah, I get it,” he said with a grin. “When are you due?” he asked Taryn as he pushed the bread bowl closer to her.
Taryn glanced up at him with a quizzical look on her face. “What are you talking about?”
Pule turned and looked at Kam who was smiling gently at Taryn. “Sweetie, is there any chance that you might be pregnant?
” Kam asked in a soft voice that Pule almost never heard his brother use.
Taryn stared at Kam, completely expressionless before her face crumpled and she began crying. “Do you think so?” she sobbed as Kam pushed back from the table and pulled Taryn into his arms. She sobbed on his shoulder, her whole body shaking as he and Asher stared at each other in surprise.
Asher reached over and put a hand on Taryn’s arm. “Taryn, how about I run over to the drug store and grab you a pregnancy test? Would that be okay?”
Taryn lifted her red, splotchy face and nodded her head as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I’m so happy,” she said, stuttering over the words as Kam continued to pat her back.
Pule grinned at Asher. “Go for it, Man. Hurry.”
Asher stood up and walked away quickly as Kam continued to talk to Taryn in soothing tones. Pule grinned as all the waiters and waitresses found reasons to walk by and stare at their chef holding their boss in their arms. Someone must have alerted Rob because he appeared within minutes and by the stormy look on his face, was not happy to find his sister distraught.
“Kam, what happened?” he demanded, pulling his sister out of Kam’s arms and into his.
Kam grinned at Rob and smacked him on the back. “This might be premature, but let me be the first to congratulate you on being an uncle.”
Rob’s face turned lax as he stared at his sister who was hiccupping now and wiping her nose on a napkin. “Is it true?” he asked softly, touching his sister’s cheek.
Taryn shrugged slightly and gave a watery laugh. “I’m not sure. I’ve been eating like a horse lately and yesterday I fainted in the kitchen. And I’m so emotional. Just hearing that Pule and Asher decided to be best friends had me crying my eyes out. I think it’s very possible. Asher ran out just now to go buy me a pregnancy test.”
Rob grinned and nodded his head. “Good man. Well, let’s eat up while we’re waiting. No use wasting all this good food.”
Taryn sat back down in her chair and Rob stayed in Asher’s. They spent the next fifteen minutes talking about ways to tell Brogan. Kam suggested a nice family dinner with everyone. Rob suggested having it announced at a sporting event. Pule suggested that she tell him privately in a way that would be special to Brogan.
Taryn pointed her finger at him and smiled. “I like your idea. Now, how do I keep my secret from Brogan until I’m ready to tell him? The man can read me like a book.”
Asher returned right then and Rob stood up and pulled an extra chair over. Christy came over and took Asher’s plate so she could bring him out fresh food while he put the sack in front of Taryn. Rob pulled the pregnancy test out of the sack and handed it to Taryn. “Go take the test and hurry back,” he said.
Taryn nodded her head and hurried away.
“So guess who I ran into at the check-out,” Asher said grimly.
Pule shook his head. “Please don’t say, Brogan.”
Asher nodded his head. “He came up right behind me and I couldn’t exactly hide the pregnancy test. Needless to say, he’s making a lot of assumptions right now.”
Kam frowned. “What did he say?”
Asher reddened and ran a hand over his wavy brown hair. “Oh, he just asked how Meredith was feeling and then asked when the wedding was.”
Rob turned back and stared at Asher. “Sorry, but he’s going to have to assume whatever he wants about you and Meredith for now. This is Taryn’s first baby and I don’t want her surprise ruined.”
Asher held up his hands and shook his head. “If Meredith finds out that rumors are going around that she’s pregnant and I’m the father, someone’s going to die. Me.”
Rob frowned and nodded his head. “All for the greater good. Not a word leaves this table. I want this to be perfect for Taryn.”
Pule sighed and took another bite of his scallops. “Do I have to take the fall on this one too? My momma will kill me.”
Kam frowned and shook his head fiercely. “There’s no way Asher can say that he bought the test for Pule. Our parents would not be gentle with him.”
Pule shivered and then looked at Rob. “How about you? Wren might be pregnant again.”
Rob shook his head. “That won’t fly. There’s no way that Asher would ever be in a situation where he’d be buying a pregnancy test for my wife.”
Kam nodded his head. “That leaves Rayne, Ivy or Meredith.”
Asher sighed loudly and shook his head. “I’m just now getting my relationship back where it should be with my brother and Becket. I can’t do anything to jeopardize that. By default, it has to be Meredith.” He paused and looked up at the ceiling as if he was talking to God. “And this is what I get for doing a good deed.”
Kam shook his head. “Wait a second. This might actually help you. If everyone knows you bought a pregnancy test and everyone assumes that you’re with Meredith, maybe she’ll be able to see it too? Maybe this will bring you closer together? Especially when she sees how it’s no big deal with Brogan.”
Asher blinked in surprise and then turned and looked at Pule questioningly. “What do you think?”
Pule shrugged. “Meredith is hard to figure out sometimes. She could laugh it off or she could hunt someone down and destroy them. It’s really going to depend on her mood that day. Her big thing now is how she’s being perceived by everyone. I can’t imagine that everyone talking about her being pregnant is going to go over well no matter how you spin it.”
Asher groaned and then looked at Rob. “I say we reconsider Wren.”
Rob stood up and shook his head. “And let everyone assume you’re having an affair with my wife? I’ll kill you myself and I happen to know you’re innocent.”
Asher winced and looked at Kam. Kam smiled gently and smacked him on the shoulder. “Man up, Asher. Looks like you’re going to be a father.”
Taryn walked quickly to their table with a bright smile on her face and a white stick in her hand. She held it triumphantly up in the air and all three men erupted in a cheer. Taryn was going to be a momma.
Who knew parenthood was so contagious? Pule wondered with a grin.
Chapter 14 – That Special Glow
Meredith walked into Tai’s Diner the next day with a cautious smile on her face. Brogan had called a meeting so they could look at the new and improved website before it went live the next day. She’d only been to the diner a few times, but she was glad Brogan had chosen the diner over The Iron Skillet. Tai needed all the customers he could get and the food was amazing.
She was nervous about seeing Asher again since she’d never heard back from Pule. Pule had promised her that he’d help her fix the situation but hadn’t responded when she’d texted him last night to see if he’d been successful in hunting Asher down. She wasn’t too surprised though; Pule never charged his phone.
She was surprised to see Jane there at the front counter with her little boy Vaitele strapped to her chest in a cloth sling. She watched as Tai brought her out a hamburger and fries and grinned. Then again, she wasn’t that surprised. She blew a kiss at her friend and then caught sight of Brogan and Asher in a back booth with their heads together. Brogan looked up right then and smiled in greeting so she made her way to their table located next to the windows. It was almost like it was a conspiracy between them to never let her arrive first. It had to be an aggressive, male attribute she hadn’t heard of before.
“Hey, guys,” she said with a polite smile on her face.
Brogan smiled as she sat next to Asher. “Well, don’t you look pretty today? You’re almost glowing,” he said, his bright blue eyes twinkling at her.
Meredith touched her cheek questioningly. Was she sweating? Gah. “Uh, thanks, Brogan. Hey, Ash,” she said softly, turning to look at Asher who was staring at her silently as if he was trying to figure her out.
He smiled slowly and nodded his head. “Brogan’s right. You do look pretty.”
Meredith pulled a strand of her super straight blond hair through her fingers and said a pr
ayer of gratitude that she’d been able to buy some of her straightening serum on clearance for practically nothing yesterday.
“You two are the sweetest.” Meredith said and then noticed the large platter of Club sandwiches. Perfect. She took two since she was starving to death. She’d skipped breakfast and was paying for it now. Brogan grinned at her and pushed the platter closer to her.
After Meredith had taken care of the worst of her hunger pains, she patted her lips with a napkin and smiled at the men. “I have to admit I can hardly wait to see our baby. Let’s get to it, shall we?” she asked, wanting to get off the subject of her sweaty, good looks and onto something concrete, like her financial future. Asher choked on his water and Brogan nodded and looked at her stomach and then pointedly at Asher.
Meredith frowned and began to say something but Brogan opened his laptop and began tapping at the keys so she kept her mouth shut. She stared suspiciously at Asher. What had she said that would put that shocked look on his face?
Forget it. Sometimes Asher had his own private conversations in his head that made her want to peek inside just so she could get the joke too. Or maybe she was overanalyzing which she did sometimes. He was probably just as stoked as she was. Meredith glanced at Asher again and found him staring at her in that quiet way he had that made her heart beat faster. She lowered her gaze and waited for Brogan. Better not to read too much into those hot, yearning looks either.
“And here she is,” he said, turning the laptop around so he could show them. “But in order to really see how the site works, I want you to log in again so you can experience what it’s like to be an actual customer.”
Meredith smiled nervously and looked at Asher. “Why don’t you go first,” she offered.
Asher shook his head and pushed the laptop over to her. “Absolutely not. Ladies first.”
Meredith groaned and began to create the profile she’d started the other night at Brogan’s house. Brogan interrupted her right after she put in her password. “Now, here’s the cool part. You can log in from your Facebook account and they can automatically upload your pictures for you so you don’t have to. It saves about fifteen minutes of time because it just goes off your profile pictures and those are usually everybody’s first choice anyways.”
My One and Only: Book 1 in the Love and Weddings Trilogy Page 11