“Peanut butter and banana isn’t a weird combination,” Wes said, looking at his brother.
“It’s gross, like ketchup and bacon.” Chris looked up at the menu. “Let’s order so Hailey doesn’t unfriend you.”
She laughed the whole time she made their salads—a Mexi Cup, which was turning out to be one of her most popular—an SV Supreme, a combination of lettuces, julienned vegetables, chicken, turkey, and tuna, and, for Wes, a Fruit Fetish, which the guys teased him for ordering. She informed them that the mixture of berries, mango, Greek yogurt, slivered cinnamon-glazed almonds, chia seeds, and a drizzle of honey would make them jealous.
“I’ll bring it out,” she said as she accepted the payment from Chris. Apparently, it was his turn.
She’d always wondered what it would be like to have siblings. Close ones, like these three. She’d had her books and loved falling into any young adult or adult romance she could but it wasn’t the same. Growing up, Piper was the closest thing she had to a sibling and she usually only got to see her during school breaks. Her parents hadn’t wanted children and though they loved her, they loved their marriage and alone time more. She spent most summers with Piper’s family. At the time, she’d felt lucky. But looking back, she wondered why they hadn’t missed her. Why hadn’t they wanted to make memories with her? It made her heart twitch uncomfortably so she tried not to spend a lot of time thinking about it. Or them.
Their laughter drew her attention more than once as she made their lunches. When she brought them over, they asked her to sit. Since she had a moment, she did.
“How are you liking San Verde?” Chris asked, popping the lid off his salad.
“It’s great. I haven’t seen much of it since I spend a lot of hours here. My cousin lives here so it seemed like a good place to settle. How about you guys? Are you California natives?”
Both guys glanced at Wes, who answered, “We’re all from New York, actually. Chris came out for work, Noah followed, and I joined them almost two months ago.”
“I didn’t realize you were new to town like me. We can figure out the city together,” she said.
Noah finished his mouthful, a playful grin lighting up his face. “He’s all set. There are multiple food options here in the square, a tech store, and every shop offers Wi-Fi.”
She laughed even though Wes didn’t. “I know you work at the station, Chris, and Wes does something with computers, but do you all work together on everything?”
A couple walked through the door, hand in hand. Hailey nearly bounced out of her seat. “Hi. Welcome to By the Cup.”
As she made custom salads for them, three more people came in. By the time she’d served everyone, the guys were done with their lunch and Hailey felt like she could lift a car with the happy adrenaline coursing through her.
“Nice little rush,” Wes said, standing at the counter, his brothers at his side.
“It was. It’s getting better every day. I’m so glad you guys came in and I hope you’ll come back.”
“Your food is delicious. I didn’t think I’d be excited about coming for salad, but the last one was so good and this one was great. I’m not sure which one was better,” Noah said.
“Thank you. That makes me happy. You guys are heading up to check out the space upstairs?”
“We are. Have you seen any of it?” Chris asked.
She shook her head, glanced at Wes. “No, but I heard it’s great. I have a meeting up there next week with some other shop owners.”
“Wes’s place is great. Everly and I live about twenty minutes from here in an apartment but Noah’s looking for a house for us.”
“Your voice gets soft when you say her name,” Hailey said, a hint of longing fluttering in her chest. She’d thought Dorian felt that way about her at one time. Maybe he had. Their relationship felt like one of the movie sets she’d worked on—not entirely real. With a sad ending.
“Probably because I’m crazy about her,” Chris said without one hint of embarrassment. Dorian had always held off on any sort of affection in public, verbally or otherwise, until he could gauge the audience of whatever event they attended. He’d told her it wasn’t personal. He needed to maintain a certain image to grow his career and being tied down to one woman, at least publicly, could cost him opportunities.
She pulled out an eggplant to chop for her own salad. See? She ate more than chocolate. “I guess not believing in love doesn’t run in the family then.”
Both of the brothers laughed as Wes gave her a wry grin, shifting his feet.
“Nope. Definitely not. Wes is a tech geek—if he could create his perfect woman via technology, he would.”
When he looked down at his feet, Hailey’s heart pinched. “There’s nothing wrong with knowing what you want and holding out for it. Love—the word or the feeling—doesn’t make something a guarantee.”
He lifted his head and his gaze was so intense it felt physical. A shiver traveled over her skin as his appreciation shone from eyes darker than either of his brothers’.
“Exactly,” he said.
“You’ll both see when you get hit with the real thing,” Noah said, glancing at his phone. “We should head upstairs. We’re having a BBQ at our place on Sunday, Hailey. You should join us. You’ve already met Stacey, Everly, and Grace. We live on the beach so we usually end up playing volleyball.”
She wanted to jump at the chance but she didn’t want to get in the way. Wes said he wanted to be friends but he had this shell, making him hard to read. “That’s a really nice offer.”
“You could bring a friend if it makes you more comfortable. Someone other than Wes, I mean. Noah lives by the motto ‘the more the merrier,’” Chris said.
“Hey. I’ve gotten a lot better and I’m always careful to give you a heads-up for Everly.” Noah gestured to Wes. “Plus, this guy doesn’t love a big crowd either so we tend to keep it small.”
She didn’t know a lot about these guys but she still had a little piece of her gut she trusted. Just because her judgment had been skewed before didn’t mean these weren’t good people. The only way to get to know them was to take the chance. Even then, truly knowing someone wasn’t a guarantee any more than love. The truth was, she’d known Dorian for six months before their first kiss. They’d dated for three years, and in the end, she hadn’t known him at all.
“Noah can be annoying when it comes to the volleyball because he’s a poor sport, but otherwise it’s really fun. You’re closed on Sundays, right?” Wes looked at the sign on the door as a couple of girls walked in.
“I am. Okay. Sure. Why not?” She moved the eggplant aside. “I’ll be right with you.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and passed it to Wes. “Put your number in there so I can text you.”
Long after they’d left, after she’d served a bunch of customers, she was still thinking about Wes and his brothers. Her only focus when she’d packed up her place in L.A. was to get on her feet professionally. She hadn’t been worried about friends or dating. She had Piper and her family.
She’d needed the recovery time with just herself to reset and remind herself that she wasn’t the sum of her mistakes. Believing in Dorian for longer than he deserved didn’t make her an idiot.
Piper accused her of shutting herself off, running away from her problems, burying her head in the sand like she used to do in books. Hailey had told her where to put her counseling advice before realizing she wasn’t wrong. She’d had to deal with the impact of her relationship and get to a healthy place. She was in it. She felt it. But letting new people in still scared her. At least with Wes, she knew he was safe. He didn’t want anything other than friendship. She could be herself and if he didn’t like what he saw, it wouldn’t wreck her self-esteem. She’d also get a chance to be friends with some seemingly lovely women and his brothers.
Dorian’s words during their last argument, the final one, still rang in her ears now and again but they were quieter now.
You’re no one’s leading lady, least of all mine. You’re a boring book nerd who serves food out of a truck, for God’s sake. You aren’t even the best friend in a second-rate movie. You’re an extra. A nobody. You were a placeholder, Hailey.
Yeah, she’d retreated into herself a bit with those words. Then she’d kicked him out of her house and told him what she really thought of his acting skills.
“You say you’ve moved on, you’re okay. Prove it. Stop second-guessing the chance to really build a life here.” Now she sounded like Piper. A small laugh escaped as she swept up, turned the OPEN sign to CLOSED. At least she could tell her cousin the therapy practice was working.
8