Laughing, Grace winked at them. “Please excuse him, he’s using getting old as a chance to be miserable. He can be quite charming when he wants.”
“Damn right I can be.” He worked up a smile, aimed it at Hailey and Fiona and to her relief, everyone else laughed. If they hadn’t, she would have had to muffle her own out of politeness.
Grace leaned over to say something in Morty’s ear but they all heard it. “Behave or I’m telling Tilly.”
They didn’t hear his response but Hailey could guess.
She couldn’t stem her curiosity. “What’s Home and Heart?”
Grace and Noah shared a look that expressed a combination of love and affection. She might not have had those with her exes but she still believed they were out there, somewhere, waiting for her.
Grace clasped Noah’s hand. “It’s a magazine. Noah is a real estate developer. He bought this place intending to remodel it. He tried to buy mine as well,” she said with a teasing smirk. “So he could put in a pool.”
Hailey glanced toward the poles in the yard and pointed. “That’s going to be a pool? Wait, is that your place?”
Grace nodded. “Yes. We’re using it as my office. I’m an interior designer. Noah’s supposedly a big deal in some circles so he was able to wrangle a fancy magazine to cover the remodel.”
Noah put his arm around Grace, pulled her close. “Best thing to come out of it was Gracie fell head over heels in love with me.”
Chris picked up his beer with the hand that wasn’t holding Everly’s. “None of us can figure out why.”
Everyone but Noah laughed. Morty took a drink of his not-Budweiser, making a face. “Definitely not because of his taste in beer.”
“Shut it, old man, or I’ll feed you Tara’s veggie burgers.”
“Wait. I read some other articles after the ones on this remodel,” Fiona said. Her gaze grew wide, then she looked at Hailey, whose heart started knocking around her rib cage. “Do you know you’re in the presence of New York royalty?”
All three of the men scoffed and balked, loudly, at this proclamation. Grace rolled her eyes and Morty mumbled under his breath.
Stacey set her bottle on the table beside her, looking at Chris. “Maybe royal pains in the ass.”
“Still your boss, Stace,” Chris said blandly. The connections between them were harder to keep track of than who dated who in Hollywood. Wes needed to make her a guidebook for this.
“Somebody tell me what I’m missing.” She looked at Wes. Should she have googled him?
Noah set his beer down on the edge of the fire table that sat between the seats. “My brothers and I used to work for our father. Pretty much doing a lot of what we do now but under his thumb. And judgment. We buy into companies, sell companies, or improve them. We each have our own skill sets and we got tired of our dad taking them for granted. Chris came here to jump through one of our dad’s hoops, met Everly, fell in love. I followed.”
“And fell in love,” Grace said, squeezing his hand.
Fiona raised her hands. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring anything bad up. I just made the connection and remember being super impressed with all of you. I was caught off guard but I shouldn’t have blurted it all out like that.”
“No harm. Don’t worry about it. You certainly don’t have to apologize,” Chris said.
“No, I do. That was a total lack of social grace. Also, while we’re sharing, I’m a freelance writer.”
Both brothers looked at Wes, whose gaze widened. “Oh.”
“I am one hundred percent here in a personal capacity and I don’t write about guys like you. I write about what kind of alcohol you should pair with your chocolate. I just didn’t want it to come up later.”
This means Wes and his brothers are mega rich. Hailey didn’t look him up because she wanted to draw conclusions based on what she learned about him. She wanted to prove she was a good judge of people. Of friends. That Dorian hadn’t broken her in every single way. Last night, she’d learned Wes was a serious shopper, a list maker, and a bit of a health nut. But now, she was struggling to stop herself from immediately casting her own insecurities and past onto him.
He didn’t care about how much money she had. He’d helped her for free. But did she want to be friends with a rich-boy trust fund baby? He works a lot for someone who has the opportunity to live up to that label. Still. She’d thought they were two newbies to the city both in need of a friend, someone they could bounce ideas off of or shop with on a Saturday night when the urge for chocolate hit hard.
“She really does write low-key, fun articles,” Hailey heard herself say. There was a gentle buzz in her ears and she felt Wes’s gaze.
“Is your last name Hale?” Chris asked.
Fiona nodded. “It is. Have you taken my quizzes? Oh my God. Are you a closet women’s magazine reader?”
“It’s not closet if he’s willing to just put it out there,” Noah said, laughing. “What’d you learn about yourself, baby brother? Are you a One Direction kind of guy or BTS?”
Noah flashed a grin at Fiona. “That is in no way diminishing what you write. They sound fun but it’s my duty to make fun of my brother if he’s reading Cosmo.”
Amusement glittered in Noah’s gaze and all eyes turned to Chris. Everly squeezed his hand, her other one rubbing up and down her thigh. “My mother continues to drop off a bag of groceries we don’t need and several women’s, and now men’s, magazines once a month.”
“Everly’s mom is very pro sex,” Stacey said.
Even though her cheeks went pink, Everly laughed with the others.
“Nothing wrong with that,” Fiona said.
“Unless you’re her daughter,” Hailey said, meeting Everly’s gaze.
Appreciation filled her warm brown eyes. “Exactly.”
Fiona picked up her drink. “That’s fair. My mom takes all of my quizzes but I told her she’s never allowed to tell me the answers. Even if it’s just which nail polish you should pair with your summer drink.”
“Your articles and quizzes sound so fun,” Grace said.
“I love making them. I love writing happy-making articles. The reason I recognized you guys and the house is because I was researching the magazine to write a fun article on which house matches your personality. I like to know the outlet I’m working for so I always do some prereading. You guys did a beautiful job renovating.”
Both Noah and Grace beamed. “Would you like to see it?” Grace asked.
Fiona hopped up. “Yes, please.” She looked down at Hailey.
Feeling atypically flustered, like she had too many facts to digest, Hailey nodded. “Of course.”
Wes met her gaze. “We’re going to start the burgers. We’ll play volleyball after dinner. Either of you vegetarians?”
She shook her head.
He stood. “You want cheese or chocolate on yours?”
The laugh burst from her lips. “Very funny.”
He was who she thought he was. Just because she had some hang-ups about rich guys who took advantage didn’t mean Wes was a pompous ass who would do the same. Besides, this time, her heart was in absolutely no danger. It wasn’t even involved. Just to be sure, they were definitely coming up with that guide he’d mentioned.
11
The last few hours squashed many of Hailey’s worries. Rich or not, these people were friendly, funny, and incredibly welcoming. Noah and Grace made delicious burgers, Chris and Everly worked the BBQ, while Wes conveniently dropped it into the conversation with Rob that she was the maker of the salads he’d been talking about. Turns out Jaycee—the multisalad lady—worked at the gym Rob owned.
Hailey knew even cities of thousands and thousands had overlapping circles. Hollywood was like one of those steel circle puzzle games, nearly impossible to get the pieces to disconnect. This felt similar but in a good way for once.
“I’d love to stock some of your salads in my cooler. They’re awesome. I’ve been toying with the idea of adding a café to the San Verde location but I’m still on the fence. I get some power bars and a few select baked goods from Tara. Would you be into a weekly preorder?” Rob said.
Would she be into a steady income regardless of the amount? Hard yes. “Absolutely. I can come by this week or you can drop by the shop and we can look at the menu. I can show you some of the more popular ones or I can customize them if you’re looking for something specific.” She sounded breezy, right?
Stacey came out from the house. Her sun-kissed skin and bright eyes made Hailey think of Kate Hudson, whom she’d met once. Like Stacey, the actress was every bit as lovely and completely down-to-earth. She joked about being a big radio star when she wanted Rob to grab her another drink but it was clear she didn’t take herself too seriously.
“Tara isn’t joining us. She has a council meeting for the San Verde Shop Association.”
Hailey’s brows scrunched. She’d said next week.
“Are you part of that?” The ocean breeze fluttered through Wes’s hair, tousling it across his forehead.