She sat up in bed, her beautifully-growing bosom hanging against her body.
“Holy hell, you’re beautiful.”
I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her neck before I scooted out of bed.
“What do you have planned today?” Hailey asked.
“Gotta go check on that foundation site. I’m going to make a pit stop to make sure my hurt worker’s okay, and then I’m going to have lunch with Drew before I make it 55to the foundation today.”
“You cleared all that with Ellen?” she asked.
“Yep. I’m not needed until the meetings this afternoon,” I said. “What’s on your agenda?”
“I should get these interviews up and going again,” I said.
“Did you postpone them for some reason?”
I poked my head out of the bathroom and watched Hailey freeze. I could tell she was debating on what to say. I drew in a deep breath and sighed as she wiggled out from underneath the covers, her eyes still cloudy with sleep.
“Hailey. Is there a reason you stopped the interviews?” I asked.
“They’re a little more exhausting than I imagined they would be. Everyone’s so qualified, and I know people are going to be upset if I don’t choose them.”
I could tell she was only partially telling me the truth, and it hurt that she couldn’t be more truthful with me than that.
“That’s the price of owning a company,” I said. “I’ve had to do it many times before. It doesn’t get any easier, but hiring the best will make your company the better for it.”
“Thanks,” she said flatly.
“Anytime,” I said.
She groaned as she got off the bed, and we started our little morning dance, washing our faces and brushing our teeth, interchanging shower times and drip drying as we stood at the closet. I loved the dance we did in the mornings. It was a natural rhythm for us. It only served to confirm every single morning that we were made for one another.
But I could tell something was occupying Hailey’s mind now.
“Let me know what Drew says, okay?” she asked. “I’m assuming you’re going to bring up the dinner?”
“I was actually thinking we could be upfront with them about a double date,” I said.
“Why?” she asked. “We might run the risk of them saying no.”
“Look, we can’t force them to get back together. Maybe there’s stuff that happened that we don’t know about. But if they agree to a double date and still want them to have a true date together, then we could still back out and have the two of them have dinner. I don’t think we should lie to them about all of it,” I said.
“I guess you’re right,” Hailey said. “But tell me how Drew responds first. If I’m going to be upfront with Anna, she’s going to want to know how Drew reacted before she reacts.”
“Women are so weird,” I said.
“Damn straight. And if you really want this child to be a girl, you better get used to it,” Hailey said, winking.
“I’ll love our child, no matter what,” I said.
Hailey and I grabbed a quick breakfast before we went our separate ways. I ran by the house to make sure everyone was okay after the trauma that happened yesterday, and I saw my injured worker there. He wasn’t on a ladder, but he was helping measure and cut the carpet being laid down. I talked to him for a few minutes and made sure there was nothing he needed before I headed over to Drew’s tattoo parlor.
It was now or never.
“Hey, Bryan! What brings you around?” Drew asked.
“You not open on Mondays?” I asked.
“Nope. It’s been consistently our slowest day, so I implemented new hours. Mondays, we’re closed unless someone books an appointment and prepays half of it upfront,” he said.
“Sounds like a good policy. So why are you here if you’re closed?” I asked.
“The down day gives me time to catch up on shit. Right now, I’m ordering new supplies. Come on in, dude. You sound like you wanna talk about something.”
“I do,” I said, “and I want you to be upfront with me.”
“Always am, man. Hit me with it.”
“Why have you not reconnected with Anna yet? And don’t give me some shit about your schedule. You have a damn day off, for fuck’s sake. Why haven’t you called her?” I asked.
Drew sighed as he turned away from his computer.
“I don’t know,” he said, shrugging. “I don’t even think she’s into me anymore.”
“I know for a fact that’s not true,” I said. “Just this past Saturday, Anna went shopping with Hailey. They had an entire conversation about you.”
“Really? What’d she say?” he asked.
“I’ll tell you if you agree to something,” I said.
“Shit. What are you getting me into now?”
“Another double date,” I said. “You, me, Hailey, and Anna. It’ll take the pressure off reconnecting, and if something blossoms, then that’s awesome. If it doesn’t, then we’ll lay off. Both of us. For good.”
“Somehow, I doubt that, dude,” he said with a grin.
“You’re an idiot if you think she isn’t into you anymore. She just knows you’re a pursuer, and she thinks something’s wrong with her since you’re not, you know, pursuing.”
“Anna thinks I think something’s wrong with her?” he asked.
“She didn’t put it into so many words, but Hailey’s good at reading her sister. Anna’s not reaching out because she thinks you don’t like her enough anymore to reach out. Time to grow some balls, Drew.”
“We just got busy. That’s all that happened,” he said.
“Then it’s time to get unbusy again. Both of you are established. The two of you are throwing yourselves into work to distract from the loneliness of not spending time together. You might not realize it now, but that’s what’s happening to you both.”
“A double date?” he asked.
“Yep. All four of us at the same table,” I said.
I watched Drew mull it over before a small grin tugged across his face.
“I could be behind it. I’m in, man.”
“Good,” I said. “I know Hailey can get Anna on board with that answer. How does tonight sound? Since you’re off work.”
“Wait. Tonight?” he asked.
“It’s now or never,” I said.
“Fine. Tonight. Sure. But you gotta leave me alone so I can get this ordering done, dude.”
“Whatever you need. I’ll text you the details once Hailey talks to her sister,” I said. “See you tonight.”
“See ya, man.”
I walked out to my truck and sent Hailey a text message. There was this club downtown that was going to be having live music tonight. There would be plenty of food to eat and music to dance to. The club didn’t tolerate drunken behavior, so Hailey would be safe. It was the perfect double-date venue for a moment like this, because if things got awkward between Anna and Drew, there was always the music to fill the silence.
Hailey was ecstatic about the idea and said she would call Anna immediately.
I made the plans for everyone to get together, and at seven in the evening, we were all meeting outside the doors of the club. I was standing with Hailey, her hand seated in mine as Anna stood alongside us. Her eyes were darting around the waiting crowd, looking for Drew as I threw a knowing smirk down to Hailey.
This was going to go so much better than we had planned.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Drew said.
Hailey and I watched as he walked up to Anna and embraced her tightly.
“Long time no see,” Anna said. “How have you been?”
“Good. The parlor’s going well. Got steady business and even a few inkers who work out of the shop for me as well.”
“That’s awesome. I thought you didn’t want to take on any employees,” Anna said.
“Eh, things change, I guess,” Drew said.
“That they do,” Anna said.
“How are things with your business?” Drew asked.
“They’re going really well. I don’t know if you heard, but I’m working at the same foundation as Bryan now.”
“I heard something about that,” Drew said, grinning. “Are you enjoying it?”
“I love it. Ellen’s really given me the capacity to do what I want and help people I’ve always wanted to help with my law degree.”
“Well, let’s go get some food, and we can talk about it some more,” Drew said.
Things were already going well as we trickled into the club. We got a booth toward the back so the music wouldn’t be so loud and promptly ordered some food. I was snuggled up to Hailey, and Drew was sitting closer to Anna than either of them realized, and we watched as the two of them went back and forth with their conversation. Anna talked about the foundation and her new project for the summer, and Drew talked about all the milestones he’d already hit with the parlor. Anna asked him about whether he was going to branch out into piercings or things like that, and Drew asked Anna if she was still singing.
The two of them were talking as if time hadn’t passed between them at all, and it made me smile watching the two of them settle back into enjoying one another.