Best Man for the Wedding Planner

Maybe it was time she started trusting people again.

CHAPTER TWELVE

DAN STARED AT the ceiling in his hotel room. He only had three days left in Banff and then he was supposed to be in Calgary. Yesterday—Thursday—was the only day he hadn’t seen Adele other than the Monday following the wedding, when she’d still been sick. He’d thought he needed space after that kiss. Instead he’d spent the whole day preoccupied, despite taking a trip up the gondola and then a soak in the hot springs to ease his ski legs. It had been incredibly lonely, doing those things by himself.

Which was odd. Whenever he traveled for work, he enjoyed taking in some of the sights of his destination. Seeing Delly again had changed everything.

And thinking about it, like he was doing now, was solving nothing.

It had been a shock, hearing that she couldn’t have children, and now that it had all sunk in, he kept asking himself if it would have made a difference back then. He knew without a doubt that he would have stood by her, but she wasn’t wrong when she said he’d always wanted a family of his own.

He still did. But h

e also thought that if given the choice, he wouldn’t forsake a woman he loved just because she couldn’t bear children through no fault of her own.

His aunt had had breast cancer and a double mastectomy. He remembered her saying once to his mother that she felt like less of a woman right after the surgery. He wondered if Adele had felt that way, too. But when he looked at her, he didn’t see someone with parts missing, or anything “less than.” Instead he saw a strong, brave woman. A survivor.

He just hoped she saw herself the same way.

When he’d had enough of pondering while staring at the ceiling, he rolled out of bed and padded over to the TV stand, where he’d left his phone to charge. He unplugged it and pressed the button. His email notification icon was up on the top left, as well as a little envelope. A text message.

He ignored the email and hit the text.

Morning. Feel like doing something today?

His heart took a leap. They couldn’t start something back up again. It would be foolish. But he wanted to see her.

He typed back.

What do you have in mind?

Her answer came soon.

Dogsledding in Canmore.

It was not what he’d expected.

I’ve never done that before.

Then you’re in for a treat. Pick you up at one.

He had four hours to kill before she arrived, so he had a shower, ordered up some breakfast, and scrolled through his email and newsfeed. He also answered a few questions from the Calgary office he was looking forward to visiting on Monday.

With offices now in Edmonton and Calgary, and a proposed one in British Columbia, the regional business was growing and it was exciting to see. As much as he’d worked hard to climb the corporate ladder in Toronto, what really got him excited was expansion. The world was changing, and business had to change with it. He was more than just the numbers guy.

He found Adele in the lobby, waiting for him just before one o’clock, and he saw her before she had a chance to see him. She was speaking to one of the doormen, and he took a moment to stare. She was dressed for the weather—leggings with warm boots, her puffy jacket, and a band that went around her head and covered her ears, while still allowing her hair to flow down over her collar. Pink seemed to be her color, as her headband and scarf were a pastel shade, like the blooms on his mother’s rose bush when they were wide open. He had really missed her over the years, more than he realized. Oh, at first it had been horrible. His heart had been thoroughly broken, and there was no sense denying it. But seeing her now made him wonder if this was what had been missing from his life all along.

And that was a dangerous thought. Wasn’t this going down a road that led nowhere?

She turned around and saw him there and a smile bloomed across her face. He smiled in return and knew he was in deep, deep trouble.

And yet, even knowing it didn’t stop him from dropping a light kiss on her lips as he joined her.

“Hi,” he said softly, smiling down at her. The fact that her eyes were slightly dazed after the simple kiss didn’t escape him.

“Hi yourself. That was...unexpected.”

“For me, too,” he admitted. “It just felt...right.”