Best Man for the Wedding Planner

He turned the thoughts over and over in his brain as he checked his watch and made a call through to Toronto, informing Brian of the impending situation. Thought of it while he stayed in the office far too late, not looking forward to returning to the hotel and eating alone again. He ordered in instead, and picked at the Vietnamese noodles listlessly. What he wanted to do was jump in his car and drive to Banff and knock on her door. But he wasn’t sure what he’d say. She’d been very definite, hadn’t she?

In the end, he finally went back to the hotel to try to get some sleep.

At eight in the morning, he was back at the office. He walked in the door and saw the receptionist already at her desk. “Good morning, Kirsten,” he greeted, smiling.

“Good morning, Dan. There’re already a few messages in your office for you.”

“Thanks. When Steve comes in, can you let him know I want to meet with him when he gets a moment?”

“Certainly.”

He offered greetings to the other staff already there, went to the kitchen to make a fresh coffee and caught up with a few of the engineers. The entire vibe was one of energy and collaboration, and he realized that Steve had done a great job of staffing. A mix of new, innovative talent and experience gave a very balanced feel to the office, and everyone seemed enthusiastic and ready to do their jobs.

It wasn’t quite like this at corporate. Oh, it was nice enough, and friendly, but it was also more formal. More about numbers and graphs and contracts, and less about building and collaborating.

He’d made his way up through the finance department in record time, but he got the feeling that was due to long hours and not actual love of the work.

Which got him thinking all over again.

By three o’clock, he had doodled on four different pages of his legal pad and couldn’t quite believe what he was thinking. And maybe corporate wouldn’t even go for it. He was the youngest C-suite executive the company had ever had, and he was actually considering taking a demotion. But deep in his gut, he was excited by the idea of a challenge. And he would be within an hour of Adele. If logistics and distance were part of the bigger issue, this would eliminate at least one barrier. Because t

he one thing he was sure of was that he still loved her. He was angry with her, yes. And he had his own issues to work on. But loving her had never been a question.

He spoke with Steve once more, and after the other man left, Dan found himself asking himself one other important question. If it didn’t work out with Adele, would he still want to be here? Or would he be perfectly happy in his old life?

The answer came to him so quickly, he knew it had to be true. She’d been right about something else, too. He’d filled his life with his path to success because it was all he had. Now he wanted more. He couldn’t keep running away.

He had to see her. But first he had to talk to Brian and float an idea past him.

When he hung up the phone an hour later, he sat back in his chair and rubbed his hand over his face. It would have to go through the proper channels, of course, before anything was finalized. But Brian had taken his idea and expanded on it in a way that was unexpected.

He’d packed up for the day when the phone on his desk beeped. “Dan, there’s someone here to see you. A Miss Hawthorne.”

His heart gave a solid thump. She was here? “I’ll be right out. Thanks, Kirsten.”

She was here.

She’d come to find him.

And then the next thought: he couldn’t blow this. Not again.

He stood, straightened his tie, checked his shirttails and ran his hand over his hair. Then, taking a big breath, he stepped out of the office and into the reception area.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

ADELE WAS SURE her knees were knocking under her long skirt.

She was so nervous, she was nauseated. And she’d spent fifteen minutes in her cold car, redoing her makeup and going over what she wanted to say. Naturally, now that she was inside Dan’s company’s office, the words had flown out of her brain.

The receptionist was sweet as pie and had called Dan. Adele couldn’t think about sitting in one of the reception chairs, so she stood, knees weak, breath short, unsure of how this could work, but knowing she had to try. Harper had been right. It was time for her to fight for the life she wanted and stop running from it.

He turned the corner. Stopped. Met her eyes, and her lip started trembling.

And then he was striding toward her, big, purposeful steps, and she was lunging forward, too, until he caught her in a bear hug and held her tight.

Her first feeling was that of relief. Then hope. And then...coming home.

The receptionist discreetly cleared her throat.