Ready to Run (I Do, I Don't 1)

Hailey linked arms with Jordan and dragged her to the bar, where Simon was deep in conversation with a group of older women. The way he was gesturing constantly toward his face told Jordan he was deep in the throes of his favorite topic—his skin-care regimen.

“Don’t be mad,” Hailey pleaded.

“I’m not mad,” Jordan said. “More…curious?”

Hailey flicked the shoulder of a lanky kid at the bar. “Move it, Jimmy. Being twent

y-one means you get to be here and drink, but it also means you act like a man and move for ladies.”

“Ladies, you say. I only see one lady and my cranky aunt Hailey,” he said, winking at Jordan as he stooped to give the much-shorter Hailey a peck on the cheek. “All yours, Auntie.”

“Why, thank you, darling nephew,” Hailey said as she settled on the seat. “I just can’t figure out why your parents are always telling everyone how terrible you are.”

“PTSD from when I was going through puberty,” Jimmy said, lifting his drink in farewell before wandering off to join a group so young it made Jordan feel decidedly ancient.

“My sister’s kid,” Hailey said by way of explanation, patting the second stool. “Sit.”

Jordan did as instructed, her butt barely hitting the cracked leather before Hailey started talking.

“Okay, so it’s like this. Yes, I was bride number one, and, yes, I kept it from you, and others did too, but only because, well…Gosh, I don’t know how to explain this.”

“Hailey, you don’t have to—”

“I got tired of it defining me,” Hailey blurted out, then looking a little sheepish at the outburst. “I love Luke. Not like I love Tim, obviously, but I adore that guy; I think our story’s so freaking cute. But after Stacey and Eva, he became sort of this urban legend, and we women were merely the accessories, and…I don’t know, it got old, being bride number one. That sounds pathetic, doesn’t it?”

“Not at all,” Jordan said, touching Hailey’s arm in reassurance. “I’m sorry I didn’t consider that element when I came barging into town.”

“Oh, please, your coming here is the most exciting thing Lucky Hollow’s seen since Eva left town.”

Jordan twirled her wineglass. “Don’t suppose you’re going to tell me that story?”

“Honestly? I don’t know it. Truly,” Hailey said. “Only Stacey and I know what happened with our respective stories, and that only happened after lots of wine one stupid night. But Eva didn’t exactly make an effort to get to know anyone in Lucky Hollow outside of Luke and maybe a couple of the firehouse guys. Whatever happened there, it’s all locked up in Luke.”

“Damn,” Jordan breathed. “My boss is going to be pissed.”

“Because Luke won’t agree to do the show?”

“Well, that, I’ve prepared them for,” Jordan said, taking a sip of wine. “But…okay, don’t freak out, but they sort of had it in their mind that even if Luke wouldn’t do the show as the runaway groom, one of his ex-brides would potentially make a good candidate.”

“Oh, damn, I’ve never been so disappointed to be married!” Hailey exclaimed.

Jordan saw Tim Withers before Hailey did, and she laughed when Tim moved into his wife’s line of sight and lifted his eyebrows. “Ahem.”

“Oh, hi, honey,” Hailey said, pulling his head down for a quick kiss. “I was just telling Jordie how marrying you ruined my life.”

“Sounds about right,” Tim said, smiling in greeting at Jordan.

He wasn’t nearly as handsome as Luke, to Jordan’s slightly biased way of thinking, but Tim was instantly likable, with friendly brown eyes, wavy brown hair, and freckles that had probably pissed him off as a kid but now gave him a perpetual young-at-heart vibe.

“I could have been on TV,” Hailey said in a loud whisper. “As Luke’s bimbo castoff, searching for my one true love.”

“Do it,” Tim said jokingly. “The kids and I will pretend not to know you. Come back to us when you’re rich and famous.”

Hailey sighed. “Sadly, I love you all too much.”

Tim took a sip of his beer. “Sucks for Eva that she didn’t stick around. Being on camera seems like something she’d jump at.”

His tone held the faintest note of distaste, and Hailey’s wrinkled nose echoed the sentiment.