“Please. When you were seventeen and he was twenty-four, that was a problem. Twenty-five and thirty-two, uh-uh. And there’s no reason we would necessarily remember this guy just because he and Connor were in the same grade.”
“I told him about Nathan.”
Harper’s beer sloshed on her hand as she set it down hard. “Wow. You really like this guy.”
Why pretend otherwise? Harper would know the truth, anyway. “I gave him my number.”
Could her sister’s eyes get any wider? “Ginormous step forward. I’m so proud of you.”
“God. I hope he calls.”
Harper poked her in the shoulder affectionately. “Of course he’s gonna call.” She glanced toward the entrance. “Look. It’s Gracie and Dante.” Their youngest sister had just begun her first year of teaching history at VB High. She and Dante Santangelo were a couple. They’d started out as friends, then, this past summer, Gracie had rented a cabin on Dante’s property. The two had grown closer. Just recently, she’d moved in with him. Dante was a sergeant detective with VBPD. He was also their brother Connor’s lifelong BFF. “Dante might remember this guy of yours.”
“He’s hardly my guy,” Hailey corrected. “Let’s not get carried away with this thing, huh?”
Harper grinned. “Oh, come on. Let’s.” She waved Grace and Dante over, then moved to the chair next to Hailey, so the happy couple could sit side by side.
The waitress brought two more mugs and the burgers Hailey and Harper had ordered. There were hugs and congratulations when Gracie announced that she and Dante were engaged. She didn’t have the ring yet. They would be shopping for one soon, though.
“Together,” Gracie said.
Dante nuzzled her cheek. “She wants to choose for herself.”
Harper nudged Hailey in the ribs. Hailey nudged back to let her sister know that she got the message: Dante Santangelo was long-gone on Gracie. Dante, who’d been married before and shared custody of twin daughters with his ex-wife, had always been kind of grim, a determined man, never a happy one.
Dante wasn’t grim now. Now, he was openly in love with their baby sister and he didn’t seem to care who knew it. He was also nine years older than Gracie, a fact that made Hailey feel even better about the possibility of something good happening with the gorgeous “older” man she’d met that afternoon.
“You two are adorable,” Harper declared.
Dante gave her a patient look. “One of us is.” Gracie beamed at him and they shared a quick kiss.
Harper nibbled a fry. “We have a question, Dante. Hailey met a guy at the theater today. He said he went to school here in Valentine Bay and he was in the same grade as you and Connor.”
“His name is Roman Marek,” added Hailey, trying to sound cool and collected despite her silly, fluttery stomach and the blush she just knew was creeping up over her cheeks.
Dante signaled the waitress. “I remember Roman, yeah. Showed up in town like third or fourth grade. Kind of a loner. Smart. Tough, too. He left town for college—Berkeley, I think—and just moved back recently. I heard he bought that big place on Treasure Cove Circle.”
“That would be the guy.” Harper just kept on grinning.
And Dante was looking at Hailey, waiting for her to explain why she needed to know about some guy he went to school with. “Thanks. I’m, uh, hoping he’ll kick in a nice donation to the arts council.”
“From what I’ve heard, he can afford it,” said Dante. “He made it big in Nevada real estate.”
The waitress appeared. Dante asked for another pitcher and he and Grace ordered food. Hailey asked Grace how her first week of teaching had gone. Grace said every day was a challenge and she loved every minute of it.
Harper wanted an update on Dante’s eight-year-old daughters, who were back with their mom and stepdad in Portland right now. An hour went by. More than once, Hailey checked her phone, just in case Roman might have sent her a text or something. He hadn’t.
Not that she expected to hear from him so soon.
But there had been a real connection between them. She knew he would call.
Maybe tomorrow.
Definitely by the day after...
Copyright © 2020 by Christine Rimmer
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ISBN-13: 9781488070105
The Cowboy’s Promise
Copyright © 2020 by Harlequin Books S.A.
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Teresa Southwick for her contribution to the Montana Mavericks: What Happened to Beatrix? miniseries.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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The Cowboy's Promise Page 22
