so similar to Arianna’s.
“Hi Cole,” she said, opening the storm door for me to step through. “Don’t you look dapper in your suit.”
“Thank you.” I smiled at the sweet woman in her mid-fifties. “Arianna said the housewarming party was cocktail attire, so I hope I’m not too overdressed.”
“You look great.” She led me down the hall to the sitting room just off the entryway. “Definitely handsome enough to make Chad jealous.” She smirked.
“So Arianna told you?” I asked, somewhat surprised that she’d talked to her mom about her plans for tonight.
Mrs. Lake smiled, and there was a delighted glint in her eyes when she said, “I think it’s about time Chad got a good taste of his own medicine.”
“You’re not mad they broke up?”
“Goodness, no.” She shook her head. “I’ve been hoping she’d kick him to the curb for quite some time now.”
“Really?” I had never talked to her about this before, but for some reason I’d always assumed she must be team Chad from how she had never said a bad word about him.
But she nodded and said, “I’ve always hoped Arianna would eventually see through him.” She glanced over her shoulder as if to check to see if Arianna was close. “I mean, between you and me—” She lowered her voice. “—I’ve always kind of hoped there would be another guy just biding his time before he swooped in and swept her off her feet.”
And when she gave me a meaningful look, I got the feeling that she had a specific guy in mind for that.
But was it really possible that she had been hoping for the same things as me?
I checked over her shoulder, and since Arianna was still finishing up whatever she was doing in the other room, I cleared my throat and said, “Hopefully she’s ready for something like that.”
Arianna rounded the corner of the hall right then, but just before she came in the room, Mrs. Lake stepped closer, set a hand on my arm, and whispered, “Between you and me, I think she’s only ever needed to believe that the right guy would fight for her when she needed him to.” She squeezed my arm. “I’m rooting for you, Cole.”
“What are you two whispering about?” Arianna gave her mom and me a suspicious look when she entered a second later.
Mrs. Lake turned around to face Arianna with a smile on her face. “I was just telling Cole how handsome he looks tonight and that I hope he’s successful with his plans for the evening.”
Arianna narrowed her eyes as she looked at me. “What plans for tonight?”
I cleared my throat. “Our plans to make Chad insanely jealous, of course.” Then holding up the garment bag, I said, “And this will hopefully help us in accomplishing that.”
“What’s in the bag?” Arianna’s eyes lit up. “You didn’t spend thousands of dollars on me again, did you?”
“Not quite.” I chuckled. “But I think you’re going to like it.”
At least I hoped she would. I’d caught her eyeing the dress several times yesterday evening as we’d shopped, anyway.
As if that was Mrs. Lake’s cue to leave, she said, “You two have fun. I’m actually meeting a friend for dinner, so I’ll see you two later.”
“Have fun, Mom.” Arianna tore her gaze away from the bag for a second. And then once her mom was out the door, she asked, “Can I open it?”
“Of course.”
She took the bag from my hands and lay it on the loveseat behind us.
“Promise me you didn’t spend thousands of dollars on another dress.” She looked over her shoulder at me, but I could see the excitement in her eyes at the prospect of what could be in the bag.
I pushed my hands into the pockets of my suit pants. “Not thousands.” Then nodding toward the bag, I said, “Go ahead. Unzip it.”
And with a wide smile on her lips, she unzipped the black vinyl bag.
My heart raced a little as I waited for her reaction. When she let out a loud gasp, followed by a high-pitched squeal, I couldn’t keep a grin from my lips.
“It’s beautiful, Cole.” She covered her mouth with one hand while the other reached forward to feel the chiffon fabric of the light pink two-piece dress with a beaded halter-style top and flowing chiffon skirt. She smoothed the thin fabric through her fingers and looked back at me. “It’s gorgeous.”
I stepped forward, close enough that my chest was to her back, and said, “I saw you go back to