chips off the table. “Yay!”
I poorly feign excitement, but either Brigette doesn’t care or she’s oblivious. From what I’ve witnessed in the past, she’s pretty smart, so I’m going with the former.
I’m just starting to nod off hours later when Jason walks into the waiting room. His shirt is untucked and wrinkled, and his hair is up in every direction.
Brigette stands before I get a chance. “Oh, Jason, how are you?”
Colton and I stand in unison and join them.
“Better now. Thanks.” He runs his hand through his hair. “I guess I can’t eat pesto.”
Brigette laughs but stops when Jason doesn’t.
“I’m really sorry,” I say.
“It wasn’t your fault. Mind if we head back to my car? I’m exhausted after all the medicine.”
“Yeah, for sure. Do you want to leave your car at my place? I’m sure Colton could drive you back home,” I say.
“To Greywall?” Colton says, and I smack his arm. “Sure. Yeah. No problem.”
“That’d actually be great. I’m barely standing now. The stuff they give me makes me tired and jittery all at once. I’ll grab an Uber in the morning for my car.”
“Nonsense, we’ll pick you up,” Brigette cuts in.
Colton and I look at one another.
“I think we need a do-over,” she says. “We can do breakfast.”
“Um… I have a family dinner tomorrow.” I raise my hand.
Brigette turns around. “I said breakfast.”
Colton blows out a big breath. “Let’s just get going. We can talk about it on the way.”
Jason turns, and we file out of the waiting room as the older man winks at me. I stop momentarily, but he only smiles. I smile back and walk out of the room.
It’s quiet and dark on the ride to Jason’s. He’s leaning his head against the window and Brigette’s head is buried in her phone, the screen the only light in otherwise dark surroundings.
Colton’s gaze keeps shifting from the road to the rearview mirror. He pulls to a stop at a light and the song “Like I Loved You” by Brett Young comes on the radio. My eyes lock with his in the mirror. The sadness I see in his cracks my heart open, but I’m not the one who’s engaged to be married.
I tear my gaze away, and thankfully the green light shines through the windshield. Colton presses on the gas, the GPS interrupting the song to give directions to Jason’s house.
When Colton’s truck rolls to a stop in front of a small two-story in downtown Greywall, I’m not surprised. He’s so put-together, of course he’s got a nice house with a perfectly manicured yard and white fence that’s there more for aesthetics than anything. There’s probably a golden retriever that was the star pupil in its obedience training class nestled in his designated dog bed inside too.
“Thanks a lot,” Jason says, opening the door.
I slide out of the truck to help him up to his house. He opens the small gate, and we walk up the sidewalk to his front door.
“I’m sorry again,” I say.
“It’s okay, Juno. It wasn’t your fault. I’m just exhausted. Can I call you tomorrow?”
“Are you sure you want to?” I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t. One brother shut the door in his face, and another almost killed him.
“Yeah.” He glances at the truck. “I’ll call you tomorrow and we’ll figure out a date.”
I nod and rise up on the balls of my feet to hug him—which should make me feel better because this has been the worst date I’ve ever been on and nothing horrible even happened to me. He hugs me back then puts the key into the lock.
I fall back down to my heels, quickly turning to the sidewalk. “Have a great night.”
“You too.”
I walk toward Colton’s truck, silently lecturing myself to get my shit together. Colton is getting married whether I like it or not. I shouldn’t let a good guy like Jason slip through my fingers. I need to stop wallowing. My business is in the red and I need it back in the black. So what if Kingston thinks speed dating is eighties? It’ll get me business.
Without warning, my legs get taken out from under me and I fly up in the air before landing on Jason’s lawn.
“Juno!” Colton jumps out of the truck.
“Rufus!” Jason shouts, but it’s too late—I’m being licked by a hundred-pound dog on top of me. “I’m sorry,” he says.
“You should get him trained.” Colton grabs the dog’s collar and pulls him off me so I can stand.
Jason’s takes the dog from