Page 7 of Always a Roommate
“What?” I slid my phone into my purse. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Drew stood. “We’ve taken enough of your Sunday, and I’m sure you have somewhere to be.”
Lola nodded. “Oh, absolutely. I’m so sorry.” She reached a hand out to shake mine. “I have a good feeling about you, Rae.”
I couldn’t help liking these two. “Tomorrow, I’ll meet with the security firm I’d like to hire. But there are many things we must get done this week. I’ll email you a list, and you can tell me which tasks you’d like to accompany me on.”
Lola leaned in, dropping her voice. “Okay, just as long as Drew gets to be there to pick out the flowers. The last wedding planner told him that wasn’t a job for the groom, and then she selected a hideous array.”
“You didn’t go with her?”
“Me?” She laughed. “Oh no. I have no interest. Just point me in the direction of the cake tasting and I’m good.”
We walked together to the parking lot where their BMW sat next to my less than glamorous sedan.
“Have a good night.” Lola waved as she slipped into her car.
It took three tries for me to get mine started. I really needed to take it into the shop, but who had time?
Cars lined the street outside the Kelly house, and I was feeling good as I walked up the drive. Things had gone better than expected in both my meetings with Drew and Lola. If I managed to throw them an epic wedding in such a short timeframe, I’d have clients kicking down my door.
I didn’t bother knocking, and the moment I opened the door, a cacophony of sound smacked into me. I jumped out of the way as Cole ran by, chased by Johnny.
Finley and Tanner stood in the kitchen arguing over something stupid, I was sure.
My dad’s boisterous laughter drifted from the living room, where he sat next to Mr. Kelly and Finley’s fiancé, Knox, as they watched the hockey game on TV.
And Mrs. Kelly yelled above them all, trying to wrangle the crowd. The only people not making noise were Mariana, who watched Tanner and Finley in amusement.
And Shane, who was nowhere to be found.
“Uh, hello?” I wasn’t exactly sure which direction to go in, so I chose the obvious one, pulling Finley away from Tanner and dragging her into the mudroom attached to the kitchen.
“Ow, Rae, what is wrong with you?”
“Nothing.” I couldn’t keep the grin from my face. “Absolutely nothing.” For once.
She rubbed the spot on her arm I’d grabbed. “Does this have something to do with a certain new client?”
I leaned against the utility sink. “I thought they’d be awful, that I’d hate this gig and would just have to get through it. But I swear, Finny, they’re like the nicest people I’ve ever met.”
“I could have told you that.”
“You… wait, how?” The tabloids always painted Drew as a playboy, who was charming rather than truly kind. And Lola, she was the girl who’d gotten her hooks into him, according to them. They hadn’t been complimentary of her.
Finley lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Shane knows him. I figured you knew that.”
“What…” I shook my head. No one told me the superstar client I’d been courting knew my roommate?
“He’s local,” Finley said, as if I didn’t know.
“Yeah, but it’s not like we know every single person in this town.”
“Rae… Drew was a hockey player.”
“I know. I…” Should have known. Drew had NHL aspirations for much of his life until he fell in love with dancing. He’d played hockey locally before moving to a developmental league. And there was one other person I knew who’d played hockey when he was younger.
Shane.
