His Best Friend's Wife

The corner of Jack’s mouth twitched.

“I am. How are you, Rose?”

“Good.” She coughed into her elbow. “I’m taking the meds but I still haven’t shaken this cold.”

“These things take time.” It had only been twenty-four hours. If he had to guess, she hadn’t shaken the booze and cigarettes, either.

“If you change your mind and feel like ordering something, let me know. I’m off shift in a few minutes, though.” She skewered Jack with a defiant glare. “I’ve been invited out to the farm to have coffee with my sisters.”

She swung around and as she walked to the counter, Paul was struck by how thin she was. She was dressed completely in black. Ridiculously skinny jeans, a lacy, long-sleeved top, over-the-knee, suede boots. Far from a small-town waitress’s typical attire.

“Interesting,” Paul said.

“It wasn’t Emily who invited her, I can tell you that much.”

“And I take it you’re not one of her favorite people,” Paul said.

“Not even a little bit.” Jack’s smile suggested that he didn’t care one little bit, either. “She likes you, though.”

“I’m inclined to go with indifference. She seems far more interested in the guy sitting at the counter.”

Jack glanced over his shoulder. “She’s attracted a following among the young guys in town. I have no idea who that is.” Jack picked up his cup, took a drink. “Speaking of interesting, how’s Annie? I hear she had to take Isaac to the clinic yesterday.” Jack flashed him a wicked grin.

“She did, and I went out to the farm for coffee earlier this morning. She invited me out for coffee.” And he had kissed her. Accidentally, but still, his lips had touched her lips and he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it.

“I think it’s great, you and Annie.”

“There’s no ‘me and Annie.’ We’re friends.” Just friends, according to her.

“Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to give you a hard time, but we—Emily and I—think it’s good for Annie to have someone, namely you, in her life right now. We’re worried about her. She works all the time. Be good to see her have some fun once in a while.”

“And I’m...fun?”

They both laughed. “Maybe I should have said she needs a distraction.”

Paul wasn’t so sure he wanted to be anyone’s fun distraction. He wanted his friendship with Annie to be deeper than that, but talking about it wasn’t going to make it so. “We’re just friends,” he said. “What’s new with you and Emily?”

“Well, I’ve finally convinced her to set a date—the last weekend of September—and I imagine that’ll be the sole topic of conversation when the Finnegan sisters convene over coffee this morning.”

The young man who’d been sitting at the counter talking to Rose checked his watch, then abruptly jumped up and left as though he was late for something. Rose immediately took out her phone and started tapping away.

“And the groom’s part in all of these wedding plans?” Paul asked.

“We’d be married by now if I’d had anything to say about it. But we’ve talked about the details and we’re both on the same page. Family and friends at a small ceremony and reception at the farm, nothing fancy.”

Paul pushed aside his envy. “And the best man’s role in all of this? I take it I’m throwing the stag?”

Jack shook his head. “Emily is saying no to stags, stagettes and couples showers.”

“Gee, missing out on a couples shower has to be disappointing.”

Jack laughed. “Yeah, right. I’m still busy with work and to be honest, when I do have a free evening, I want to spend it with Emily.”

Paul ignored another stab of envy. Just because he was alone didn’t mean he begrudged his friend’s happiness, or the fact that he was actually marrying one of the Finnegan sisters.

“I hear you,” he said instead. “How’s Emily feeling these days?”

“She’s feeling great and Dr. Cameron says the baby is doing well, too.”

“Glad to hear it. Emily’s in good hands. Alyssa Cameron has a lot of maternity experience.”

“We were kind of hoping she could be your patient.”

Paul shook his head. “I wouldn’t be comfortable with that. We’ve been friends for so long, we’re practically family.”

“I get it,” Jack said. “We both do.”

The door opened and a man walked in. He looked vaguely familiar to Paul, and he waved at Jack, which meant he probably was, and then he strode up to the counter to talk to Rose. Right away her eyes lit up, as much as they had when she’d been chatting with the previous guy.

“That’s Emily’s friend, Fred Morris,” Jack said. “Remember him?”

“Right, right. From the barbershop. I thought I recognized him.”

“That’s right. For reasons no one can figure out, Fred has a thing for Rose. And for reasons that are blatantly obvious, she tolerates him because he’ll do favors for her. It makes Emily a little crazy.”

“Isn’t he a little old for her?”

Jack quirked an eyebrow. “And a little on the buttoned-down side to be hanging around with someone who dresses like a vampire.”

Paul watched the interaction between the two. He considered himself a good judge of character and from what he could see, Fred had it bad.

“Emily and CJ don’t trust this newfound half sister of theirs,” Jack said. “I’ll confess that I had the green-monster thing going on when Em first got so overprotective of Fred, but now I think she’s right.”

Paul lowered his voice. “How do you feel about the newest addition to the Finnegan clan?”

“I don’t trust her, either. To say she had a troubled childhood is a gross understatement. She has the poor-me attitude down pat, and some people—single young guys in particular—seem to fall for it.”