My One and Only: Book 1 in the Love and Weddings Trilogy (3 page)

              Meredith was finishing up the dishes when Cleo, Tai and Pule walked in with their arms full of bags.

              “Shopping, huh? Looks like you guys went a little crazy,” she said as she put down the dish towel and joined her friends in the family room.

              Cleo laughed as she set her crutches on the floor and eased into the big, comfortable recliner Tai had bought her after she’d gotten out of the hospital. Having her leg and pelvis re-broken hadn’t been easy on her body but she was strong and young and she was determined to get back on her feet and reclaim her life again. Meredith was in awe of her willpower. If Cleo wanted to do something, she was going to do it.

              “Those after Christmas sales are insane,” Cleo said, grinning victoriously. “At seventy-five percent off, I picked up the most gorgeous workout clothes you can imagine. I bought ten pairs of the cutest yoga pants I’ve ever seen. You’re going to want a pair, Mer, I promise.”

              Meredith smiled and sat down next to Pule as Tai went back to the car to get the last few bags. “I do love yoga pants. All the comfort of sweats without compromising on style. It’s a win-win.”

              Pule grinned and pulled out a pair of yoga pants in bright purple. “It’s definitely a win-win for me. You know, you’d look kind of cute in these, Mer.”

              Meredith raised an eyebrow and shook her head at Pule. “Stop flirting with me. Aren’t you dating Addison? That cute girl who works for Garrett in his nursery?”

              Pule cleared his throat and looked away as he ran a hand through his short, black hair. “Yeah, well, … Addison is a cute girl and everything but she’s not the one for me. Turns out she’d rather play video games and get high then go dancing or actually have fun.”

              Meredith frowned and put a hand on Pule’s shoulder. “Sorry, Pule.”

              Cleo stopped sorting through her purchases to look up with a frown of compassion. “Pule, you need to find a good girl. One who likes to go dancing and have fun but who has the same standards as you do.”

              Pule snorted and leaned back against the couch. “Easier said than done. If I could wave my magic wand and have a few girls like that to choose from, I’d be the luckiest guy in the world. Instead, I have to wade through all the froglets with no princesses in sight.”

              Meredith’s head snapped up as a grin lit up her face. “Froglets. Love it, Pule. But listen. I think I have the answer to your problem. Actually, no.
I know
I have the answer to your problem.”

              Pule raised an eyebrow and crossed his ankle over his knee. “Do not say the word
blind date
in my presence. I told you that word has been banished from this house.”

              Cleo sighed sadly and went back to her clothes. Meredith knew for a fact that Cleo had been dying to set up Pule with her new yoga teacher, Maya, down at her studio but Pule was putting up a heroic fight.

              “Nah, this isn’t exactly a blind date,” Meredith assured him as she crossed her fingers behind her back.

              “Are you two trying to set Pule up again?” Tai asked as he kicked the door shut with his foot and walked over with the last two bags, setting them down in front of Cleo and then sitting down next to her oversized chair.

              Meredith sighed at Tai’s devotion to Cleo. She’d seen people in love before. Jane and Tate had a baby and they were still so in love it made her teeth hurt sometimes. But Tai’s love for Cleo was so sweet and just so . . .
kind
. She had to admit she was jealous.

              Cleo glanced up from sorting her clothes. “Don’t look at me. It’s Meredith’s turn. Pule’s girl, Addison turned out to be a flake.”

              Tai glanced at his cousin and smiled in commiseration. “Sorry, Man. Dating is no fun.”

              Pule groaned. “No, it’s been fun. But it would just be nice to meet a good girl and
I don’t know
, maybe have an actual relationship or something.”

              Meredith had to force herself not to squeal with excitement. She cleared her throat and patted Pule’s knee. “You have come to the right place. Asher, Brogan and I had a meeting today and we’re going to design an online dating website for singles in the Pacific Northwest. We’re going to help match your personality and lifestyle to the right girl. And since you’re going to be our first client, I’ll give you a discount,” she added as an afterthought.

              Pule stared at her in surprise. “Mer, what happened to your dream of being a wedding planner? You can’t just give up on that,” he said sternly, sitting up.

              Meredith smiled and straightened Pule’s collar. “No fears, my dear. This is actually all part of the long game. I’m starting the dating website in order to funnel clients to my wedding business. Asher will take care of the business side of things. Brogan will design the website for us and keep that part of it up and running and I’ll take care of the people. We’re going to host dances and meet and greets and fun activities like ice skating and bonfire parties on the beach so people can actually mingle and get to know each other. It’s going to be fantastic,” she said, feeling a zip of adrenaline rush through her body.

              Pule shook his head but smiled. “I don’t know about online dating. I’ve heard horror stories. Besides, everyone I know does Tinder. Why would anyone want to pay to do your site?”

              Meredith frowned and threw a pillow at him. “Because of what I just told you. We’re going to help you meet the perfect person not just some random, shallow hook-up. Plus I’ll set up fun activities for everyone.”

              Cleo paused, holding a cute, bright pink shirt in her hands. “Won’t that be expensive, Meredith? Where are you going to get the money to throw all of those social events?”

              Meredith waved her hand in the air. “Easy. I’ll set up ice skating down at the rink and talk to the owner and get a discount for everyone from our site. I won’t be paying for their skating,
they
will but it’ll be a great deal. And for our bonfires on the beach, we’ll just do potluck. Everyone brings a dish and we’ll provide the music and the wood for the fire. Easy.”

              Tai grinned and reached up to grab Cleo’s hand. “It kind of sounds like fun. Maybe we should try it, Cleo.”

              Cleo grinned and leaned down to kiss Tai on her cheek. “And have all of those gorgeous single ladies going after you? I think not. I’ll plan a few fun social events just for the two of us,” she promised, going back to her clothes.

              Meredith glanced at Pule and saw him staring at Tai and Cleo with the same look of yearning that she knew had been on her face just moments before. Meredith sighed knowing that Pule wanted just what she wanted.
A love like Cleo and Tai’s
. And that was asking for a miracle, because their love was a one in a million kind of love.

              “Pule,” she said softly, making him turn in her direction. “I know you want that,” she said pointed toward Cleo and Tai. “I do too. Just give this a chance. I know I can find you a girl you can have a real, honest and loving relationship with.”

              Pule gestured towards Tai and Cleo. “
That’s
what I want. And if I can’t have that, then I don’t want anything,” he said quietly, his dark brown eyes serious and worried.

              Meredith frowned, feeling the depth of emotion coming from Pule. This wasn’t like him at all. Pule was always sarcastic, lighthearted and looking for fun. This was a side of him she’d never seen before.

              “Hey, what’s going on?” she asked, moving closer to him on the couch. “Are you okay?”

              Pule closed his eyes for a moment and then shook his head slightly. “I’m fine, but it’s just that I’m surrounded, you know? I see Tate and Jane and Kam and Bailey and now Tai and Cleo. It’s hard to see the real thing and then be satisfied with the fake and superficial. I can’t just be in it for the fun anymore. I want substance. I want to know what it’s like to really love someone,” he said, glancing quickly at Tai and Cleo who were talking about the clothes still.

              Meredith sighed and felt the weight of what she was taking on. This couldn’t be just a fun, silly little dating website. People were going to come to her to find love. This was serious business.

              “If love is what you’re after then you’d be dumb not to join my website. Will you do it?” she asked, frowning at him.

              Pule sneered a little and looked away. “It’s just so beneath me,
no offense
. What if my buddies find out I joined a dating website because I can’t find girls on my own?
Pule Matafeo
needing an online dating website? It’s laughable.”

              Meredith shrugged and sat back, crossing her legs and sneering back at Pule. “That’s not the problem. You can find all the girls you want with the snap of your fingers. You don’t want that. You want to find a woman to give your heart to. That’s different now, isn’t it?”

              “Who’s to say all the girls I’ve been dating over the past few years won’t sign up for your dating website? How do you know you’re going to find all of these amazing, mature and beautiful women waiting to fall in love to sign up for your site?”

              Meredith straightened her shoulders and leaned over to Pule, poking him in the shoulder. “Because I will and that’s all you have to know,” she said in a low voice that always had her brother Tristan backing out of the room slowly.

              Pule narrowed his eyes at her as he stared at her silently for a moment. “Fine, I’ll do it, but if this is a disaster, I will never let you live it down.”

              Meredith swallowed nervously as her mouth tilted up in a confident smile. “You mean, I’m going to be the one who gets all the credit.”             

              Pule’s face relaxed into a smile. “I really hope you can back up what you just promised me, Meredith. I hate being disappointed,” he added before standing up and walking into the kitchen.

              Meredith sighed and closed her eyes as she leaned back against the couch.
No pressure
.

              Ten minutes later, Asher walked in the door carrying a large box from Belinda’s Bakery. “
It’s time to celebrate
,” he yelled as everyone followed him to the kitchen where he lifted the top off the box, revealing cupcakes, donuts and pastries.

              “Asher, you shouldn’t have,” Meredith whispered, picking up a gorgeous looking Matafeo cupcake and taking a large bite.

              Asher grinned and picked a cronut. “Of course I should. We just went into business with Brogan Moore and we’re going to be wildly successful. We have to celebrate.”

              Cleo groaned as she bit into a large, gooey, chocolate filled croissant. “I’m not even going to think about all of the carbohydrates and fat grams I’m eating.”

              Tai laughed and picked a coconut, pineapple cupcake. “We’ll both ignore calories tonight. Besides, we have to support Asher and Meredith. We wouldn’t be good friends if we didn’t join them in this bounty of bad nutrition.”

              Pule laughed and took another bite of his own cupcake. “Bad nutrition never tasted so good,” he said, his voice warm with happiness. “But you’ll have to tell me how you got Brogan to go into business with you. If Taryn finds out he’s working with Meredith she’ll throw a fit,” he said with a grin.

              Meredith concentrated on chewing her bite and looked down at her feet before answering. “Taryn knows
and
she’s very supportive of Brogan’s decision to do business with us. She might not like me personally but as a business woman she knows this opportunity could be huge for him,” she said with as much dignity as she could muster.

              Asher bumped his hip into hers. She looked up and caught his eyes and saw the compassion and understanding there.

              “Taryn had some concerns but she knows that we could have gone to anyone else to get a website built. We’re offering Brogan a great opportunity and she’ll keep her opinions to herself. Besides, she might change her mind about Meredith. Who wouldn’t like her?” Asher said smoothly.

              Pule choked on his cupcake and Tai had to pound on his back as tears of laughter slipped down his cheek.

              “
Who wouldn’t like Meredith
?” Pule asked, gasping as he leaned against the counter.

              Meredith glared at Pule and felt like kicking him.

              “I can give you a list,” he said, shaking his head before he looked at her. When he did, he stopped smiling and looked slightly abashed. “Ah, Meredith. You know I’m just kidding. I used to think you were the biggest brat in Washington until I got to know you better. Now I think you’re a sweetheart. Feisty, tough and willing to throw a punch here and there, but underneath it, you have a good heart.”

              Meredith sighed and took another bite of her cupcake.
So what if people hated her?
She was who she was and she didn’t pretend to be anyone different.
But dang, it would sure be nice to be able to live down her past.