Or at least I thought it had to be. The more time passed, the more I felt like the relationship was fading away. But the wedding was a good opportunity for us to spend more time together away from our busy lives back in Boston. It could give us the push we needed to become a functioning couple.
After dinner, Dad locked himself up in his home office with his papers. I helped Mom clean up and went upstairs to my room.
I loved coming home from time to time and looking through my old stuff. I opened my wardrobe and the first thing I saw was my cheerleading uniform. I ran a hand over the pom-poms. Then I reached up and took my old jewelry box. It was full of Clementine’s handmade pieces. I used to wear them like they were diamonds, but they looked so weird now. I would never throw them away though. I was saving them and planned to use them to make fun of her in front of her children.
My phone buzzed.
Nick: Glad everything is okay. Miss u.
He answered my last text. The one I sent him when we landed. Hours ago.
Maybe Tyler was right. Lonely nights and unanswered texts awaited me in the future. Why would I do that to myself when I actually wanted something else? Being married and having a family was a dream of mine. Being married to a doctor was never a part of it. Was I prolonging our misery? Should I just rip the bandage of and end it now?
After the wedding. You need a date for the wedding reception, or you will be stuck with Chase the entire night.
Lucas’s best friend and I weren’t big fans of one another. We made out once at a party when we were still in high school, but his twin sister and I hated each other back then so it was doomed from the moment it started. Not to mention I didn’t like him as a person.
I turned on my laptop and checked my emails. I had a few meetings I had to attend the next day, but Amanda was totally fine with me joining online. So, I spent the last half-hour before going to bed preparing for the next day, not knowing that it would turn out the opposite of what I expected.
Chapter Nine
Tyler
Obnoxious sound woke me up. It took me a few seconds to recognize it as the doorbell. I glanced at my phone. Five in the morning. I dug my head under the pillow, waiting for whoever was outside to go away. A minute after the doorbell stopped ringing, my phone started to.
Unknown number.
“Yes,” I answered the call with a growl.
“Good morning, sunshine,” a male voice boomed on the other side of the line. I wasn’t conscious enough to recognize who it belonged to, but my brain didn’t miss the word sunshine. Not only that, but it immediately flashed me an image of Hannah Spencer.
“Who is this?”
“Your brother-in-law.”
“I don’t have a brother-in-law.” Lucas just laughed and ignored my remark.
“We are leaving in an hour.”
“Yeah, you do that. I will catch up with you later.” I yawned. The dickhead rang the doorbell again, signaling me he wasn’t leaving until I got up. Other people gathered around him. Everyone was shouting and laughing.
“You don’t have a car and no offense, but we both know that if I don’t drag you with us, you would never come on your own.”
He was right about that. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I came here for that camping trip, didn’t I?
“Fine,” I snarled. “I’m up.”
“We will wait at my parents’ house,” Lucas said and killed the call.
I took a shower and tried to remember why the hell I agreed to this bullshit. At five in the morning, my sister’s pregnancy seemed like a stupid reason.
Twenty minutes later, I entered the Coles’ residence. Their front door was almost entirely blocked with huge backpacks. I vaguely recognized Lucas’ younger brother Troy. The last time I saw him he was still in junior high. He looked like a man now. He was already taller than his brother.
I also recognized Lucas’s annoying friend Chase. He was going to be the best man, no doubt.
The other two guys I didn’t know, so I introduced myself with the title of the brother-in-law, because apparently that was what I was now.
“Tyler,” I heard a female voice behind my back. Elizabeth Cole, Lucas’s mother, came down the stairs. “Chaperoning again?”
“It won’t be the same without you. I’m not big on rules, remember?”
She laughed, came to me, and leaned closer.
“I instructed everyone to keep an eye on Troy. He’s sixteen and causing trouble is his newfound power. Other than that, it should be fine,” she paused to watch Lucas and Chase wrestle each other in the middle of her living room. “Or not. I’m pretty sure Chase hasn’t evolved emotionally since he was ten.” She tore her gaze away from them. “So, did you meet Mike?”
“Nope. But I heard all about him last night.”
“You are going to love him. He is amazing.”
“If you say so.”
My mother revealed to me the existence of a man named Mike, who apparently was her boyfriend. She left me alone last night explaining she was basically living with him at his place. They met at an A.A. meeting six months ago.
Was I worried my mother lived with an addict she met six months ago? Yes.
Was I glad she left me alone for the night and spared me her nagging? Also yes.
My mother and I ran out of things to talk about years ago. Our conversations consisted of her whining about my life choices and me pretending I was listening. Now we had one new topic. Her boyfriend Mike.
An hour after Lucas woke me up, we got into the cars. Elizabeth and her husband reluctantly saw their younger son off. It was understandable, considering they were letting him go into the mountains with a bunch of grownup men, one of which was Chase. Bad influence was written all over his face. Same could be said about me though, so no judgement.
I sat in the back seat in Chase’s car. Lucas’s cousin sat in the passenger seat and the two of them talked about football. Chase was a professional player now. I pretended I was sleeping which I could probably do if they continued their boring conversation.
I had lost interest in football before I graduated from high school, but I liked everything I gained from it, so I kept playing.
“Hey, do you know what’s the rush with the wedding? Is she pregnant?” The cousin asked at some point.
“No idea,” Chase said.
I wondered if that was true. If he really didn’t know, or if he was just protecting Lucas and Clem’s privacy.
“I hope they have hot bridesmaids.”
“I don’t know about the bridesmaids, but the maid of honor is pretty hot. We made out once in high school.”
That caught me by surprise. I couldn’t believe Hannah would fall for that idiot.
“Is she single?” The cousin asked.
“No. But I heard her boyfriend was pretty busy. So if he’s not at the wedding, she is single enough for me.” Chase said and they both laughed.
A phone rang and interrupted the conversation. Lucas’s colleague called to tell us they were hungry, so about an hour after we left, we stopped at a diner. If we were going to stop every hour, this would turn into the longest car drive of my life.
We sat around a table, and I scrolled down Chloe’s messages from yesterday. Everything was okay back home. Liam fell and scratched his knees. He wanted her to show them to me. I looked at the picture of his blooded knees and wondered what the hell was I doing in California? I had responsibilities in Boston.