Chapter 18
It feels like a dream as I pull into the parking lot, drive into a space, and put my truck in park. Is this real? Am I finally here, finally after all this time, in De Sota, Texas?
“Thank God,” Kennedy mutters under her breath, echoing exactly what I’m thinking. She throws open the passenger door and jumps out. I get out too, and I have the sudden urge to drop to my knees and kiss the ground. Luckily, I restrain myself.
I’ve been on solid ground this whole time, but there’s something about finally being at the hotel that feels like a dream come true. Or, rather, a nightmare that’s finally ended.
I glance around, wondering if Ella happened to get here before me, but then my curiosity turns to fear. I hope she’s not here. I can’t walk into my parent’s hotel room with Kennedy. I need to play this the right way and make sure I’m able to talk to Ella before I bring her inside.
“Let’s go,” I say to Kennedy.
We walk into the hotel’s lobby, and I’m surprised to see my parents sitting in an overstuffed red leather couch eating from white and red striped popcorn bags.
“Mom?” I say, lifting an eyebrow. She’s eating popcorn. The kind with butter and salt. “You okay? You know that’s junk food, right?”
She rolls her eyes and hands her bag of popcorn to my dad, then stands up and hugs me. “Ethan, baby, I’m glad you’re okay.”
With her arms still wrapped around me, she stiffens.
I can smell Kennedy’s perfume as she walks up. “Hi, Mrs. Poe,” she says, her voice all sickly sweet. “I hope I’m not a huge inconvenience.”
Mom pulls away and gives me awtflook. I shrug. “I found her in a Walmart parking lot. Her car broke down and I couldn’t leave her stranded.”
Mom’s expression goes from alarmed to calm pretty quickly. I can tell that she and my dad are freaked out, but they’ve put their polite faces on for Kennedy’s sake. “Of course not,” Mom says. “She can stay with us.”
Mom doesn’t even bother asking about Kennedy’s parents and why they aren’t here. I guess she remembers from when we dated that her parents were hardly ever home. I know she feels sorry for my ex-girlfriend in that regard, but I don’t have much sympathy for her. Kennedy is a rich spoiled brat who only cares about herself.
“You want some popcorn?” Dad says, in what is clearly an attempt to lighten the mood. “They have a popcorn stand in the lobby.”
“Maybe later,” I say. “I want to drop my stuff off and then go wait for Ella.”
“Where is she?” Mom asks. “Samantha said she’d be with you.”
“She’s almost here,” I say, hoping I’m right. “Traffic was a nightmare.”
I don’t bother telling them any more details because admitting just how screwed up this entire trip has been will mean admitting that I’m a terrible boyfriend who lost his girlfriend when I should have been looking out for her.
My parents show us the hotel room which is up on the fourth floor. It’s actually a three bedroom suite, and it’s pretty big. I only wish it was big enough to keep Kennedy in one side and Ella in the other so they’d never have to see or know about each other.
There’s a shared living room and kitchen area, which is were my sister is lounging, watching TV. Her eyes widen when she sees Kennedy and me walk inside. She looks at me, eyebrows raised, but doesn’t say anything.
“Hi, Dakota!” Kennedy says.
My sister ignores her and looks back at the TV. I hold in a laugh. Kennedy was never very nice to my little sister when we were dating. Dakota isn’t about to let her off the hook now.
“Okay, let’s figure this out,” Mom says, clapping her hands together as we all stand awkwardly in the small living room. “Me and your dad are staying in that room over there,” she says, pointing toward a closed door. “Dakota is in there.” She points to another door. “But since we’re expecting Ella…”
I hold my breath while Mom works out the plan in her head. Surely she won’t make Ella and Kennedy stay in the same room. Mom glances at me. “Kennedy, you can share that room with Dakota. There’s two twin beds in there.”
“Okay, great,” Kennedy says. She grabs her suitcase and rolls it toward Dakota’s room. I hear my sister groan under her breath, and I know I owe her big when this is over. Sharing a room with Kennedy is annoying as hell—I know from experience last night.
Mom gives me a pointed look. “You and Ella can share the third bedroom. You’re technically adults now, but I trust you’ll be…respectful.”
I roll my eyes. “Mom, I’m not going to hook up with my girlfriend in a hotel room I’m sharing with all of you.”
“Good,” Mom says, but I know the topic is uncomfortable because she turns around and starts talking to Dad about the hurricane.
I head off to my bedroom and close the door behind me. This third bedroom has one queen sized bed, a TV and a recliner. The window faces the main highway I took to get here, and I immediately walk over to it and look for Ella’s car.
