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Just One Week
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Chapter 1
“It’s one week, Emmi, come on,” my brother, Wyatt, whined. Well, Wyatt didn’t exactly whine, but he was doing his best beg. He was so good-looking that he didn’t have to do it very often. Things mostly just fell in his lap. Since I was his sister, I was completely immune to any of his charms.
“No, I can’t do it.” I knew I was being a hard-ass, but this was like the five millionth favor Wyatt had asked me for and he’d pretty much never done me any, so I was kind of tapped out in the favor department.
“Gretchen’s morning sickness is too bad to go, and Mom and Dad have that wedding. You’re the only option.” I knew that, which both gave me leverage and also put a whole lot of pressure on my shoulders.
Wyatt smiled at me and changed tactics.
“I will pay you.”
Ah, money. The ultimate incentive. Something that Wyatt could definitely use to get me to do what he wanted.
“How much?” I was going to need to know exact amounts, in writing, before even considering doing what he was asking.
He sighed for what seemed like forever and then wrote a number on his phone and showed it to me.
Wow. That was way more than I was expecting, but Wyatt always seemed to have money coming out his ass, despite never really working. We were both employees of our uncle’s insurance agency, but he’d managed to get himself a cushy position with even cushier pay.
I looked around my mostly empty cabin and knew he had me. I needed the cash more than I needed my dignity.
Going from living under my parent’s roof to being responsible for my own place had been a rude awakening and I was still scrambling to figure out how to make things work. Yes, I was renting the cabin from my family, but I still had to pay rent and utilities and that didn’t even get into my student loans.
I sighed. “Okay. I’ll do it.”
Wyatt closed his eyes, and I could see he was relieved. Now he’d be in his fiancée’s good graces. I still couldn’t believe that he was getting fucking married. It was going to be a complete nightmare. Gretchen wanted it to happen before she had the baby for some reason, so we were all doing our best to plan the fastest, but most-elegant and social-media worthy, wedding she demanded. Just thinking about it gave me a migraine.
At least we still had a few months to go before that shitshow. Right now I was going to have to deal with the consequences of what I’d just agreed to do for Wyatt.
“All the hotels are booked, and so is the truck. We’ll get your flight all set and I can drive you to the airport,” he said. Wyatt was busy on his phone getting all the details settled.
“Are you going to tell her I’m coming?” I couldn’t even say her name. I’d put her name in a box in my brain that I hadn’t opened since high school. The phrase “she’s dead to me” was an understatement.
“Yeah. Hold on a sec.” He put one finger up and proceeded to call someone. By the tone of his voice when he said hello, it was Gretchen.
Ever since she’d gotten pregnant, Wyatt had gone from playboy to placater, and it was getting weird. I couldn’t imagine what he was going to be like when that baby got here in six months.
Wyatt paced around my living room, using the softest tone I’d ever heard from him with Gretchen. I hoped she was grateful that I was helping her out of a jam. This was the favor to end all favors.
“I love you too, baby girl,” Wyatt said, before hanging up. Gross.
“Okay, we’re good. Let me book your flight and I’ll send you the details. I’ve got to go, Gretchen needs me.” Another understatement.
“Okay,” I said, waiting for him to thank me for this favor, but the gratitude didn’t come. Didn’t stop me from wishing for it as he slammed the door carelessly.
* * *
“So, I am going to Arizona in a few days,” I said to Paige as we had dinner at the Pine State Bar and Grille. She was barely paying attention to me, too wrapped up in watching her girlfriend, Esme, tend bar.
“What?” she asked, looking up from her plate of wings. “You’re doing what now?”
Her brown eyes were wide underneath her new bangs she’d gotten last week. The style made her look even more like a doll.
“I’m flying to Phoenix and driving a moving truck back with Gretchen’s sister in it. For a week,” I said.
