AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s okay. I’m happy to help. Honestly.” I give Alice a small smile because now I’m a little afraid of her. I pack up to leave because even after two years, I feel like Great-Grandma Dori is going to come out of her apartment.
They say bye to us, and Rylan and I leave, giving LeeAnn a wave and walking to my SUV.
He slides into the passenger seat, and as soon as I’m inside, he says, “This is a setup. They’ve set us up.”
I start the SUV and back out of the parking space. “Don’t worry, I don’t need your help. You can go do what best men do.”
“Best men plan the bachelor party and that’s done already.” He’s quiet for a while and I hope that’s the end of his argument. “We have to learn to be around one another. They’re our best friends. They’re going to have babies and we’ll have to go to the baptisms and birthdays. They’ll have anniversary parties and holiday parties.”
The thought of him bringing some other woman to this long list of life events one day, his wife, the mother of his child… God, it crushes my heart.
My grip tightens around the steering wheel. “I’m being cordial, aren’t I?”
“You’re being immature.”
I slam on the brakes at a red light and we both jolt forward.
“And now you’re going to smash my head into the windshield. Jesus, can I drive please?”
I want to hit his smug face with my fist. If only I could give him a black eye. Maybe even two.
“First of all, yes, I don’t want to spend the time with you, Rylan. That shouldn’t be a surprise. Being cordial at Aubrey and Declan’s future child’s birthday party isn’t the same as poring over pictures together. Pictures that are most likely full of memories from when we were a couple. I don’t want to remember those moments because…”
The light turns green, and I press hard on the gas, his back flying into the seat. “Fuck, Calista!”
“It just wouldn’t be good for us. I think you know that too. You’re rarely home. Go spend time with your family.”
“Is that some kind of dig?”
I pull onto the narrow roads that lead back to the cabin. “No, it’s not. Don’t let your guilt make you hear something I didn’t say.”
“I’m close with my family,” he argues.
I shrug. “Of course you are.”
“Not everyone can be attached at the hip all the time like the Baileys.”
I shoot him a scathing look. “Loving and wanting to be with your family isn’t a crime either.”
A caustic laugh leaves him. “No, but it is if you’re using it as an excuse not to fulfill your own dreams.”
I round the bend and pull in the driveway right as another car circles the bend coming the opposite way. They honk and I flip them off. After I park, Rylan’s staring at me with his eyebrows raised. Eyebrows he probably gets professionally waxed or plucked and threaded. I hope it hurts like hell.
“It’s been so nice catching up. See you at the rehearsal.” I take the keys out of the ignition and position them in my lap, waiting for him to get out.
“You’re going to see me before then.”
“Well then, see you when I have to.” I shrug, feigning indifference.
“Fine, have it your damn way.” He opens the door and slams it shut before getting into his rental.
I get out of my car, stomp my ass to the door, and disappear inside with a door slam that makes the whole cabin rattle. I sit on the couch, pulling my knees up to my chest and burying my face between them. How on earth can I still have feelings for that man?
It feels like forever before I hear his car start and he slowly drives down the driveway.
Good riddance.
I gently set the slide machine on the table, then drop the folder beside it, wondering how they got negatives of our photos. I’m going to need to get some pictures from Aubrey and Declan’s families. I have some of my own I can use, but I need more than ones that involve us partying through our teens and twenties.
