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“Starlight Falls,” Ziggy corrects him. “I’ll stay on the phone with you to make sure you get there,” she offers.
That’s a good idea. Davis is already being a grump, and I know we’d probably snap at each other if I got us lost out here in the middle of nowhere.
My ex-husband listens to Ziggy as she guides us step by step to her aunt and uncle’s property. While she talks, I nervously eye the cell signal bars and pray we don’t lose the call. The rain’s still coming down, and the roads out here aren’t the best, especially in the dark.
Driving along a heavily-wooded road, we finally pull up to the property. Davis tries to maneuver around the biggest of the rained-filled potholes, but muddy water still splashes up all around.
“Oh. One teeny tiny caveat, though,” Ziggy throws out as we inch up the long, bumpy driveway. My stomach coils tight. “My uncle is sort of traditional and morally superior.” I can practically feel my friend cringing through the speaker phone.
“What does that mean?” Davis asks cautiously.
“He has a thing against ‘unmarried heathens who cohabitate’. His words, not mine. So you should maybe, y’know, tell him you’re married. To avoid his disapproval.”
“What?!” I choke on the word.
“Yeah,” Ziggy says like it’s no big deal. “The big guy is as judgy as they come. But you can just pretend that you’re married, and you won’t have any issues.”
I side-eye Davis, who’s pulling to a stop at the end of the driveway. His face is blank, and I hate that I can’t read it. It’s hard to imagine my ex going through with this little charade.
“Ziggy, that’s crazy,” I hiss, panicked. “You couldn’t have mentioned that before we drove all the way out here?”
I hear her lower her voice and whisper forcefully. “Look, hun, you have two options—act like you’re fake-married to your hot ex-husband for a few hours or try finding somewhere else in town to stay. But I’ll warn you, there is just one rickety motel on the outskirts of town, and it’s very popular among guests of the creepy-crawly, six-legged variety, if you know what I mean.”
A shudder zips through me.“I still don’t—”
“Geez.” She cuts me off impatiently. “How hard can it be, guys? You two already have experience being arealcouple. Just reach into your memory bank, find that inner peace between your souls, and try to remember what it was like to enjoy each other’s company. For one night.”
“Jesus…” Davis mumbles, scraping a palm down his face.
“Come on, Chief Deputy,” she croons through the speaker. “It’ll be a piece of cake.”
Davis snorts. “Yeah, I’m not sure how I feel about taking advice from the woo-woo hippie girl from Star Shine Ville,” he says under his breath.
“Star. Light. Falls,” Ziggy corrects him.
“Starlight Falls,” he shoots back a little too sweetly.
“And you’d better get your attitude in check, mister. There’s a whole lot more of my kind around these parts.” She cackles, clearly amused by our discomfort.
Ziggy carries on. And on and on as Davis and I just sit quietly, staring at the house ahead of us in the darkness. I’m only half listening to my friend as she tells us stories about how her Aunt Rainbow taught her everything she knows about astrology, and her Uncle Jimmy taught her the skills she needed to survive off the land. Apparently those are skills that still come in handy for her to this day.
But I’m more concerned about the skillsI’mgoing to need to survive this night.
When there’s a break in the one-sided conversation, Davis scratches his chin, looking at me skeptically as he asks, “So, we’re just supposed to knock on the door and expect these people to take us in with open arms?”
It’s Ziggy who answers. “Don't be nervous. My aunt and uncle are really warm and gentle and kind people. They’d take a stranger in off the street. Let me get off the line with you. I’ll call my aunt on the phone real quick, and let her know that she’s having company tonight.”
I thank Ziggy, and Davis and I take our time climbing out of the Jeep and strolling up the path to the large log cabin.
He and I don’t speak to each other. I’m not surprised. While we may have made some sweet roadtrip memories back in the day, I had almost forgotten how annoyed we’d always get with each other. Especially when it came to driving in unfamiliar territory. This trip appears to be no different. Between the directions mix-up, the storm, and the whole tedious situation, our cordial pleasantries have turned into cold eye rolls and mutterings under our breath.
This is going to be a hoot.
But as we go, Davis touches my arm, stopping me in my tracks and sending a jolt of awareness down my spine. I turn and peek at him over my shoulder.
“Um, I just wanted to…” He clears his throat. “I, um…Sorry for not listening to you earlier.”
Earlier?I struggle to read his expression in the dark.
