AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’ve barely seen him.
Same goes for Olivia, who’s been just as busy.
I drum my fingers on the armrest nervously. I’ll see her at the wedding. Is she bringing a date? I wait until Trent stops at the light at the bottom of Aspen Street to try to get some info out of him.
“So, Olivia must be up there with Maggie already, right? She’s in the bridal party…”
Trent puts his blinker on. The light changes and he takes the right, steering us up the steep hill.
“She’s running late, too…. Down in Denver, picking up Mom. Mom’s flight was delayed. It was supposed to get into Denver at 11:00 last night, but that got pushed back to the morning. Olivia had to get a hotel room and everything. Hey, can you check my phone and see if she’s texted?”
It feels weird to scroll through his texts looking for Olivia’s name.
If things had gone differently for me and Olivia at Sunrise Ranch, maybe I’d be the one getting texts from her today.
I spot a few old messages, but no new updates.
Trent curses under his breath. “I hope they don’t get hung up in traffic or anything. It’d be great if Beryl makes the ceremony, but even if she’s late, it’s okay. But Olivia has to be there when we say our vows. You’re my best guy friend… and Olivia—she’s my best friend, too. I need her to be there.”
“She’ll make it. She won’t let you down.”
“It sucks that she’s leaving for this TV show gig,” Trent says.
He brakes and then eases the truck into the Alpine Center lot, which is crowded with cars already, even though the ceremony’s still hours away. “I guess they’re going to have her on the road even more than travel blogging did. It’s full-time work. She was telling me and Dad about the schedule a couple of nights ago.”
I do my best not to show how much that hurts.
This is Trent’s day. I don’t want to drag him down.
“Good for her,” I say. “It’s what she wants.”
We both get out of the truck and make our way toward the Alpine Center’s double front doors. I hold one side open for Trent, figuring this is the sort of thing a Best Man is supposed to do.
Before stepping in, I check the road for signs of Olivia’s Mazda.
The street’s empty, so I follow Trent inside, pulling at my tie as I go. Thinking about Olivia’s new job made the freaking thing feel even tighter than before.
Chapter 25
Olivia
“Beryl… could you not?” I look over at my mother, who has pulled yet another cigarette out of her lime-green handbag. Her dyed red hair is in a tall updo. Her red lips circle the unlit stick of tobacco. It flaps from her lips when she speaks.
“Oh, don’t be uppity, honey. A little smoke never killed anyone.”
“Yes, yes it has, actually.”
I’d reach over and grab the thing away if I wasn’t battling three lanes of traffic.
With a dramatic sigh, she sets her bag down at her feet. She places her fingers around the cigarette and lowers it from her lips.
“When did you get to be such a fussy person? You’ve been uptight since you picked me up.”
“That’s because we’re extremely late, and I’m nervous we’re going to miss the vows.”
And because I haven’t seen you in years.
When I laid eyes on her, back at the airport, I felt like I was spinning.
