One Weekend in Perth (One Weekend)

Chapter 1

Ben Bolton adjusted his black bow tie. Behind him, his friends chatted amongst themselves.

He was aware of his brother, Reed, watching him with the quiet intensity that hadn’t gone away since he’d left the Army.

He saw too much, and Ben hoped he didn’t see exactly how he was feeling.

He hadn’t even told Clara, his best friend, the doubts that crowded his mind about this marriage.

Though he wondered if Clara knew. Like Reed, she saw more than she let on.

If she thought he was having doubts, she would say something, wouldn’t she?

Maybe not. Fern hadn’t exactly been keen on the idea that his best friend was a woman.

Once, when they were teenagers, he and Clara kissed.

He enjoyed it, possibly more than he should’ve, but at that time they both decided they were better off as friends.

On the odd occasion he questioned himself on the decision they made, but then he saw Clara with John.

He saw how happy she was with him and he hadn’t questioned himself again.

Of course, when she and John broke up, he’d been with Fern, and they had recently announced their engagement so it wasn’t like he could do anything.

Now here he was, about to get married, and instead of being excited and happy about it, all he wanted to do was run.

He sighed and turned away from his brother’s scrutiny, feeling like Reed could hear exactly what his thoughts were.

“You good, bro?” Reed slapped him on the back.

“Yep, just anxious to get this show on the road.” He injected enthusiasm he didn’t feel into his voice.

Reed’s eyes narrowed, and he led Ben away from the other guys to a quiet corner of the suite. “Are you sure this is what you want to do? It’s not too late.”

Ben rolled his eyes. Of course it was too late. The wedding was due to take place in just over an hour. He couldn’t leave Fern at the altar. Not after the amount of money her family poured into this event. But he kept the words to himself. “Yes, I want to do this.”

Reed sighed, and Ben knew he hadn’t convinced his brother he was ready to commit the rest of his life to Fern.

Oh my god, the rest of my life!

Once that thought hadn’t freaked him out, but seeing the person Fern became during the whole planning process had been eye opening.

He could blame it on the stress involved with organizing a wedding, but there was something else about how she behaved that raised flags for him.

Things he glimpsed but decided were just blips.

What if they weren’t blips in her character?

What if she’d been putting on a front for him the whole time they’d dated?

Their relationship had been a whirlwind one. He wasn’t the type to rush into an engagement at all. Then again, Reed and Lauren hadn’t known each other long, and were madly in love and ready to get married. Perhaps that was a trait for the Bolton boys, fall hard and fast with no regrets.

Yet…

Sweat gathered at the base of his neck. His palms were clammy and his tie felt far too tight.

Everything was closing in on him and he couldn’t take it any longer. The spacious suite felt like the smallest elevator. “I need to get some air,” he blurted out, and brushed past Reed.

Ben ignored Reed’s calls and rushed out the door.

He didn’t believe for one second that his brother wouldn’t follow him.

They always looked out for each other, Reed especially, since he left the Army and had started working for Power Security.

But he didn’t want to talk to Reed. He wanted to be alone.

He needed to think. To really think, not half-ass it like he had been.

“Ben?” Reed’s voice sounded behind him.

Ben stopped and faced his brother. “I just need a couple of minutes. Please.”

Reed looked as if he was going to argue with him, but then gave a short nod. “Whatever you need. Whatever you decide. You have my support.”

“I know.” And he did. There was no doubt that whatever decision he made, he wouldn’t have to worry about Reed arguing with him about it. Even if Reed didn’t agree, he wouldn’t say anything, he would just give Ben whatever he needed.

The door clicked shut, and Ben was once again alone in the hallway. He still didn’t know what he was going to do or where he was going to go. All he knew was he just needed—something.

A door opened further down the hall, and Fern appeared in a silky white robe. Her bleached blonde hair was up in an intricate style. Long earrings dangled from her ears.

What was she doing here?

Whose room was she coming out of? Her parents’?

Someone else’s?

Fern hadn’t seen him, she was too focused on the person in front of her. Ben waited for her to acknowledge him, his already knotted stomach clenched tighter.

Perhaps this was the ‘something’ he needed. He’d see and talk to Fern, and all his doubts would disappear, and he’d feel settled. Feel like he was making the right decision for his life partner. Feel like he could have what Reed and Lauren had.

Fern’s giggle reached his ears, a high-pitched sound he wasn’t used to hearing from her. “Stop it. I have to go and finish getting ready.” Fern wasn’t doing anything to keep her voice down, as though she didn’t expect there to be anyone in the hallway.

This wasn’t about to be one of those clichéd moments when an unsuspecting bride or groom stumbled upon their partner in a compromising position, was it? He wished it wasn’t.

Ben heard the murmur of a voice, one that wasn’t female but distinctly male. He was keeping his tone low, unlike Fern.

“I know you don’t understand why I’m going through with this. I have my reasons. Daddy approves of Ben. He believes I’m madly in love with him. But it’s you I want, and it will only be for a year. I’ve got a plan for us to be together and I don’t intend to stop seeing you after today. I love you.”

Numbness stole over him as he backed away from the happy couple. He’d heard more than enough. He didn’t need to hear Fern kissing another man, the large arms encircling her back was a good indication of what was taking place.

I don’t intend to stop seeing you after today. I love you.

The words echoed in his mind on repeat. Fern was going to marry him and cheat on him, and she didn’t care.

Who was she now?

How long had she been seeing this guy?

Had their whole relationship been a lie?

More to the point, how had he missed all of this?

Everything she’d done. Every possessive action of the last few months had all been a lie. The only time he and Fern hadn’t been together was when they’d been at work. Was this guy someone she worked with?

Nothing about the last five minutes made sense, but his misgivings and doubts were justified. Only he’d thought it was because he was discovering his feelings for Fern weren’t as strong as he thought. Not because she had been cheating on him.

Why hadn’t he cancelled the wedding?

Ben didn’t want to think anymore. He wanted to forget everything he’d just seen and heard and thought.

He reached the stairwell and leaned against the door. Fern must have disappeared back into the room, because if she continued on her way she would’ve seen him making his exit. Or maybe she had and hadn’t bothered to call out to him so she didn’t out herself and what she was up to.

The room he’d been allocated to get ready in was on the fifteenth floor of the hotel, but the prospect of walking down all those stairs didn’t faze him. He wanted to put as much distance between himself and Fern as possible.

The second the stairway door slammed behind him, Ben yanked his tie loose and ripped it off.

He let it flitter to the floor. Next he shrugged out of his jacket.

The material joined his tie on the dusty grey cement.

He didn’t care that he was leaving the coat from his suit for everyone to find.

By the time they found it, he’d be long gone.

Ben skipped down the stairs as he pulled the cuff links out of his shirt sleeves, depositing them in his pants pocket—they were his dad’s and he didn’t want to lose them.

With each step, he put even more distance between him and the floors above.

Reed would come looking for him when he hadn’t returned in time for the ceremony.

His wallet and phone were still in the suite.

Probably not the best thing, given the circumstances that he had no way of calling for a car or paying for it.

Right now, that was the last of his concerns. He had legs, he could walk anywhere.

Once he reached the door for the hotel lobby, he took a moment to catch his breath.

He had no plan. No idea of what he was going to do.

All he knew was he wouldn’t be going through with the wedding and he didn’t care what that did to his reputation.

Didn’t care that Fern’s parents had sunk a ton of money into the wedding.

Although Fern said that getting married on a Friday ensured that she got the photographer, florist, and location she wanted.

Not to mention all those things were cheaper than holding the wedding on a Saturday or Sunday, but Ben saw the prices for all those things. It didn’t look like it was cheaper.

Well, if she still wanted to get married, she could marry the guy she truly loved.

It probably wouldn’t be legal, because they’d had to lodge an intent to marry and get the marriage license.

But that would be Fern’s problem. It wasn’t his.

And if Fern’s parents demanded he pay a share of the costs, he’d tell them where to go and just what their daughter did to him.

Anger replaced the numbness that had coated him since he discovered Fern’s betrayal.

God, he hadn’t even wanted to marry on a Friday.

He hadn’t wanted to inconvenience people by getting married on the last working day of the week.

There was a reason people got married on a Saturday or a Sunday.

That had been yet another argument he lost about the wedding.

Another sign he’d ignored. His opinions clearly hadn’t mattered to Fern.

“Get moving,” he muttered to himself. “None of that matters now.”

Opening the door, he scanned the area, pleased that Reed wasn’t loitering in the lobby waiting for him. Something Ben fully expected to see.

Instead he saw the one person he knew he could count on. The one person who had always been there for him. The one person Fern hated the most and tried to, unsuccessfully, force out of his life.

“Clara!”