23. Veronica
23
Veronica
A s we enter the Evergreen Grove city limits, the familiar scenery does little to ease the knot of anxiety tightening in my stomach. I love this place—it’s home. However, for the first time, I think I may now understand Blair’s obsession with running and leaving everything behind.
Sure, the people here are incredibly gossipy, but it never really bothered me. My friends and I made a habit of being the center of attention with our ridiculous and often childish antics, and I barely gave it a second thought. But now? The mere idea of talking to anyone besides Blair or Ford has my stomach churning with dread.
Even with how incredibly supportive my parents have always been, that same anxiety lingers. The thought of seeing even a flicker of disappointment in their eyes—especially after fleeing one wedding only to show up with a brand-new husband—is practically debilitating.
“Did you text Blair to let her know we’re almost there?” Miles asks, his deep timbre pulling me out of my thoughts.
“No, but I will,” I say, reaching for my phone on the center console. “Although, I’m guessing she’s been watching our location for a while now,” I add, having sent her a pin when we left this morning. Given how excited and anxious she seemed, my guess is she’s doing exactly what I’d be doing in this situation and religiously watching our pin get closer and closer to home.
“Probably,” he agrees, keeping his eyes on the road. Looks like I’m not the only one dreading being back home, because even Miles, who usually seems emotionless, is practically vibrating with nervous energy, his knuckles white as he grips the steering wheel.
“So, it’s still the plan to tell Blair?” I ask, needing the final confirmation. While we had discussed keeping this a secret from most people, we did both agree during the drive that we should at least tell Blair and Ford.
“Like you could keep it a secret from her anyway. I know you two. There’s no way you could hide anything from her, even if you tried,” he says, the corner of his lips tugging into a grin.
“I could if I really wanted to.” I huff, even though I’m pretty sure he’s right.
“Whatever you say,” he says before silence settles over the car, broken only by the twang of a country song blaring from the radio. The music does little to soothe my nerves, especially as we roll through Main Street.
Yep. There’s no denying we’re back home now, especially as I spot some of Evergreen’s residents walking around, all stopping to take in Miles’ car, their eyes wide with curiosity.
In a town this small, everyone knows exactly who drives what—and Miles’ cherry-red Ford Mustang might as well be a neon sign. I imagine it’s not much of a secret that I sped off with him after ditching my wedding, so it’s safe to assume the rumor mill has been working overtime. Now that we’re back, I can already feel the weight of all the stares and whispers waiting for us.
“We really are back home, huh?” Miles asks, a quiet chuckle escaping despite the lack of genuine humor in his voice.
“I mean, were we really expecting a different kind of welcome?”
“Not really, but just wait, the real fun is going to be when we’re forced to interact with them,” he says, as I do my best not to shiver at the idea. The stares are bad enough, but I already know the questions will be even worse—loud, intrusive, and completely lacking in tact. It is the Evergreen way, after all.
Slowly, some of the worry dissipates as Miles pulls into his apartment complex parking lot, and just as I figured—or at least hoped—Blair and Ford are standing out front with Miles’ bulldog Bubba on a leash.
“Blair!” I yell, waving my arms wildly. She smiles and waves back, handing Ford the dog’s leash before jogging after the car as it pulls into a nearby parking spot.
“Ronnie!” she giggles, her voice filled with pure joy as she impatiently pulls open my door while I struggle with the buckle. Once free, I hop out and she envelops me in a warm bear hug. “I missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you too,” I tell her, holding her close as she rocks us back and forth, the comfort of her embrace filling me with some much-needed relief.
“And what am I? Chopped liver?” Miles asks as he rounds the corner.
“Eh.” Blair playfully shrugs as she pulls back from our hug. “I guess I missed you too.”
“And hey, don’t worry,” Ford cuts in. “I know someone who certainly missed you,” he says as we all look down at the white, chubby ball of fur jumping at Miles’ legs.
“Hey, Bubs,” Miles greets him, effortlessly scooping up the dog like he’s nothing, even though the pup easily weighs 30 or 40 pounds. “Now you, I’ve definitely missed,” he says, his voice taking on a softness you wouldn’t expect from someone like him, and one you can’t help but find incredibly endearing. I know it’s just a dog, but did my ovaries just twitch?
Apparently, I’m not the only one who’s noticed my strange reaction to this tender moment, as Blair nudges my arm, her eyebrows pinching together.
“Please tell me that look is only because this is a cute moment between a dog dad and his baby and that nothing else is going on here,” she chides. While I assume this is all said in jest, I can’t help it as my cheeks turn a deep shade of pink.
“Well, nothing like what you’re insinuating is going on, but um, we do have some things to talk about.”
Blair’s eyes widen, clearly not expecting that sort of answer. “Wait, what?” she asks, her voice cracking with a newfound sense of worry as her eyes search mine.
“You don’t need to stress out. It’s nothing big, or at least nothing like what you’re probably thinking.” I attempt to assure her.
“Miles fucking Bennett, what did you do to my friend?” Blair practically interrupts, placing her hands on her hips, as both Miles and Ford look our way.
“Blair,” I hiss as Miles’ questioning eyes meet mine, before moving back to his sister.
“So she told you?” he asks.
Blair’s icy blue eyes somehow widen even more. “No, not yet, but one of you better tell me what the fuck is going on,” she says through gritted teeth, her eyes shifting between the two of us.
Miles’ gaze locks with mine, his expression a mixture of reluctance and panic. It’s clear he’s not going to take charge here, so I guess it’s up to me.
“Miles and I got married,” I blurt, figuring there’s really no way to sugarcoat it, so I may as well just put it out there.
Ford laughs, while Blair’s eyes somehow grow even bigger as her mouth drops open.
“Oh, okay, I get it. You guys are just messing with me,” she says, a disbelieving laugh escaping her lips. She doesn’t seem to believe the bomb I just dropped, and honestly, I can’t blame her. I’ve spent the past two days trying to find a way to make sense of it too.
“No, she’s telling the truth. It was an accident, but we’re taking care of it,” Miles thankfully chimes in as he finally sets Bubba back on the ground. “We’re getting this annulled as soon as we can, but things got a bit crazy when we ended up in Vegas and one thing led to another and we somehow got married,” he casually explains, as if impulsively tying the knot in Vegas is no big deal.
Ford continues to laugh. “I’m sorry,” he says as we all turn to glare in his direction, especially since the laughter bubbling up inside him makes it impossible to take his apology seriously. “That was just not what I was expecting you guys to say.”
“Believe me, we didn’t expect for this to happen either,” I promise, my gaze once again landing on Blair. “Are you mad?” I tentatively ask, since her laughter has completely disappeared. Instead, her mouth is wide open in shock as she attempts to process our news.
“I wouldn’t say mad is the emotion I’m feeling right about now,” she manages as she breaks out of whatever trance she’s in. “I guess I’m just surprised. How did this even happen? I mean, I know you said things got a little crazy, but what the hell? Getting married in Vegas? That’s a bit much, even for you, Ronnie.”
“No, I know. I get it. This is a lot to take in, but don’t go reading into things, either. We haven’t even kissed or anything,” I try to assure her before my brows furrow as I realize that’s not exactly true. “Or, I guess maybe we kissed when we got married, but we were drunk that night and haven’t done anything like it since, or even before,” I add, figuring she probably doesn’t need to know about what happened earlier that drunken night or later on during our wedding night.
“It’s really not a big deal,” Miles cuts in as he casually moves to grab his bag from the back of the car. “It was just something crazy that happened, but it won’t be for long, or at least not really.”
“Not really? What does that even mean?” Blair asks, shaking her head in disbelief.
“Apparently, annulments take a bit longer to go through than most movies would have you believe. And well, because Vee is going to be moving in with me for a while,” he casually explains, as if he didn’t just drop yet another huge bomb on his sister.
“What!?” Blair shrieks again, her eyes darting from her brother back to me.
“Don’t worry,” I say, trying to calm her down as I place a hand on her arm. “It’s nothing like that. It’s just that my lease is ending next week, and since I’m not too keen on moving back in with my parents, your brother offered to let me stay until I get things figured out.”
“He did, did he?” she asks, this time narrowing her eyes in Miles’ direction.
“What?” he asks, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he leans against the back of the car. “You’re the one always telling me I need to be nicer to your friend, and now that I’m doing it, you’re giving me shit? Make up your damn mind.”
Blair rolls her eyes. “I didn’t mean to be nice, only so you could make your way into her pants.”
“Okay,” I interrupt, lifting my hands, palms out. “First off, nobody is getting inside these pants, and it’s not like that between us. He’s just being nice.”
“Yeah, Blair. I’m just being nice.” Miles smirks, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he seems to revel in his sister’s outrage, while I, on the other hand, am panicking.
“You aren’t helping,” I growl, sending my own glare in his direction. “But seriously though,” I continue, as I turn back toward his sister, “it’s not a big deal. I promise. He doesn’t see me like that. If anything, he only slightly tolerates me now.”
“Uh huh,” Blair says, not even the least bit convinced.
“Yep,” Miles adds, reaching into the back to grab one of my bags as well. “And as much fun as this little reunion is, I’m going to head inside, but you all are welcome to stay out here and catch up for as long as you like,” he says, shooting his sister another irritating smirk before giving me a reassuring nod.
I try not to look as nervous as I feel, especially as I watch Bubba happily trail after his dad.
“So, I guess this makes you two sisters now, huh?” Ford asks, still incredibly amused as he continues to fight the laughter that so obviously wants to come out.
“Yeah, I guess it does,” Blair muses, turning toward me with an almost apologetic smile. “I’m sorry if I’m being weird. This is just... it’s a lot to take in.”
I shake my head. “No, don’t worry about it. It’s a lot for me to take in too,” I admit, letting out a long, shaky breath. “Believe me, the last thing I ever expected was to leave Evergreen and one man behind, only to come back home married to a completely different one—one who can barely stand me at that.”
Blair scrunches her lips to the side. “I’m not so sure I’d say he can barely stand you. He barely enjoys sharing his place with me when I visit. If he’s offering to let you stay, that definitely says something.”
“If you’re worried there’s something going on between me and your brother, let me put your mind at ease. It really was nothing more than a drunken mistake. There’s nothing going on between us.”
I see the doubt etched in Blair’s eyes—and honestly, I get it. I’m not even sure I believe myself. Sure, I was somewhat truthful when I said nothing happened beyond the night we got married. But now? I’m starting to realize I might be falling for Miles Bennett. It’s a terrifying thought, though only slightly easier to swallow because of how well I know him. This won’t go any further than it already has. Maybe he tolerates me—maybe he even enjoys my company—but anything more than that feels impossible. In his mind, I’m likely always going to be nothing more than Blair’s annoying and impulsive best friend.
“So what you’re saying is, that I should just enjoy us being sisters for a short time before you get things taken care of?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.” I nervously chuckle, grateful that she now seems to have calmed down, and is embracing this for the crazy moment it was.
“Well, in that case, I want all the juicy details about your runaway bride road trip extravaganza,” she says, drawing me in closer as she casually drapes her arm over my shoulder. “Babe, can you grab the rest of her things from the back?” Blair asks, shooting her new boyfriend her beautiful puppy-dog eyes as she bats her eyelashes at him.
“Of course. You two start catching up. I’ll be up soon.” He smiles like the lovesick man he so clearly is. “And Ronnie, welcome home. We missed you,” he adds, turning his smile in my direction.
“I’ve missed you both too,” I say, and I truly mean it. Sure, I needed to get away from Evergreen Grove, and a part of me is still uneasy about what coming home might bring. But right now, standing here with my favorite people? I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.