Chapter 26 #2
The party winds down after cake and before long it’s just Harper, my parents, Wes, and me sitting around the kitchen table.
“Do you two remember that camping trip we took when you were kids? When it rained so hard and the tent leaked and all our stuff got wet?” My dad starts laughing at the memory.
“Everything we brought, soaked right through. And the next day your mom cut up garbage bags and made you girls wear them while your clothes were drying. Everyone at the campground was talking about the two little girls running around in trash bag dresses.”
“I did not wear a garbage bag dress,” Harper scoffs. “Even as a child, I would have refused that.”
“Ask Lottie,” Dad says.
“I was like seven years old, Dad. I don’t remember.”
“No one has ever looked cuter in a trash bag, I can tell you that.”
The grin that spreads across Dad’s face makes me laugh even more, and soon there are tears running down my face. I lean back in my chair, catching my breath, and that’s when I see that Wes is laughing too. The sight of him smiling makes something bright and happy bloom inside me.
Today has felt like living ten different days crammed into one, my emotions ricocheting from one extreme to the next. I’m so tired I can feel it in my bones.
“Well, sweetheart. I think it’s about time I call it a day,” my dad says, as if he could read my mind. I help him stand and lean gently into him as he wraps his arms around me. “Congratulations, Charlotte,” he whispers. “I’m so happy for you.”
He says his goodbyes to Wes and Harper, and then I watch as he slowly walks up the stairs to his bedroom. Tonight will take a toll on him, and he’ll likely need to spend the next three or four days resting to regain his energy.
I take that as our cue to leave. My mom gives me a hug first and then moves to Wes, pulling him into her. “Good night, my loves,” she says, beaming.
I collapse into the car. We pass the drive in silence, both of us too tired to dissect the evening. By the time Wes pulls into the driveway, I am on the verge of falling asleep.
Wes goes to let Scout out while I head upstairs. I change into a T-shirt and sleep shorts and then go into the bathroom, where I press a steaming washcloth to my face, closing my eyes as the heat eases some of the exhaustion weighing me down.
I’m just finishing drying my face when there’s a knock at the bathroom door. I pull it open to find Wes standing in the hallway in a worn Cove Aviation T-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts.
All I can think is, thank God for the T-shirt. I know firsthand what his chest looks like, and after the day we’ve had, seeing any more of him than necessary is a complication I don’t need.
“Can I borrow your toothpaste?” he asks, one hand braced against the doorframe. “I ran out.”
“Of course,” I tell him, turning my back to him to dig through the drawer. When I turn back, his gaze is cast down to my bare legs.
“Here you go,” I say, ignoring the heat of his gaze. His eyes snap up to meet mine and I hand him the tube.
“You’re a lifesaver,” he murmurs.
He gives me small nod then moves toward the hallway, but before he disappears into his bedroom, I stop him.
“Hey, Wes?”
He turns around to face me.
There’s a lump in my throat as I lean against the doorframe, twisting the hem of my T-shirt between my fingers.
“What’s this I hear about a honeymoon?”
“You don’t need to worry about it. I’ll have it figured out.”
“You will?”
“I will,” he nods.
“So, you’re serious that you want to go on a fake honeymoon?” I ask, surprised.
He gives me a wounded look. “Of course, I am. Tell your sister you need next weekend off.”
“We’re going to have a fake honeymoon for a fake wedding?” I ask.
“Why not?”
“Wes—”
“It’s two nights, Lottie. We could use the break. And I’m sure we can keep our hands to ourselves for one weekend.”
My pulse trips over itself. Spending a weekend alone with my hot husband feels dangerous, like striking a match and trying to convince yourself you won’t get burned.
“How long do you think it’ll take for my parents to figure us out?” I ask, taking the few steps to meet him in the hallway.
Wes studies me. “You think they’re suspicious?”
I shrug. “No. But that’s the problem.”
Something shifts in his expression.
“They just looked so happy tonight,” I sigh. “My mom kept looking at me like…like this exactly what she’s always wanted for me.”
“They love you, Lottie.”
“I know,” I whisper.
That’s what makes it hurt. Tonight was harder than I expected. I wasn’t ready for how much it would hurt to lie to my parents.
“To answer your question?” he says finally. “I don’t think it will take them long. Families are annoying like that.”
A humorless smile tugs at my mouth. “Great.”
I wait for him to leave, but he stays right where he is, eyes locked on mine. My breath catches at the expression on his face: intense and unwavering.
“Wes…we should probably stick to what we talked about in the car.”
He blinks. “Keeping things uncomplicated?”
“Yeah,” I say, but it sounds unconvincing even to me. “That.”
“Right,” he says quietly, but neither of us move. I’m very aware that we’re standing alone in a dark hallway, close enough that I can count the freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose.
Silence stretches between us.
Dangerous.
Getting lost in Wes would be so easy. The perfect distraction from tonight, from my dad, from the guilt that’s been sitting like a stone in my chest since dinner. One kiss from him and I would forget all of it, if only for a little while.
But then I’d wake up tomorrow, and the lies will still be waiting, and my heart would be in even deeper than it already is.
“Goodnight, Wes.”
“Goodnight, Lottie.”
Then he disappears into his room, and I disappear into mine.