No, it’s better for me to leave things as they are and let this night become a memory.
I get dressed quietly and gather my things, ignoring the nagging ache I feel as I slip out the door.
GABBY AND I sit side-by-side in the bed of her fiancée Ben’s old pickup truck. We’re parked on the top of a hill at the edge of the property that Mr. and Mrs. Wright, Ben’s parents, have owned for the past twenty years. The view is so lush and green and beautiful that I want to spend the rest of my trip right in this spot. It’s still really early—the sun is just beginning to rise—and the two of us are huddled under a thick blanket, thermoses full of hot chocolate warming our hands.
“What’s over there?” I ask, pointing at an incredibly large area of land about 50 yards away that’s cordoned off with bright yellow caution tape.
“That’s where the tent for the reception is going to go. Amy blocked it off so that no one would drive on it and get tire tracks in the grass. She said she didn’t want the pictures to look ‘rednecky,’” Gabby replies.
Amy, Ben’s mother, is quite possibly one of the best event planners that I’ve ever met. Not that I’ve met all that many, mind you, but she’s pretty great at it is what I’m saying. She also happens to be an incredibly sweet woman and she treats Gabby like one of her own children. That puts her up pretty high in my book.
“In a place like this, I don’t think the pictures could be anything but gorgeous.” I take a deep breath as I look up at the stunning purples and pinks in the sky. The sun starts to peek over the horizon.
“You really like it here, don’t you?”
“I do. I’m glad you had the sense to take off the week before your wedding and invite me along. It’s a nice little vacation.”
“That was part of my wedding requirements checklist, actually.” Gabby unscrews the top of her thermos and pours some hot chocolate into two small styrofoam cups. She hands one to me and keeps the other. “Beautiful locale, nice weather, good vacation spot for Callie.”
“And it’s free,” I say, laughing.
“Yes, free is good. We definitely lucked out with that.”
“When is everyone else getting here?”
“Thursday,” she says, bringing her cup to her lips. Tendrils of steam curl into the air around her fingers.
We both look out over the mountains, watching the day come to life. I decide that this might be the right time to tell Gabby about what happened with Nate. As it is she’ll probably want to kill me for not telling her the second that I stepped off the plane yesterday morning. But Ben was there with her, and then the three of us spent the day driving through the mountains. This is the first one-on-one time that we’ve had together since I got here.
“So,” I say, fiddling with the edge of the blanket. “I did something on Friday night.”
Gabby’s expression changes ever so slightly, from content to cautious.
“If I have to find a new maid of honor, Callie, I swear I’ll-”
“What, do you think I committed a felony or something?” I ask, laughing.
Gabby laughs too, and I can’t help but think about what a lovely bride she’ll be. She has flawless mocha-colored skin and shiny, gorgeous hair that comes down to her shoulders in springy, tight spirals. She’s radiant even in the barely there early morning light.
“Did you commit a felony?”
“Not this time.”
“Good,” she replies. “It would’ve been difficult to find someone who could fit into that tiny dress of yours on such short notice anyway.”
“We have six more days to focus on the wedding, Gabs,” I say, trying to sound exasperated. “Can we please just focus on me right now?”
Gabby bumps my shoulder with hers. “What is it?”
I twist my fingers together, nervous to tell her about this for some reason. But she’s my best friend. If I can’t tell her, who can I tell?
“I, um…I slept with a guy I met at the airport.” I can’t help but cringe as I say it. It’s not that I’m ashamed or anything…it’s just that the words sound wrong coming out of my mouth for some reason. Like I’m telling her about something someone else did.
“Is that why you didn’t come until yesterday morning?” she asks, her eyes wide.
“I came Friday night, actually. Several times.”
Gabby leans forward, clutching her stomach as she laughs. “Oh my god, Callie.”
“Seriously though, there was actually a weather delay. That was how I spent it.”
“I thought you were swearing off men?” she asks. It’s not an accusatory tone, but more of an I-told-you-so. Because she doesn’t think that I can do it, doesn’t think that I’ll stick with it.
“I swore off love, not men,” I remind her. “I don’t need Ethan: Part Two.”
“Was it good?”
I take a deep breath and stretch out my arms, sinking back against the cab of the truck. “It was better than good. It was…amazing.” I know that’s not the right word to describe it, but I can’t think of another one that will do it justice. Maybe there isn’t a word that will do it justice.
“Who was it?”
“Just some guy I met,” I tell her.
“So you just said goodbye and that was that?”
I can tell that Gabby is having difficulty grasping the fact that I’ve done something like this. Truthfully, that it stuns her makes me proud in an odd sort of way. It makes me feel less predictable, like maybe I’m not as boring as I think I am, not boring enough to push Ethan to look for entertainment elsewhere.
“I actually didn’t say goodbye to him,” I admit. “I kind of left while he was sleeping.”
“That is so not like you,” she says. She almost sounds proud.
“I know.” I don’t tell her that I regret leaving the way that I did, that I wish I had gotten his number. No good can come from that admission. “I’m just moving on, I guess.” That part is true.
“Really?” She takes a sip of her hot chocolate. “In that case, I need to tell you something, too.”
I know by the tone of her voice that this ’something’ is going to be a thing that I don’t want to hear. She says the words slowly and deliberately, like she’s defusing a bomb.
“Doesn’t the sky look like a watercolor?” I look up, mainly to avoid Gabby’s gaze. I’m an expert avoider.
“Callie.”
“You know, I’ve been thinking. Maybe I should move out here. I like the country, and it’s as pretty as Texas but more temperate. It doesn’t feel like we’ve walked through the gates of Hell when we step outside here.”
“Callie,” Gabby says again, still sounding so patient. She lets me work through things in my own way, in my own time. It’s one of the things that I love most about her.
I stop talking and stare straight ahead. I prefer not to look at the bullet when it’s coming straight at me. I’m pretty sure I know what this one is anyway.
“He’s bringing someone.”
Despite my efforts to avoid it, it hits me right in the chest. In the heart. But the thing is, I thought the words would hurt more than they do. They sting, it’s true, but it’s not the gut-wrenching pain I was expecting. Still, I sigh, looking to my right across the hilltops, hating myself for telling Gabby and Ben that I wouldn’t mind if they invited Ethan to the wedding. Ethan and Ben have known each other for years, though. How could I have said no?
“It’s not her is it?” I’m not sure I could handle him bringing the girl he cheated on me with. I would be surprised if Ethan did something that tacky, but I never thought he’d cheat on me, either.
“No, it’s someone else. Someone new.”
That makes me feel marginally better, despite the fact that he’s obviously moving on quickly. “Okay.”