“My dad couldn’t make it this year,” I said, not wanting to reveal Seth’s secret. “My mom and sister came instead.”
“Well, it’s good to see you anyway, Lauren.” Mr. Reines caught me in a bear hug that crushed the air out of me. “You’re all this kid here talks about.”
My eyebrows rose. I never knew Seth mentioned me outside of camp. I’d always figured I was out of sight and out of mind for him. Interesting.
“Guess I’d better get going.” I untangled myself and headed back down the path. “Mom and Kellianne are taking me to lunch.”
“Lauren,” Seth’s father thundered, stopping me in my tracks. “Aren’t you forgetting something? I’m sure I’m not the only who wants a hug.”
I looked from his wriggling eyebrows to Seth’s apologetic look. He confused me so much. Did he really want to be with me? Or was he serious about moving on with Breyanna? Not wanting to argue with Mr. Reines, I stepped into Seth’s arms. Just for a second. The delicious outdoor smell of him filled my nose as his strong hands spread across my back. A lick of warmth flickered in my stomach.
“Goodbye, Lauren. I’ll miss you.” His breath was soft against my ear.
“Bye.” I backed away until I bumped into something hard. I whirled around. “Matt!”
“Just came to see what was keeping you.” Matt’s eyes were two ice chips in a frozen face.
Seth’s father hiked up his shorts and strode forward, a smile creasing his face. “I didn’t know Lauren had a brother. I’m Coach Reines, her boyfriend’s father.”
I cringed. Matt dropped Mr. Reines’ beefy hand the second he shook it. “Funny, you don’t look anything like my dad.” He held out his hand and tugged me down the path.
I didn’t turn around when Mr. Reines let out an indignant huff. Matt turned toward me the minute we were alone.
“What the hell was that?” His brows were knit together, his shoulders tense.
I gripped his arm. “It’s not what you think. Seth hadn’t told his dad we’d broken up so—”
“So you thought you’d be his girlfriend again for old times’ sake?” Matt jerked out of my grasp and strode down the path.
I jogged to keep up, cursing my heeled sandals.
“Matt. It wasn’t my place to tell his dad. Seth had to speak up.”
“That’s always how it is with you, Lauren. Letting other people do the talking. How about we hear from you once in a while?”
It was tough to know what to say when I hardly knew what I wanted.
Matt’s jaw tightened as he paced down the path. Before we reached the parking lot, he turned and grabbed my hands. “I can’t stand seeing that kid’s hands on you. Okay?”
I could feel the adrenaline coursing through him…or maybe it was his pulse throbbing. It hurt that I’d made him feel that way.
“Okay. But you don’t have to worry. He’s into someone else now.”
“Don’t kid yourself, Lauren. He still wants you.” He glared at me for a minute, but then he leaned over to plant a hard kiss on my temple. “You didn’t see the way he looked at me while he had his arms around you.”
That didn’t sound like easygoing Seth. But I didn’t want to argue about it when my own eyes told me that Seth was with another girl in all his spare time.
“Whatever,” I grumbled. I took his hand and squeezed. “Let’s not fight today. My mom chickened out on telling you back there, but your dad brought the new girlfriend.”
“No way.” Matt stopped in his tracks, cursing under his breath. “I can’t believe that bastard would bring her here when he knows…” He trailed off, fuming.
“Sorry. I just thought you deserved a warning.” I smoothed a hand down his arm, hating that he had to face so much crap today. His dad was a jerk. Maybe his father should hang out with mine…give each other tips on how to ruin our lives.
“Thank you.” Matt’s arms shot around me, pressing me against his chest so hard that I could feel every flexed muscle. “What would I do without you?”
“Matt.” I tipped my head back and felt his lips graze my cheek. My bones loosened and my body melted against his.
I wanted to stand by Matt. But I also wondered when it would be time to put myself and what I needed first. All my life I’d followed someone else’s lead—first Dad, then Mom. Seth, and now Matt. Maybe Trinity could tell me when my stars would align.
We returned to the parking lot hand in hand. Matt and I climbed in the back seat, his fingers toying with the scalloped hem of my dress. With the help of Mom’s GPS, we soon zoomed by a sign that read “Waynesville, Population 9,841.” As we drove down Main Street, we passed rose-colored brick buildings, flowerbeds overflowing with petunias, and carefully pruned oaks. Campers and their families crowded the pristine sidewalks.
I nudged Kellianne and pointed at a colorful restaurant sign. “Big Mountain BBQ. Wonder if they cater weddings?”
“That’d be much too upscale for you, Lauren, don’t you think?” She gave me a saucy glance in the rearview mirror as we passed checkered-cloth-covered picnic tables beneath a red and white striped tent. Barbecue pits sent plumes of smoke into the hazy air.
Matt patted my knee. “Nothing but the best for my Lauren. Right, babe?”
If there was an Olympic event for synchronized eyebrow lifting, my mother and sister would have won gold. I could almost hear my mother humming
“dum dum dah dum”
in her head, imagining her daughters married to the most eligible guys in Dallas. Hopefully Matt was teasing, because although he’d been groomed to enter his father’s car dealership business out of high school, I was definitely going to college and hopefully, someday, to the moon.
We’d never really talked about a future. Maybe that’s why I hadn’t thought it was a big deal to break up at the end of the school year. Well, at least until Matt had been hit with the divorce news. If Matt and I somehow weathered this summer from hell together, we’d need to talk about what we wanted after high school. For that matter, if Seth was in my future, I wondered what he had in mind after he graduated. He’d be applying to colleges this fall.
We pulled up to a mammoth beige-stone mansion, its square turrets giving it a gothic feel. In all the years I’d come to Camp Juniper Point, I’d never made it to the Dutton Estate, a large hotel that had once been a private home. It had 250 rooms, an indoor swimming pool, and its own bowling alley, according to Siobhan, who’d gone there with her family last year.
A lot of the land in the Nantahala Forest near our camp had been donated by the Dutton family. We parked beside a sleek, red Lamborghini. Matt’s father leaned against it, rubbing noses with a petite redhead, her diamond earrings flashing in the midday sun.
Kellianne leaped out of the car and greeted the young woman with a hug. My mother followed more sedately. The redhead looked familiar, but it wasn’t until Kellianne stepped away from her that I put it together. She and my sister had been college roommates, making her just a few years older than Matt and me. And she dangled a diamond ring the size of a walnut from her left hand. My breath rushed out. Poor Matt. Ambushed on so many levels.
I touched his rock-hard shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Matt put his fingertips over his eyes and leaned his head back against the seat. A bitter laugh escaped him.
“Matt. I know this sucks. But we’ll get through this.”
He squeezed my hand and tugged me out of the car on the side opposite our chattering families. I followed his lead, ducked behind a swan-shaped hedge, and then scrambled after him down the oak-lined driveway.
“Where are we going?” I demanded. I was prepared to comfort Matt, not go all
Bourne Identity
with him.
His eyes met mine as we broke into a jog.
“Big Mountain BBQ, of course.”
Chapter Nine
We’d barely sat down with menus when we were busted.
Mr. Butler and the trophy girlfriend spotted us at one of the picnic tables before we’d ordered. They were circling us in moments with my mom and Kellianne in tow. Kellianne glared daggers at me the whole time she wasn’t pointing meaningfully at her shoes. Sister telepathy told me she blamed me for scuffing the heels of her designer pumps.
As if I cared. I had real issues. Like Matt’s life going to hell and my father going MIA for his first parents’ weekend ever. Just thinking about it stung.
“Laurie, so good to see you,” Mr. Butler said in his chummy Texas twang while the redhead linked arms with my sister and compared manicures. “Would you mind if we steal this boy away for an hour or so? Lots of news to catch up on, and he needs to get to know Sherry.”
“It’s Lauren, Dad.” Matt corrected his father through clenched teeth. “And we were just about to order.”
“Nonsense!” My mother ganged up on us now. “Lauren promised us she’d go shopping while we were here. Lots of things to do when there’s a wedding to plan.” She squeezed Kellianne’s shoulders.
The blushing bride shook off Mom like a bad cold. Definitely some tension there. Before I could protest, Mom tugged me to my feet while Matt’s dad took my place at the picnic table.
“We haven’t even eaten,” I protested once we were out of earshot. I was practically salivating for ribs and slaw. “We might as well have something while we’re here.”
“Do you remember how form-fitting the maid of honor dress is?” Kellianne eyed my waist like I’d put on ten pounds at camp.
“Fine. I’ll starve myself. I’m sure a cadaver will be an attractive addition to the wedding party.” Stomping down the sidewalk away from the Big Mountain, I braved a glance back at Matt. The discussion at his table was already animated. The redhead had disappeared, leaving Matt and his father in a heated talk. I felt for Matt. I really did. But I had to put in my time on the wedding and it was parents’ weekend. I might as well spend time with the only parent who had shown up for me.
“If there even is a wedding,” Kellianne muttered as we followed Mom to the stores.
“Everything okay?” I whispered out of the corner of my mouth. Mom hated public scenes.
Kellianne shrugged, the bones of her shoulders protruding even further. How much weight had my already slim sister lost, and why? “It’s fine.” She lifted her long hair and fanned the back of her neck. “Forget it.”
And with that, her heels clattered on the cement as she caught up to Mom. Hours later, we’d been in every store in the tiny town and I had a whole new list of wedding jobs. Lunch had consisted of a low-carb chicken wrap that tasted about as good as the food at camp. I tried not to think about the pizza and wings Dad and I would have been wolfing down if he’d come.
I hadn’t seen any sign of Matt or his father since we’d parted ways at the restaurant. The sun was setting when I hurried to join Mom and Kellianne at some frou-frou girl store with so much pink in the window I’d require an insulin shot before we were done.
“Lauren.” Kellianne stopped me on the sidewalk while Mom exclaimed over retro eyeglasses on a display table outside. “Who are you taking to my wedding?”
The question was completely unexpected. As was Kellianne’s serious expression.
“Matt, of course.” My heartbeat sped up, as if she could see my doubts and worries.
“Are you sure?” she pressed.
No
.
“Yes.” I fought the urge to fidget. “Why?”
“Because I noticed that seating chart you gave me has you sitting next to some guy named Seth Reines.” She followed Mom into the shop, leaving me to scrape my jaw off the floor.
Had I written Seth’s name in by mistake? I was tempted to run out to the car and look for myself, but I didn’t want to seem as pathetic as I felt. Besides, Kellianne would have no way of knowing Seth’s name otherwise. I’d made Dad promise not to tell Mom and Kellianne about my camp boyfriend, and as far as I knew he never had. Plus, Dad had been as MIA to the rest of the family this year as he had been for me.
“Sorry about that,” I mumbled behind her as we wound our way through an overpriced tourist trap dressed up like a French boutique. “I must have been overtired. I can take the chart back and proofread more carefully.”
“That’s okay,” she chirped in a sing-song way that put me on edge. “I’ll be anxious to read over it and see how many more people are attending that I’ve never heard of.”
I buried my nose in a display of body scrubs and sea salts, hoping she’d drop the subject. Especially when two Divas’ Den girls came into the shop. Hannah and Brittany, the vampire-obsessed airhead. She was so pretty that boys didn’t seem to care about her fake fangs.
“Sooo,” my sister continued, sidling up next to me to check out a mud scrub packaged in a bottle shaped like a poodle. “Who’s Seth?”
“No one,” I whispered. The last thing I wanted was for Hannah to get word I’d been seen ditching Matt and talking about Seth. She’d convince Matt our relationship was over before I returned to camp.
“He doesn’t sound like no one,” Kellianne huffed. “But if you want to keep your secrets, go right ahead. Like I care about your love life.”
Right. She never had before. So why had she asked me about it today?
While Mom and Kellianne studied the display of earrings, I headed outside to avoid further catastrophe. I breathed in the mountain air that grew cooler as the sun slipped lower on the horizon, savoring the scent of pine needles as a soft breeze blew in off the lake.
It was so pretty here. I slipped away from the crowded streets where half my camp congregated to buy ice cream cones and spend the new influx of cash from their visiting parents. Heading closer to the lake, I stopped short at the sight of a dark-haired football star on a stone bench.
“Matt?” I felt a little uncertain approaching him, because something about his posture seemed off. Hunched over, head in hands, he didn’t look like the confident boy who had all of Jefferson Davis High wrapped around his finger.
Slowly, he picked his head up and met my gaze. His green eyes were darker than usual. His tie was loose, and the top button of his shirt was undone. His hands fisted on his knees.
“He gave the girlfriend a ring.” His voice was flat. Almost unrecognizable.
“But he’s not divorced yet,” I said stupidly. “He can’t do that.”
“He says it’s not an engagement ring.” Matt glared out at the water. “But you know that’s how the girlfriend sees it. Worse, that’s how Mom will see it.”