Chapter One
1st January 2011
1.30am
Dear Diary
Tonight was the worst… but also maybe kind of the best? I’m writing this by torchlight under the covers at Sloane’s house. I needed to get it all out before I forgot…
Syke, like I could forget tonight!
We were allowed to stay up to watch the ball drop. Sloane’s parents were drinking and playing music, we were dancing and it was fun.
Then Theo came down the stairs… with Vanessa - his girlfriend. They looked like they’d been making out or something. Vanessa had a rash around her mouth and I almost barfed.
Theo ruffled my hair and told me I looked like a blueberry. I guess cos I was wearing the dress mom had made me. I’d thought it was pretty until his girlfriend decided she wanted to plunge the knife in and said… loud enough that only Sloane, Theo and I heard.
“She’s round as one too.”
God. I wanted to die.
Sloane called her a bitch and then everything went nutso. Her mom told her off, it was two seconds from calling my parents to get me when Theo set everything straight.
Said his “EX GIRLFRIEND” was leaving.
Theo Bennett broke up with his girlfriend because of me?
Present Day
I was going to kill Sloane.
I’d let her talk me into doing a road trip with Theo to Harrison Falls. It would have been easier to fly and bus, less awkward - but she’d insisted it would be good for the morale - whatever that meant - of the Maid of honor and the best man. So I’d agreed.
Now he was late. Maybe he’d forgotten about me, of course I couldn’t be so lucky. Sloane wouldn’t let him forget about me.
I glanced at my reflection in the glass door. I was wearing a yellow sundress, with thin straps and an open back. Something completely out of my comfort zone, but I’d been pushing myself to try new things… Though as I grabbed at the fabric I wondered if this weekend had been the right time to try anything new.
I contemplated changing, but of course it was then that Theo’s black truck pulled up. I wasn’t prepared for how devastatingly handsome he still was. It wasn’t like I’d expected that to change. Theo had always been good looking. I’d just hoped I’d outgrown the stupid crush I’d harbored since high school.
“Two suitcases Gin?” He teased jumping out of his truck. “It’s only a week-long trip.”
I rolled my eyes. If he was going to start on the teasing now this really was going to be a long week. I dragged my cases to the truck, and he took them from me, lifting them like they weighed nothing, into the back of his truck.
“It’s a wedding and I’m the maid of honor and I need options for all the events, and shoes… It’s not so easy being a woman in today’s world.”
Theo broke into a smile that took up his entire face. I wasn’t so sure what I’d said that was worthy of a smile that wide, but he seemed amused.
“Relax Gin, it’s okay. Let’s get on the road.”
Thankfully he had a little fold out step stool on the truck, because if he hadn’t I wouldn’t have been able to climb in. I was a lot shorter than any girl he’d probably had in his truck.
We kept the conversation light, talking about work and the weather… and then two hours into the six hour drive, Theo’s truck decided to give up.
There was a large clunk, followed by a shudder and my stomach fell into my ass. Without realising I grabbed onto Theo’s forearm, that was already changing down gears and pulling down to the side of the road. I let out a somewhat scaredy cat scream and only barely managed to ward off a panic attack.
“You’re okay” He soothed, his hand moved from the steering wheel to mine, that was still clutching his arm. I nodded and focused on breathing. While he called the directory for a mechanic.
“Well, good news is she can be fixed.” The mechanic said, wiping off his hands. “Bad news is it’ll cost ya - and we can’t get the parts in till the morning.”
I was going to be sick. A night with Theo sounded like torture, well not actual torture… but fuck. I needed to get to my hotel room, away from him so I could think again.
“Nothing you can do today?” Theo almost begged, which made me wonder if he was almost as determined to get away from me.
“’Fraid not. There is a motel down the road. Starlight lodge. Tell them Al sent you. The wife will give you a ride.”
Theo got our luggage out of the truck and the mechanic started hitching it up to the tow truck. His wife Brenda gave us a ride to the lodge and told us she would come by in the morning to bring us back to the workshop.
We walked into the reception and I left Theo to organize a room while I called Sloane.
“Hey! How’s the roadtrip?” Sloane sang into my ear.
“Uh.” I turned and fast on the road, watching cars pass by every now and again. “Stationary.”
“Excuse me?” she said, her tone changing immediately.
“The truck broke down, we have to stay overnight in..” I looked around the room - a welcome to Hedgefield pamphlet on the stand by the door helped. “Hedgefield.”
“Oh my god. I’m going to kill my brother!”
“It’s okay, it was the truck. Not him. We’re fine, we’ll be there tomorrow.”
“I can get Dad to drive through?”
The idea was nice, but knowing everything the Bennett’s were doing to prepare for the wedding… it was not something I was willing to agree to.
“No, we’ll be fine. Pizza, trashy TV and an early night sounds like heaven.”
And a separate room and bed, though I didn’t say that out loud.
“Okay, well let me know when you leave in the morning.”
“Will do.”
“Love you Ginny!”
“You to Sloane.”
I hung up the phone and turned back to face Theo who had just turned around and held up a singular key. He was smiling, but it wasn’t reaching his eyes and I knew that it meant I wasn’t going to like what he was about to say.
“Sooo.” he began. “They only have one room left, but it’s a double queen. Separate beds.”
I sighed, that was going to have to do - at least tomorrow we’d be separated and I could continue to pretend like he didn’t still affect me the way he always had.
“Fun, a sleepover.” I replied dryly.
Fuck my life... this week was going to be torture.
