Page 17 of The Last Trip

“I’m sensing some type of scandal.” Janelle laughs. “Do you two work together at the university?”

“No,” I say quickly. “I work for a small marketing firm. Mostly from home, especially now with the baby coming. What about you? Cal didn’t mention what you do.”

Before she can answer, Cal’s phone rings loudly on the table, and we all turn to look at it. Cal is one of the only people I know who still keeps his phone’s ringer on. I’ve never once seen the man set it to vibrate. It’s an obnoxious ring, too. Like an old telephone. It makes him feel sophisticated, I think, though he always just says it’s because he doesn’t want to miss anything. I can’t count the number of times I’ve woken up from a dead sleep because his phone is ringing for this reason or that. He knows it drives me crazy, but it’s one of the many things he’s inflexible on. He glances down at the screen and shakes his head, silencing the phone. “Probably a scam call.” He waves a hand for Janelle to go on. “Finish what you were saying.”

“Well, I teach workout classes at a local gym,” she says. “I actually want to open my own gym someday.” She holds her hands in front of her face, pushing them together, then pulling them apart like she’s displaying an invisible canvas. “That’s, like, the long-term dream.”

“That’s amazing,” Cal says, as if she’s just announced she wants to be the first person to inhabit the moon. Still, at least this part of herself is real. At least this part is true.

At Cal’s end of the table, his phone starts to ring again, and he looks down, appearing annoyed. “I guess I’m going to answer this.”

“The same number?” I ask.

He nods, standing from the table and pressing the phone to his ear as he walks out of the room. “Hello?”

Left in silence, I stare at her. It takes several seconds for her eyes to find mine, but eventually, they do. In the blue, I see a challenge.

“What are you doing here?” I whisper, straight to the point.

“What do you mean?” she asks, eyes wide.

“What do you want, Janelle? Is that even your real name? Because the way I heard it, it’s Ellie.”

She’s quiet for a while, and I swear she’s about to deny knowing what I’m talking about, but eventually, she lowers her voice enough to say, “You can see where the nickname came from, though. Surely.”

“Why are you here?” I ask through gritted teeth. “What is this about? Are you really his daughter, or are you here because of me?”

She sucks in a breath through her teeth, eyes darting between mine, but before she can say anything, Cal is back in the room, and the wall she’d dropped just moments ago is back up.

Without looking at us, he stalks over to the sink and rips open the cabinet beneath it.

“Who was it?” I ask, watching as he kneels down and pokes his head into the small, dark space under the sink.

“The homeowners. They said the water department just called them and said there’s more water than normal being used here over the past few days. They’re worried there’s a leak. They’re coming to check it out.” He glances back at me, his face somber.

“Oh no!” Seeing my opportunity, I stand, “I’m so sorry, Janelle. You’d probably better leave in case this all gets messy.”

Her face falls. “But I just got here.” She looks at Cal to see if he’ll argue, but he’s too busy looking under the sink to notice.

“I know. It’s the worst timing. Maybe once we get back, we can have you around for dinner. I’m so sorry, but these people are kind of weird. If they find out we have someone else here that wasn’t on the reservation, I’m not sure what they’ll do.” I gesture toward the door, a perfectly pleasant smile on my face. I have no idea what game she’s playing at, but at least for the moment, I’ve taken control of the board.

She looks back at me, then nods, but her face is cold. She’s angry. “Okay. Um, sure. Fine.”

Cal stands up finally, realizing what’s happened. “Oh, right.” He looks at me, but there is no budging on my expression. Adjusting his belt, he puffs out a breath of air, looking back at Janelle. “Yeah, I guess she’s probably right. The rules do say we’re supposed to get guests approved.” He approaches her slowly, arms outstretched. As he hugs her, everything in me goes tight. “When we get back home, we’ll all go out to eat somewhere. Your choice.”

She releases him and steps back. “Thanks again for having me.”

As she leaves, she doesn’t spare me a single glance.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

HIM — BEFORE

She wasn’t supposed to say no. I should be pissed. Iampissed. But I’m also smart enough to know we’re soulmates, that she’s the one I’m supposed to marry, and walking away from all of this will only make it worse.

She waited two days to text me, to tell me that she’s sorry, and she doesn’t want to lose me. I wish I could say I understand, that I feel for her and get the predicament she’s in, but I can’t. It’s me. The love of her life. We’re perfect for each other, and the decision to let that dangle on a thread is one I don’t understand.

She’s coming over tonight, and things are going to get back to normal. I refuse to lose her and refuse to give up on the dream. All my life, I’ve had a plan. I knew I was going to meet the girl of my dreams young. I knew I was going to get married and have four or five kids and two dogs. It’s always been the plan, but none of my relationships have worked out. None of the girls were ready for this level of commitment. For my intensity. None of them were as serious about us as I am, not until I met her. I know she says she isn’t ready either, but we both know she’s just scared. Her mother is sick; her father is gone. She doesn’t have a family. She doesn’t have a life outside of this relationship, and that worries her.

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