Page 15 of The Last Trip

“We haven’t decided yet.” Cal, standing next to the table with all three bowls of chili placed in our respective spots, cuts me off before I get the chance to finish my sentence. “We have a few options we’re toying with, but I think we want it to be a surprise, right, darling? We feel as if we’ll know in the moment. When we see her for the first time.”

This man has never called medarlingin his entire life. Suddenly, the show he’s putting on for his daughter that seemed charming and sweet moments ago is grating my nerves like they’re swiss cheese. I’ve never felt so alone and completelyhelpless. What is she going to say? What is her end goal here? Why can’t he see what a phony she is?

Most importantly,what does she want from us? From me? How did she find us? Find him?

“Right,” I mutter, crossing the room to take a seat.

Janelle and Cal join me, and we dig into the meal, eating in silence for a few moments before Cal speaks again. “So, Janelle, tell us about yourself. I know we spoke a little on the phone, but I don’t think you ever mentioned what brought you to Nashville in the first place. I’m assuming you moved on your own. Your mom didn’t end up leaving home, did she?”

She looks down, and it’s only then I remember how young she is. Her midtwenties, Cal said. She’d have to be, for the timeline to make sense, but she always seemed older to me. Then again, I never tried to guess.

“Oh, um, well, no. Mom…she stayed in Columbia with my grandparents until…” She stops herself, clearing her throat. “She never left. And I wanted to be close to her, while also feeling a bit like I had my own life, you know? Nashville was the obvious choice. I could still go home and visit her most weekends, and I wasn’t too far away when she needed me.”

He stirs his chili slowly. “I’m so sorry to hear about your loss. She was really special.”

Cal’s words scrape over my skin, made worse only by the fact that he avoids eye contact with me as he says them.

“Yeah, she was.” Janelle’s voice cracks, and she clears her throat. “Are you close to your mom?” She looks at me, and my heart ticks in my chest, because she knows the answer to that question, and I hate that I ever gave her access to that part of me.

I look down, taking another bite of my dinner, which suddenly tastes as bland as plain oatmeal. “I was. She’s…in poor health. I don’t get to see her often anymore.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.” Without warning, she reaches across the table and touches my arm gently, and it’s as if she’s brandished my skin with a fiery-hot poker.

I pull back, but not quickly. Not fast enough to make it obvious something is wrong. “Thank you.”

“I’ve always wanted a little sister,” Janelle says playfully. “Maybe it seems silly, but the fact that you’re pregnant is kind of a dream come true for me.” She stirs her chili, my stomach churning at the eerie way her words land in my chest. Looking at Cal, she adds, “I used to beg Mom for a sister, but she said it was just going to be us. We were a team.” Her tough smile turns sad. “I know she really cared about you.”

Nervously, Cal’s eyes shift toward me. “We were really young back then.”

“Totally,” she says, studying her bowl like she’s preparing for a pop quiz. Then, “But, to tell you the truth, I don’t think she ever got over you.”

Except, as she says the words, it’s not Cal she’s looking at. It’s me.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

HIM — BEFORE

I’m down on one knee. It’s the moment I’ve waited most of my life for. The ring is in my hand. The woman of my dreams is standing in front of me. I’ve asked the question, so then…

Why isn’t she smiling?

Why isn’t she jumping up and down and screaming yes?

Why isn’t she in my arms already, kissing me?

Why does this suddenly feel very, very wrong?

Still on the ground, I stare up at her, unable to understand the look on her beautiful face. “What’s the matter?”

“Honey, you know. We talked about this. I told you I wasn’t ready.” Her face pinches brutally, and I realize she’s trying not to cry.

Slowly, I snap the ring box shut and stand. “That was months ago. You said you wanted to wait until we’d talked about it more, and we have. We’ve talked about it nonstop for months.”

“You kept bringing it up, yes, but my answers didn’t change.”

“I waited until you graduated, like you asked. I’m sick of hiding. I want the world to know that you’re mine.”

“Then we’ll put each other on our social media or something. We don’t have to get married. I know you’re older and ready, but I’m…”

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