Page 43 of (Un)Planned

She has NO idea. I blamed Theo and said he needed me in the city for the partners’ visit in a couple of weeks. She didn’t even blink.

COLE

Sounds good. Remind him he’s expected to show up too.

I laughed, sure that Theo had completely erased the event from his mind. It had been a draining, laborious six months renovating the Fox Creek Lodge and Campgrounds, but Alex and Cole were finally ready to show off their hard work. They’d asked all their friends and family to come for the weekend to help them work out the kinks before paying guests arrived. When I showed Theo the invitation, he scowled at me, not understanding why they expected him to attend. Apparently, he intended to be a silent investor—emphasis on thesilentpart.

I wasn’t about to let him out of it that easily. Besides the fact that I was ecstatic to see my friends after being gone for so long, I was excited to show Theo more of my hometown. He barely left the hotel the last time he visited, and it was time we changed that. As much as it shouldn’t matter, I wanted him to love Saint Stephen’s Lake as much as I did.

Just as I started to make a mental list of things to show him, Devyn stormed into my room, her arms crossed around her chest. “You can’t be serious.”

“What?” I asked, toying with my cuticles.MaybeI had also implied that Devyn would be coming with me, even though she hadn’t been to the lake in over five years.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Calla,” she sneered. “I just got an email from Alex’s boyfriend, filling me in on all the details of this weekend.”

I shrugged. “You and I both know you need a weekend away. Besides, Alex is my best friend, so according to sister law, you need to support her too. This soft opening means the world to her. Please come with me?”

She tapped her long nails against her arm, suddenly looking a lot like our mother. I didn’t dare voice that out loud, not if I wanted to see tomorrow. After a long stare down, Devyn finally rolled her eyes. “Fine.”

“Really?” I squeaked, jumping up to hug her.

“But I have ground rules.” She pulled back to look me in the eye. “We go to the lodge, and that’s it. No Isadora, no wandering through town, and sure as fuck no Lost Tavern.”

I gasped and dramatically hit my chest as if she’d struck me. “That is so rude. You know I always need a burger when I’m home.”

Devyn narrowed her eyes at me. “Fine.Yougo. But you better bring back one for me too.” She tapped on her phone. “Did you order a car yet?”

“Not yet.” I shifted on my feet. “I was thinking…what if we drove up with Theo?”

“Your boss?”

“Yeah…” I tried not to give away anything. I knew I had to tell Devyn what was happeningeventually, but right now, I was living in my blissful ignorance, pretending thatnothing could go wrong. The moment I told her, she’d voice all the reasons it was a bad idea. No, thank you. I wanted to hold onto this moment a little bit longer.

“He’s heading up for the weekend too, and you know he’s got a couple of nice cars hidden away.” I toyed with a sweater on my bed, avoiding her stare. “It could be fun.”

Devyn narrowed her eyes at me, trying to decipher the true meaning of my words. Maybe it was a bad idea to put all three of us in an enclosed space, but I didn’t care. I wanted more time with Theo.

It had been almost two weeks since our incredible weekend together, and we’d barely gotten any time together since. I’d spent a couple of nights at his place while Devyn was pulling all-nighters at her office, but even then, he’d been so stressed about the partners coming that we talked more about work than anything else.

As much as I admired his work ethic, I was also greedy for more of his undivided attention. Maybe this weekend would give us that chance, away from the city and all the pressure of hiding our relationship at work.

Devyn shook her head, walking back through my door. “I hope you know what you’re doing there.”

“Please explainto me again why you’re picking all the music when this is my car?”

Theo tilted his head, smirking at me as he pulled off onto the highway. I shrugged. “It’s not my fault you have horrible taste in music. Even for an old man, this stuff is terrible.”

“It’s classic rock,” Theo argued.

“A nice way ofsayingold.”

“Children,” Devyn called from the backseat, lifting an AirPod from her ear. “Some of us are trying to nap back here. Both of you admit that you have terrible taste and drive in silence for a while.”

I rolled my eyes as Theo chuckled. Somehow, I’d convinced both Theo and Devyn to take Friday off so we could get to the Lodge a little earlier. The sooner I got to Alex, the better I would feel. I could only imagine what Cole was going through. Even though we all knew Alex would say yes, it had to be nerve-wracking.

When the three of us loaded into Theo’s SUV this morning, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but we’d struck up a comfortable camaraderie. Devyn and Theo got along well, bonding over their mutual workaholic tendencies. Seeing Theo laugh with the only member of my family I liked made his place in my heart solidify a little bit more.

I turned, staring out of the window, wondering if I should try to get some sleep as well. We were only about an hour into our hours-long drive, and from here, it would mostly be empty highways and stretches of land, but I was too excited to close my eyes. It was sad. I’d spent years away from the city and never really missed it. Take me out of Saint Stephen’s Lake for a couple of months, and it was like I was missing a limb.

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