Page 53 of The Wedding Twist

“All right, well, I just wanted to let you know.” She stood up and motioned to the lodge. “I’m going to head in and check on things. I’ll see you later on.”

As soon as she was out of earshot, there would be a conversation. But that was between Jeannie and Everett. They might’ve been her employers but they were also her parents, and no matter what they thought of the whole thing, Celeste knew it was important to them that she felt supported.

Her heart felt a bit heavy as she walked up the path from the lake to the lodge, a path she’d walked a thousand times in her life. As a child in a bathing suit after a morning dip in the lake, Jeannie had scolding her to keep out of the way of the guests while she’d run up to grab a Popsicle. As a teenager under the moonlight, getting dropped off at the dock after a party on the island on the other side of the lake, attempting to slip in without her parents knowing she’d missed curfew.

And now as an adult, trying to make the right decision for her future, a future that felt so uncertain and so undefined. Was she making the right choice? Why couldn’t there be a sign?

She had to hope that this trip would bring some clarity.

*

Jack was ina mood.

Another last-minute cancellation had come through only hours before he was meant to meet the group, and even though they were past the point of getting their registration fee back, it still pissed him off that it was so last-minute.

In an uncharacteristic move that made him wonder if his own bad spirits were rubbing off on Bodie, the dog had chewed through one of Jack’s favorite running shoes.

His kettle had shorted out that morning, so he hadn’t had a coffee yet, and now he had to make an unplanned visit to Canadian Tire to pick up a new one.

The host on the local radio station was blabbering on some inane story about running out of plastic wrap. He stabbed the radio console to change the station. A sappy love song played through the speakers.

He growled and shut the damn thing off. Whoever bought into those songs was a fool, as far as he was concerned.

The Canadian Tire was on the outskirts of Sandpiper Springs, close to the lumber mill that employed many of the town’s residents. He slowed his truck down as he entered the residential area.

When he passed by the run-down government-housing townhouse complex, a familiar vehicle caught his eye. You didn’t see too many Hummers in these parts. As he got closer, he made out the familiar decal on the side panel.Forrest.

Jack scowled. He knew it. It was common knowledge that people looking for pills came around this complex, and Jack had no doubt that along with ruining his business, Forrest was still a total lowlife, either buying or selling drugs or doing them himself.

Without signaling, he pulled his truck into the gravel parking lot, blocking Forrest’s Hummer in his parking spot. He was going to give the kid a piece of his mind for the second time that week. Then he was going to let the punk’s dad know what his son was up to.

He got out of the truck and rapped on the driver’s-side window. Forrest looked up, panic in his eyes.

“Roll down your window,” Jack ordered.

Forrest opened the window a crack. “What the hell, man,” he said. “Move your truck.”

“Not until you admit you’re still selling drugs,” Jack said. “I knew it.”

“You don’t know anything,” Forrest said. The fear in his eyes had changed to resignation. “Mind your own business.”

“It is my business,” Jack said. “First you open your hack operation in my territory, steal my clients. And now you’re bringing that trash,” he said, nodding to a gym bag on Forrest’s front seat, “to a community that needs none of it. Tell me why I shouldn’t call the cops right now.”

“I’m not selling drugs.”

“Prove it,” Jack said. “Let me see what’s in the bag.”

“Get out of my face.”

He pulled his phone from his pocket. “All right. I’m making the call.”

Forest took a deep breath, then picked up the bag, opened the window the rest of the way, and shoved the bag at Jack. “I’d appreciate you keeping this to yourself,” he muttered.

Jack unzipped the gym bag and stared for a second at the contents. He looked back at Forrest, who closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the headrest, then looked back at the bag in his hands, trying to make sense of what he was holding.

“Baby formula?” Jack said.

Forrest opened his eyes and stared straight ahead. “Like I said. If you can keep it to yourself…”

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