Page 3 of One Weekend in Perth

A huge one, but here she was standing in the lobby of the hotel Ben was about to be married in.

She shouldn’t be here. Nothing good would come of watching her best friend marry a person she couldn’t stand. Not to mention, get her heart broken at the same time.

Yet, she needed to be there to see it happen. To know there was no hope. That the chance she had of ever telling her best friend how she truly felt was gone. At one point, pre-Fern, she wondered if Ben had felt the same, but when nothing happened, she pushed her feelings down and pursued her own relationship, which had ended disastrously. She never told Ben about that.

She accepted that they were destined never to be anything more than just friends.

“Clara!”

Wait? That sounded like Ben?

Had her thoughts conjured him up?

No, she hadn’t manifested him into appearing. He was there, striding toward her. His hair mussed as if he’d thrust his fingers through it a few times. His shirt sleeves were pushed up with thetop button undone. His suit jacket was nowhere to be seen. But more than looking disheveled, he looked … distressed.

“Ben?” She rushed up to him, her natural instinct to soothe her best friend automatic. Something she’d tried over the last few months to ignore, but right this second, she couldn’t.

“Get me out of here.”

“What? The wedding’s in an?—”

“Get me out of here,” he repeated, the urgency in his demand unmistakable.

There was something seriously wrong with him. Clara didn’t know what it was. Or what caused the need for him to flee, but she would do what she knew he would do for her if the roles were reversed—get him out of there.

“Okay. I’m parked down the street.” Clara looked around the lobby to see if someone was chasing Ben, but she didn’t recognize any of the people milling about.

Ben cupped her elbow and together they hurried out of the hotel and onto the street. A million questions were going through her mind, and she bit her lip to stop herself from asking them.

Did Reed know Ben was having a freak out? If so, why wasn’t he by his brother’s side?

More questions, and she had no clue what the answers were. Right this moment, Ben needed her to be Clara, his friend, and that’s what she’d be.

They reached her car and she unlocked it, once again scanning the area before she got in. Still, no one rushed out of the hotel looking for Ben.

“Where do you want to go?” she asked as she started it.

“Anywhere. I don’t care. Just get me away from here.”

“Okay.” Checking the road and seeing it was safe, Clara pulled out and headed toward the hotel she booked into for the weekend. It was an indulgence that wasn’t necessary,considering she lived in a perfectly good townhome thirty minutes from the city, but one she decided she needed.

Five minutes later, they pulled into the underground parking garage. Ben hadn’t said a word, and she hadn’t attempted to start a conversation with him.

“Why are we here?” he asked once they’d parked.

“I booked a room. I decided…” She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter why. Come on, let’s go.”

Not waiting for Ben to respond, she got out and grabbed her sparkly clutch from the backseat where she’d tossed it.

All through the elevator ride to her floor, she kept her eye on Ben. Watched to see if she could find out what was going on with him. The anger she saw in his hazel eyes in the hotel lobby was gone. In its place was a blankness she never saw from her friend before. It was as though he’d shut down all his emotions.

What the hell happened?

Had Fern upset him?

Mentally, Clara scoffed; anything was possible with Ben’s future wife. At first she seemed nice, but once he put a ring on it, Fern turned cold and possessive, and did everything possible to put a rift between her and Ben, not trusting the relationship between them was platonic.

It had definitely been platonic on Ben’s side from the moment he committed to a forever with Fern, but for Clara, her heart slowly broke when Ben told her he and Fern were getting married.

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