Page 69 of Side Trip

“Makes you think less of me?”

She shook her head. “Makes me think what I said earlier is true.”

“What’s that?”

“She wasn’t the right one for you.”

“People still cheat when they love someone.”

Joy looked down. “Maybe,” she murmured, aware she was doing exactly that with Mark. Lying, cheating, avoiding. Her fiancée scorecard was looking quite dismal.

He nudged her knee. “What about Mark?”

“What about him?”

“You say you love him, love at first sight, and all that, but does he know about Judy’s list?”

Joy dropped her chin to her chest. She shook her head, too tired to lie and tired of lying. She also didn’t want to lie to Dylan. It felt wrong.

“He doesn’t know why you’re driving across country then?”

“No.” But Dylan didn’t either. He knew about the list, but not why she was determined to finish it. She picked at her fingernails, hoping he wouldn’t ask.

“Jack cheated on Billie all the time,” he said gently. “He’d pay his bandmates to cover up his affairs. If my mom had known about half of them, she would have split years sooner. Their marriage was built on secrets and lies and it imploded.” He reached across her lap and lifted her left hand, startling her. His thumb pad lightly stroked the square-cut diamond. It felt strange having another man touch the ring Mark had put on her finger, almost as strange as it felt wearing the ring in the first place.

“Remember what you said about Sonia?” he asked.

“She wasn’t the right one for you.” Her heart raced. She knew where he was going with this because she’d thought it already. “You don’t think Mark is the right one for me.”

“What kind of marriage can you have when you can’t share the things that are important to you?”

The kind built on secrets and lies, she thought glumly.

“Do you think you’ll go through with it?” he asked.

“Marrying him?” She slipped her hand from Dylan’s. She wasn’t sure. “This trip hasn’t been anything like I expected,” she said.

What she had expected was an uneventful drive across country, checking off the Route 66 Bucket List items along the way. She’d arrive in New York with a little peace on her mind, having completed one of Judy’s lists. She and Mark would live happily ever after as she worked her way through her sister’s other lists. Questioning her engagement to Mark and whether he was the right man for her hadn’t been part of the plan.

She looked down at the engagement ring that still felt foreign. “I have a lot to think about.”

“I know, but not tonight. It’s late, and there’s plenty of time to figure things out tomorrow.” Dylan tugged her blanket up to her chin. “This trip might not be what you expected, but I’m glad we met.”

“Me too,” Joy agreed. She wasn’t sure what tomorrow held for her and Mark, but there was one thing she was sure about: she was falling hard for Dylan.

Dylan reached across the seat and, this time, touched her hair. She sighed. It felt good, his hand on her. His fingers brushed gently across her cheek and her eyes closed. Then his hand sought hers and his thumb absently caressed the skin between her thumb and index finger.

“Good night, Joy,” he whispered, still holding her hand. He then hummed the tune he’d played on the guitar and the notes seared their mark on her heart. She’d never forget that song, she thought, surrendering to sleep. She’d never forget Dylan either.

CHAPTER 20

AFTER

Joy

Settling onto the couch in the front parlor of their Chelsea neighborhood town house in Manhattan, Joy rips out a page from the monthly singles review in the most recentRolling Stone. The magazine has been a guilty pleasure since Judy gifted a subscription on her twelfth birthday. It’s the one thing she kept when she gave up everything else: skateboarding, surfing, and the belief that her likes, such as lazy summer afternoons chilling with the guy she’d been crushing on and soaking up the sun with friends, didn’t matter. Not yet.

Instead, she worked summers because that’s what Judy would have done. She also put aside her own aspiration of launching a line of natural beauty products. She once dreamed pop stars and indie artists would endorse her lotions and balms. But Judy wanted to create her own line of vintage-hued lipsticks, and if all goes well, Judy’s Lip Rouge will launch in a few months. Joy and her small team of chemists have been working hard at perfecting the colors. She even got marketing’s buy-in on the product’s name and packaging. Judy’s Lip Rouge will come in brass tubes etched with Vintage Chic’s scrolled logo.

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