Page 8 of Deal Breaker
“No. Odds are, I’ll be at the cabin before you. If I check in first, I’ll leave a message with reception to say I’m already there. And if, by some miracle, you’re there before me, tell them the same.”
“Do you want to get dinner and drinks when we get there?”
Again, I wondered about Autumn’s listening skills. “You girls do what you want. I’ll be at the rehearsal dinner.” I checked the refrigerator, looking to see if I had any beer left. Gratefully, I popped the cap off the top of the bottle and slugged a mouthful.
“Oh, yeah, right, you did mention that.” I heard a knock at Autumn’s door. “Gotta go, Sophie’s here so we can coordinate our outfits.”
Suddenly, I didn’t want to end the call. I wanted to listen in on Autumn and Sophie’s conversation about wedding outfits.
Autumn was still speaking as she opened the door to her friend. “Yeah, it’s only Max. We were talking about travel arrangements. Apparently, he doesn’t want to come with us because those hours in a car would be hell.”
I heard Sophie giggle in the background. “Hey, Max!” she called. “See you this weekend.”
Before I could say anything, Autumn had ended the call, and I was left like a goldfish mouthing words no one could hear. I hefted a sigh and tucked my phone in the back pocket of my jeans. Another inventory of the refrigerator unearthed a box of noodles from the previous evening, which I devoured without tasting. Once I’d finished “dinner,” I settled down on the sofa and switched on the television, staring at the ball game on the screen without really watching it. It had been a couple of months since I’d seen Sophie properly.
Occasionally, I bumped into her if she was out with Autumn. She’d recently started a fancy new job at a lawyer’s practice; I doubted she would ever look twice at someone who worked on a construction site. No, she’d be dating a hot-shot lawyer with heaps of money and a fancy car. Not someone who scraped together the rent for his New York apartment because he couldn’t bear to live anywhere else and owned a beat-up truck. Not that it mattered. I loved what I did. Never interested in all the theory behind things, I much preferred working with my hands. I could have studied architecture, but the five-year long course had been another turn off, not to mention the cost of places like Harvard, Yale, or Cornell. I’d rather be doing something than learning about it, more about learning on the job rather than the theory. As an aside, the work was great for building strength and muscle. I had no real need to go to the gym, although I did because I enjoyed it.
My mind wandered back to the upcoming weekend. I knew Sophie wasn’t bringing a date to the wedding either. If she had, she wouldn’t have been travelling with my sister and Jodie. I was also 100 percent sure Autumn would have made me aware of any developments in Sophie’s love life, like she always did. Secretly, I was always pleased when there weren’t any.
Chapter Three
Sophie
The directions Brianna had provided clearly stated that it took 90 minutes to get from New York to the Holiday Springs resort.
It was just a shame Jodie didn’t get the same message.
“I told you not to use the GPS address,” grumbled Autumn, desperately trying to find out where we were using the maps app on her phone.
“You said to turn left at Bart’s Bar and Grill!” protested Jodie.
We’d pulled over in a safe place to try to establish exactly where we were and how close the resort actually was.
“I said the restaurant would be on the left, and then we needed to turn right onto Mountain Springs Drive.” Autumn tried to keep her voice on an even keel, but I could sense she was struggling.
“Here, let me take a look.” I leaned over from the back seat and grabbed the paper version of the directions. Looking around, I tried to match up any landmarks.
We’d left home shortly after three, with the expectation of being there late afternoon. It was already close to six, and dusk had started to fall. I hoped we’d get there before it got completely dark. I didn’t like our chances by the way Autumn and Jodie were bickering in the front.
“Why don’t we turn around, get back to the bar and grill, and start again?” I suggested. It seemed the sensible thing to do.
“Ugh, why didn’t I think of that?” Autumn threw her phone on her seat in frustration. “Jodie?”
“Okay, gimme a minute. I’m not familiar with this car, remember?” Jodie struggled to get the car into reverse, then swung in a wide arc to get back on the other side of the road. She narrowly missed another car coming in the other direction, prompting a long burst from their horn.
“Geez, way to go. Trying to kill us before we’ve even got there.”
“Shut up, Autumn. I don’t see you driving.”
“At least if I was, we might be there before nightfall, Jodie.”
“Ladies, please,” I begged. “There’s no need to be bitching at each other. We all want to get there as soon as possible. Let’s concentrate on that.”
“You can tell she’s started working at a law firm,” giggled Jodie. “Forever the peacemaker.”
“You gonna bill us for the advice?” teased Autumn.
I gave a satisfied smile. At least I’d stopped them arguing for two minutes.
