Page 34 of New River Gorge(ous)
Sometimes I hate having manners. It would be so much easier if I didn’t know I needed to treat everyone with kindness and respect. For better or for worse, the Golden Rule has stuck with me from years of Sunday school and sermons.
Addie shakes my hand briefly. “So, you two are friends?” she questions.
That’s weird. Why isn’t she asking Beck?
She laughs, a tinkly, airy sound with no mirth, as I look to Beck for an answer. “Oh, don’t bother trying to get Beck to talk. He doesn’t do that. It’s up to you to give me the scoop on”—she surveys the awkward space between Beck and me, and smirks while she waves her perfectly manicured fingers—“whatever this is.”
Beck’s Adam’s apple bobs.
My heart beats in double time. This man is strong and confident, and just saved a woman’s life earliertoday. Yet, here he is, on a rock ledge, and this woman has reduced him to rubble.
Anger bubbles up from my stomach.
How can one woman do this to a man? How can a woman beat a good man down like this?
“Actually, Addie.” I make sure to say her name, giving her a clue that I know a bit about her. “We’re on a date. And we’d love that picture now.”
In what might be the most unhinged moment of my life, I stand on my tiptoes, put my arms around Beck’s neck, and leanin to kiss his cheek. While I’m by Beck’s ear, I whisper, “Don’t let her get to you.”
He startles and turns to face me, brushing our noses together.
“Thanks,” he whispers in return.
I smile, then quickly sink back down to my heels, slip my hand into Beck’s, and hold my other hand out for my phone as I stare Addie down.
Addie’s narrowed eyes and tight-lipped frown would have clued me in to the kind of person she is, but even more so, the words she speaks reveal the true colors of her heart.
“Good luck withthat, honey.” She sneers as she places the phone in my hand.
Thethatbeing Beck, apparently. I resist the urge to roll my eyes.
I pocket my phone and tug Beck’s hand, leading him back to the trail. I’ve always been a take-charge type of person, and I was hoping I wouldn’t have to be with Beck, but he remains silent for the walk back to his car, and I can’t think of anything to say.
Parked next to Beck’s old truck is a shiny black SUV with a luxury brand decal on the back. I bite my lip to stop myself from saying anything because that car—it has to be Addie’s.
Beck ignores the vehicle next to his truck and silently opens my door before crossing in front of the truck and climbing into his own seat.
He sits, silent for a breath, as he stares straight ahead at the edge of the parking lot, then puts his arm around the back of the passenger seat, turns his head, and backs out of the parking space.
Thoughts fly through my head at a mile a minute, but the only one I would actually say is the one that sticks in my throat. Whatever just happened at Long Point, no matter how uncomfortable that situation made me, Beck is hurting, and Ican’t bring myself to say,So that’s the woman who left you at the altar? Good riddance.
The tension in the truck is too much, and without realizing it, I begin to pull on my hair.
Beck’s eyes are firmly planted on the road when he breaks the suffocating silence. “You shouldn’t do that.”
“What?” I try to meet his gaze, but it’s stubbornly fixed ahead.
“Your hair.”
I pull my hand away, staring at it as if it has a mind of its own.
“Oh,” I breathe. “I just—I do it when I’m nervous. I don’t even realize I’m doing it some—”
I break off in mid-sentence as Beck makes a sudden turn into a small church parking lot. He shifts the truck into park before scrubbing a hand over his face. The calloused skin of his palm makes a rasping noise against the softness of his freshly shaven face. He looks at me, brown eyes meeting mine with a plea for understanding in them.
I give him a small smile and nod, watching as he fights for words.
“I…” He sighs. “That’s Addie.”
