Page 62 of The Weekend Crashers
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Piper lies in bed in the dark, awake. She called Ethan back, but it went straight to voicemail. She keeps thinking about their last phone call from his perspective. What if he were on a trip having some random adventures with a strange woman? Staying at a romantic little inn? She’d be annoyed. But that doesn’t mean she’s done anything wrong. And if Ethan is worried about any misunderstanding, about her seeming tooavailable, well, that’s what engagement rings are for—signaling that you’re off the market. She’s not going to lose sleep tonight feeling guilty about making a new friend.
At this point, she wishes she’d gone camping after all. She could use the company.
Up above, floorboards creek in Kalli and Laurel’s room. She imagines them settling in for the night, having some fun girl talk. The same thing she’d be doing with Maggie right now if she’d gone camping. And since Cole is the one who’s responsible for her sitting alone in the room in the middle of her mother-daughter weekend, she figures she can bother him. It seems only fair.
She texts, asking if he really stayed behind all night. When he says yes, she admits she regrets not going out.
Your parent-trap idea better work or I just wasted a whole night of this trip being alone.
He writes back:
Don’t be alone - u can hang w/me. I’m watching Don Draper.
She’d love to hang out and binge a show. But again, she thinks of Ethan. The optics are not good. But her need to escape her ruminations wins out. She changes back into her jeans and sneakers. This is strictly a friendly hang.
Cole’s room is on the fourth floor, the Ben Franklin. When she reaches it, the door is ajar and the room is fully lit. Cole’s still wearing the same clothes from earlier.
A big flat-screen mounted above the dresser is playingMad Men. Piper watched the show with Maggie back when she was in high school. The world it depicts is so outrageously sexist, she found it hard to believe it reflected the reality of any time, ever. But Maggie swore it depicted the era accurately. “And it explains so much about my mother.” All Piper could think was that it really sucked to be a woman in the 1960s. “Except for the clothes,” Maggie said. “The clothes almost made up for the social oppression.” This weekend, experiencing the gender-biased assumptions of the bushcraft-knitting challenge, she sees that as much as things change, they stay the same. So even though the competition is for fun, she wants to win.
“Our room doesn’t have a TV,” she says. “And I’m in a double.”
“I guess they figure if two people aren’t sleeping together they won’t agree on a show to watch.”
“Interesting theory,” she says.
She sits in an orange upholstered armchair near the windows, acutely aware of the bed and her proximity to Cole.
“So, how do you think it’s going out there in ye olde wilderness?” he asks.
“Hard to say. But why are you talking like it’s the 1800s?”
“I figure that’s when people spent a lot of time in ye olde woods,” he says.
“Another interesting theory.”
“I’m full of them.”
Their eyes meet and she feels a little spark. Barely noticeable. But it’s there. She looks away, pretending to check her phone. This was a bad idea. And Ethan has every reason to be annoyed with her.
“So are we going to talk about this or what?” Cole says.
“About what?”
Cole uses the remote to turn down the volume on the TV.
“So, obviously there’s some... tension between us.”
If she’s going to convince Ethan that there’s nothing for him to worry about, she should make sure of that. Right now.
“I’m completely in love with my boyfriend.” It’s true, but she wonders now if there’s something wrong or missing. How can there still be room for her to be attracted to Cole?
“I’m not suggesting otherwise,” Cole says. “And for the record, I’m in love with someone myself.”
“The person you’ve been calling all weekend.”
He nods.
