Page 72 of The Weekend Crashers
Five minutes ago, she didn’t fully understand why she’d been avoiding Gretchen. But it’s because she knows she wants to tell her,Thanks but no thanks. And a part of her—a bigpart—is afraid she won’t go through with it. So she’s doing nothing. Except putting her face in front of that feral cat wasn’tnothing.
Cole walks in, sees her sitting on the floor and bleeding, and says, “Damn, Hodges. I can’t leave you city folks alone for a minute. Let’s get you back to the inn.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Maggie checks the room and Piper’s not there. Now she’s getting angry. This is just inconsiderate. And fine, yes, Maggie did spend the night out. But Piper basically insisted. That doesn’t mean it’s okay to go incommunicado. And to ignore Gretchen like that? And also: Why didn’t she mention that her manager wants her back? The whole situation is disturbing.
She’s mulling all of this while she takes the stairs back down to the lobby—at the same moment Aidan is heading up. Her stomach does a little flip.
“Hey. Sorry I ran off like that,” she says. “I’ve been trying to find Piper.”
“No problem. And also, what a coincidence. I’m trying to find Cole.”
Their eyes meet. Oh?Oh.
“You don’t think....” Under normal circumstances, Maggie would never imagine Piper cheating on Ethan. But Piper and Cole both chose to stay back at the inn last night. And now they’re both apparently missing from their respective groups. So it’s hard not to at least consider the possibility.
“At this point, I have no idea what my son is up to,” Aidan says.
His eyes have flecks of gold and burnt umber as if they’re reflecting the season itself.Autumn Aidan, she thinks. Two days ago, this man was a stranger. And now? What? They aren’t together. They’ll probably never see each other again after the weekend. But in this moment, at least, it’s something. And he must feel it too, because he leans forward and kisses her. It’s even better than she remembered from last night.
“Mom?”
She turns around to find Piper and Cole making their way up the stairs. She’d be embarrassed—busted, as the kids say—but she notices something odd about Piper’s face. There’s a streak of makeup, maybe lipliner. It takes a few seconds for Maggie to comprehend that the bright red mark on Piper’s cheek isn’t cosmetics—it’s a bloody scratch.
“What happened to your face?” she says, aghast. Piper’s hand immediately flies up to cover it.
“Where were you two?” Aidan says to Cole.
“Why do I feel like we just got caught breaking curfew?” Cole says.
“I don’t know. Whydoyou?” Aidan says.
“Hey, folks,” Barclay calls from the bottom landing. “Aidan, I’ve been looking all over for you boys. Did you lose track of our itinerary? It’s time for fishing.”
“Excuse us,” Maggie says, taking Piper by the elbow and steering her down the stairs, past Barclay, into the lobby. Ignoring Gretchen and then messing up her face? “Are youtryingto destroy your own career?”
Maggie stops walking. That’s exactly it: Piper is sabotaging her career. She’s been quiet quitting. Except when her manager shows up on their knitting retreat, it’s not so quiet anymore. And now she, Maggie, is involved. And so she’s going to fix it.
When Maggie and Piper leave, Cole takes it as his cue to do the same. Aidan follows him up one flight of stairs to his room on the third floor, where Cole doesn’t invite him in.
“Dad, not now,” he says. “I’m dealing with something.” His voice is low in consideration of other guests on the floor.
“Iknowyou’re dealing with something. Did you invite your girlfriend to come here this weekend?”
Cole’s jaw pulses in the way it does whenever he’s stressed or irritated. After a pause, he unlocks his room and waves him inside, closing the door behind them. The space is tidy—Cole’s always been remarkably neat. He takes after his mother in that way. The thought of Nancy gives him a sense of urgency; he owes it to her not to bungle this conversation.
“I didn’t invite Kalli this weekend. I had no idea she’d be here. And actually, it turns out to be exactly what we needed. Except for Scott and his unwelcome opinions. But then, you know that. I assume he’s the one who told you about my personal life.”
Aidan wants to say,Why didn’t you tell me about your personal life?
“I think Scott just wants what’s best for you. He’s getting married. He probably knows a thing or two about navigating relationships, and how hard it can be under the best of circumstances. Why make things harder for yourself getting involved with an unavailable woman?”
“Sheisavailable.” Cole shakes his head. “This is why I didn’t tell you about her months ago. I didn’t want to upset you.”
Aidan doesn’t buy that for a second. Cole knows he’s handled a lot tougher things than a relationship he might not approve of. This is something else. Cole is embarrassed by the situation he finds himself in.
“I think you didn’t want to tell me because you didn’t want to admit you were doing something wrong,” Aidan says.
