Page 87 of Drawn to You (Chasing Olivia 1)

“Hey,” she answers.

“Hi.” I’m nervous.

“What’s up?”

“I have some news.”

“Okay, spill it.”

“I ended things with Chase.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s a long, complicated story. I’ll tell you in person.”

“That sucks, he was a good guy,” she says.

“There’s more,” I continue.

“Oh?”

I take a deep breath and blurt, “Evan and I are back together, and we’re getting married this weekend.” There, I said it. Silence stretches across the line. “Are you there?”

“Oh, I’m still here,” she hisses. “You’re joking, right? I mean, you can’t be serious.” This is going to get ugly.

“No, I’m not joking. We’re flying to Key West on Friday. I’m hoping you can get the weekend off and come with.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind!” She is furious. “After everything that bastard did, this is what you want?”

I know she doesn’t understand. Her longest relationship lasted a year, and she always ends things first. She hasn’t met the right man yet that will make her say forever. “Yes, this is what I want.” I can hear her breathing on the other end. She’s trying really hard to control her temper and not flip out. “Please Bren, I need you there to support me. It would mean a lot.”

I hear her sigh. I’m wearing her down. “I still don’t like him,” she mutters bitterly. I still don’t know why she doesn’t like him. She says things like; rubs me the wrong way, woman’s intuition, gives off a bad vibe, the asshole meter is pinned, excuses like that. I never got a straight answer, but it’s obvious they don’t get along.

“I know. Please, for me?” There’s a long pause. Did she hang up on me?

“I’ll call Anthony, and see what I can do,” she concedes. I know she isn’t happy about this and is only doing it because I begged.

“Thank you, Bren!”

“I’ll call you back,” and she hangs up. Well, at least I’ll have one witness to stand up for me. I go downstairs to tell my mom I’m leaving. I don’t want to get caught in late Saturday night Manhattan traffic. I tell her I’ll see her Friday and head out the door. As I get into my car, my phone buzzes. It’s a text from Brenda.

*Saturday AM flight to Miami. Arrives @ 10:15. We still need to talk*

I text her back.

*I know. Love u!*

Perfect. I’m so glad she’s on board with this.

The week breezes by. Most of my work is on location at East Rockaway Inlet. I tell my boss where I’m going over the weekend. He replies that if I need to take a couple of extra days, there’s a site he wants me to look at in the Keys.

I haven’t heard a word from Chase since Evan answered my phone. I’m kind of disappointed but not surprised. I’m sure he’s forgotten all about me by now. If he wanted me back, he would have made an effort to come and find me.

I still owe Brenda an explanation about my relationship flip-flop. I go by the restaurant late Wednesday evening, knowing she’s working. I get there around closing time when the only other people there are the bartender and a couple of cooks. I walk through the restaurant, give a wave to the bartender, and head to the back office. I find her on the line doing an inventory. “Hey,” I say so I don’t startle her. She doesn’t hear much when she’s focused on her work.

“Hi. What are you doing here?”

“I came to explain.”

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