Page 12 of Destined For Forever

One problem at a time. You’ve got a ride, now you can figure out what to do about the whole “Brock is engaged” thing.

Forty minutes later, Lily gripped the passenger side door handle as the rental car drifted toward the lines in the centre of the highway. The snow was blowing in hard and fast, and visibility was lower than either she or Sean would have liked. Much lower.

Was this when her life was supposed to flash before her eyes?

Sean pulled the car back toward the middle of the lane, but they drifted again. If she made it to the end of this trip, it would be a legitimate Christmas miracle. Thankfully, according to the GPS, Forever Falls wasn’t too far away.

“You’re huddling in the corner like a frightened rabbit and it’s making me nervous,” Sean said from the driver’s seat. His hands gripped the steering wheel and Lily tried not to notice how white his knuckles were.

There was no music playing on the stereo and the only sound was snow pelting the windscreen and tyres rushing over slushy ground. The car had proper winter tyres on, Sean had assured her, but the combination of the weather and the fact that he’d never driven on the right-hand side of the road did not make for a relaxing ride.

“Apologies for being aware of my mortality,” she said, cringing as they drifted again. “It’s a little hard not to be when I feel like we’re about to side-swipe oncoming traffic.”

“I know what I’m doing,” he said through gritted teeth.

“I’m not questioning your abilities,” she said. “But these are pretty rough conditions for an experienced driver who’s used to this weather, let alone someone who complains when it drops below eighteen degrees Celsius.”

“How do you know I complain when it drops below eighteen degrees?” he asked in a way that told her that was exactly what he did. “Actually, don’t answer that. Can’t you distract yourself? Have something to eat. I put some snacks in that shopping bag on the back seat.”

Lily turned to grab the bag. It might have been a mistake, however, because the action brought her closer to Sean and he smelled far better than any human should after so many hours in the air.

He’d always smelled good. Back in high school it had been a combination of saltwater and coconut surfboard wax. And he always looked like he’d just come from the beach, too—dark hair slightly long and shaggy, skin bronzed, body honed from hours on the waves. There’d been an ever-present surfer bracelet on his left wrist, made of black lava beads, that he never took off.

The whole bad boy surfer vibe had totally appealed to the tiny seed of rebellion under Lily’s perfectly polished good girl persona. She’d done all those silly teenage things, like signing her first name with his surname and doing those ridiculous “equations” to see if they were a good love match.

And then he’d started dating her friend, which had relegated Lily to quietly pining over him while writing her romance novels.

“Found anything?” he asked.

Shaking off the memories, she grabbed the bag and pulled it between the gap, situating it on her lap. Inside was a variety of brightly coloured bags and boxes. Sour Patch Kids, Starburst, Hershey’s Kisses, Reese’s Pieces.

“This is a cavity waiting to happen,” she said, and Sean raised an eyebrow.

He was right about you. You are the “Antithesis of Good Times.”

“Hey, if judging my dietary choices helps you relax, then I’m happy to be of service. But I was always under the impression that road trip snacks should look like something a hungry ten-year-old picked out.”

“You certainly achieved that.” She picked through the bags and found some Sour Patch Kids that claimed to be tropical flavoured. Tearing open the bag, she popped one in her mouth. Watermelon sourness hit her tongue and she winced.

Sean kept his eyes on the road, but an amused smile tugged at the corner of his lip. Gosh, he was obnoxiously handsome. And funny and sweet. And he would never make a woman feel like she was worthless.

“Brock is getting married.” She blurted out the words before her brain had time to catch up with her bruised and battered heart.

“What?”

“It was all over the front page of US Weekly.” She let out a groan and stuffed a few more Sour Patch Kids into her mouth, almost as if punishing herself with the sourness. “Mum already texted me. The whole family will know by now.”

Bless her mother. She wasn’t a gossip, but the woman had a filter thinner than a piece of wet tissue paper. Undoubtedly, she would have ranted to Lily’s dad and her aunt and uncle as soon as she saw the article.

Can someone point me to a rock I can crawl under?

“Who cares what anyone thinks,” Sean replied. “The only thing that matters is how you feel about it.”

How did she feel about it?

Hurt. Betrayed. Ashamed.

Because Brock really had fooled her. For the three years they were together, she believed she was falling in love. At least, the early days felt like love. If she was being brutally honest, the past year had hinted at some cracks. They’d both been working more than they’d been together, with him travelling for jobs and her hiding away to meet deadlines. She’d thought it was nothing more than them “making hay,” as Brock used to put it.

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