Engaged? Gina and Lance have been together almost as long as Asher and I were. I never thought they’d make it official. They’d be the Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell of our small town.
“Congrats! Why do you need me to come home?”
“Because we’re getting married the weekend before Christmas, and I need your help planning everything. And… I need the best photographer in the state.”
Planning a wedding just a week before mine was supposed to happen? “Gina—”
“Please tell me you don’t have anything booked. Pretty please. I need you, Harp. I love you, and I miss you.”
I can’t bring myself to admit that I have nothing planned this month because I stupidly clung to the hope that Asher would realize he can’t live without me. I wanted to be ready to drop everything and rush home at a moment’s notice to marry him on Christmas Eve, even if it meant a simple ceremony with just family and an officiant from the internet.
“Gina—”
“I’ll pay you. I swear I’ll pay you. Please? I need my little sister. You know how Mom gets. You’re the golden child. Well, next to Eric, but he’s the only boy.”
I laugh, glancing around my apartment, still cluttered with remnants of Asher’s presence. I paid for most of this stuff, yet it’s strange how a space can feel so empty despite being filled with things.
“You realize that makes menotthe golden child,” I reply.
“Oh, please. Eric still lives at home—”
“Because it’s winter break, and he’s a senior in college.”
“Yeah, like we moved home for winter break in college?”
I roll my eyes, knowing she can picture it. “I didn’t go to college, remember? I took night classes for a business degree so I could take pictures during the day.”
“But you moved out when you were nineteen, and I moved out when I was eighteen. How were we ever going to have hot sex with our boyfriends while living under Mom and Dad’s roof?”
Another eye roll escapes me. “That wasn’t the reason I moved out.”
“Oh, right. That was me. Still, you got to have sex in your apartment with Asher. Even if Mom believes we’re still virgins.”
I’ll never confess to Gina that Asher and I didn’t have sex all that often. When we first lost our virginities, he couldn’t get enough, but then it tapered off. In Pittsburgh, when he was making good money, it was more frequent. But after that, itdwindled again. When he left, it had been over six months since he last touched me.
“I’ll see what I can move around and let you know,” I lie.
I’d like to think I’m just buying time to find a good excuse to back out, but deep down, I know I won’t find one. I couldn’t do that to Gina, no matter how much I want to avoid returning home to see my ex-fiancé and my ex-best friend all lovey-dovey during my favorite time of year.
“I love you, Harper. And don’t worry. When we run into the two traitors, I’ll make sure not to leave witnesses,” Gina says as if I’ve already agreed to come home.
Who am I kidding? I’ll be in Frosthaven Falls by tomorrow afternoon.
Chapter 2
Harper
Idon’t head straight home. I also haven’t informed anyone of my arrival. If I’m going to be here for a month, I need to make one crucial stop before I settle into my childhood bedroom for weeks: the liquor store.
As I walk along the sidewalk toward Main Street Liquors, the familiarity washes over me. Almost forgotten, but not quite. The whispers follow me as I pass. Couples and people on their phones mention my name, or Asher’s, or Kenzie’s. Some even say all three.
I place six bottles of red wine on the counter, resigning myself to the fact that tomorrow’s headlines will likely read: HARPER WALLACE COMES HOME AND BUYS OUT THE LIQUOR STORE.
But can anyone really blame me? I’m back in town to help plan my sister’s wedding after my failed engagement, while my ex-fiancé is now engaged to my ex-best friend. If anyone deserves to indulge in nightly drinks, it’s definitely me.
Besides, it’s just six bottles of wine. It could be six bottles of vodka. Or ten bottles of tequila.
Now I’m justifying my choices. This must be how alcoholism starts. Fantastic.
