It was beyond time that I escape this dinner and run my errand. Then I could hole up in my room until my wedding party duties commenced in the morning. I moved through the crowd towards the exit, willing myself to be invisible.
I managed to sneak out, retrieve my coat and car keys, then escape into the chilly night without further interruption. A few flakes of snow had begun to fall so I was glad that I’d left when I did. No way did I want to deal with driving in a snowstorm tonight.
I pulled out my phone to check the weather app and in my momentary distraction, I didn’t realize I wasn’t alone on the sidewalk. I crashed into another person and instinctively reached to steady them, dropping my phone in the process. It landed on the sidewalk with a thunk.
“Shit!” Please let my phone be okay.
“What the fu—-“ A feminine voice said.
With a start, I realized the woman I’d nearly knocked over was Courtney. I couldn’t believe my bad luck that I’d run into her again at the worst possible time. If I didn’t have to go out to the cabin, I could have asked her for a drink.
Instead, I reached down to retrieve my phone and assess the damage. The screen was black and no amount of fiddling with it brought it back to life. Great, now I needed to add phone repair to list of catastrophes this weekend.
“Is your phone okay?” Courtney leaned over my shoulder to see the device.
“Looks like it’s dead.” I held it up to show her the dark screen.
“I’m sorry. I was distracted and in a rush.”
“Totally not your fault. I was the one looking down and running into you. I’m sorry.”
“Shouldn’t you be at the rehearsal dinner? Or are you ditching it for a hot date,” she teased.
I gave her my most flirty grin. “Looks like I found her.”
Courtney blushed at my words and I felt like I’d won a prize. Knowing I was responsible for her reaction was addicting. I wanted to do it again and again.
It occurred to me that this isn’t where I’d expect to find her. “Areyourushing to a hot date?”
“Hardly. More like escaping a boring one. With my parents.”
“I can relate to that. I’ve had enough of my own family. I’m glad to have an excuse to get out for a while.”
“Where are you headed? And can I come?”
Courtney’s words weren’t planned if the look of surprise on her face was any indication. She looked as if she wanted to call the words back as soon as they were out of her mouth.
Before she could say anything, I rushed to offer an invitation. “You’re more than welcome to join me. I’m heading about twenty miles out of town on a wedding errand. Shouldn’t take more than an hour.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t want to impose on your evening.”
“Are you kidding? The drive is going to be completely boring now that I can’t stream music on my phone. We only have one radio station out this way and it plays easy listening.”
Courtney laughed. “I know—born and raised here. And I guess a drive is better than hanging at a bar which had been my plan. If you’re sure you don’t mind my company, I’ll come along.”
Mind? The possibility of spending an hour with this woman thrilled me. The fact that the universe had granted me this gift felt like the luckiest outcome I could imagine.
Instead of saying all that, I held up my car keys and jangled them in celebration. “Let’s hit the road.”
CHAPTER 4
Courtney
I was always upfor a good adventure but had second thoughts about accepting Jordy’s invitation as soon as the car pulled onto the two lane highway towards our destination.
He’d explained his sister forgot her wedding jewelry at her home and he was driving out to retrieve it. I was familiar with the drive as my family used to come this way to visit family friends in their cabin near the lake. The snow flurries that began as we left town grew to a light snow as we reached the winding country road that led out to the lake.
I recalled my mom’s warning about snow and apprehension pooled in my gut. Surely we’d be able to make it to the cabin and back before the roads got bad. This drive was beautiful in nice weather but downright treacherous when it was slick. There were a couple of tight turns with steep drops that spelled disaster with one wrong move.
