I hear her shrieking. “Two hundred dollars? He’s not going to vomit.”
All of a sudden, she’s sliding into the seat next to me. “You owe me for this, Hunter. You’re going to let me have my way on everything for the bachelor/bachelorette party, you hear me?”
I don’t know what’s happening, but I just nod.
The Uber proceeds to drive the obstacle course from Katherine’s parents’ house back to the inn. I swear to God, there weren’t potholes the size of Vesuvius and bends like we’re racing the Monaco Grand Prix on the way up here.
Lucy leans across me and unwinds the window. I stroke her hair as she stretches over my lap. It’s as soft and smooth as it looks.
“Hunter,” Lucy snaps. “Get off.”
I hold my hands up, realizing she probably doesn’t want to be petted like a dog. It’s probably a good idea that I left the party. I just don’t know why Lucy came with me.
“If you’re going to hurl, please do it out the window. There’s no way I’m paying the two-hundred-dollar cleanup fee.”
I open my mouth to respond, but Lucy squishes her hand against my cheek, trying to press my head toward the window.
“I’m not going to vomit,” I yell. “That’s all I was going to say.”
Lucy shakes her head but removes her hand from my face. “Men are babies.”
“I don’t need babying,” I say. “You didn’t have to join me in the car.”
“Er, excuse me if I care about my Uber rating. I’ve spent months building it back up after ... Never mind. I’m not letting you ruin it for me.”
Just as I’m about to ask her what happened to her Uber rating, we pull up outside the inn. “Sorry to take you away from the party.”
“At least we all know you’re definitely not Mr. Darcy,” she says as I stumble out of the Uber. She literally pushes me out of the car with both her feet and slams the door behind me.
I watch the car circle the drive and retrace its steps back toward the party. When the car pulls onto the main road, Lucy turns and we lock eyes. Something hits me in the chest, like a fastball straight to the heart.
Chapter Three
Lucy
I will never forgive Hunter. I missed Ed’s speech about how much he loved my sister, and rejoined the party just as my mother was crying about how the academy should have changed the rules to allow Colin Firth to get an Oscar for his portrayal of Darcy. If I’d been there, it would have never escalated to the point of tears. And on top of that, even though I couldn’t have been gone for more than twenty minutes, my mother somehow managed to surface from her Colin-induced grief to a) notice I’d left the party, and b) chastise me for not caring about my sister’s happiness—or anyone’s—other than my own. All I’d been doing was trying to stop the party from being ruined, yet somehow, I’m the problem. I hope Hunter doesn’t have the nerve to show for brunch.
I’m carrying a fruit platter to the table when a cab pulls up in front of my parents’ house. Surely Hunter will be passed out all day and the Harbor Inn will have to break down the door to get him out when he sleeps through checkout.
But lo and behold, it’s Hunter who gets out of the cab, wearing sunglasses and a preppy shorts-and-polo combo that shows off his tan legs and a smattering of chest hair. He’s like Ed’s hotter, less reliable brother.
But I can’t hate Ed like I hate Hunter.
“Here he is,” Katherine says excitably as she watches Hunter come up the path. “I’m so pleased you two are getting along.”
I pull my mouth into a wide smile. There’s no way I can let Katherine know that I think Hunter is a dick. He was at his best friend’s engagement party. If he couldn’t handle his alcohol, he shouldn’t have been drinking. But I want Katherine to think Hunter and I are getting on like a house on fire. That way she’ll be reassured the joint party will be flawless ... unless I can convince her to have the bachelor and bachelorette parties separately. I mean, whoever heard of a joint party?
“I was thinking about the bachelorette party,” I say to Katherine. “You know the best spas are in New York. I can ask Amanda about it, because she’s bound to get us a great deal somewhere amazing. And then we could go to—”
Katherine’s shaking her head before I can even finish the sentence. “Ed wants to fish. There’s no way he’s going to agree to New York.”
I see my opening and dive right in. “Well, he could have his bachelor party here in Massachusetts, andwecould go to New York. We could still have them the same weekend and everything, so you’re not spending too much time apart. That way you could get your perfect party, and Ed could get his.”
“My perfect bachelorette is a joint party with Ed in a big house right on the ocean. I can just see us all wrapped up in blankets, toasting marshmallows on the beach before bed ...” She smiles to herself. “It seems so romantic to be there with all our friends. And so many of our friends are couples. It makes sense to do it together.”
“But you’re going to have your entire lives together.”
Katherine shrugs. “Right. Because we like hanging out together. Marrying Ed isn’t a choice between freedom and drudgery. I’m marrying him because life is better with him. And that includes my party.”
