For doing it over and over again until I forgot everything.
“Well,” she continued, shattering the illusion of my suggestions. “Thank you for being there for me, Preston. I don’t really know…well, it’s hard to?—”
“You don’t have to thank me,” I said. “I told you before, and I’ll tell you again, Jess. I’ve got you. I’ll always…well, whatever you need, okay?”
She smiled at that. It was soft and a little sad, and I hated that she was about to walk out of here to face everything alone. But she was right. Showing up with me would only make things a thousand times worse.
“You sure you know the way back?”
“I think so. If I follow the main trail, it’ll take me to the lodge, right?”
I nodded. “It could be slow going with all that rain last night. Are you?—”
“I’ll be okay.” She stopped me before I could suggest going with her again.
I nodded and followed her to the door. I waited while she bent down to pat Summit’s head. The puppy whined as if he knew exactly what her leaving meant.
“I’ll see you again,” she said to the dog before straightening up and looking in my eyes. “I promise.”
The puppy wasn’t convinced, and when she opened the door to step out, he whined again, louder this time. I felt it in my chest.
She paused with her hand on the latch and looked back at me. For a second, I was sure she was going to throw herself in my arms and kiss me again. Maybe tell me that she didn’t want it to end, she wanted more than one night.
But she didn’t.
“See you around, Preston.”
I nodded. “At the committee meeting.”
She flinched a little. “Right.”
The door closed behind her with a soft click, and Summit trotted back to me, confused and staring at the door as if he expected her to walk back in. When she didn’t, he whined and nipped at my leg.
I patted him and shook my head. “Yeah, buddy,” I muttered. “I know what you mean.”
Jess
The ride back to the lodge took much longer than my escape had. The muddy trails were partly to blame, of course, but the farther away from Preston I got, the slower I pedaled, not wanting to go back to the mess I knew I was walking into.
Without my phone or any other communication, I had no idea what was waiting for me at the lodge or whetherTrevor had gone back to his rented Airbnb or even to the city.
Without a lot of options, I rode the bike to the impressive front doors and left it with the doorman before going inside. Fortunately, there weren’t many people around. I didn’t need a mirror to know how I must look. Never mind what people were probably saying about me.
But I couldn’t care about that. Not yet.
With my head held as high as I could manage, I went to the front desk. The young woman who’d checked me into my bridal suite the day before recognized me immediately. It probably didn’t hurt that I was still wearing that stupid jogging suit, now adorned with plenty of mud.
“Ms. Anderson, good morning.”
I managed a smile and a nod. “I don’t suppose anyone?—”
“Your friends left a package for your return.” She gave me a kind smile.
I breathed a sigh of relief and sent up a silent thank-you to my girlfriends when the desk clerk slid a large envelope containing my phone and car keys across the desk.
“Thank you,” I told the girl. “Also, I borrowed a bike yesterday.” My cheeks flushed. “I left it with the doorman. If you happen to know who it might belong to, I’d like to thank them with a gift card or?—”
“It’s not necessary.” She cut me off and waved away my apology. “We’ll make sure the bike is returned to the owner.” She gave me another kind smile that I was beyond grateful for.
