“Idaho!”
I froze. “Colin?”
“Hey, this place is awesome. I can’t believe you never told me about it!”
Lana was staring at me. “Colin?” she said.
But it was Ben I again looked toward. Finally, I had his attention. At least for a moment. Then he turned back around.
CHAPTER THIRTY
This was all because of my phone. Of course.
I’d shared my location right after arriving: I actually remembered it clearly. The irony, now, that then I thought it was so important that Colin know where I was. All he had to do was click on a dot to find the Woods.
After work, I took my time heading there. His car was parked right in front, next to a white truck that saidLAKE PARTY RENTALS.
“… literally a wave simulator! In the middle of the actual ocean,” I could hear him saying as I came up the steps. “So surreal.”
“They have everything on cruises these days,” Liz agreed. “You can see a Broadway show, get your hair done…”
“Eat your weight in shrimp,” Colin added.
“That’s the best part!”
Two guys came out, nodding as they passed me. As they climbed up the ramp of the truck, I slipped in the door.
“Are you sure I can’t help?” I heard Colin say now. “It feels weird to just be sitting here when I could be doing something.”
“Oh no,” Liz said. “Finley should be here soon. Lana says she’s on the way.”
“Lana?” Colin asked.
“She’s Finley’s bestie,” Liz explained. “They share the room here.”
“Oh,” he said. A beat. I wondered what he was thinking, hearing this. That I had people he knew nothing about. “Well. Can’t wait to meet her.”
The party rental guys were coming back in now. I took a breath, walking past the living room, where more chairs were stacked, waiting to be arranged. A white wooden arch leaned against one wall.
On the porch, Colin was at the table, his back to me. When Liz, sitting across from him, met my eyes, he immediately turned around. “There she is. Idaho!”
It was the weirdest feeling, seeing him there. He got up as I came closer, and I went into his arms easily. Too easily. I stepped back.
“Ma’am! You want these tables in here too?” a voice called from the living room. Liz got up, patting my shoulder, and left us alone.
“Colin,” I said. “What are you doing here?”
“I was in the neighborhood,” he replied. Then that grin.
“Just put the tables in here for now,” I heard Liz say. “Is that all of the chairs?”
“Everything we had.”
“Okay,” Liz said, in a way that made it clear it wasn’t.
“This wedding’s quite a production, huh?” Colin said to me.
“Hannah’s worried about you,” I told him. “Nalini, too.”
