And then the darkness descended, swallowing me up whole until I knew nothing at all.
Chapter two
Had Me At Heads Carolina
Quinn
Holy God, Texas washot. And humid.
I thought California was hot…but it was nothing like this. At least they believed in AC here. It blasted me in the face as I pulled up the navigation on my phone to get to my dad’s place.
It still didn’t make much sense to me why dad would move back here. My dad—the surf’s up, sunshine, and suntans epitome of a Southern California dude decided on moving to basically the cowboy capital of the world?
It didn’t make sense. Then again, nothing my dad ever did really made sense to me. Like this move. Or this engagement. Or this wedding. But it wasn’t my place to judge him or tell himwhat to do. He always did what he wanted anyways, regardless of how much or how little it made sense.
“Okay, so I found this little kiosk on my way back from the bathroom that had all of these little pamphlets on things to do in Thousand Trees. Did you know they have one of those safari wineries?” My best friend, Whit, said as she slid into the passenger’s seat of the rental.
I bit back a snort. “I didn’t know that, but that sounds fun.” I glanced over at her as I finished adjusting the mirrors to my liking. “You got everything?”
She nodded, smacking her backpack twice, a satisfied smirk on her nude lips. Leave it to Whit to look like a damn supermodel for a plane ride. She’d gotten her inspiration from some Tiktok influencer, and decided to call this herlazy girl travel fit… Only I’d hardly call having to spend close to an hour getting ready being lazy at all. “Yep. I’m telling you, you have to watch this Tiktok on how to pack a week’s worth of clothes into a carryon. It’s so convenient.”
I huffed a laugh as I pulled out of my parking spot and followed the navigation’s directions. “I mean, it’s a cool idea if youneedto, but…you get a free checked bag with a plane ticket, might as well take advantage.”
Besides, I didn’t have the willpower or the patience to be the level of extra that Whit was. I loved her, and she was the most amazing, kind, and helpful person ever, but there was no doubt about it, she was extra AF.
“Do you know how many suitcases get lost every day in travel?” She scoffed, tossing her perfect, long bronde hair over her shoulders. And yes,brondewas a hair color. She would know, she was a hairdresser.
“And that’s what luggage tags are for,” I offered back with a conspiratory grin.
She rolled her eyes. “One day you’re going to need to pack a week’s worth of clothes into a backpack—”
“And when I do, I’ll make sure to come to you,” I laughed.
Another eye roll, but she grinned, settling herself more into the passenger’s seat. “So, how far is Thousand Trees from San Antonio?”
“Navigation says a bit over an hour.”
She nodded and started pressing buttons on the car’s screen, trying to find a music station, no doubt. “So, remind me again why your dad decided to rent in Texas of all places?”
I shrugged, my anxiety ramping up as I tried to get us onto the right freeway. “You know about as much as me, honestly. He tried to explain, but you know how he is. He talks like a mile a minute and never can finish a sentence, even if his life depended on it. He—”
“It’s all that espresso,” Whit cut in, pulling her sunglasses down to look at me.
I scoffed, a disbelieving laugh bubbling out of me. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s true! He’s gonna, like, overdose or something one day.”
I just laughed, not about to argue with Whit.
The truth was, my dad didn’t listen to anyone—least of all me. Besides, he was fifty-one years old. He could take care of himself. He had for years now since Mom died. I mean, most of that time he’d been a hot mess express, but weren’t we all…sort of?
“Anyways,” I said, pegging her with a pointed sunglasses stare. “From what I could make out of the situation, he and his fiancé are, like, renting the property for the next month leading up to the wedding…” My words tapered off in the end.
None of this really made any sense—his relationship with Georgette, the proposal, the ridiculously short engagement—but then again, trying to figure out what Dad was up to wasimpossible. He was a live-in-the-moment, fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants kinda guy. What he wanted today might change in a day from now. Mom had helped temper him a bit. Helped even out his intensity and impulsivity. With her gone…
“Isn’t his fiancé, like, two years older than me?” Whit asked.
“Than you? yes. She's eight years older than me.”
