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I turn away from Henry and open the car door because they’re all waiting for us.

He takes a breath and plasters on a smile I’ve never seen before, getting out of the vehicle almost robotically. I’m hugging Hannah as I watch him go straight to the beautiful woman and exclaim, “Gen! What are you doing here?”

Who is this person beaming at Henry like he’s the center of her world? Shouldn’t that be my thing?

“Surprise!” She practically jumps into his arms, but he catches her, two hands planted firmly on her biceps, her heels rocking back onto the ground.

“What are you doing here?” he repeats, this time softer, as if it’s just for her.

She reaches up to touch his face, looking into his eyes. Now that I know what it’s like to be the subject of his full attention, I can’t look away. My whole body tenses in Hannah’s arms, and when we pull apart, my sister raises her eyebrows.

“I knew you didn’t mean it,” the blonde woman says as her thumb runs across his cheek. Henry’s eyes flutter closed, but mine are fixed on the two of them as she continues. “I knew you just needed…what are those things called from the rom-coms you love? A grand gesture! Sorry, I’ve been traveling all day and you know airplanes turn my brain to mush. Well, ta-da, here I am!”

The whiplash is almost unbearable enough to distract from the betrayal.

Henry has this beautiful woman here, touching him, making it seem like they’re together. Or were together, if she’s pulling out a grand gesture. But those rom-coms? The fact that this is an intimate detail she knows about him? That hurts almost as much. That was our thing. We dreamed of ending up in New York because of the movies we grew up learning by heart. If he still loves them now, that’s because of me. I know that with complete certainty.

“Genevieve,” Henry says, wrapping the strong fingers that were inside me mere hours ago around her hand and dragging it off his face.

Genevieve blinks twice and then turns toward me, smiling warmly. No one should look so effortlessly put together after a day of travel. I’ve been in Central Time for days and I’m still a disaster.

“Hi, I’m Genevieve Karlin,” she says. “Henry’s girlfriend.”

Girlfriend.

I guarantee my face is not hiding either the shock or the gut punch of that last word, but I try to slap on my most convincing smile. My disloyal eyes find his automatically behind her. He shakes his head once, a subtle but clear no, but I’m at a loss to discern what’s real anymore.

“Henry’s girlfriend!” I exclaim, forcing out some false positivity. “It is so nice to meet you! I’m Norah!”

Henry tugs on Genevieve’s arm, which is extended toward me in an unfulfilled hug. “Can we go grab a cup of coffee?”

She swivels back to face him, placing a hand on his chest, over his heart. “You know you can’t have caffeine past noon, baby.”

I’d be able to see the strain in his neck, the tension in his jaw, from all the way back at our B&B. He leans into her, whispering something I can’t hear, and tucks a piece of sandy blonde hair back into place under her beanie.

Our moms exchange a look as Genevieve waggles her fingers and heads toward the main lodge.

“Norah, can you help me with the bags?” Henry asks, even though he’s extremely capable of handling his one suitcase and my duffel on his own. He did so as we went to and from the car last night and this morning. He shoots me a pleading look, and even though I don’t know what I could have to say to him at this point, I shuffle around the CR-V, toward the trunk.

As soon as we’re out of sight of our family, his face grows panicked. “I swear we broke up,” he murmurs, his voice low and urgent. He reaches for me but I jolt away.

“Why doesn’t she seem to know that, then?” I bite back.

“I don’t know, maybe because in all those movies you and I spent a thousand hours watching together, the grand gestures always just work out,” he volleys back, and then immediately seems to realize his mistake, referencing our history. “Norah, please.”

That one word that nearly unraveled me completely hours earlier.

Please tell me what’s going on. Please tell me this was a joke. Please tell me I didn’t let you in, just for you to break me apart again.

“We are broken up,” he continues. “Have been for—”

“Come on, Nor.” My sister’s voice rings out from the other side of the car. “Mom said we had to wait for you for lunch, and I’m starving. What’s the holdup?”

“One sec!” I reply, grabbing my duffel bag, unconcerned when it knocks into his elbow as I swing it over my shoulder.

“Norah,” he pleads as I start to walk away. “I’ll explain everything. You just have to trust me.”

I don’t respond. I can’t. I feel like I’m underwater, suffocating. I round the corner toward my sister, leaving Henry to deal with whatever the fuck Genevieve is to him.