Chapter One
Poppy Evans
I had good reasons to stay away from the small town where I’d grown up. And I dreaded running into two of them at the Lakeview Resort that weekend.
Even after breathing in the fresh country air in great huge gulps, checking into the resort, and getting through a few drinks I remained tense and on edge.
“Poppy Evans?” The high-pitched voice and dramatic gasp almost made me tip over my drink as I turned to look over my shoulder.
“I knew it was you! Goodness, I’d recognize that pretty, long hair anywhere.”
“Shayla!” I smiled politely and wished a hole would open up right under my table—or better, under her feet—to put me out of my misery. “You haven’t changed one bit since high school. How are you doing?”
Don’t get me wrong; I didn’t have anything against Shayla Hall. At least, nothing I could blame on her. She just happened to be a painful reminder of a time in my life I’d rather forget. However, I intended to do all in my power to avoid her mother, our old vice-principal, while in town.
“You haven’t changed, either,” Shayla answered warmly, sliding into the seat across from me. “Except to get even prettier than the last time we saw each other. I guess the glamorous L.A. lifestyle agrees with you.”
“Er, thanks. Yeah, I like it out there.”
“And I hear you’re working as a fashion model. It makes sense, seeing you as beautiful as you are now.”
Flattered by her compliments, I experienced a pang of guilt about wishing she’d been swallowed up into the parquet flooring. However, I still had to be on my guard due to her mother being not only a sweet old lady but also Enemy Number One in my life.
“You’re too kind, Shay. Of course, Muriel and Jasmine are around to keep me grounded and stop me from getting too homesick, so that helps.”
“Of course! And where is it they’ve run off to? I could’ve sworn I saw both of them checking in with you earlier.” She made a show of raising half out of her seat to look around the room. Always so dramatic. She hadn’t changed a bit. Good to know some had stayed the same over the past few years.
I took a sip of my mojito and looked around the resort bar. With polished hardwood and golden fixtures as far as the eye could see, everything about the Lakeview Resort screamed old money and old Georgian charm.
There were definitely worse places to hold a wedding, even if the cloudy sky had a dark and Halloween atmosphere about it.
“They’re here, somewhere. They ran off to tame their hair and find outfits to wear to the rehearsal dinner tonight.” I raised my glass with a half-shrug. “So here I am. Party of one.”
I took another sip of my drink and wondered if it would be rude to leave my table and mingle with a few other people in the room. People I hadn’t seen in forever. People not named Shayla Hall.
Yeah, that would be ill-mannered as well as dramatic. I wasn’t that girl.
“Aw, that’s too bad.” She sat with an over-done pout for a moment before her eyes lit up. “We should stick together for a little while!”
I blinked. “We should?”
And okay, I didn’t return the most elegant response to her excitement. But what the...? Stick together how? Why? What did that even mean?
One thing it meant for sure: I would need more rum in my system as soon as physically possible. I drained the rest of my glass, leaving a few cubes of ice to rattle around and melt.
“Of course we should.” She nodded, oblivious to my thoughts on the matter. “It’ll be good to catch up, and I can fill you in on what everyone else has been doing since you’ve been gone.”
She stood up from the table and held out her hand to help me up too. “Come on. Let’s go mingle. It’ll be fun!”
I was pretty sure we had very different ideas about what a fun time involved.
Still, I didn’t have anything better to do. We had a few hours until the rehearsal dinner, and I didn’t want to spend that much time stuffed up in my room by myself listening to the rain pounding on the windows.
Thankfully, a server appeared at just the right time with a fresh mojito. I hoped the liquid courage would be enough to get me through an hour or so with Shayla.
Barely stifling a reluctant sigh, I stood up and grabbed my fresh drink as she started leading me through the growing crowd of faces from the past.
“You remember my brother, Chet,” she pointed across the room, and I waved politely.
“You’ll be walking down the aisle with him, won’t you? It’s all he’s been talking about for the past week or so.” She laughed and leaned in to whisper a little too loudly, “I think he might have had a little crush on you back in high school.”