One By One by Freida McFadden(19)

I already got yelled at by Noah. I’m not in the mood to take it from Michelle too. But at the same time, I’m reluctant to get into a fight with her. I’m afraid of what might come out. “The minivan is new. There’s no reason it should have broken down.”

“Yet it did.”

I take a deep, calming breath. “Look, we’ll be there soon. This isn’t that big a deal.”

Michelle shakes her head at me, then without another word, she picks up her speed until she catches up with the men, leaving Lindsay and me behind.

“That was rude,” I mumble.

Lindsay watches Michelle in the distance. “Maybe she knows…”

“She doesn’t know.”

“I don’t know… She seems even more ornery than usual…”

“Yeah.” I squint at Michelle’s backside. She’s in pretty good shape, considering she spends her days behind a desk. I wonder if she works out. “But I think if she knew, she’d say something. She wouldn’t just keep it to herself. That’s not her style.”

“Maybe.” Lindsay cocks her head to the side. “But maybe she wouldn’t say anything. I mean, it’s not like either of us knows Michelle very well.”

She has a point. Despite all our efforts, neither of us knows Michelle at all.

That thought hangs in my head as we trudge through the dirt. We continue to hang back, just out of earshot of the others, which isn’t entirely coincidental. I hope we’re almost there.

“This sucks,” Lindsay comments as her right boot sinks into a puddle of mud. “This is not what I had in mind for this trip.”

“Well,” I say, “you wanted to get away from civilization, right?”

“No!” She seems affronted by this suggestion. “I just wanted to get Warner away from the hospital for a week. I wanted him all to myself.”

I look at the three men up ahead. Warner’s blond hair is almost gleaming. He definitely has the best butt of the three of them. And even though we’re in the middle of nowhere, he walks forward without any hesitation. I have to admire his confidence.

“So you really like him, huh?” I say carefully.

A smile lights Lindsay’s face. “I really do. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about somebody before. He’s… perfect.”

“Yeah, but…” I step gingerly over a branch on the ground. “What was the deal with lunch? Why wouldn’t he let you have a burger?”

She narrows her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I mean…” I don’t want to hurt Lindsay’s feelings, but at the same time, I want to make sure she’s not with a guy who’s going to break her heart. Or manipulate her. I owe her that much. “You wanted to get a burger, and he told you not to. Then you got that teeny tiny salad instead.”

“Oh.” She waves her hand. “That has nothing to do with him. I’m trying to lose some weight, that’s all.”

“You don’t need to lose any weight!” I don’t point out the obvious, which is that she’s at least twenty pounds skinnier than I am. If she needs to lose weight, I’m in big trouble.

“Bullshit.” Lindsay holds out her bare upper arm and grabs a handful of flesh. “Look at this! Warner does not have an ounce of fat on him. It’s… embarrassing.”

“And why was he looking at you like that when he mentioned boob jobs?” I press her.

“Well…” Lindsay glances down at her chest. “You have to admit, I’m not exactly well-endowed.”

I’m so upset, I nearly trip over a branch on the ground. “Did he say that to you?”

“He didn’t have to!” She rubs her neck, pushing away sweaty strands of blond hair. “I mean, it’s a fact. And I should be grateful he’s nice enough to offer me a free surgery. How many guys would do that?”

I make a face. “None.”

“Claire…”

Everything she’s saying is making me uneasy. It’s not like I married such a great guy, but I have to hand it to Noah, he was never judgmental about my looks. He always used to act like I was the most beautiful woman in the world. He certainly never suggested I should lose weight or have plastic surgery. And now… well, obviously he doesn’t act like he thinks I’m all that attractive anymore. But he doesn’t say anything negative about my looks, at least.

Who am I kidding? I can’t throw stones.

“As long as you think he’s a good guy,” I finally say. When we get to the hotel, we’ll have to talk more about this. I need to make sure she doesn’t proceed with an impulse boob job.

“He is, Claire.” She takes a deep breath. “In fact…”

“What?”

She ducks under a low hanging tree branch, and a leaf comes free in her hair. “I think he’s going to propose to me this week!”

“Oh.” My heart sinks at this revelation. “That’s... wonderful! And you… you want to marry him?”

“Of course!”

“I thought you loved being single.” Even though Lindsay was my maid of honor, she was never that into weddings or the idea of getting married. She loved her job and her freedom. She dated sometimes, and a few of her boyfriends seemed head over heels in love with her, but she never seemed the slightest bit interested in settling down. And my own marriage hasn’t exactly provided her with a shining example of how wonderful it is to be tied to another person.