by Nicky Shanks
As far from complicated as I want to be right now.
And then there’s Heather.
“Julie, we have to talk,” I say in a low voice as she finally notices me and waves goodbye to her new friends. I smile at her and capture her hand. “Let’s head back to the cabin; there’s something I have to deal with.” I don’t wait for her to say anything before whisking her back toward the parked car, but I take my time opening the door for her, placing her inside, and walking around to my door. Breathing heavily, I have to get inside or she’ll know something weird is up with me.
She can’t meet Heather—she just can’t.
Does she already know Heather?
“What’s the matter?” Her honey hair falls around her shoulders, escaping the braid it had been tied into all day. The strands are like curly rays of sunshine. “I could feel the tension our entire walk back to the Jeep.”
I don’t wait to figure out an answer. My hands find her waist and I pull her toward me, devouring her lips like I’ll never see her again. The air in our lungs thins so I let her go, and she goes back to her seat, touching her lips. I close my eyes. “Nora’s friend showed up a day early,” I say in one breath. “Very unexpected and not appreciated.”
Julie giggles. “Okay, that’s not a big deal. What’s wrong with that?”
I study her face. Her full lips turn up into a naïve smile and the corners of her eyes crinkle at me and my foolishness. I have to tell her; I know I do. There’s no getting around walking into the cabin and Heather opening her big ass mouth. “Have you met Nora’s friend, Heather?” I ask her, hoping for the best.
Julie nods. “Oh yeah, she’s…pretty perfect.”
No, you are perfect.
“Oliver, are you sure you’re okay? I’m sure Nora didn’t mean to upset you.”
My Julie.
Here goes nothing.
“Heather is my ex,” I blurt out, watching the happiness fade from Julie’s face. I can tell exactly what’s running through her mind—the endless questions and self-esteem blows that come and go from her eyes make me sad. The shades of emotions turn in her eyes; she realizes that she didn’t put it together when I talked about Heather as my ex. I haven’t physically seen Heather in months, so I’m not sure what is going to happen.
“I guess the names didn’t click with me,” she says. “Are you sure it’s the same Heather?”
I nod. “Casey just called and told me. She’s at the cabin and I’m making her leave. I can’t believe Nora would do this to me—to you!”
There is a small squeak that escapes from her throat. “I don’t think Nora would have known. She wouldn’t have invited her; something isn’t right here. Should I wait here?”
“No, why would you stay behind? I’m with you—I’m not with her.” I can tell she wants to say something but my head spins out of control. “I didn’t know—how could I have known?” I start to worry out loud, wringing my hands and fiddling with the keys in my lap. “I swear, Julie, if I had known it was her, I wouldn’t have said yes. I can’t fucking believe this…it’s always one thing after another with us, isn’t it? First it’s me being an asshole, then you hated me and I made you need stitches and then have to beat your ex’s ass and now this—it’s all coming at me at once now and it’s too much.”
The silence kills me as her sadness tries to suffocate me. That entire outburst was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. The problem is it’s way too late to take any of it back now. Julie’s head falls forward and she quietly buckles her seat belt.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers and looks out the window. “Let’s go back now; I’ll just hide in the bedroom.”
“Oh, Julie,” I say, apologetically, “I’m not ashamed of you.”
She shakes her head. “I know that, but you’re right. This is too much, too fast. I think we should just cool it before someone gets hurt—we do have different lives in Rockford.” Before I can open my mouth and dispute her, she bites the inside of her cheek and a few tears fall. “I’d like to go back now, please.”
I do what she asks, but I’m not happy about it. This girl, this fucking girl, has me so wrapped around her finger that I even want to comfort her when she breaks up with me.
“Ollie!” I hear Heather’s mousey voice squeak as I park the Jeep and let myself out. Julie doesn’t wait for me, instead slamming her door and marching directly inside the house. I want to run after her, but Heather jumps into my arms and wraps her legs around my torso. She kisses my neck, still squeaking in excitement. “When I got the address from Nora, I just knew I had to come early and see you! I’ve missed you so much, Ollie Bear.”
I tense and I nearly drop her on the ground—her bird legs catch her fall. “I don’t know what you’re doing here, but you have to leave.” I grit my teeth. “Now.”
Nora crosses her arms and squints at me. “Wait, you’re the ex-boyfriend who dumped her for no reason?”
I peel Heather off me and scowl at Nora. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” My voice gets rough. “Heather, leave.” As I’m walking away, I hear them talking in hushed voices but I don’t even care to know what they’re saying.
I spin around when I reach the front door. “Did I stutter?” I ask. “I said you need to leave.”
“Dude, it’s nearly nightfall—you don’t want her navigating these windy ass roads at night, do you?” Casey says from the far end of the front porch. His eyes are apologetic; he knows this is definitely not cool. “Think about who you’re talking about; that girl almost hit a light pole in the middle of the afternoon.”
Nora chimes in. “Wait, someone needs to start explaining. Heather, I thought you said your ex was an asshole and cheated on you?”
“Me?” My voice rises, and if we actually had neighbors, I bet they’d be looking out their windows right about now. “Me, the asshole? What the hell did you tell her, Heather? Did you tell her you slept with your brother-in-law?”
Nora’s eyes widen but she says nothing. I nod. “Oh, yeah, that’s right. In my bed—in my fucking bed, Nora!” By now, everyone in the house has come outside to see what the commotion is…everyone except Julie. I want to know where she is; I bet she’s locked herself in our bedroom and perched on the golden chaise with her book and the fireplace going.
I need to go to her.
“So now that you know the actual truth—” I look from Nora to Heather. “—scram.”
Heather slowly moves toward me. “Ollie, you haven’t spoken to me in three months. How can we try and fix it if you won’t talk to me?”
Casey stifles a laugh but Nora hears him anyway. “Oliver, I didn’t know…I just met her a few months ago…she never told me your name…” Her voice gets beneath a whisper and I can tell Nora had no idea. Heather is manipulative—I believe Nora.
“I’m going inside,” I tell them and turn my back. “Don’t follow me.”
Heather sniffles. “Oh, so that’s it? You’re going to throw me away for someone like Julie Remington?” Nora tries to stop her, but it’s too late—Heather is getting more hysterical by the second. “She’s so pathetic it’s unreal, Ollie! No one wants to be around her, she brings everyone down—no! Tell him, Nora!” Heather slaps Nora’s hands away from her. “Tell him what she did! She tried to—”
“I don’t care what she did!” I scream at her and turn back around, stomping heavily as I enter the house, leaving Heather whining outside. Nora and Staci enclose her in a semi-circle so she can’t follow me.
I have to find Julie.
I take the stairs three at a time. The bedroom door is shut and there’s a small light on underneath the doorway, but when I reach it, I stop.
What was Heather talking about? I admit I don’t know Julie as much as I should, but that hasn’t stopped me from caring for her—or hurting her. I groan and pull out my phone, searching Google for her name. I search through a few sites that give me nothing, but the fourth link I click on makes my knees weak. I have to brace mysel
f against the wall.
Rockford woman crashes into telephone pole—
Police suspect no foul play
That makes my heart burn, but as I read the news article underneath the headline, I catch my breath. The reporter said that even though the police suspected no foul play, the investigation did look like she had driven into the pole on purpose. I keep reading until my eyes hurt. Every article basically blamed Julie for crashing her car, yet she was never arrested or questioned about anything. I remember her telling me about her brother, Randy—he must have gotten her off the hook with the cops. When I’ve read enough, I stash my phone back into my pocket and don’t bother knocking—I just walk in.
The bedroom is empty.
Frantically scanning the room for her, I notice that even her scent of strawberry shampoo is slowly drifting away. The bathroom door is open and the light is off so she isn’t in there, either. I think about the articles I read and panic. My stomach drops and I can’t move my feet. I don’t know the first place to even look for her around here—she and I haven’t dug deep enough into each other for me to know where she’d go in a time like this.
First, I check all the other bedrooms in the house in case she just wanted some time alone—or away from me. Then I check the bathrooms, weight room, and kitchen, and still no Julie. The living room is empty too, but she’d been in here because I smell a faint scent of strawberries. I’m at least getting close.
As I stand in front of the double glass doors leading to the backyard and the woods, my hope falls. It’s dark now—almost too dark to see without some sort of light—and if she’d left the house alone, that meant she’s out in the woods alone.
“What’s wrong?” Casey asks from the doorway behind me. There isn’t anyone I want to see less than him right now—I could blame this entire thing on him for making me come up here in the first place.
I sigh. “Julie is gone.”
“Gone? Like ran off into the woods?” His voice matches my panic inside. “Dude, let’s go find her.” I turn to him and my eyes start to well. I take my phone out of my pocket and show him the last website I was looking at. As he reads the article, his face looks like what I imagined mine looked like. “Is that true?” he whispers, horror on his face. “Is that something she would do?”
I shrug. “I don’t know, but I’m not going to stand here and wait her out.”
“Why don’t you just call her?”
I dial Julie’s number and it rings several times. I call her three times and she doesn’t answer. “She isn’t answering; I’m going to look for her.”
Casey shrugs. “I’m coming with you.” I smile at my best friend. He’s leaving Nora behind—a girl he’s been chasing for six months—to come with me to help find a girl I’ve been chasing for six days. He pats me on the back as we leave the house and wade into the darkness of the thick woods, using our phones as flashlights.
About halfway to the clearing that Julie and I sat in yesterday, I can tell Casey wants to talk. “What is it?” I ask him in the darkness, my senses still on the alert in case I see a flash of her honey blonde hair in the trees. “I can tell you have something to say.”
He sucks in air. “It’s just…I know why we’re out here, you know? No one should be out here alone when it’s dark like this, but…” He’s choosing his words carefully. “Heather caused you so much drama. Are you sure Julie isn’t causing just as much?”
I turn to face him. Even in the darkness, I can see him cower. “No, I don’t,” I snap and cross my arms over my chest. “I like Julie a lot.”
“Are you in love with her?” We hear Heather’s voice sift through the trees behind us. “Julie Remington, huh? Are you in love with her like you were in love with me, Ollie?” She comes into view with a wicked smile on her face. Her black hair is the same shade as the night sky. “You are way out of her league—even she thinks so.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “What do you know about it?”
Heather clicks her tongue. “Plenty enough to know that she doesn’t want you if she got into a car with some other guy.”
My world stops and any air I have left in my lungs is now completely spent. “What the hell are you talking about?” I grit my teeth and grab her arm, pulling her toward me. She squeals a little in excitement, but I don’t care. “You better not be fucking with me.”
She scoffs and yanks her arm back. “I’m not lying. She just left with some guy in a dark-colored car.”
Brandon.
I take off running, but by the time I make it back to the house and into the driveway, it’s empty and Nora stands in the light of the front porch, her face pale and sad. I grab her arms and shake her. “Nora, where’s Julie?” I yell louder than I should.
“I thought she was with you?” Her panic matches mine.
I let her go and get into the Jeep. I can’t think of any plan that’ll work, but I start the car anyway.
Let her go, Oliver.
She doesn’t want to be with you.
“The hell she doesn’t,” I say and speed down the driveway, kicking up dozens of rocks behind me. A million things run through my mind as I twist and turn the Jeep down the windy lake roads in the darkness.
What is he doing to her?
Why didn’t she come to me?
Why did she leave me?
I plan on asking her those exact questions when I find her.
Wherever she is.
Chapter Twelve
Heather
I can’t believe what my new “friend” Nora is telling me as I cradle my phone between my shoulder and ear, throwing several articles of clothing into the Betsey Johnson suitcase open on the hotel room bed. She’s invited me to stay with some friends at a cabin. At first, I was bored and only considered it to pass the time. But now that I have the address and know who’s cabin it is…I’m showing up early. “Who’s up there? I don’t want to be the third wheel,” I lie. I know who’s there: That’s Ollie’s cabin.
Nora lists off some of the guests and I shake my head. “And who is sleeping together already?”
“Well, Casey and I are together obviously,” she says and giggles.
Wow.
“And I know the twins, Harley and Victor, are sleeping with Staci and Amber…but I’m not sure who is sleeping with whom.”
I know the friends that Nora is talking about. She dragged them along with her to a party I had a few months ago, right after Ollie left me. “Okay, is that it? I know Staci and Amber.”
Nora sounds distant now. “And Julie, do you remember her? I think she’s sleeping with this guy named Oliver—he owns the house—and he’s Casey’s best friend. It sucks that you haven’t met Casey yet, but you will.”
I laugh a little and all Nora can do is repeat herself again about Ollie’s little forest nymph and how amazing it is to see them both so happy.
He is so, so happy.
That used to be me—I made him happy.
I mean, Julie Remington is a damn mess.
I found out that she even tried killing herself over some loser boyfriend when she caught him cheating on her.
I admire myself in the mirror as I pass it and apply a fresh coat of sinful red lipstick. “Well, I’m packing now, so I should be there later tonight. I can’t wait to meet everyone.” I smack my lips together, smoothing the colored wax over the skin.
“So, how are you?” Nora asks me for the thousandth time during this phone call. “You don’t talk about your ex a lot…what’s his name again?”
“Oh, hey. I have to go—I’m going to finish packing. See you soon.” I hang up on her. The truth is that it was actually me who did all of the cheating. I slept with a revolving door of men when Ollie had too much business to take care of out of town and he left me home alone and bored. There were some times when he just wasn’t giving me what I needed—except money…he always gave me plenty of that. I think about Ollie’s friend Casey, and know that he hasn’t told his best friend that we slept together to
o.
Most of the time it doesn’t bother me that I quit college after my sophomore year to follow Ollie back to Rockford when his grandfather died. Ollie was always this older, mysterious rich guy that gave me anything I wanted. I found myself addicted to the things he could give me and not the man himself. Still, I do miss him.
I smile at myself in the mirror and lick my lips. “After he sees me, I doubt he’ll even remember her name.”
I wonder if Casey will tell his new girlfriend that we slept together too. Casey is like a loyal puppy, following Ollie around and doing anything to please him. To be fair, our hookup was a drunken mistake that he didn’t realize was happening. Ollie and I had just started dating, and during a dorm party—with a lot of tequila—I simply forgot to tell Casey that I was taken.
I already took what I wanted from him anyways.
I put my phone into the sparkly pink bag next to my sexy lingerie that I plan on wearing to seduce Ollie. I laugh; Ollie has been footing the bill for my hotel ever since he cut off my credit cards. I sobbed about having nothing without him and that the least he could do was pay for my hotel, and he did. He paid the bill and then never spoke to me again, and while at first it was fun seeing other men in my room, ordering room service, and sauntering with them…
I miss my Ollie Bear.
I carefully zip up the suitcase, making sure I don’t scuff my newly painted pink fingernails. My stomach is full of butterflies because I haven’t seen Ollie in so long. Three months without any money is too long for me—I have to grovel and beg for his forgiveness, play nice, and just live with the monogamy.
He wants a wife—I’ll give him a wife.
He wants monogamy…I can try my best to give him that.
I wear flats because the long drive isn’t going to work with stilettos, and I note that it’s a smart choice as I pull up to Ollie’s cabin at Lake Reed. I smirk to myself as I step out of the car, not bothering with the luggage when I can have one of the men inside the house carry it in for me. I text Nora as I walk toward the front door and she and Casey meet me outside, his face twisted in agony when he realizes it’s actually me.