Page 99 of No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding

I glance at Oliver. He’s looking out at the scenery, his baseball cap pulled low.

“I could tell on the tennis court when he was deliberately making me lose.”

“Maybe he just didn’t want to see the backpack kid dance.”

“Ha ha.”

“Seriously, El. He’s not the devil.”

My stomach churns with unease. “He blackmailed me for ten years.”

“Well, he’s stopped now, hasn’t he?”

“Yes, but—”

“And he’s got some other things going on, too, so maybe let it go.”

I look at Oliver again, but he’s not going to help me out here. Besides, what can he do about this?

At least he knows I didn’t bring it up.

Small mercies.

“Other things like?” I ask.

“It’s not for me to say.”

“Are you guys dating?”

She arches an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“We’re here,” Oliver says as the dune buggy lurches to a stop on a small flat plain in front of a thick clutch of cherry and scrub oak trees with a thick jungle undergrowth beneath it. “Let’s try not to die on this ropes course, shall we?”

“Why would you say something like that!”

He shrugs. “Just stating the obvious.”

“Honey, I love you, but sometimes you don’t think before you speak.”

He gives me a wide grin. “Webothdo that.”

“Okay, fair.” I touch his arm. “Is this a mistake, you think?”

“Going up into the trees where a fall would mean certain death with a potential murderer among us? Nah.”

“Oliver is funny,” Harper says with an indulgent smile. She had a couple of drinks at lunch, too. “Did you know Oliver is funny, El?”

“I did, in fact. And donottell me that Connor can be funny, too.”

“Well, sometimes.”

I climb out of the buggy, my legs protesting after the workout from the tennis game. Even though I knew I was going to lose, my competitive spirit didn’t stop me from pushing myself harder than I should have.

And if that’s not a metaphor for many things about me, I don’t know what is.

“Enough,” I say. “If this is going to be my last act on this earth, I don’t want to be wondering what Connor Smith said that made you think he has a sense of humor.”

“She’s so easy to goad, isn’t she?” Harper says.

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