Page 5 of Jingle Bell Jilt
I grin. Nathan. I haven’t seen him—except on FaceTime—since Stanford six…no, seven years ago. Man, where has the time gone? I can’t believe he’s married. Although, I don’t know why I’m having a hard time accepting it. Most of my college friends are married and have kids. I think I’m the only one who’s not. But I’ve been too busy building a company from the ground up to worry about marriage. My shoulders tighten and a burning fills my gut.
I never thought I’d be the holdout. Nathan has always been such a player. I never thought he would actually commit to someone. But I suppose when the right woman comes along, even someone like Nathan could take the leap.
Although, with what Nathan has said about this woman, I have my doubts that she’s the right one. I’m not sure why he decided to marry her. But I’m not going to be that friend who disses on his friend’s new wife.
Wiping my hands on the nearby towel, I push through the doorway of the screen to say hello and give them the garage door opener and passcode for the front door. Usually, I just have the management company handle it, but John’s wife went into labor early. And anyway, I had planned on greeting Nathan when he got here. I know he’s on his honeymoon and I probably won’t see him much, but I still want to at least greet him and welcome him to Florida.
The driver’s side door opens, and a woman jumps down.
She does the driving? I don’t know why I’m surprised. Nathan said she was a control freak.
She’s shorter than I pictured from Nathan’s description. And prettier. He’d said she was ‘hot,’ but I guess the other things he told me about her tempered her looks in my mind.
I smile at her. “Hey, you must be Mrs. Shay Montrose.”
She flinches slightly. It probably still feels weird for her to be called that.
“I’m Shay, but my last name is Taylor.” She eyes me.
Huh. She kept her own name. How very progressive of her. It’s like I’m already seeing everything Nathan said about her. I can’t believe he actually married her. I tried to tell him things would only get worse once the vows were said. But he never listened to me in college. Why should he start now?
I look toward the car, waiting for Nathan to get out.
Shay Taylor, the progressive woman, stares at me. “Do you need something?”
I smile. “I have the garage door opener and door code for you. But I thought I may as well give it to both you and your husband at the same time.”
Her eyes narrow slightly. “I don’t have a husband.”
I frown. I don’t know why I don’t mention Nathan, but from the look on her face, it seems the safe move. “I thought the note in the reservation said this is your honeymoon.”
“Nope. NOT a honeymoon.” There’s a definite bite in her voice. “You need a husband to have a honeymoon.” She points to the car that I can now see is empty. “And as you can see, it’s just me.”
It’s just her? Where’s Nathan? “But the contract said there were two of you.”
“He didn’t come with me, okay? Can we just move on? Or does it null and void the contract if I come by myself?” Her voice gets higher with every word.
I shake my head. “No. No. It’s fine. I was just confused for a minute.” I have a sinking feeling in my stomach. What happened to the wedding? Did he tell her about me? I really hope he didn’t. I thrust my hand forward. “Here’s the remote to the garage.” I frown as I look at the car. “Although, I don’t think that car will fit. It looks too long.”
“Of course it is. That’s another point for you, Universe.” She looks to the sky with an angry scowl and shakes her fist.
My brows raise. Okay, she might not be entirely stable. From all accounts, I think Nathan may have dodged a bullet on this one. “Uh, the code to the front door is the last seven digits of the phone number on the reservation.” I shift onto my other foot, not sure I should ask the next question. “If you’re here alone, are you still planning to stay for the full amount of time?”
She shrugs. “I plan to. Maybe I will even extend if the place isn’t rented out immediately after my scheduled stay.”
It’s booked. I already know that. All my rentals are booked all the way through May. But she doesn’t look like she wants that info right now. So I think I’ll wait until she’s less jet-lagged and in a more pleasant mood.
She does have a more pleasant mood, right? “Okay. Well, you’re probably tired and want to go rest.” I point to the townhouse next door. “If you need anything, I’m staying in the house next door.” I cringe, wondering if John really needs the next week off for the baby. I mean, are babies really that hard? Maybe I should reconsider spending Christmas in New Hampshire.
She nods to me as she heads to the front door and jabs the code into the keypad. Does she expect me to bring in her luggage like I’m some bellhop or something? Well, she’ll be disappointed if she does.
I turn to leave, but then roll my eyes as my mom’s voice echoes in my head.You’ll never regret performing an act of kindness.I grit my teeth and turn back toward the car. Yanking the handle on the back, I wait while the door slowly pushes open revealing two suitcases. Two? Did she actually pay to check bags? She’s only going to be here a week. Nathan was not too far off. She’s high maintenance.
I grab for both bags, but one is missing a handle. I shake my head as I tuck it under my arm, like a giant, heavy football. I carry them into the house and deposit them on the entryway floor.
She appears and drapes her arm over the stair railing. Her gaze drops to the bags at my feet and then up to my face. Her lips shake lightly. Is she going to cry? Man, this girl is a hot mess.
“Thanks for bringing in my bags,” her voice quivers.
