Page 6 of Jingle Bell Jilt
This is decidedly uncomfortable. And my mom had been wrong. I do regret my act of kindness. I regret it so hard.
I glance at the door. “No problem, Miss Taylor.” I take a step closer to the door, trying to make my escape.
“It’s Shay.” She sniffs.
I nod. She’s definitely not emotionally stable. “Anyway, if you need anything else, I’m just next door.” Why do I keep bringing that up? It’s like I’m inviting her to come over and bother me.
I lift my hand in a wave and slip out the door, sucking in a breath as I close it behind me. I hurry across the driveway, afraid that she’ll stick her head out the door and call me back.
Pushing through the small door in the garage screen, I grab my cell phone off the counter on my way to the door into my kitchen.
I pull up the contacts on my phone and scroll down to Nathan’s number, shoving the phone to my ear.
It rings several times before a tenor voice answers. “Hey, man, what’s up?”
“Nathan? Where are you?”
He lets out a groan. “Oh, man, I’m sorry I didn’t call you yet. The wedding didn’t happen. I kind of thought Shay would have canceled the reservation.”
Nathan didn’t know she was here? I open my mouth to tell him that she is, but then I stop. I’m not sure why, but I don’t feel right about telling him. “Nope. She didn’t cancel.” I can tell him the truth without him discovering the full truth, right?
“Dude. I give you permission to charge her credit card for the full amount.”
I frown. I don’t really need his permission to charge the credit card. After yesterday, the reservation was non-refundable. “What do you mean the wedding didn’t happen?” I had received an invitation, but since he was coming to Florida for the honeymoon, I hadn’t worried about flying out to the wedding. I guess that was a good call on my part.
“I called it off. The more I started to think about what you said, the more I realized that I couldn’t go through with it. She’s just too much.”
A knot forms in my stomach. As much as I don’t want my friend stuck in a bad marriage, I also don’t like the thought that he is using my words as an excuse.
“I didn’t tell you to call off the wedding.” Right? I wrack my brain trying to remember the details of my last conversation with him.
“Uh, yeah, you did. You literally said ‘You can’t marry her.’”
I drop my head back and close my eyes, thumping my palm against my forehead. When would I learn to keep my mouth shut?
“Don’t beat yourself up, man. I totally owe you one.” Nathan sounds far too upbeat for someone who has just called off his wedding.
“Was she really that bad? Are you sure it wasn’t just cold feet?” I just keep feeling sicker and sicker.
“No. It wasn’t cold feet. I told you about how controlling she is.” I remember him saying that she always picked where they ate and what movies they saw. “And then there are all of her neuroses.”
“Neuroses?”
“Yeah. They hadn’t really bothered me at the beginning. I kind of thought they were cute. But the longer we were together, they just became so annoying.” He lets out a sigh. “And I’m not convinced they were even completely real—like, I think she used them just to get attention.”
“Like what?” If this girl was staying in my rental, maybe I had better know if she is dangerous. I really don’t want a whole Fatal Attraction-dead bunnies kind of thing to happen.
“Like she has these weird phobias.”
“How weird?” Was it like fear of the dark kind of phobia or like the ones I read about in an article on the internet—the fear of beards or pelicans? I run a hand over my stubble. What am I in for here?
“She says she’s afraid of heights. Oh, and she has claustrophobia and is a complete germaphobe.”
I relax back on my couch. Those aren’t very weird. I know several people with those same fears. Heck, my mom had been afraid of heights. “That doesn’t seem weird.”
“Well, yeah. I guess those aren’t weird, but her reactions are. She acts like she’s going to pass out or be sick. It’s just so over the top. And don’t even get me started on her fear of open-backed stairs.”
My brow creases. “Open-backed stairs? What are those?”
