Page 56 of Protect My Heart
‘You’ll need something to toast with,’ Nick says, holding up his beer glass.
‘Try this,’ Lyndsay says, offering me her wine glass. ‘It’s my favorite Chardonnay.’
‘Really, I’m fine.’ I back away from the glass. ‘I have a headache and wine will make it worse.’
‘A headache?’ Martha says with concern. ‘Do you need something? I have aspirin in my purse.’
‘Oh, no, it’ll go away.’
‘Martha, we need to eat,’ Carl, Jason’s dad, says, as he stands by the long table where the food is set up. ‘It’s starting to get cold.’
‘Just so everyone knows,’ Martha says. ‘The rehearsal has been moved to seven since the food showed up early.’
The rehearsal is at the orchard, where Nick and Lyndsay are getting married. Jason said they were going to have the rehearsal dinner at the barn but decided not to since it’s already set up for the reception tomorrow.
Maybe I’ll ask Jason to drop me off at his apartment on his way to the rehearsal. I don’t need to be there, and given how he’s acting, he’d probably rather go alone.
‘I love your dress,’ Kate says to me during dinner. ‘Where’d you get it?’
‘At a store back in Boston. I’ve had it forever.’
‘It’s really cute. Hey, while you’re here, do you want to come check out my store?’
‘I don’t know if I’ll have time. I might head home after the wedding tomorrow.’
‘Wait—what?’ Jason looks at me. ‘You’re leaving after the wedding? It’ll be dark and late. It’s not safe.’
‘I’ll be fine. It’s not that far.’
I’d planned to stay until Sunday, but I’d rather leave tomorrow if things between Jason and me continue to feel awkward and uncomfortable.
‘You can’t leave.’ Brody laughs. ‘If you do, the crazy girl will show up to be Jason’s date.’
‘Who’s leaving?’ Martha asks from the other end of the table.
‘Mia,’ Sawyer says. ‘She said she might leave after the wedding.’
‘Oh, honey, you don’t want to do that,’ Martha says in hermotherly tone. ‘It’s dangerous to be on those country roads at night.’
‘A buddy of mine hit some deer on that road to Madison,’ Carl says. ‘The force was bad enough to land him in the ditch. He hit his head on the window and laid there unconscious until someone drove by the next morning.’
‘You see?’ Martha says. ‘It’s always safest to drive during daylight, especially with all the critters that come out at night.’
Jason leans over to me. ‘This will keep going until you agree to stay.’
I smile. ‘Okay, I’ll leave on Sunday.’
‘Isn’t that when your parents are coming?’ Jason asks.
‘They’re coming on Monday, and I’m not planning to be here with them. They have a list of things they plan to do. And they’re not spending all their time in Haydon Falls. They’ll stay here overnight, but during the day they plan to drive to the other towns in the area.’
‘Tell them to come by the orchard,’ Nick says. ‘I’ll give them a tour.’
‘Okay,’ I say, but I’m not going to tell them to go there. I’m going to tell them the orchard is closed for the season, which is true until they reopen in a few weeks for strawberry picking. I don’t want my parents to meet Jason’s family. I’m not even going to tell them about Jason.
I thought about Nora’s fake engagement idea and decided I’m not doing it. Even if I wanted to, Jason would never agree to be my fiancé. He isn’t even acting like we’re friends anymore. Given how things are going, I think this is it for Jason and me. We’ll be connected by our child, but that’s where our relationship will end.
Chapter 13
