Page 31 of The Weekend Crashers
Piper leaves the table to take a call from Ethan. She finds a quiet spot in the lobby, curling up on a soft armchair near the crackling fireplace.
“How’s it going?” he asks as the sound of his voice warms her like a shot of whiskey. In the background, she hears cars honking and an ambulance siren, a sharp contrast to her current surroundings. For the weekend, it’s a welcome change of pace. But her life with Ethan is in the city and they agree they never wanted to move, not even after they get married and have kids. (And yes, they’d discussed that far into the future—making the mystery of the vanishing ring all the more perplexing.) Even if she considered living somewhere else, the guilt over abandoning Maggie would dissuade her. She saw how upset Maggie got when Piper applied to college and suggested schools that weren’t within driving distance. She had no interest in repeating that drama.
“Yeah, it’s really cute here,” she says.
“I saw your posts,” he says. “You met some good people?”
“Yeah, everyone is so nice.” She identifies everyone in her latest posts: Hannah Elise, and Lexi and Dove.
“Lexi and Dove are on their honeymoon,” she says pointedly, but he clearly doesn’t pick up on it.
“Piper, you know I miss you already. But I’m glad you had the chance to get away for a few days.”
“Gretchen called, but I don’t want to talk to her.”
“I get it. And you shouldn’t,” he says. “You’re on vacation from all that.”
She appreciates the validation.
“I know. I need it. I’ve got to hand it to my mom: This trip was a great idea. I just wish she wasn’t so sensitive. I tookoneworkshop without her and I can tell she’s pissed.”
There’s a pause, and then Ethan says, “No comment.”
Piper sits up straighter in the chair. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She hears him sigh.
“Nothing.”
But she can’t let it go. “Clearly it’s something. Why’re you being negative?”
“I’m not being negative. Just... have fun. I’m heading into the subway, but we’ll talk later.”
They exchange the usualI love yous, but the call leaves her with a bad feeling. She puts the phone back in her handbag and stands up to go back to dinner. A few feet away, she spots Cole from the bachelor party. He sees her too and calls out, “We meet again.” He’s dressed in a navy blue all-weather coat and a green-and-white Philadelphia Eagles scarf.
“Don’t tell me you still need to borrow my phone,” she says, smiling.
He shakes his head and holds up his own cell. “Back in business.”
Raucous group laughter comes from the direction of the stairs. Cole’s expression shifts, his face tensing.
“Shit,” he says. “This is going to sound crazy, but I’m about to pretend we’re long-lost best friends, so just go with it?”
The bachelor party descends on them before she can question him.
“Where’ve you been hiding, bro?” one of them says.
“We were about to leave without you,” says another.
“Uh, I actually just ran into an old friend of mine. This is Piper. Piper, this is my cousin Scott.”
Scott has wavy brown hair cut short and fair skin with freckles. She towers over him.
“Nice to meet you,” she says, feeling the eyes of the rest of the group on her.
The cousin asks how she and Cole know each other.
“The city,” she says, mostly out of habit. That’s usually her answer to that question.
