Me:Only if you are.
North:Meet me out front in 15 minutes.
Me:See you soon.
I finish my drink, gather my purse, and head to the bathroom before I leave.
Even though a few girls are giggling and talking at the sinks, it's easy to hear two people having sex in one of the stalls. I do my business, but when I see the shoes of the woman in the next stall, I recognize them as the ones Vikki was wearing.
I finish and wash my hands, and a quick peek through the crack proves I'm right. There's no hiding that Vikki is blatantly cheating on her fiancé. Bachelorette party or not, cheating is cheating in my book.
I turn and leave the bathroom without looking back and make my way to the front of the building. North is pulling up as I step outside into the cool air.
By the time I get into his car, I'm pissed off at the whole situation.
Chapter 11
North
Icantellthemoment Candy gets in the car that she’s not herself. She seems pissed off and quiet, and I know something's wrong.
"Take me back to my place," she says when she closes the door.
Her voice is flat and cold. Not the bright, cheery person I've come to know over the last few days. I reach out and take her hand in mine. She lets me hold it, but she doesn't look at me.
"What's wrong?"
"Why did you insist I go tonight? Did you honestly think they'd welcome me with open arms?" she asks, the irritation clear in her voice.
"They weren't nice?" I quickly realize it’s the stupidest question I could have asked.
"I don't remember a time when I've been treated so badly," she says as we pull into her driveway.
She wastes no time getting out and storming through her front door.
I sit there dumbfounded for a few seconds before I go after her. This is not the outcome I expected tonight. I thought we would have fun and funny stories about the bachelor and bachelorette parties. I reach her door and knock, thinking we'll talk this out.
"Go away. We'll talk about this tomorrow," she calls through the door.
And because I’ll give her anything she wants, I turn and head back to my car, even though each step I take feels wrong.
I don't sleep well. I keep thinking about what could’ve happened to upset my girl so much. I never expected her and Vikki to be best friends, but I thought she would at least have been civil to her last night.
I'm nervous as hell when I show up at her house this afternoon because we're supposed to be heading to the lake house for the reception and family dinner before the wedding.
When I get there, Candy is loading a suitcase into the back of her car. I pull in hesitantly and get out, unsure how this will go.
"I'm taking my car so I can leave if they behave like they did last night," Candy says, her voice cool and distant.
"Of course. Listen, I told my mom I wasn't happy with how they treated you, and she promised she'd handle it." After tossing and turning last night, I needed to do something.
"Great," she says, but I can hear the frustration in her voice. She looks at me like she has something else to say but decides against it. "Let's go. I'll follow you there."
She climbs into her car without another word. I need to find a way to fix this.
It's not a long drive to the lake house where the wedding is being held, and we’re all staying tonight. With everything going on with Candy and me, it seems like a horrible time to be stuck in a house with my family.
We try to paste on a fake smile as we walk inside. When Jake sees us, he offers a big smile and nods in greeting. Vikki shoots Candy an evil glare.