Then again, she could also do a lotbetter.
* * *
I arrivedat the Maple Grove Inn with one lone duffel bag. I didn’t plan on being here any longer than fucking necessary. But Cam has been my best friend since grade school, along with Steve and Scott. I sure as hell couldn’t miss his wedding. Especially since I had missed his first wedding to Hannah. He always shrugged that off… the fact that I had missed his first wedding. But I could see his disappointment in me. Hell, he had lost just as much as I had here in Maple Grove. His dad had passed away when he was younger. His first wife died several yearsago.
But the difference was that Cam hadn’t been left with nobody. My mom’s death and my dad’s… well, my dad’schoiceshad left me essentially with no parents. And unlike Cam, I didn’t have four siblings to lean on or to help me through my rough patch. Other than friends like Cam and Steve, I had no reason to come back to MapleGrove.
Until now. Just because I’d been a shit friend with Cam’s first marriage, didn’t mean I had to be one now. It was time to face my ghosts. The thought of seeing Scott had my stomach turning. My blood boiling. But the good news was, Steve had promised me Scott wasn’t going to be at the party. Seeing Tiffany today wasn’t his fault, obviously. It was my dumb fault. Thinking I could slip onto the football field without being noticed. I wonder if they still had that stupid shrine to me in the trophy case. Steve had snapped a picture of it back when they first put it together and sent it tome.
I entered the inn a little after four o’clock, the duffel bag slung over my shoulder and I smiled at the receptionist. She grinned widely back at me and I knew immediately she recognizedme.
“Mr. Wilson,” she said, her eyes lighting up like the Christmas Tree in the foyer. “It’s so lovely having you staying here withus.”
“Thank you,” I said, doing my best not to mumble. My mom always used to get on my case aboutthat.
“Your room is all ready foryou.”
I pulled out my credit card, handing it to her for incidentals, but she waved it away. “The room is on the house. Compliments of the Maple GroveInn.”
I hesitated. This shit happened from time to time. Why local businesses thought celebrities and sports stars needed rooms and clothes comped was beyond me. I stretched out my hand once more. “That’s really nice, but I want to pay. I don’t give out endorsements ever, if that’s what your boss isafter.”
She smiled, but still didn’t take my card. “We aren’t looking for any endorsements, I assure you.” She pointed to the wall behind her where there were several signed headshots from various movie stars. “We actually give really great tax breaks here in our little town to film sets, so we get a lot of celebrity guests. But,” she added, “few of which are our town hero. So, yours is comped.” She smiled widely and grabbed a key from behind her desk. “You can follow me this way.” She led me up three flights of stairs and down the hall to the very end, unlocking the door for me and holding the dooropen.
I had to hand it to them. This place looked incredible. So different than the creaky, old inn most of us used to get drunk behind in high school. It was the perfect spot back then, not well lit and almost always empty because no one wanted to visit our Podunk town. There was a creepy abandoned cabin in the back, set in front of the lake. The owners were also old as shit and nearly-deaf, so we could be as loud as we wanted and they never said anything.Who owns it now?I wondered as I stepped into the suite. The bathroom was off to my right and decorated in a with lots of white marble and copper accents. The room had hardwood floors and a lush area rug that brought a coziness to the space that otherwise would have been cold, particularly in the winter. The suite had a lounge area as well as a separated bedroom with a four-poster bed. A fire roared in the fireplace beside the loungearea.
“This is gorgeous,” I said,turning.
“Thank you,” she grinned, “but I certainly can’t take credit for it. You’re here for the Tripp engagement party,correct?”
I nodded and she gestured to the desk where a basket was waiting for me along with an itinerary. Wow, a fucking itinerary for an engagement party? Steve had warned me that it was a whole weekend of festivities beginning tonight with the party, then a ski trip tomorrow morning, ending tomorrow night on Christmas Eve with the annual Maple Grove tree trimming event in the center of town. “Have a great time,” she said. “The kickoff cocktail party starts tonight at seven.” With that, she turned and shut the door behindher.
Seven. That left me plenty of time to grab a nap and a shower. And then maybe once I showed my face tonight, I could get the hell out of town before the rest of these festivities began tomorrow. I much preferred my Christmas Eve tradition… cracking a beer and eating Chinese takeout while watching horrormovies.
My insides warmed as I remembered Paige’s face in the parking lot. She looked similar to when we were younger. She could have passed for twenty-one. But her body sure as shit had matured … and it mademybody do naughty things. I groaned and fell back on thebed.
Was she friends with Cam? With his fiancée maybe? She was the one person from high school, other than the Tripps, who I actuallywantedto see. As my eyes drifted closed, I made a wish that she would be theretonight.
Not that it mattered. What the hell would I do if she was there? She was still connected to Scott, I was sure of that. And even though I wanted nothing more than to take her into my arms, I couldn’t start something with her; not when I knew that being with her meant Scott would become part of my life onceagain.
That shit couldn’t happen. It would take a Christmas miracle for me to forgive thatbastard.
