Unwrapped (9 page)

And that’s all you’ll ever have.

I hug my arms around myself, fighting the
pain.

“Are you cold? Is the air too high?” Daniel
glances over. “I have a sweater if you need.”

I shake my head quickly. “I’m fine,” I lie, even
as my heart aches. “How much further?”

“Not long now,” Daniel checks the GPS. “Thirty,
forty minutes maybe. We’ll be there before noon, plenty of time for
you before the wedding.”

“Thanks,” I swallow back a treacherous sob. “For
getting the car, and everything. You didn’t have to.”

“It’s nothing,” Daniel gives a casual shrug,
like driving hours out of his way is no big deal. “I needed to do
something, anyway. You were right, being cooped up in that hotel
room was too much.”

Being cooped up with me.

I feel another stab of misery. “Don’t worry,” I
joke, deadpan. “Once you drop me off, we’ll never have to see each
other again.”

“I didn’t …” Daniel starts. “That’s not what I
meant.”

“Whatever,” I shrug, and turn my face away
again. “I’m going to take a nap. Wake me when we get there.”

I pretend to sleep for the rest of the way to
Beachwood Bay, until finally the coastal highway hits the sleepy
town. It looks perfect and peaceful under a blanket of snow: the
boats tied up in the harbor, bobbing white against the slate grey
waves. We drive down Main Street, past shuttered stores, and
white-picket front yards, and the Christmas tree lit up in the
square. Finally, the ache in my chest eases, just a little,
replaced with a sense of awe at the surroundings.

“It’s beautiful here,” I breathe, my breath
fogging the window. “Like something from a postcard.”

“I would have figured you for a city girl,”
Daniel remarks. “Bright lights, big crowds.”

“Most of the time,” I agree, “But look around,
and tell me this isn’t the cutest place you’ve ever seen.”

Daniel gives a cursory glance out of the window.
“Sure,” he agrees, but his voice is tight, and then I remember: to
him, Beachwood Bay isn’t just an adorable vacation town, it’s the
place he lost Juliet—and where she’s hours away from getting
married. No wonder he doesn’t seem happy to be back here.

It strikes me suddenly that he didn’t have to
make the trip at all. Hell, who would want to show up this close to
his ex’s wedding? He could have given me the car, and waited for a
flight himself, he didn’t have any reason to come with me out here,
unless …

I gulp. Maybe he still has feelings for Juliet.
Maybe he can’t help but want to see her one last time, before she
marries Emerson and is out of his life for good.

The thought sinks through me, heavy as a rock.
As if I didn’t feel bad enough, now I know, to Daniel, I’ll never
compare to the love of his life. I’ll never be the good, sweet,
demure girl he wants to be with, and all the hoping and wishing in
the world won’t change that.

We turn up the winding coastal road, the ocean
visible through the screed of cedar trees that line the dunes, and
I do my best to pull myself back together. By the time we pull into
the beach house drive, gravel crunching under the tires, I’m just
about back in control.

“I guess the party’s already started,” Daniel
notes, as we find a spot to park. The drive is full of an
assortment of cars and trucks, and the house sits, strung up with
Christmas lights and surrounded by snow, looking out across the
bay. It’s a vacation home that’s been in Juliet’s family for
generations. She and Emerson don’t live here anymore, not really:
they have an apartment in the city, and now that Emerson’s little
sister, Brit, has moved in with her fiancé, the place is
unoccupied. But when it came to picking a wedding site, Juliet was
determined: this house was where she and Emerson began, and it
means the world to her to start the new chapter in their lives here
too.

“Lacey!” Juliet’s delighted scream echoes as the
front door opens and she hurtles down from the holly-decked porch.
She sprints across the lawn to meet me, dressed in jeans and a
sweater and boots, but with her hair and makeup all done for the
wedding. “You made it!”

“I’m so, so, so, so sorry!” I hug her back hard.
“I know I messed everything up coming late but there was nothing I
could do. Don’t hate me!”

“Are you kidding?” Juliet pulls back, her cheeks
pink and excited under her pretty braided updo. “I’m just so happy
you made it here at all! Brit is driving me crazy, and I can’t get
married without my best friend.”

“I heard that!” A female voice calls out from
the second-floor window, and a moment later, Juliet’s
sister-in-law-to-be, Brit, sticks her head out. “Hey you! And I
wouldn’t be bugging you if you’d sit still long enough to set your
makeup!”

“I’ll be right up!” Juliet yells, then hugs me
again, grinning. “I’m so happy you’re here! How did you make it?
You said flights wouldn’t start up for hours.”

“We drove,” I explain.

“We?” Juliet raises an eyebrow and looks past
me, her eyes widening as she sees who just got out of the car.
“Wait, Daniel?” she gasps in shock, looking back and forth between
us. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, right,” I realize with a flush of guilt. “I
didn’t mention that part, did I? We were on the same flight, so we
ended up snowed in together.”

“Congratulations,” Daniel says, moving forward
to meet Juliet. He leans in and kisses her on the cheek, then
stands back. “Today’s the big day, huh?”

Juliet nods, her excitement dimmed for a moment.
“I thought about sending you an invite, but, I figured …” she looks
at Daniel, her dark eyes wide with sincere regret.

My guilt twists harder. Bad enough reminding
Daniel about everything without messing up Juliet’s special day
too. What was I thinking, bringing him into the middle of things
like this?

Daniel coughs, glancing away. “Yeah, I’m
spending Christmas with my folks, anyway. At least, I was …”

“Wasn’t it a huge coincidence?” I interrupt
brightly. “Of all the flights, in all the world, I wound up sitting
next to him.” I let out a nervous laugh. “And then the hotel was
overbooked, and we had to split a room, and—” I stop. Oh, crap, I
wasn’t going to tell Juliet about that part.

“Really?” Juliet turns to me and gives me a
curious look. I avoid her stare. “Huh. Anyways, what are we even
doing, standing around in the cold?” She exclaims brightly. “Come
inside, warm up.”

“I should really get back on the road.” Daniel
says, clearly reluctant.

“Nonsense!” Juliet objects. “You’ve been driving
for hours, at least have some coffee and food before you go. Come
on, Lacey!” she calls to me, steering us both towards the
house.

I try to protest, but Juliet overrules me, and
before I even know what’s happening, Daniel and I are inside, in
the kitchen, with a cup of coffee in our hands and a promise of
food on the way. “The groomsmen will be back from the bar in a
minute,” Juliet promises, “They’re in charge of lunch.”

I look around the house, taking in the chaos:
decorations spilling out of boxes, wedding gifts piled in the
living room next to an over-decorated tree, and traces of Brit’s
dressmaking materials still scattered around the room. Juliet
follows my gaze.

“I know, I know, it looks bad, but, Emerson
promised the guys would get everything cleared up before the
ceremony at three.”

“What did I promise?” A voice comes, and then
Emerson strides through the back door, stamping snow off his boots.
He goes straight to Juliet like she’s the only person in the room.
“The aisle is all shoveled,” he tells her, his dark hair ruffled at
all angles. “But high-heeled shoes are out. I don’t want you
breaking your neck before you get to say ‘I do.’”

“Thank you,” Juliet melts into a grin, leaning
up to kiss him. “That’s one less thing to cross off the list.”

“Hey Lacey,” Emerson finally looks around the
room. Then he lays eyes on Daniel, and his whole body freezes,
tense. “What the hell’s he doing here?” he demands loudly.

Emerson takes half a step towards him,
threatening, but Daniel stands his ground. He takes a sip of
coffee, casual as can be despite the fact Emerson looks like he’s
about to rip his head off.

“Daniel drove Lacey,” Juliet explains, quickly
stepping between them. “Isn’t that nice of him?”

Emerson regards Daniel with a threatening stare.
“Sure. Nice. Thanks.”

“No problem, man,” Daniel regards him coolly.
“Happy to help out.”

There’s a tense silence, the two guys staring
each other down, and I remember what Juliet told me about the last
time these guys met face-to-face: how it ended with an all-out
bloody brawl.

Way to ruin the wedding, Lacey!

Finally, Daniel sets down his cup. “I should hit
the road,” he says, leisurely, as if he has all the time in the
world.

“Don’t let us stop you.” Emerson agrees. Juliet
rolls her eyes at him, and moves forwards to give Daniel a hug.

“Thank you again for getting Lacey here. I don’t
know what I would have done without her.”

“I didn’t do it for you,” Daniel gives her a
crooked smile, then looks past her to me. “Lacey, you take
care.”

My heart twists. This is it, he’s leaving. After
everything that’s happened, I want to throw my arms around his neck
and make him stay somehow; at the very least, taste one last
bittersweet kiss.

I fight the urge, with everything I have.
There’s no use humiliating myself now, when he’s made himself
perfectly clear.

“Sure, you too,” I murmur, looking away. There’s
a pause, then Daniel pulls on his jacket. “Good luck, to the both
of you,” he tells Emerson and Juliet, and holds his hand out for
Emerson to shake. After a beat, Emerson takes it. “Take care of
her,” Daniel says quietly, and it makes the knife twist harder—that
even after all their drama, he can still be a good man about
it.

Emerson nods, solemn. “With my life.”

I busy myself with dishes at the sink, keeping
turned away until I hear the front door shut and Daniel’s engine
start up in the yard. There’s a pause, while I scrub hard at a
breakfast bowl, tears stinging the corner of my eyes. Then Juliet’s
voice comes, loud and clear.

“You want to tell me what just happened
here?”

***

I brush off Juliet’s question, turning back
to her with a bright smile. “Nothing, I don’t know what you mean.
Now, where do you want to get started: out in the yard, or in
here?”

“Lacey …” Juliet gives me a knowing look, but I
refuse to crumple and make even more drama out of my own damn
stupidity.

“The yard it is,” I decide. “That way we can get
the heavy lifting done before we change. You stay inside and keep
warm, but send me whoever you have free.”

Juliet opens her mouth to protest, but she’s
drowned out by the clatter of activity in the hall as Emerson’s
groomsmen arrive in a hustle of hunky manliness: Hunter, Brit’s
fiancé, tall and blonde and strapping, and their friend, Garrett,
looking surprisingly smart with his usual wayward stubble shaved,
and a suit instead of his uniform plaid shirt and jeans.

“Perfect timing!” I declare, greeting them with
hugs. “We’ve got some serious work to do!”

I manage to keep away from Juliet’s questions
for the next few hours as I slip into full event-planning mode.
With Garrett and Hunter at my disposal, the mess inside the house
and out is cleared away into closets and the garage, and we set up
a small row of white folding chairs in the back yard, leading up to
an archway I wind with holly, winter wreaths, and red and white
ribbons. I hang tiny lanterns and twinkling white Christmas lights
on the tree branches and fence, and in no time at all, the back
yard looks like a glittering, snow-swept Christmas card scene.

The activity is good for me: with so much to do,
I can almost force the thought of Daniel out of my mind.

Almost
.

But as hard as I try, I can’t stop the memories
slipping into my mind. Flashes of him kissing me, holding me, our
bodies intertwined …

“It looks great out here.” Emerson’s voice
breaks through my X-rated thoughts. I jolt back to reality to find
him leaning out from the back porch, a mug of coffee in his
hands.

“Yup!” I exclaim brightly. “It’s all going to be
perfect.”

Focus, Lacey,
I scold
myself.
This isn’t about you: today is Juliet’s
day, not the time for your own stupid emotional drama.

“They need you upstairs, something about makeup
…” Emerson adds. “I don’t even know but Brit sounds about ready to
kill someone.”

“Coming!” I call, checking around one last time.
There’s a wonderful hush that’s fallen over the bay with the
snowfall: the world is white and gray and silver, with nothing but
the distant sound of the ocean crashing on the pale shore. It’s
magical, like another world, and for a moment I can’t help wishing
Daniel could be back here to share it with me.