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“Remind me of why we’re doing this?” I grumble under my breath.
The ride over to the small island this morning was choppy and I spent most of it huddled in the boat’s single, tiny office. Everyone else was out on the deck getting sprayed by sea foam and battered by the wind—and they looked happy to be doing it.
“I heard that, Ange,” Cat says, elbowing me in the side lightly. “We’re doing it because even though we decided to stay in Maine, we still wanted to do something new on this trip.”
“We have beaches, hiking, and ice cream shops on Mount Desert Island,” I say.
“But we don’t have only sixty year round residents!” she says cheerfully.
Honestly, living in a town with that few people would suit me fine. Maybe she has a point.
“And hiking is fun,” she continues.
“Since when have you ever thought that, Cat?” I ask.
“Since forever! You know my parents love hiking, especially with your moms, so I’ve been on a fair few trips. And I’ve always enjoyed the like, vibes of it. If not the physical activity part.”
I snort. My moms do love to pack up their Subaru, drive to the nearest trail, and spend the entire day in the woods. I hardly ever came with them as a kid, though. After the first time when I shrieked at the sight of a spider in the woods, they realized that their daughter was not going to be an outdoors-woman.
It’s funny because I’m betting if anyone else on this boat saw blood literally spurt out of a person’s wound, they’d shriek. That’s the norm for me at work, and it doesn’t faze me.
“You’ll enjoy yourself, I promise,” Cat says.
And then she starts heading off of the boat. I realize that I’m the last one left and I hurry behind her to the pier. Carter, Jamie, and Hunter are standing in a circle talking in hushed tones about something very serious—probably something to do with the wedding. Though Carter looks pissed as hell, whatever it is. Jacqueline and some of the other book club ladies are staring out at the water, and Drew and his girlfriend are (predictably) making out on a bench. Bleh. PDA is not my thing.
Cat claps her hands like she’s a kindergarten teacher and the group turns to face her.
“Alright, so here’s the plan: we’re going to walk through the village, head to the trails, and then hike around the island. It’s only about five miles but it, uh, goes up some hills or whatever,” she falters and shifts her feet in her new hiking boots that definitely donothave the worn, I-love-hiking look about them. “The important thing is that we’ve chartered the boat to leave at 4:00 p.m. sharp. So we all have to be back here by that time, though there is a bit of flexibility.”
Jamie steps over to her and puts an arm around her. My chest twists at seeing their easy affection with one another, andI can’t help but wonder what it would be like to have that with someone.
“To make things more interesting, we’ve made a scavenger hunt and you’ll work in pairs to complete it,” Jamie says.
“Boooo,” Hunter calls out, though he’s grinning.
“Hey, what’s a bachelor-bachelorette party without some dumb games?” Jamie says, shrugging, though the look on his face is devious.
He starts passing out sheets of paper. When I get mine, I notice two things. One, the instructions are hand written on the hotel notebook paper, meaning that they hastily put this together last night. And two, they’ve paired me with Carter.
I march over to Cat. “I do not appreciate you meddling,” I hiss, hoping no one else hears.
Cat got this crazy idea in her head last year that Carter and I are meant to be together or something. She just wants me to find someone like she found Jamie, which is sweet, but misplaced.
“I’m not meddling,” she says innocently. “And I’m the bride, you have to do what I say.”
“Why can’thebe paired with Hunter,” I grind out.
“Hunter is with Jamie,” she says. “And I’m with Jacqueline. You and Carter will make a great team. I’m sure you’ll win.” She’s clearly trying to appeal to my competitive side, but it’s not going to work.
“Fine. But I am not going to enjoy this, and we should probably have a conversation about how much of a bridezilla you’ve become.” I can’t help but smile when I say the last part, because bridezilla is so not Cat. She and Jamie are having a low-key wedding in town, and Cat is probably going to wear something she finds at a thrift store.
“Yes,” she says. “Definitely. I’ve been feeling myself transform slowly over the last few weeks and I just can’t stop it.”
I snort out a laugh and my annoyance towards her fizzles out. I know that this scavenger hunt is just her and Jamie’s way of trying to get Carter and me together, and I even understand why they think it might be a good idea. There’s no denying we have chemistry, even if it’s just of the enemies-to-lovers type. But whatever Cat thinks I feel for Carter isn’t there—I’m not harboring any secret lust or love for him. I kicked that feeling to the curb long ago.
All that’s left is deep resentment.
So I’ll survive this day by doing what I always do: ignoring him.
