Ditched (6 page)

We both glanced over her shoulder as the doors to the church flew open. A guest I didn’t recognize, probably a friend from Collin’s side
, emerged. It would only be a matter of time before the rest of the guests streamed forth.

“Max?”
Lanna said, her voice pleading. Then she turned to me. “Just think about it. But think fast. I’ll go back and try to do damage control. Or maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll just hold back the crowd to let you get a head start.”

She pulled me into a hug. I whispered something that was meant to be a t
hank you but it came out sounding strangled and high-pitched.

“If I were you, I’d keep yo
ur phone off,” she said to me. Then she turned to Max and they shared another look. “Think about it Max,” she said as she slapped him across the back.

He nodded before finishing his task of whisking me away.

***

“Unzip me!” I begged.

I felt trapped, as if
the dress was a cage holding me in. Tying me to something I suddenly desperately wanted to get away from. The moment I heard the zipper slide down, felt the fabric loosen, I squirmed around until I fought myself free. The dress was damp and sticky from the rain, making it no easy task to peel off. It finally fell to a heap at my feet in a swish of expensive fabric.

I heard the sound of flesh slapping against flesh. I tossed a glance over my shoulder to find that Max had slapped his hand over his eyes.
He stood in the foyer right in front of the fallen dress.

“Geeze Holly!” he cried.

“You’ve seen me in a bikini,” I mumbled over my shoulder. What I was currently wearing covered about that much. I marched up the stairs. I
needed
to get out of that dress. I didn’t have time to worry about offending Max.

I wasn’t sure when he’d turned into such a prude anyway.

A few moments later I heard scuffling as he followed me up the stairs. I yanked open drawers, finding something comfy and dry to slip into. I squirmed into a tank top.

“Can I come in?” His voice floated to me from the hallway.

I wiggled into a pair of cotton shorts and told him he could.

“So now what?” he asked as he stepped into my bedroom. “What do you want to do?”

He hadn’t said a word on the drive to my house. I was sure he wanted to let me think things over. But now we were here. I didn’t know how far behind my parents would be. Minutes? Hours? Would they stay and try to smooth things over? Or would they realize the mess was too great to bother with?”

“What
should
I do?” I asked him.

I crossed my arms over my chest. I’d managed to tamp down my tears. I’d cried so many already the last
day and a half. I seemed to fluctuate between pain and numbness. At the moment, I was grasping the numb feeling again and holding on tight.

He stared at me a minute as he thought things over.

“You need to decide for yourself,” he finally said.

I turned away from him and tugged my hands through my hair.
I’d plucked all of the bobby pins out on the drive home. Now it felt like a rain-dampened, frizzy mess. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut because I could feel the tears trying to press their way out again.

“I can’t even think straight right now,” I said as
I placed my hands over my face.

Max came up behind me, turned me around and hugged me to his chest. I felt myself go limp in his arms. “Yes, you can,” he said.

I blinked away the frustrating tears and looked up at him. “Do you…Would you mind? I mean, would you care if I tagged along?”

He scoffed at that. “Honestly? I’d love it if you tagged along. But it’s not my decision. You need to decide what’s right for you.”

I looked down at my feet. I knew he was right. I needed to decide this for myself. I just didn’t know what the right decision was. My body, heart and head all ached. I didn’t want to think anymore.

“If I leave, everyone is going to be so mad.”

He sighed and stepped away. “Holly, I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I think people have been telling you what to do your whole life. But you’re supposedly an adult.”

“Hey,” I grumbled. I didn’t need attitude from him too.

“I didn’t mean that as a dig. You don’t need permission from anyone to do anything. Just, for once, do what
you
want to do.”

I never would’ve guessed Max was all about tough love. Yet he was right. I did spend too much time worrying about keeping other people happy. If there was ever a time in my life when I needed to make
myself
happy, it was now.

With the pressure of a time crunch gnawing away at
me, I didn’t have time to overanalyze or over think. It wouldn’t be long before my parents came home. Or someone else who would most definitely stop me. That knowledge helped me make the choice in that moment. If I’d had time to dwell on it, reason things out, I don’t know what my answer would’ve been. But I didn’t have time and I went with my instincts.

“Will you help me carry my bags?
Please?” I asked. I pointed to them.

They were already packed.

For my honeymoon.

I expected him to give me a pleased grin. Instead, he squeezed his eyes shut for a second and blew out a breath. When he opened them again, the only emotion I saw there was relief.

“Yes,” he said. “I’ll get both of your bags. You just finish with whatever else you need to do.”

I
nodded and turned around to pull another bag out of my closet. “Let me just grab a few more things. I’ll be right down.”

He agreed and disappeared with the giant suitcase and the smaller bag that was supposed to have bee
n my carry-on. I set the extra bag on my bed and threw in a few more important things. My thoughts were so hazy I couldn’t even begin to decide if I was doing the right thing or not.

On one hand, I felt like I was taking the easy way out by running away.

On the other hand, I felt like I didn’t owe it to anyone to stay.

I threw the strap of my bag over my shoulder and scurried down the stairs. Now that my mind was made up, I wanted to be gone before my parents came back. I headed to my dad’s office, quickly opening his safe. I pulled out the money bag where he kept an ample supply of what he considered emergency cash.

This situation
was
an emergency as far as I was concerned.

“Should I look the other way?” Max asked. “Are you committing a robbery?”

I glanced up. He was leaning against the doorframe
, nearly filling it. He was trying to joke but his expression showed nothing but concern.

“No
pe,” I said. I’d worked in the print shop on campus all year. I was given tasks such as collating, stapling and photocopying. It was possibly the most boring job ever but it was a paycheck. I had a decent amount of money in my checking account but I couldn’t remember, at that moment, exactly how much. Just to be safe, I stuffed a little over a thousand dollars into my purse. “I’m not stealing. I mean, I’m leaving a note.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I guess that makes it okay.” He glanced around. “I got your bags loaded up. Do you need anything else?”

I finished scribbling the note, telling them where I’d gone and how much I’d taken. I told them both I loved them but that I needed some time to myself. I put the money bag back and spun the dial, locking the safe.

“
I can’t think of anything else,” I said. I clamped my teeth down hard on my bottom lip in an effort to keep myself from sobbing. I walked past Max and tugged at his hand. “Let’s just get out of here.”

Minutes later I was once again buckled into the passenger seat of Max’s
car. I was breathing way too quickly again. We were headed out of town. My whole body was burning with adrenaline, or anger, or anxiety. Maybe all three. Maybe more.

“Hey,” Max said as he
turned into a gas station.

My body felt like lead when I turned to look at him.

He gave me a weak smile. “You’re going to be fine. You just need some time. Okay?”

I tried to smile but a gush of tears came down. I could feel my lips trembling and my whole body was shaking.

“Come here,” Max said.

I’d lost count of how many times he’d pulled me into a hug the last few days.

Collin had turned me into a broken mess.

It was completely u
nfair that Max was the one tasked with picking up the pieces.

He squeezed me
hard, then let go.

“Do you want anything?” he asked. “We probably won’t be stopping again until I need more gas.”

I shook my head. I couldn’t have said a word if I’d wanted to. When I squeezed my eyes shut, another deluge of tears sprayed down. Max sighed and got out of the car. I glanced around the parking lot. I was anxious to leave Chamberlain and this horrible day behind me.

I had a ridiculous fear that
Collin would come tearing into the lot, trying to stop me. A sad, pathetic part of me wanted him to. The logical part of me knew he wouldn’t. He hadn’t even come after me when I’d left the church. It was silly to think he’d try to find me now.

My fingers twitched, wanting to turn my phone on.
I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d called. I was afraid he hadn’t. While I really had nothing to say, it hurt to think that he hadn’t at least tried. I was seconds away from reaching for my purse, to dig my phone out, when Max’s door swung open again.

He gave me a sad smile
as he settled himself in.

“Here you go.
” He set a box of Kleenex and a bottle of strawberry milk in my lap.

The thought was so sweet I burst into another round of loud, ridiculous tears all over again.

Chapter 5

I cried my way through the remainder of Minnesota
and
the entire state of North Dakota. That’s right, a little over eight hours of seemingly endless tears. I lowered the passenger seat back as far as it would go, curled up as much as I could and drenched my bunched up cardigan with teardrops. I managed to keep the sobs to a minimum but the tears seemed endless. Max never said a word and I never appreciated his friendship more. He simply turned the radio to a respectable volume and let me be.

***

“Holly, you awake?” Max asked. His hand settled on my hip as he gave me a shake.

I nodded, squin
ting. I closed my bleary eyes for a moment as I rolled myself into a sitting position. I realized I had dozed off. I felt bad. This should’ve been a nice, quiet, relaxing drive for Max. Instead, I’d turned it into a crying-fest. I didn’t even have the decency to stay awake and keep him company during the long haul after the sun had set. Then again, he was probably glad that I’d drifted off.

It meant he didn’t have to listen to me anymore.

The first thing I noticed when I sat up was that it was dark. A glance at the glowing dashboard clock confirmed it was after midnight.

“Where are we?” I asked. It was clear we were in a parking lot
.

The sickly yellow beams of the parking lot lights glowed around us. In the beams of the headlights I could see the brown wood siding of a building.

“Middle of nowhere.” He let out a little laugh. “Actually, we crossed into Montana a little while back. This is the first town with a hotel.”

“Oh,” I said with a little nod. I added a yawn as Max reached for the door handle.

His expression was full of concern. “Maybe you want to wait here while I check in? You’re looking kind of…out of sorts.”

“Is that a polit
e way of saying I look like hell? And that you’d rather not be seen with me?” I asked, forcing what I could of a smile. I couldn’t blame him. I felt like hell. My skin burned from where my salty tears had been eating away at it all day. My eyes felt gritty and puffy. My nose felt swollen and sore. If I looked as bad as I felt, I didn’t
want
to be seen.

He grimaced but looked slightly amused nonetheless. “Yeah,
it kind of is. Then again, maybe you should come in with me. It’s late and I’m not sure I want you out here alone.”