I’m so upset, I nearly trip over a branch on the ground. “Did he say that to you?”
“He didn’t have to!” She rubs her neck, pushing away sweaty strands of blond hair. “I mean, it’s a fact. And I should be grateful he’s nice enough to offer me a free surgery. How many guys would do that?”
I make a face. “None.”
“Claire…”
Everything she’s saying is making me uneasy. It’s not like I married such a great guy, but I have to hand it to Noah, he was never judgmental about my looks. He always used to act like I was the most beautiful woman in the world. He certainly never suggested I should lose weight or have plastic surgery. And now… well, obviously he doesn’t act like he thinks I’m all that attractive anymore. But he doesn’t say anything negative about my looks, at least.
Who am I kidding? I can’t throw stones.
“As long as you think he’s a good guy,” I finally say. When we get to the hotel, we’ll have to talk more about this. I need to make sure she doesn’t proceed with an impulse boob job.
“He is, Claire.” She takes a deep breath. “In fact…”
“What?”
She ducks under a low hanging tree branch, and a leaf comes free in her hair. “I think he’s going to propose to me this week!”
“Oh.” My heart sinks at this revelation. “That’s… wonderful! And you… you want to marry him?”
“Of course!”
“I thought you loved being single.” Even though Lindsay was my maid of honor, she was never that into weddings or the idea of getting married. She loved her job and her freedom. She dated sometimes, and a few of her boyfriends seemed head over heels in love with her, but she never seemed the slightest bit interested in settling down. And my own marriage hasn’t exactly provided her with a shining example of how wonderful it is to be tied to another person.
“Well, I did,” she says thoughtfully. “But that was because all the guys I dated were such losers. Warner is perfect. I’m so glad I waited.”
I plaster my best smile on my face, hoping she doesn’t notice it’s phony. It’s obvious that when Warner pops the question, Lindsay is going to say yes. There’s nothing I can do about it.
Chapter 10
CLAIRE
I have to pee again.
It was bad enough when I was in the car and I knew Noah was going to yell at me. But this is so much worse. Where am I supposed to go to the bathroom around here? I don’t foresee us running into a Porta-John anytime in the near future.
“Lindsay,” I murmur. “Do you… do you need to go to the bathroom?”
“Yes!” she cries. “Oh my God, desperately! What are we supposed to do?”
“I think…” I take a deep breath. “I guess we’ll have to go in the woods.”
Lindsay bites her lip. “I don’t know if I can do that, Claire.”
I don’t know if I can either. But I’m not seeing much of a choice at this point. There’s only so long I can hold it.
“We have to tell the guys to wait for us.” I squint at them, far ahead of us—and getting farther and farther every second. “Jack! Noah!”
“Warner!” Lindsay calls.
Naturally, Noah ignores me. But after a few seconds, Jack turns around and waves at us. “Everything okay?” he calls back.
I don’t want to yell over to them that Lindsay and I need the bathroom. So I jog over and Lindsay follows close behind. “We need the bathroom,” I say quietly, as soon as I’m within earshot.
Noah rolls his eyes. But at least he doesn’t comment on how I should’ve used the bathroom back at the diner. He’s just lucky he’s a guy. They have it so much easier—they don’t even have to pull down their pants.
Warner raises his eyebrows. “There are no bathrooms around here.”
“I know,” I say tightly. “But we need to stop and… you know…”
“Oh.” Jack shoves his hands into his pockets. “Well, we’ll wait over here for you. Take your time.”
I glance off into the woods. I really, really don’t want to do this. “But how…？”
Warner smirks. “You squat. It’s not hard, ladies.”
I cannot believe this is how my day is going. Part of me wants to just say to hell with it, I’ll hold it in. But another part of me is worried that a violent sneeze will soak my shorts. And it’s not like I have a change of clothes.