The splash against the asphalt twisted my stomach.
And I had done so well battling the morning sickness tonight. The baby didn't like his or her aunt tossing her bouquet.
I opened my door and threw up too.
"Oh you little faker." Lindsey ripped her cell from her pocket. "I can't believe you're so desperate for attention you'd fake vomiting."
I reached for my water. Lindsey stole it and drank the rest.
"Who are you calling?" I asked.
"Bryce." She pointed the phone at me. "I'm getting us out of here. Someone has to be responsible."
"I'm not trying to start a fight-"
Lindsey thrust a finger in my face to silence me as Bryce answered the call. She put him on speaker-phone and called his name until he groggily awoke from a dead-sleep.
"Yeah, sugarplum?" He grumbled. "What time is-"
"I need help. Dad's worthless SUV broke down. Of course he didn't check to make sure it'd get us to the cabin. I can't believe he's so careless."
I bristled. "He let us borrow it, Linds. And he loaned it to us with a full tank."
"I don't see Dad out here, pushing the car for us." Lindsey grunted. "No wonder Mom left him."
The irritation swelled inside me. Baby or no baby, I'd walk home if she was going to be that ugly.
"You have no right to talk about Dad like that," I said.
"Oh, I forgot." Lindsey rolled her eyes at her bridesmaids. "Mandy takes Dad's side."
"I'm not on anyone's side!"
Bryce's connection crackled. "Angelkiss, where are you-"
Lindsey ignored him. "You are too on a side. You've always believed Dad over Mom."
"What's there to believe? They hate each other!"
"For good reason."
"No. There's no reason. I don't know why we're supposed to be happy they separated."
Tears welled in my eyes. Great. Now I was crying over my parents' divorce like I was a ten year old latchkey kid caught in a custody battle.
Lindsey groaned. "Oh, Mandy, grow up. Dad's worthless and Mom kicked him out. Just be glad the holidays will be less insane." She flicked her phone. "Bryce, we're on the highway somewhere. Drive until you find us."
He preemptively apologized. "But, tootsie, I'm not at home … "
"What?"
"I told you. You were going to the cabin, so I went with Rick to-"
"That lecture? In Ironfield?"
"He wanted company, and since he's still hung up on Jada-"
"You're leaving me stranded?"
"Call AAA."
"I have a better idea. What if I just get eaten by bears?"
"There aren't any bears near the cabin-"
I sighed. "Don't bother, Bryce. Lindsey thinks we're gonna get Texas Chainsawed up here because every serial killer in a hundred-mile radius wants to ruin the wedding."
Lindsey sneered. "You are such a little brat."
Bryce cleared his throat. "Look, I'll call Nate."
My stomach dropped.
Lindsey sighed. "Fine."
"No!" I didn't mean to shout. "We'll be fine. Don't call Nate."
"I am not going to sit here alone for some skeevy tow-truck driver," Lindsey said. "It's dangerous. We're too pretty to get trafficked, and I am not above trading one of you-" She pointed to the blitzed bridesmaids. "-So I can escape and get married."
"Really, we'll be fine without Nate."
My sister took the phone off speaker. "We're like twenty minutes from the exit. Tell him to hurry."
She ended the call. I said nothing.
"What?" Lindsey crossed her arms. "What? Just say it."
"We could have handled it ourselves."
She glanced at the bridesmaids. I didn't trust her smile. "I know what this is."
My stomach twisted. Could I get sick without her noticing? "What what is?"
"Nate."
"There's nothing about Nate."
"Of course there is. I'm not blind, Mandy."
I swallowed, but nothing made it past the rock in my throat. Instantly my body broke out in a cold sweat, and the morning sickness surged in the middle of the night.
"Lindsey, it's not what you think it is."
"I've known for a long time."
"You have?"
"Everyone knows. And, quite frankly, we're too nice to say anything. But not now. I think it's completely inappropriate."
I hadn't had a single drink, but I felt like I got smacked by the empty whiskey bottle. I stared ahead at the dark highway, struggling with a breath that hurt to take.
"You hate Nate," she said.
My eyes widened. Lindsey crossed her arms, smug.
"I hate him?"
"Of course you do. You always have. You've been nothing but a bitch to him these past few months, even when he's trying to be nice. You've resented that he's so involved in the wedding, and it's selfish."
Well, that was a freebie. "You're right. That's it. I hate Nate."
"I can't believe you'd just agree like that."
"What can I say? I hate the both player and his game."
"Do you want this wedding to fail?"
I gritted my teeth. "I have done nothing but support you."
"You don't support me. You never have." She shook her head. "If it wouldn't destroy Mom, I'd kick you out of the wedding."
"Because of Nate?"
"Yes!"
I laughed. "You have no idea what you're talking about."
"Fine. You're out of the wedding!"
The SUV silenced. I should have argued. I should have told my sister she was stressed, tired, and drunk, and that she didn't mean it.
But after spending three hundred dollars of my own money on her bachelorette party, I was done. I didn't have the alcohol to blame on my rage, but I had a baby twisting my hormones. I was pretty sure the kid was on my side in this.
"Sounds good." I tore the seatbelt off me. "You're on your own."
"And I'll do a better job than you."
"Fine."
"Fine!" Lindsey crossed her arms. "Hogface."
Childhood insults now? I kicked the door open. "Feetmuncher!"
"Douche Canoe!"
I slammed the door before I said the real insult on my mind. Lindsey couldn't roll the window down without the keys.
She screamed instead.
"Twatwaffle!"
"I'm out of the car!"
"Get in here before you're eaten by a bear!"
"Oh my God, Lindsey, there are no bears!"
I sat on the guardrail and ignored her insults. After ten minutes she gave up and yelled at her bridesmaids. They lowered their seats and tried to sleep.
Not a soul passed us on the highway. The wind whistled through the wetlands below the guardrail. I swallowed. Whatever lurked in the grasses and shrubs rustled a lot and got too close. I smacked at imaginary bugs and pretended I didn't have to go to the bathroom.
A long hour passed before headlights pulled up. Nate parked and got out of his car. That cocky smile was saved just for me and my desperation.
"You look like you need a rescue," he said.
After an hour in the damp and chill, simmering in rage, and planning how best to turn my maid-of-honor dress into rags for waxing my car, I didn't have the energy to argue with a man I was supposed to hate.
Except I didn't hate him.
I didn't hate his cocky smile.
I never hated the intense and perfect green of his eyes.
And there was no way I'd ever hate the feel of his body pressed against mine, either between the sheets or sitting at my side on the guardrail.
"Rough night?" he asked.
I couldn't look at him, but I could enjoy how warm he felt next to me. "Can you take us to the cabin, please?"
"I'll do you one better." He kicked a bag of tools at his feet. "I'll fix your car."
"Think you can?"
"Only one way to find out." That confidence amazed me. "I'm not going to leave you stranded out here all night … not without someone to cuddle at least."
"If you fix the car, you'll get a lot more than cuddles."
"Is that a promise?"
"Better get under that hood."
I didn't regret my words. After twenty minutes, the SUV's engine purred like a kitten. Nate tossed me the keys. The bridesmaids and Lindsey thanked him and begged me to drive. I walked him to his car.
"You girls should be more careful." He crossed his arms, and I could only imagine what fantasy twisted his lips into a smile. "Never know what kind of creep might want to take advantage of a stranded, beautiful woman."
"I'm well-aware." I bit my lip. "You're not going home, are you?"
"Where else would I go?"
"To the cabin?"
Nate narrowed his eyes. "You sure?"
No, but I had a bad enough night. "Someone should be there to protect me from any creeps following us in the woods."
"No one would bother you if I were around."
I stared at his lips. "Then you better follow close."
"Mandy-"
"I'll meet you there."
I knew he watched me walk to the car. And I knew where he stared, what he wanted, just where his thoughts wandered because mine was already there.