One Night with the Best Man

One




Raney grabbed for her phone as soon as it started ringing, hoping vaguely that a miracle had occurred and a working car would suddenly materialize in the parking lot.

One of her two best friends was getting married this weekend, and Raney’s old car had died before she’d even made it out onto the street.

It would cost a fortune to take a taxi eighty miles to the resort in Newport Beach where the wedding was taking place, but if she couldn’t arrange a ride, then that was what she’d have to do.

Raney had a decent job as a dental hygienist, but she was living with her parents at the moment since she couldn’t afford to live alone, given the price of rent in Malibu. She definitely didn’t want to waste so much money on a taxi ride if she could help it.

Meg, another bridesmaid and the other of Raney’s best friends, didn’t even greet her as she answered the phone. She just announced in a pleased voice, “We found you a ride.”

“Oh, thank God,” Raney said. “I thought the rest of the wedding party would already be there.” She hadn’t been able to take the whole day off from work, so she was driving up later than the others.

“Most of us are, but Justin is just leaving, and he said he’d swing by to pick you up.”

Raney’s relief took a sudden nosedive. “Oh.”

“What’s the matter?” Meg was sensible and efficient—the perfect person to tackle minor crises. Raney, who had never been particularly organized, usually liked when Meg took charge of planning.

But Meg wouldn’t know why Raney wasn’t too excited about being stuck on a road trip with Justin Woodward, the younger brother of the groom.

“Nothing,” Raney said, trying to mask her response so her friend wouldn’t be worried. The weekend was already going to be stressful enough. They didn’t need her minor problems adding to it. “It’s fine. It’s nice of him to pick me up. Do I need to call him?”

“No. He knows where the dentist office is, and he said he’d be there in about twenty minutes. What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.”

“Raney, you’re the world’s worst liar. Tell me why you sound upset. Do you not want to ride with Justin?”

“It’s fine.” Raney cleared her throat. “It will be fine. He just doesn’t seem to like me.”

Justin had some sort of hot-shot job as a computer programmer for a major internet company. He was cute in a slightly geeky way—not at all the kind of guy Raney was used to—but she’d always gone out of her way to be nice to him, since they’d been spending a lot of time together leading up to the wedding. At first, they’d seemed to hit it off pretty well, but for the last couple of months, all of her attempts at niceness had led to a cold shoulder.

“What are you talking about?” Meg asked.

“He doesn’t like me. I think he must have gotten mad at me for some reason a couple of months ago. He’s been kind of cool and snarky with me for a while.”

“I don’t think that’s right. He seems like such a nice, sweet guy. I thought you two seemed to hit it off at the engagement party and then got along well at that cookout over at Jake’s on the beach.”

Raney sighed, feeling a weird kind of nostalgia at the memory of the first weeks after she’d met Justin. “I thought we did too. I mean, we got thrown together a lot, which was kind of weird, but we figured out things to talk about. I thought he was nice and funny. He’s way smarter than me, and he likes all those geeky things, so we don’t have much in common. I liked him, though. He even sometimes sent me funny texts and stuff. But lately he’s been kind of mean. I think I must have accidently offended him.”

“You’re imagining it, Raney. Maybe he’s just been busy and stressed with work lately. Jake says he’s got a really impressive job, but that probably means it’s high stress. And he’s a little shy, I think. That’s probably all it is.”

“He’s never acted shy at all with me. And he’s snarky. He’s not busy.”

“He’s teasing, then.”

“I’m not an idiot. I know when people are teasing me. He doesn’t seem to be teasing. He’s having fun at my expense. He thinks I’m silly and superficial.”

Meg didn’t answer immediately. She was obviously thinking it through. “I’ll pay attention this weekend,” she said at last, “and see if I notice anything. But you’re the nicest, most friendly person in the world, Raney. I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think. But what does it matter if he likes you or not, anyway? Didn’t you tell Anne you didn’t like him?”