10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Freya

T rudy sits with me on the floor, as we eat pizza right out of the box, watching a trashy movie. The wine is out, the pyjamas are on, the chocolate is flowing from the little fountain she picked up on this website called Death by Chocolate. "I'm going to puke if I eat much more." I say, mouth full of chocolate and strawberry.

"I'm telling you, pace yourself."

"But I'm drunk, and if I don't fill my gut with food, I'll pass out."

She shrugs. "Enjoy. Quit worrying."

"I'm not worrying. I just told you I'm drunk."

"I know you're still thinking about him, and you can stop."

I lift a brow. "I am not."

"Weak. You know, Freya, I'm your best friend, and I can honestly say that I've kept my mouth shut about Ethan for long enough. He's all that you've thought about since you met him. Even when you broke up, you still thought about him."

"Can you blame me? He's the only love I'll ever know, Trudy."

"God, that's depressing." She sighs. "And that's after all the chocolate, booze and pizza. You're incorrigible, Freya."

I want to change the subject. "Want to know something weird?"

"Always."

"They sent me flowers."

Trudy sips her wine and asks. "Who's they?"

"The Harris family."

Her brows furrow. "What for? Oh, for the Care Bear?"

"Aye." I nod. "I was foolishly hoping that Ethan had something to do with it."

"Well, he obviously did. How else did they see the stupid bear?" She scoffs.

"True, but I mean, the idea of sending me thank you flowers. I was kind of hoping that Ethan was behind that."

"Come on, Freya. You don't know. It could have been anyone in that family. It could have been Laney or even Caleb for all you know."

"True. But part of me just hopes."

"You must be hammered, Freya. That's the way to tell. When you start pining, yearning for Ethan again, I know you're toasted." She says, pulling the wine bottle away from me, closer to her, and then she goes one step further and puts it on the tv console table, way out of my grasp. That's when my phone pings, indicating that I have an email. "No. You're off tonight." Trudy argues, as I look at my phone on top of the coffee table.

"What's this?" I say, brows furrowing, looking at the display. "It's an email from Laney McAdams." I open it. "Holy fuck. It's a wedding invitation."

"It's a what ?" Trudy barks in disbelief, setting her wine glass down. She looks at my phone with me. "Holy fuck!" She laughs. "These people are nuts! Why would they invite you!"

My eyes widen, realizing what she's saying.

"You're Caleb's ex! And Ethan hates you! Oh...my....God! What are they thinking!"

Then I get defensive. "First of all, I'm not Caleb's ex. We were never together. Second, Ethan does not hate me. If he did, he wouldn't have taken that stupid bear, like you said."

"And why are they emailing invitations? How tacky is that? Like, shell out a few bucks and toss a stamp on it, geez!"

"The wedding is next weekend, Trudy. They would never have enough time to send and get responses by then."

"Can you say...shotgun wedding?" She pokes.

"Well, Laney is pregnant, and from what I understand, they want to be married so that it's easier to adopt Peg."

"And so she doesn't look like a whale walking down the aisle." Trudy scoffs.

"Well, it is valid."

"But they've been together a day . God, rich people are crazy!"

"Hey!" I shout/laugh. "I mean, I'm not exactly a billionaire, but I've got money, and I'm not crazy!"

"I've got money, too, honey. But I wouldn't try to pull off half this shit, girl." Trudy's tone is matter-of-fact. "So, are you going to go? It's in goddamn South Carolina." She does a double-take. "Oh, even better. At the Ford family ranch. More crazy rich people."

"Since when are you so judgemental of billionaires?" I chuckle.

"Crazy ones." She points out.

I just laugh. Then Trudy sobers. "Wait a minute. None of the Harris family met you, right? Just Caleb and Ethan?"

I nod. Not knowing where she's going with this.

"And you gave Ethan the bear to give to the kid, right?"

"Uh huh. What's your point?"

"Well, somebody had to add your name to the guest list, Freya. And if it wasn't Ethan or Caleb, then who could it be?"

"Well, maybe Laney? Because I gave her bairn the doll?"

"But knowing that you're the one that once slept with her betrothed?" Trudy winces, unconvinced.

"What are you getting at?"

Trudy smiles. "Something tells me that this is the work of a matchmaker. Twenty bucks says that Ethan doesn't even know you're invited."

"Please." I mutter, unconvinced. But then I think about it. If Ethan knew, he would refute, so maybe he doesn't know.

Trudy can see the clarity coming to my face. "See? It makes sense, doesn't it."

I draw in a deep breath. "It doesn't matter, anyway. I'm not going."

Her brows furrow. Her eyes widen. "Why the hell not? This is your prime opportunity."

"For what?" I bellow. "You said yourself, and I saw for myself, that Ethan fucking hates me. Why would I go to his brother's wedding? The man I once fucked...badly, too!" I sigh quickly, exasperated. "You said yourself that they're all nuts. Why would I want to be a part of that?"

"Up to you, Freya, but if you ever want to see Ethan again, this is likely your last chance. You think he's ever going to come around again?"

Shocking myself, I shout. "And what makes you think I want to see him again, huh! He hates me! I fucked his brother, then I fucked him, and didn't tell either one of them! He thinks I'm a twisted whore! He broke my fucking heart and didn't even give me the chance to explain! Why, pray tell, why would I want to sign myself up for that again!"

Trudy folds her arms over her chest. "Alright, drunky drunkerson. You just wait until all that hooch and sugar wears off. God, you are so not a normal girl, Freya. Where is the swooning, pining, whining drunkard that most chicks turn into? You, you're the complete opposite."

"So? Maybe I am over Ethan." I lie.

She snorts a scoff so loud she chokes. "Yeah, and pigs fly!"

"How do you know! What makes you think I'm not!" I test, knowing the answer, but I'm not in the mood to be corrected or slighted. I get like this when I'm drunk. Drinking in my thirties is not nearly as fun as it was when I was in my twenties.

Trudy is deadpan. "Name one guy you've dated since Ethan."

I hesitate, but she only gives me a second, and then she lifts a hand up in defence. "I rest my case."

"Okay, smarty pants. I'm also busy. I run two businesses and I'm single. How do you know I'm not just so tired out after a long day at work, that I'm not interested in dating, huh?"

"Because you're not seventy. And I know you bought a vibrator, so don't try to deny it. It won't work."

"So, what?" I shout. "You've got one, too!"

"And for good reason! I'm single! And I don't want to be anything more than that!"

Now it's my turn to fold my arms across my chest. "And what makes you think I'm any different?"

"Because you loved that boy with everything you had. You were so afraid to tell him the truth because you knew that you'd lose him. I don't know how many times I told you to come clean with him, and you didn't!"

"So, this is about you, not about me, is it!"

"No, it's not, Freya! I'm just tired of seeing that goddamn look creep up on your face all the time! You know damn well that you fucked up with Ethan, and it eats away at you all the time! And when he came around, even though it was to tear you a new one, you were so fucking happy to see him again, and don't deny it! The fact that you gave him that bear shows that you still care!"

"The bear was for the kid, not for him."

"Don't patronise me, Freya. You and I both know that you had more than one reason for doing what you did."

"So, suddenly you want me to go to this stupid fucking wedding, even though you say that they're all crazy as fuck! God, make up your fucking mind!"

"Well, I thought they were crazy at first, but then I figured it out. Something tells me that someone in that family wants you and Ethan to be together, and they're using the wedding as a perfect opportunity."

"Yeah, well, I think that rather than getting myself torn another new one by a certain Harris boy, I better run it past him first. I've been embarrassed once already."

"So, you're going to talk to him?"

I crane my neck. "Duh. If I just show up to this thing, and he doesn't know about it, do you think that's going to go over well? Uh….no!"

"And there lies the genius behind whoever sent the invitation." Trudy says, satisfied. "That Dougall Harris really is a smart one."

"Well, I'll agree with you there. It certainly wasn't the doing of Caleb, Ethan or Laney, since she doesn't even know me."

"She does now. You gave her kid a bear." Trudy clinks my glass with hers. "You should thank that aunt of yours once again, girl."

I sigh. "Or curse her. But we'll see."

I'm working from home today, since I'm too hung over to do much else. And as I sit, taking a break, I stare at my phone, knowing full well that I have to make that call today. The wedding is days away, and if I'm going, then I'll need to mentally prepare myself, and get an outfit, and a gift. It's been a long time since I've been to a wedding. I still have Ethan's number, even though I haven't used it since we broke up. But despite my hesitation, I tap his name, and it starts ringing.

He answers on the first ring. "Freya." His voice is almost business-like, but tentative. "What can I do for you." He says, not asks.

"Well, first of all, whoever sent the flowers, thank you. It took me a while to get up the courage to make this call to at least say that."

"That was da's idea. And mama's too. Peg won't go anywhere without that bear now."

"I'm glad she likes it." I just come out with it, knowing that we're both very busy people, and there is no time for pussy footing around. "Did you know that I was invited to the wedding?"

He breathes in and then out again. "Aye. Again, da's idea."

"Any idea why, Ethan? I mean, you and your brother hate me, and technically I'm Caleb's ex-lover. Not sure why my name would end up on the guest list."

Another sigh, this time more exasperated. "That is the work of my da. He's trying to make a match. He likes you. But, don't feel obligated to, Freya, you don't have to come if you don't want to."

"Your da's idea? Wh…what does Caleb say? And Laney? God, they must be disgusted."

He chuckles mirthlessly. "That's what I thought, too, but, evidently, having a bairn around and one on the way has softened this family some."

"But none of them, except for you and Caleb, have even met me." I point out. "Isn't that a little crazy?"

"Freya, I'll save you the trouble, okay? Da ordered Caleb to marry Laney. It started out badly; they fucking hated each other, but now it's nauseating seeing how fucking happy they are. My point is that when da gets an idea in his head, if it feels right to him, he'll make deals with devil if he has to, for his idea to come to fruition."

"And he thinks that by inviting me to the wedding, that it'll get us together." I'm as deadpan as he's been throughout this whole conversation.

"Exactly."

"He's not ordered you to marry me, has he. Because that's insane, and I'll move back to fucking Scotland."

He snorts a laugh. "No. Nothing like that."

"Should I, like, come by and meet them first?"

"You mean you're actually considering coming to the wedding?" He's shocked, laughing, almost mocking.

"Trudy caught on to the matchmaking angle." I admit. "But I know that that's never going to happen. I just…I'm a pleaser, I guess. That's probably how I got into this mess to begin with. But if you don't think it's a good idea for me to come, I won't."

"Freya, if you don't come, my da will kick my ass."

"And if I come, you'll kick my ass, and maybe Caleb, perhaps Laney, too, once she comes back down to earth."

"Nobody's kicking anyone's ass. Look, the invitation says you can bring a guest, right?"

"Aye."

"Bring your friend Trudy along, then."

I laugh out loud. "No offence, Ethan, but she thinks that you're all nuts for doing this. I think she'll be the last person that will want to accompany me to the nut farm."

Surprising me, he laughs. "If it helps, when I overheard, my eyes rolled back so far I was afraid they wouldn't come back."

"When I got the invitation, my eyes almost fell out of my head."

"I'll bet." There is silence for a beat, and then he continues. "It's going to be a huge wedding. Chances are you can come and thank my da for inviting you, meet Peg, and call it a day."

"Um, it's in South Carolina, Ethan. It's not like I can just show up for five minutes and leave."

"I get it." He pauses, and I hear voices in the background. "Look, it's up to you, Freya. I do appreciate you calling to check with me, though. The invitation is legit, albeit a little unconventional. I've got to go."

"Okay, Ethan. Thanks for taking the time out to chat."

"No problem. Take care."

"You, too."

And in the next few days I find myself making one of the toughest decisions I've ever had to make.