One By One by Freida McFadden(5)

The light turns green and Noah hits the gas so hard that my head snaps back. “Right. I get it.”

“So… you’re okay with it?”

That muscle is still twitching in his jaw. “Of course. Separate bedrooms. Perfect. Maybe we won’t have to see each other at all during this trip.”

“Noah…”

But before I can say another word, Noah reaches over and turns up the volume of the radio loud enough to drown out any attempt at conversation. I guess we’re done discussing this.

He’s not thrilled. Frankly, I thought there was a chance he might be relieved we wouldn’t be stuck in a tiny room together for a whole week. Apparently not.

Still, I’m not going to take it back. I’ve been looking forward to these separate rooms all month. I probably should’ve told him sooner, but I didn’t want to have to deal with him sulking about it for weeks. I’m sure once we’re there, he’ll see the wisdom in my decision. And maybe next year, we will end up taking separate vacations. Lindsay and I could take that trip to Hawaii we’ve been talking about for ages.

Or maybe next year we won’t be together anymore at all. You never know.





Chapter 4


CLAIRE



It takes nearly half an hour to drive from our house in Castle Pines to Lindsay’s apartment building in Denver, during which time Noah and I fail to exchange a single word. He won’t even look at me.

The logical part of me is saying that we should call off this trip. Or at least, I should back out. The four-hour drive is bad enough, but now we have to spend an entire week together without the buffer of our work and the children? It sounds like hell.

Then again, I have my reasons for wanting to go.

The plan is that we’re all going to meet in front of Lindsay’s building, because it’s a place where everyone can park easily for the week. We’re ten minutes early, but Lindsay is already standing outside her building with two huge pieces of luggage—more than I’ve got. I consider pointing that out to Noah, but I decided not to break our code of silence.

Lindsay waves enthusiastically when she sees the minivan. She looks fantastic. Her blonde hair is pulled into a perfectly messy bun, she’s got a pair of Ray-Ban’s on her nose, and she’s got her skinny jeans tucked into the cutest pair of black hiking boots. I’d like to think I have kept in good shape since college, but of the group of us, Lindsay is the only one who looks better than she did in college. It’s like her butt gets higher every year.

I glance over at Noah to see if he’s giving her a once over. He isn’t. He’s still sulking about our conversation.

We pop the trunk for Lindsay to throw her bags inside, then she slides into the middle row, right behind me. We do a quick seat-hug, and Noah breaks his silence to say hello. Even though Noah has known Lindsay nearly as long as I have, they don’t hug. Noah isn’t the kind of guy who goes around hugging people left and right—hugs are reserved for close family only.

“So!” I say. “We finally get to meet Warner! Very exciting!”

Lindsay’s porcelain skin flushes with happiness. “I can’t wait for you to meet him, Claire. He’s… well, he’s amazing. I really think he’s the one.”

“Is this the doctor?” Noah asks. He sounds utterly disinterested, but at least he’s being polite.

She tucks a loose strand of her ash blonde hair behind her ear. “He’s a surgeon.”

I can see him eyeing her in the rearview mirror. “What kind of surgeon?”

“A plastic surgeon.” Before Noah can comment, she quickly adds, “But he doesn’t just do boob jobs and facelifts. He does facial reconstructions. He works miracles. You should hear what his patients say about him online.” She flops back against the seat. “But he’s not full of himself at all. He’s really sweet and down to earth.”

I wink at her. “And cute?”

“So cute!” She giggles. “And you know what the best part is? He’s a Scorpio.”

Noah lets out a loud snort. “That’s the best part?”

Noah doesn’t believe in horoscopes or zodiac signs or anything that doesn’t have rigorous experimental evidence behind it. He’s not shy about saying so either. It doesn’t bother Lindsay though. According to her, he’s a typical Capricorn.

“It’s perfect because I’m a Virgo,” she explains to him. “Virgo is an earth sign, and we are the pickiest of the earth signs. But water signs, like Scorpio, soften us up and give us an emotional outlet.” Her eyes widen. “It’s a very powerful balance.”

“I see,” he mutters. “So how is it that such an eligible young Scorpio finds himself still single?”

She furrows her brow. “It’s sort of a sad story. Warner was with a woman for the last seven years, but a year ago she... died.”

I clasp a hand over my mouth. “Oh, that’s terrible.”

She nods soberly. “Cancer. It was very hard on him.”

“Of course…”

“So… we’ve been taking it kind of slow.” She glances out the window. “But things are getting pretty serious now. He was even hinting at looking for rings the other day.”

“Wow,” I breathe. “That’s incredible. I wasn’t even sure you wanted to get married.”