Chapter 3—Andi

Andi couldn’t stop her mind from wandering on the drive back to Colorado. The problem wasn’t that she was upset about Tim canceling their plans yet again. The problem was that she wasn’t. Each and every time one of his promises fell through, she felt less and less upset about it. That couldn’t be a good sign for their future. But she didn’t know what else to do. Surely things would get better once they were married. Maybe this was just a rough patch that they could work through.

“Let’s try the new Italian place,” Nat suggested, effectively snapping Andi out of her reverie. “Since I know Tim is never going to take you.”

Andi couldn’t argue there. Tim hated Italian food. Something Andi never understood about him. “That sounds good,” Andi agreed. “Only if we can—”

“Put on PJs and wrap Christmas gifts as soon as we get home,” Nat finished for her, nodding along as if she’d heard it a time or two before. “Yes, my little homebody. And I will even get tiramisu to go so we can eat dessert while we wrap.”

“I’m marrying the wrong Thompson,” Andi said. She felt the cool glass against her forehead as she pressed it against the car’s window and watched the snowy landscapes zoom by.

“It’s true,” Nat agreed. “Lucky for you, you’re still stuck with me forever.”

A smile spread across Andi’s face. That was part of the deal she was completely fine with.

The fact that the two were roommates and that both of their jobs allowed a level of flexibility meant that they were free to plan all the holiday movie marathons, cookie baking, and ice skating they could handle. None of those were really Tim’s style, but Nat was always up for celebrating the holiday with Andi. And since their apartment was above Nat and Tim’s parents’ garage, they sometimes dragged them in on the fun, too. Tim rarely joined. But once in a while, they could talk him into a low level of participation.

Andi couldn’t remember a time when Christmas wasn’t special to her. But, since the passing of her grandmother, she found herself even more drawn to celebrating the season that always meant so much to the two of them. She hoped that, in time, Tim would come around. Even if only because it meant so much to her. And if not, she would always have Nat to join her in repeated viewings of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

The thought of skipping dinner to snuggle on the couch and watch those movies was extremely tempting, but as they got closer to home, her friend’s enthusiasm for their dinner outing grew, and Andi didn’t have the heart to bow out.

***

The restaurant’s parking lot was packed. Andi tried not to groan, but small sounds of displeasure escaped her lips anyway.

“Don’t worry,” Nat assured her as she rolled through Downtown Ft. Charles looking for a spot. “You won’t have to socialize. We’ll get a table tucked away from everyone.”

“If we even get a table,” Andi joked. But Nat didn’t laugh.

“Umm, you know what?” Nat said after a second, “Maybe we should just go home. We can order a pizza or something.”

A pang of guilt hit Andi’s stomach. “No,” she insisted. “No way. I really am excited to try this place. I’ll stop being a hermit. I promise. It’s going to be fun.” She didn’t want her disdain for people and crowds to ruin Nat’s fun. Especially when Nat was always such a good sport about doing things that Andi wanted to do—no matter how silly or crazy.

“Really, I’m okay,” Andi insisted again. “Let’s go get some pasta.”

Nat looked uneasy, but she agreed, and finally settled on a parking spot a couple of blocks from the restaurant. As they walked through their own festive little downtown, Andi took in all the lights, the smell of the snow in the air, and the beautifully decorated windows. It was enough distraction that even the throngs of people didn’t bother her. It was all too cheery for her to stay grumpy.

But Nat still seemed distracted. Even when the two of them got into the restaurant and the waitress placed a basket of fresh garlic bread on the table in front of her, Nat hardly seemed to notice.

“Nat,” Andi said, waving a hand in front of her friend’s face. “What’s going on? Garlic bread is literally your favorite food group, and you haven’t even touched the basket.” Normally, her friend would have eaten at least two slices by now.

Nat waved her off, claiming that she just needed to eat something substantial. Andi eventually dropped the subject, but she wasn’t buying Nat’s excuse.

***

It took about 45 minutes for Andi to figure out what was really bothering Nat. Andi craned her neck to look around for the bathroom, but with no success. Finally, she decided to just go ask someone. When she moved to get up, Nat grabbed at her arm.

“Andi,” she said slowly, looking not at Andi, but past her, “I think you should sit down.” Nat’s voice was full of concern, but her eyes were furious.

“Nat,” Andi said with a chuckle. “I’ve had my body weight in coffee drinks today. Unless you want me to ruin the interior of your car, you’re going to have to let me go pee.” Andi shook her off, turning to walk toward the entrance.

And suddenly, it all made sense. As she stood there staring at the two, she didn’t know how she hadn’t spotted them before. For that matter, she didn’t know how they hadn’t seen her. Of course, with the current proximity of their faces, it was a wonder either of them could see anything at all.

Andi stood there for a second, knowing exactly what she was seeing, but also not being able to fully process it. That was when she saw the guy reach across the table and grab both of the woman’s hands.

She knew that move. He’d done it to Andi a thousand times. After a thousand dates. After a thousand arguments. But before he could pull the woman’s hands up to his lips to kiss them like Andi expected, the woman leaned across the small table and planted a long, passionate kiss right on Tim’s mouth.

Andi gasped. She blinked. She suddenly wasn’t entirely sure if she was dreaming or not—everything felt fuzzy around the edges. Was she breathing? Why was everything spinning? What was that thumping noise? Her pulse? Bile rose up, sending a sour taste to her tongue. She could not let herself get sick in the middle of this very crowded restaurant. It was truly the only thing that could make this moment worse.

Andi turned on her heels to face Nat again. She couldn’t interpret the look Nat was giving her. And she was unable to respond to Nat’s silent questions. All Andi could manage was to shake her head fervently in a way that she hoped conveyed her desire to get out of there right away.

She took the two steps back to their table and grabbed her purse without sitting down. She fumbled around for her debit card, but her hands weren’t working properly.

“Just go outside,” Nat whispered. “I’ve got it. I’ll meet you out there.”

Andi knew exactly what Nat was planning to do. “Please don’t confront him,” she begged. “Please. I—I can’t. I just can’t do this right now. I can’t—”

“Are you kidding me?” Nat asked, her arms gesticulating wildly. Andi turned her eyes back to Tim and his date to see if he noticed. Thankfully, the restaurant was so crowded, and the two of them were so...occupied...that they didn’t seem to see Nat flailing about angrily on the other side of the room.

“He deserves to have the rest of this manicotti dumped on his head. And if you don’t want to, then who better—”

“Nat, no,” Andi said. “Please. I’m begging. Let’s just go. We can talk about it in the car.”

Nat’s shoulders fell and her posture relaxed a little. “Fine,” she said. Her tone had deflated as much as the rest of her. “I’ll meet you outside.”

Without looking, Andi turned toward the door—and collided with a server and the tray full of food the woman carried. The tray fell to the floor and sent plates and bowls crashing down all around them.

“Oh my goodness,” Andi said. “I’m so sorry.” She knelt down to help the server pick everything up, still apologizing as she did. She lifted her gaze upward to find what felt like a thousand pairs of eyes on her. The commotion had captured the attention of almost everyone in the place. As long as Tim wasn’t one of them, she would be okay.

Dread filled Andi’s stomach as she slowly stood up. She had to know. She looked toward Tim’s table. Their eyes met, and his widened with recognition.

Andi apologized again before she darted out the door of the restaurant. She knew he’d be right behind her. She had to think quickly. She scanned her surroundings and didn’t find anything promising. In her panic, she couldn't even remember where Nat’s car was parked.

So, lacking a better idea, she ducked down an alley—not the smartest move for a young woman in a busy city, but she was desperate. She knelt behind some trash cans. A few minutes later, Andi heard Tim calling her name. She held her position and kept quiet, despite the awful smells coming from the large containers next to her.

“Where is she?” Andi heard Tim asking.

“You weren’t really worried about that a few minutes ago,” came Nat’s reply. “Why care now?”

The two of them began to argue back and forth, but after a moment their voices faded.

Andi took the opportunity to walk behind the restaurant and pull up a ride-sharing app on her phone. Tim would follow Nat all night if he had to. Andi knew that much. And then he’d show up at their apartment and there would be no getting rid of him. She couldn’t exactly cause a scene at his parents’ house, could she? Plus, she couldn’t bear to face any of them right now. Tonight’s discovery didn’t just mean she lost her fiancé—it meant she might lose his family, too. Not to mention her bakery—but she couldn’t let herself go there. Not yet.

The app said a driver was one street over, so she made her way through some parking lots and between some buildings until she found herself at a safe pick-up spot—all the while looking around to make sure Tim was nowhere in sight.

When she spotted the rideshare logo on the back of a brightly colored compact car, she lunged toward the passenger window.

“Who are you picking up?” she asked the driver.

“Some guy named Andi,” the woman said, sounding confused.

“That’s me,” Andi said, hopping into the front seat. "It's short for Andrea."

“Oh, sorry,” the driver said, wincing a bit. “Says you’re going to...Cherry Creek, Wyoming?” she asked, reading her phone screen.

“Yes,” Andi said, nodding.

She’d typed the first place she could think of into her phone. If she was lucky, it would be the last place Tim thought to look for her.