92 Days Before Our Wedding, My Best Friend Won... novel · Chapter 1 of 24
Chapter 1: The Number
Devin announces Lila won Thanksgiving, Ansley's flight was canceled days ago, and she takes off the ring. A stranger texts: it wasn't a one-time thing.
Devin turned his phone around so Lila and I could both see the screen.
It showed a 10.
"Lila wins," he said, grinning the way he did when he took the last pretzel. "Thanksgiving with me."
I was holding the last wedding invitation, and my hand stopped above the envelope.
Small gray letters over the number said Round 9.
I didn't ask about the other eight.
"What did you just say?" I asked.
"Your number was zero. Lila's was ten. Ten wins."
"I thought we were choosing a place for dinner."
"I never said that."
Across our dining table, Lila kept her eyes on the guest list.
She was my closest friend and my bridesmaid.
She had introduced Devin and me at her birthday dinner two years ago.
"Then what did she win?" I asked.
"A trip to Nashville. With me." He slid the phone into his pocket. "We leave today and we're back Monday."
Five days.
Last Thanksgiving I had sat at his parents' table, and this year he had promised me mine.
"You're coming to Charleston with me," I said.
"Your flight leaves in three hours," he said quietly. "You can still go."
Behind him, the countdown board on our kitchen wall read 92 DAYS.
"You knew what the prize was," I said to Lila.
"I knew it was a trip."
"And you let me pick a number without telling me?"
"I thought Devin had explained it."
"He didn't."
Devin stepped in before she had to say more. "She's had a hard few months, Ansley. She needs this."
"Then take her another weekend."
"You would have said no if I'd told you."
"Yes, I would have."
"That's why I didn't tell you."
He made my refusal sound like the thing that had gone wrong.
My phone lit up beside the envelopes.
Mom: Guest room is made up. Dinner's at six tomorrow. Tell Devin I bought the coffee he likes.
My mother had bought his coffee, and he had let her.
Lila stood up. "If this is a problem, I'll stay."
Her purse was already on her shoulder, and her coat was already on.
"No," Devin said at once. "You won."
"She didn't win anything," I said. "You picked her."
Neither of them answered.
Then I saw the suitcase by the hallway door, small enough for five days.
The tag on its handle had Lila's name on it.
"How long have you been planning this?"
"The hotel and the tickets are refundable," Devin said. "We only booked them in case she won."
He said it too smoothly, with every word in place.
Lila didn't ask what time they were leaving or where they were staying.
Devin's phone buzzed. Your driver has arrived.
Lila reached for her suitcase, and Devin got to it first.
He carried it out for her, and I followed them into the hall.
"If I'd picked ten, would you have canceled the trip?" I asked.
He watched the elevator numbers instead of me. "We'll talk when I'm back."
The doors opened. Lila stepped in and looked at me and opened her mouth.
She didn't.
"Five days," Devin said. "Don't make any big decisions tonight."
Then the doors closed.
Back inside, my own suitcase stood packed by the bedroom door.
I opened the airline app to check in.
RESERVATION NOT FOUND.
I typed the confirmation code again and got the same screen.
I called the airline.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Hennessey," the agent said. "That ticket was canceled online."
"When?"
"Sunday at 9:14 p.m. The refund went back to the original card."
Our shared card.
Devin had sat next to me that Sunday night while I addressed invitations.
He had asked if my mother was still making apple pie.
I searched my email and found the cancellation notice, which I had taken for junk and never opened.
I sent him the screenshot. Did you cancel my flight?
His answer came minutes later. We're boarding. Please don't make this bigger.
He didn't say no.
My bank app buzzed. HOTEL LINDEN NASHVILLE, $612.00, PENDING.
How many rooms? I wrote.
One suite. The hotel was almost full. I'm on the couch.
Nothing is happening, he added.
My phone buzzed with a message from a coworker I had invited to the wedding.
It was a screenshot of Lila's story.
She and Devin sat in an airport bar, each holding a glass of champagne, and across the picture she had written: TEN WAS WORTH IT.
I sent it to Devin. Tell her to take it down.
He replied right away. Lila hasn't smiled in months. Let her have one good night.
He hadn't written that he was sorry, or that he would talk to her.
I looked at the ring on my hand.
I took it off and set it on top of the invitation to his mother, and the skin under it was pale.
So I rented a car.
It was a thirteen-hour drive to Charleston, and I could be at my mother's table by dinner on Thursday.
I was loading my suitcase in the parking garage when an unknown number texted me.
This is Darek Dunne, Devin's best man. Don't let him tell you this was a one-time thing.
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