Chapter 1
Series 1 Chapter 1
My boyfriend carried my best friend’s suitcase into the ocean-view suite while I was given a twin bed beside the laundry room.
I stood in the rental house with Brooke’s birthday cake in my arms, watching Evan disappear up the stairs with her rose-gold suitcase.
Evan had been my boyfriend for four years.
Brooke had been my best friend for ten.
This seven-day beach vacation was supposed to celebrate her thirtieth birthday. I had found the house, paid the deposit, booked the activities, bought the groceries, and spent the day driving from Boston to the Outer Banks with Evan, Brooke, and Nora in my SUV.
Yet my suitcase was still in the car.
“Careful with the cake, Natalie,” Brooke called from the balcony.
She already had a glass of wine in her hand. The Atlantic glittered behind her while Paige and Luke took pictures of the sunset.
The bakery box was sliding against my damp palms.
“I’ve got it,” I said.
I carried the cake into the kitchen and pushed the box into the refrigerator. The groceries on my arms had left deep red lines across my skin.
When Evan came downstairs, he wasn’t carrying my suitcase.
“Where’s my bag?” I asked.
“Still in the SUV.” He kissed my cheek without stopping. “Brooke needed help with hers.”
Brooke entered the kitchen and held out a brass key.
“You’re downstairs.”
I looked at the number stamped on it. “What happened to the queen room Evan and I chose?”
“We had to rearrange things.”
She led me down the hallway beside the kitchen. The air became warmer with every step. At the end, she opened a door directly across from the washer and dryer.
Inside were two narrow twin beds.
The only window faced the outdoor trash cans.
“I’m sleeping here?” I asked.
“You’re always the first one awake,” Brooke said. “This way, you won’t disturb anyone.”
“What about Evan?”
“He’s upstairs.”
I waited for her to explain why my boyfriend and I had been separated.
She smiled as though the answer were obvious. “Paige and Luke need one queen room because they’re a couple. Nora took the smaller room. And I need the ocean suite for my birthday photos.”
“So where is Evan sleeping?”
“There’s plenty of space upstairs.”
That wasn’t an answer.
I walked past her and climbed the stairs.
The ocean suite door stood open. Brooke’s dresses already hung in the closet. Her makeup covered the dresser.
Evan’s camera bag sat beside her bed.
His black duffel was underneath it.
I knew that bag. I had packed it for him that morning.
His clothes, razor, and underwear were inside.
I turned to Brooke. “Why is Evan’s duffel in your bedroom?”
“He wanted to keep his camera equipment somewhere safe.”
“His underwear isn’t camera equipment.”
Her smile tightened.
“Natalie, please don’t make the first night uncomfortable for everyone.”
I went back downstairs with Brooke behind me and found Evan in the kitchen.
I asked him why his clothes were in her room.
He opened the refrigerator.
“Did you get the beer I asked for?”
For a second, I couldn’t speak.
Then Brooke placed a folded sheet of paper on the kitchen counter.
“Since your room is down here, breakfast should be easy. I wrote down what everyone wants.”
I opened it.
Egg-white omelet. No onions.
Blueberry pancakes.
Turkey bacon, extra crispy.
Coffee ready by eight.
My name wasn’t on the list.
I folded the paper and gave it back to her.
“I’m not cooking breakfast.”
Brooke stared at me. “But you always cook on our trips.”
“Then this trip can be different.”
I went outside, dragged my suitcase from the SUV, and locked myself in the twin room.
Less than a minute later, someone knocked.
It was Nora.
She slipped inside and lowered her voice. “Brooke told us you asked for this room.”
“What?”
Nora held out her phone.
On the screen was a group chat called OBX Birthday Crew.
Everyone on the trip was in it except me.
Brooke had written:
Natalie asked to sleep alone downstairs. She said she needs quiet.
Directly beneath it was Evan’s reply.
I’ll handle her. She’ll understand.
I read the message twice.
My boyfriend hadn’t forgotten to ask me.
He had helped my best friend lie to me.