Chapter 1

Compliments from strangers followed them everywhere. None of these people realized that the perfect couple they were admiring was my boyfriend and my best friend, while I trailed behind them, dragging my luggage like some kind of afterthought.

Becca Holloway glanced back at me and gave Nolan Keller a light tap on the shoulder, her tone teasing. "Nolan, slow down a little. Fiona can barely keep up."

Nolan stopped, his expression softening. "Come on, give me some of those. They're too heavy for you."

Becca looked pleased.

It was always like this.

The last time I had a 102-degree fever, I called him from a different number. The moment he heard my voice, he cut me off and told me to submit a request first.

The time before that, I couldn't take it anymore and stormed into his office to have it out with him. He just took out his hearing aid.

In that moment, all the hurt just caught in my throat.

It wasn't until Becca called him later and talked him down that he finally bothered to comfort me. "Fine, I hear you. It won't happen again."

But it never changed.

The car arrived. They climbed into the back seat and pulled the door shut behind them.

"Fiona, what are you standing there for? You probably didn't sleep well on the plane. Sit up front and get some rest."

Nolan pulled a sleep mask out of his bag and held it out to me. I looked at it, and something small and warm stirred in my chest. Maybe he did still care, even a little.

But before I could reach for it, Becca let out a small gasp, and he yanked his hand back. The sleep mask tumbled to my feet.

"What's wrong? Is your back acting up?" His eyes went soft with worry as he pressed his palm gently against her lower back, his touch steady and practiced.

The heater was running, but a chill crept through me anyway.

My mind drifted to two days ago. I'd spent the entire week working on the itinerary, and my back was killing me. I went back and forth for a long time before I finally asked him to rub it.

He frowned and tossed his papers onto the desk. "Fiona Cole, who do you think you are, some kind of princess? What, do you need me to hire someone to take care of you?"

I picked up the sleep mask without a word, put it on, and closed my eyes. It blocked out the glare of the sun, but it couldn't block out the voices drifting from the back seat.

Nolan kept his voice low as he went over the plans with Becca.

"You get cold easily, so I packed hand warmers for you. I already adjusted the camera settings, so we'll get great shots.

"The observation point is up on the mountain. I brought a thick blanket, so you can sit on it while you watch the lights."

He'd thought of everything, down to the last detail. But when I asked him before we left if there was anywhere he wanted to go, he told me he didn't care about that stuff and to just handle it.

Behind the mask, my eyes still stung. I quietly unlocked my phone and deleted the request template. There was no point holding onto something useless.