Library
Maghanap
Home / Romance / The Holidate Pact / CHAPTER 39: Memorial Day Weekend

Share

CHAPTER 39: Memorial Day Weekend

Author: Eleanor Vance
last update Petsa ng paglalathala: 2026-01-27 12:58:10
**SLOANE**

My mother called on Friday morning.

"We're having a cookout. Monday. The whole family. You and Jackson should come."

Her voice was still slightly stiff. But warmer than last week.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. It's time."

My eyes stung. "We'll be there."

"Good. And Sloane?"

"Yeah, Mom?"

"I'm glad you're happy. Even if I'm still processing... everything."

"I know. Thank you."

Monday morning, Jackson paced my kitchen. Checked his phone three times in five minutes.

"This is diff
Patuloy na basahin ang aklat na ito nang libre
I-scan ang code upang i-download ang App
Nakaraang Kabanata Susunod na kabanata
Locked Chapter

Pinakabagong kabanata

  • The Holidate Pact   CHAPTER 53: The Voicemail

    **SLOANE**The wine bottle was empty.I stared at it. Tried to remember when I'd opened it. After I got home from Murphy's maybe. After I'd driven away like a coward.My phone was in my hand. Had been for the last hour.2:13 AM.I should go to bed. Sleep. Stop thinking about Jackson sitting in that bar looking broken.Instead I hit call.It rang. Once. Twice. Three times.Voicemail.His voice. Recorded. Professional."You've reached Jackson. Leave a message."The beep came too fast. I wasn't ready."Hi. It's me. Sloane. Obviously you know that. Caller ID. I'm rambling. Sorry."I took a breath. Tried to focus. Failed."I'm calling because I saw you tonight. At Murphy's. I was outside. In my car. Peter told me to come and I came but I couldn't go in. I sat there for twenty minutes like an idiot and then I left. And now I'm home and I'm drunk and I'm calling you at two in the morning because apparently I make terrible decisions."My voice cracked. I kept going."I'm sorry. For everything

  • The Holidate Pact   CHAPTER 52: Three Days Until Australia

    **JACKSON**"To new beginnings!"Dean raised his glass. Everyone else followed. Beer sloshing. Voices too loud.I lifted mine. Forced a smile. Drank.The whiskey burned going down. Good. I wanted it to burn."Can't believe you're actually doing this," Mike said. He was on his third beer. Maybe fourth. I'd lost count."Doing what?""Going back. After everything."After everything. Yeah. That about summed it up.The bar was packed. Friday night in Chicago. Everyone celebrating the weekend. The holidays. Life.I was celebrating leaving.Dean ordered another round. I didn't argue. Just kept drinking."Australia's lucky to have you back," someone said. One of the other golfers. I couldn't remember his name."Thanks.""You're going to kill it on that tour.""That's the plan."My phone sat on the table. Screen dark. Silent.I checked it anyway.Nothing.No calls. No texts. No Sloane.Three days. I was leaving in three days and she hadn't said a word.Not that I expected her to. Three weeks o

  • The Holidate Pact   CHAPTER 51: Coward

    gl**SLOANE**"Get to Murphy's. Now."Peter's voice came through the phone sharp. Angry. The kind of angry he saved for when I was being particularly stupid."I can't.""Yes you can. You're getting in your car and you're driving here."I was already in my pajamas. Already settled on the couch with a blanket and Netflix I wasn't watching."Peter, I don't think...""He's leaving in five days, Sloane. FIVE DAYS. You have five days to fix this or you regret it for the rest of your life."My chest tightened. Five days. That's what Mike's text had said. December twentieth."What am I supposed to say to him?""I don't know. Start with sorry. Start with anything. Just get here.""He doesn't want to see me.""He's sitting in a bar alone looking miserable because of you. Pretty sure he wants to see you.""Then why hasn't he called?""Why haven't you?"I didn't have an answer for that.Peter's sigh came through the phone."Murphy's. Twenty minutes. If you're not here, I'm coming to drag you out m

  • The Holidate Pact   CHAPTER 50: Five Days Until His Flight

    **JACKSON**"You're really doing this."Caroline stood in my bedroom doorway. Watching me fold shirts into my suitcase."Yeah.""You're leaving in five days.""I know what day it is."She walked in. Sat on the edge of my bed. The one I hadn't slept in for weeks."Are you sure about this?"I kept folding. Blue shirt. Gray shirt. Black shirt. Everything looked the same."No.""Then why are you going?""Because there's nothing keeping me here.""That's not true."I stopped folding. Looked at her."She hasn't called. Hasn't texted. Hasn't even looked at me in three weeks. What am I supposed to do? Keep waiting forever?""She's scared.""So am I. Difference is I'm not running.""Aren't you?"The words hit harder than they should have.I shoved another shirt in the suitcase. Didn't bother folding it.Caroline picked up a photo frame from my nightstand. The one from Easter. Me and Sloane at her parents' house. Her laughing at something. My arm around her.We looked happy. We were happy."She

  • The Holidate Pact   CHAPTER 49: December Blues

    **SLOANE**"That'll be forty-three fifty."The cashier smiled at me. I didn't smile back. Just handed her my card.The sweater for my dad sat in the bag. Blue. Cashmere. Expensive. He'd never wear it.I didn't care. Shopping was something to do. Better than sitting in my apartment staring at Jackson's golf clubs.The mall was packed. Families. Couples. People who looked happy.I hated all of them.A woman bumped into me. Didn't apologize. Just kept walking with her boyfriend's hand in hers.They were laughing about something. His arm around her shoulders. Her leaning into him.I wanted to scream.Instead I walked to the next store. Bath and Body Works. Maya loved their candles.The smell hit me immediately. Cinnamon. Pine. All the Christmas scents.Last year I'd been here with Jackson. He'd made fun of every single candle."Who wants their house to smell like a fake tree?""People who don't have real trees.""Then get a real tree.""I live in an apartment.""So do I. Doesn't stop me."

  • The Holidate Pact   CHAPTER 48: Thanksgiving Apart

    **JACKSON**"You're not eating."My mum, Caroline set another plate in front of me. Turkey. Mashed potatoes. Stuffing. All of it looked like cardboard."I'm not hungry.""You're never hungry anymore."She sat across from me at her small dining table. Just the two of us. First Thanksgiving in years it'd been just us.First Thanksgiving without Sloane."Eat anyway," she said. "You're wasting away."I picked up my fork. Moved food around the plate. Put the fork down.My phone sat next to my napkin. Screen dark. Silent."Have you heard from her?" Caroline asked."No.""Have you tried calling?""She doesn't want to talk to me.""Did she say that?""She ran away from me at the diner. That's pretty clear."Caroline cut her turkey. Chewed slowly. The silence stretched."You know what today is?" she asked finally."Thanksgiving.""It's the first holiday you've missed. Since the pact."The pact. God. That felt like a lifetime ago.New Year's. Valentine's. Easter. Memorial Day. We'd done them al

  • The Holidate Pact   CHAPTER 7: Second Thoughts

    SLOANE I woke up on the 29th convinced I had made the worst decision of my adult life. The kids’ menu was on my nightstand like evidence in a crime scene. Crayon signatures, dinosaur border, three-second-kiss clause. In the gray morning light it looked exactly like what it was: proof of temporary

  • The Holidate Pact   CHAPTER 5: The Proposal

    SLOANE I spent all of December 27th trying to talk myself out of it. Didn’t work. By four-thirty in the afternoon I’m sitting at my kitchen table, laptop open to a gym campaign that’s due tomorrow, cursor blinking like it’s personally offended I haven’t written a single word. The document is titl

  • The Holidate Pact   CHAPTER 4: Mel's Diner at Midnight

    SLOANE I wasn’t supposed to text him. And yet. It’s 11:07 PM and I’m flat on my back in the dark, staring at the ceiling like it owes me an explanation. My body is exhausted, but my brain is doing cartwheels. Every time I close my eyes I see blue eyes and a dimple and that ridiculous kangaroo s

  • The Holidate Pact   CHAPTER 3: The Austrailian

    SLOANE The smell hits me first. Old coffee, fryer grease, maple syrup that’s been warming since the breakfast rush. It’s not pleasant, but it’s honest, and after the plastic cheer of the last forty-eight hours, honest feels like oxygen. Doris, the waitress who has probably worked every graveyard s

Higit pang Kabanata

Maaari mong magustuhan

Galugarin at basahin ang magagandang nobela
Libreng basahin ang magagandang nobela sa GoodNovel app. I-download ang mga librong gusto mo at basahin kahit saan at anumang oras.
Libreng basahin ang mga aklat sa app
I-scan ang code para mabasa sa App
DMCA.com Protection Status