Stuck With You: A Sweet Romantic Comedy

Part 25

Timo

When I returned to the tent after my solitary star gazing, Bianca was asleep, or at least she appeared to be. Despite laying down three inches from her and still trying to avoid touching her, I fell asleep surprisingly quickly.

When I awoke, the sun was beating down through the roof of the tent. I could smell bacon frying, and Bianca was gone.

When I stuck my head out of the tent, Adam, who was frying bacon, told me Bianca had walked to the restroom. Liberty must have gone with her, according to Adam.

"We're leaving after breakfast," Adam said. "Liberty has to get back for something this afternoon."

I'd been sure that the plan had been to stay for another night.

We ate breakfast in near silence. I was certain Bianca wanted to ask questions about why the weekend had been cut short, but she stayed uncharacteristically quiet.

After breakfast, Liberty announced that she was going to do a five-mile loop hike that started near the entrance to the campground. She was happy for the company, but if nobody else wanted to go, we could stay behind and strike the tents.

Bianca wanted to go, so I said I'd go, too. I think Adam nearly volunteered to stay behind and pack up our campsite on his own but finally said, "I'm not doing all the packing on my own. I already did all the cooking."

"I think they're fighting again," I told Bianca as we hung back behind Liberty and Adam.

Bianca just shrugged. She seemed preoccupied.

"Is something bothering you?" I asked.

I hoped she wasn't offended that I'd chosen to break off kissing her to go contemplate the starry heavens.

"I'm not mad at you, or anything," Bianca said hastily, clearly picking up on my mood. "I'm just worried about how to handle the whole Chad situation. I called Rob this morning."

Normal people get offended when you call them at the crack of dawn, especially on the weekend. Not Rob. He gets up at five in the morning to go for a jog before sunrise. That's the kind of schedule an entrepreneur with four kids has to be prepared to handle.

"What did Rob think?" I asked.

"He agreed with you. He didn't see any downside to laying all my cards on the table and trying to get Chad to sell out his half to me in return for not pursuing legal recourse."

"But you still seem unsure. Does it offend your sense of justice to let Chad walk away?"

Bianca shook her head.

"It's not that. I don't want to see Chad go to prison, even if he does deserve it."

"What is it, then?"

"I guess I'm just worried that even if I pay him off, he won't go away."

"He'll have to go away once he signs over ownership. Those lawyers I introduced you to are the best. They'll write you up a watertight contract."

"I just feel uneasy," Bianca said. "I never in a million years pictured myself in a position like this."

"First thing Monday morning call your lawyers and ask for an emergency consultation. See what they have to say. In the meantime, why don't we try and enjoy the rest of the weekend."

"I don't really have plans for the rest of the weekend," Bianca said.

Was she hinting that she wanted to make plans with me? I did have plans, although I wasn't sure I wanted to go through with them. That evening was my annual college-friend-group meet up, and I hadn't been sure we'd get back from camping on time. Now that we would be back, I had to decide if I wanted to go or not.