Cozy Creek

by K M Morgan

  “Thanks for inviting me to the party,” Chloe said.

  “Of course. It’s like I said, a friend of Paige’s, is a friend of ours,” Adam replied.

  “Adam always threw the best parties in college. It’s good to know some things never change,” Paige said.

  “This is actually the first party we’ve thrown in a while. I’ve been so busy at the hotel. Twelve hour work days don’t exactly lend themselves to partying,” Adam joked.

  “They sure don’t,” Lily grumbled.

  That was a strange comment to make, especially in front of a relative stranger like Chloe. Usually, people wanted to put their best face forward when it came to meeting new people. Apparently, Lily was too frustrated to bother doing that.

  Adam countered his wife’s complaint. “Working those long hours pay the bills.”

  Paige seemed to be in no hurry to let that topic die. Instead, she blurted out her own question on the subject. “Twelve hour work days? How do you make your marriage work when you’re gone that much?”

  Chloe was so relieved that Paige asked that question instead of her. To be fair, Chloe was thinking that exact thing, but having just met Adam and Lily, it seemed rude to blurt out such a question. Paige, meanwhile, felt comfortable enough to fire away.

  Adam and Lily were slow to answer. They both looked uncomfortable in their skin. Who knew that question would tie their tongues so much?

  Finally, Adam tried to put a good face on the situation. “You find a way.”

  “Although it’s not always easy,” Lily replied.

  “But it’s worth it in the end. Right dear?” Adam added.

  Lily smiled. “Of course.”

  That was one of the most forced smiles Chloe had ever seen. Chloe had no idea what kind of troubles they were having in their marriage, but they were having a hard time hiding them.

  The awkward tension returned, much to everyone’s chagrin.

  This time, it was Lily who broke the silence. “It’s funny that you brought up the parties Adam used to throw because this will be the last one for a while.”

  Chloe and Paige were both curious as to why, but secretly Chloe worried the reason was because the couple was on the verge of breaking up. She hoped she was wrong of course, but the feeling in her gut was only getting stronger.

  Once again, Paige’s curiosity got the best of her. “Why is that?”

  Lily put her hand on her belly. “Because we’ll be too busy being parents to throw parties.”

  Now, it was abundantly clear why Lily didn’t have a drink in her hand, yet was chowing down like crazy. She was pregnant. That should have been cause for celebration.

  Adam appeared anything but thrilled at that moment. He leaned over and whispered to his wife. “I thought we weren’t going to tell anyone yet?”

  She whispered back. “That’s what you decided.”

  While Adam and Lily did their awkward verbal tango, Paige and Chloe were more focused on the fact that there was a baby on the way.

  “Congratulations,” Chloe said.

  “Yeah. Although I have to admit, I’m really surprised. You’re not showing at all,” Paige said.

  “I know what you mean. You’re in better shape than I am, and I’m not even the least bit pregnant,” Chloe joked.

  “We just found out yesterday,” Lily revealed.

  “You must be thrilled,” Paige said.

  Suddenly, Lily and Adam’s moods changed. This time, Lily was the one with excitement in her voice while Adam looked tense.

  Lily nodded. “It’s been a long time coming.”

  “But it finally happened,” Adam added.

  “What a relief too. I was worried this moment would never come, and now here it is,” Lily beamed.

  Adam looked eager to deflect. “There’s plenty to celebrate all around. Speaking of, you did a wonderful job tonight Paige. You should be really proud.”

  Paige was taken aback at such an abrupt change in the subject. It seemed to come completely out of left field.

  Just as Paige opened her mouth to answer, Adam’s attention shifted across the room to a new party guest that Chloe had not seen before.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Adam groused.

  Paige turned around, curious as to what Adam was so upset about.

  Chloe apparently was the only one in the dark. “What’s the matter?”

  Adam groaned. “My no-good brother is here.”

  Chapter Four

  The name of Adam’s brother was Ryan Foster, and he had bad boy written all over him. Other than the similarities in their faces, everything else was different about the brothers. While Adam was clean cut and on the straight and narrow, Ryan looked like a rock star. His arms were covered in tattoos, which complimented his long, shaggy hair, and a full beard.

  Ryan didn’t just have a show-stopping look. The minute the party guests noticed him, Ryan became the center of attention. It appeared to be for all the wrong reasons. Warm smiles and welcoming glances were non-existent. Everyone just glared and looked uneasy. Chloe didn’t know why everyone hated him, but it was clear they did.

  Even Paige wasn’t immune to that. Chloe’s friend was cheery and well-mannered ninety-nine percent of the time. Ryan was apparently the exception to the rule.

  Chloe couldn’t help but be curious what Ryan had done to earn some widespread disdain. She’d have to wait until later to find that out. Right now, Ryan appeared determined to make a new enemy.

  Since arriving at the party, Ryan made a beeline for Sasha Irwin. Chloe recognized Sasha as the host of a popular children’s television show called “ABC’s, Yes Please.” Sasha had a family-friendly, girl-next-door quality about her that made her the perfect choice to host a children’s show. With shoulder-length brown hair, hazel eyes, lean figure, and a pleasing smile, she was very approachable. However, Sasha looked in no mood to be approached by Ryan.

  They were having a heated discussion, one that Chloe was too far away to hear the details of. Judging by body language alone, Sasha wanted to say some very family unfriendly things to Ryan.

  Adam Foster looked eager to break up their conversation and kick his brother out.

  “Excuse me for a second,” he said.

  Adam then left Lily, Paige and Chloe behind as he darted towards his brother. The ladies couldn’t resist drawing nearer to listen in on the confrontation.

  ***

  When Adam reached his brother, he immediately began chewing him out.

  “Get out of here,” Adam barked.

  Ryan turned to his brother and didn’t back down. He went toe to toe with Adam, looking ready to brawl.

  “This is none of your business,” Ryan said.

  “This is my house. I warned you never to come back here.”

  “You don’t scare me, Adam.”

  Adam glared. “I should.”

  “I’m here on business.”

  “You’re business is done. Now, get out of here.”

  Ryan ignored his brother and stared Sasha down.

  “You have until the morning,” Ryan threatened.

  “I heard you the first time,” Sasha snapped.

  “Don’t think for a second that I won’t release those pictures to the press. I’ll ruin you if I have to,” Ryan insisted.

  Sasha looked like she was on the verge of having a meltdown.

  “You’re evil.” She ran off as tears started to form in her eyes.

  Adam gave his brother a shove. “Up to your old tricks again, huh? You never learn. Now for the last time, get out of here.”

  Ryan clenched his fists like he was about to take a swing at Adam.

  Just then, Ryan heard a familiar voice.

  “Ryan, we need to leave now!” Olivia Ellerby declared.

  Ryan turned and looked surprised to see Olivia. She was in her early thirties with a full-figured body. Her black hair was pulled back into a ponytail as panic came to her face.

  Olivia wasn’t the only who w
as distressed. Lily Foster couldn’t stop looking at Olivia, although Lily’s stare was full of frustration. After a moment, Lily left Chloe and Paige’s side and approached Olivia.

  Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Ryan got upset with Olivia.

  “I told you to stay in the car,” he barked.

  Olivia tried to explain herself. “I saw Eric’s car parked down the street. I think he followed us over here.”

  Ryan’s face went white.

  By that point, Lily Foster had reached the group.

  “Olivia, so you’re back together with Ryan then, huh?” Lily asked.

  Olivia shot Lily a glare. “No thanks to you.”

  Adam turned to his wife with anger in his eyes. “Why do you care if they’re back together?”

  “I don’t,” Lily said.

  Adam didn’t believe that for a second.

  As Lily turned her attention to Ryan Foster, it became clear to everyone just how much she was lying.

  Olivia pulled Ryan in close, then glared at Olivia.

  “Ryan and I are very happy together,” Olivia insisted.

  Olivia had her arm around Ryan, but her boyfriend’s eyes were squarely on Lily.

  That made Adam Foster blow his top. “For the last time, get out of here.”

  Adam shoved his brother again. Ryan pushed Adam right back.

  With Lily standing right beside Adam, Ryan’s shove not only put Adam on his heels but Lily as well.

  In a moment of panic, Adam saw his wife almost knocked over. Adam grabbed Lily before she fell backward. He then immediately teed off on Ryan.

  “How dare you almost knock over my pregnant wife?” Adam scowled.

  Both Ryan and Olivia’s faces went white. There were almost at a loss for words.

  Ryan managed to get out just one word. “Pregnant?”

  Adam nodded. “That’s right. Now, I’m saying this for the last time—get out of here!”

  Ryan and Olivia were still in shock. At that point, they noticed that all of the dozen people at the party were staring at them. They became very self-conscious about the scene they’d caused and had no interest in being the center of attention any longer.

  The duo scurried out in a hurry, bickering the entire way.

  With Ryan and Olivia gone, Adam and Lily were suddenly in the spotlight.

  Adam turned to his wife with fire in his eyes. He was more than just disgusted. Adam looked like he wanted nothing to do with her.

  “I thought you said you didn’t have feelings for him anymore,” Adam snapped.

  Lily opened her mouth to answer, but Adam cut her off before she had the chance to get a word out.

  “I’m not interested in any more of your lies,” he continued.

  Adam stormed away.

  At that point, Lily was reeling. Her head was spinning every which way. She had a deer-in-the-headlights look.

  When Lily noticed everyone at the party standing awkwardly silent as they stared at her, she became overcome with embarrassment. Normally Chloe’s heart would go out to her, but judging by what she’d heard, Lily’s own actions had gotten her into this royal mess. The question was, how would she get out of it?

  Everyone appeared to be wondering that. As Chloe looked around the room, all the party guests seemed to be standing in place, like a movie stuck in freeze frame, waiting for the action to begin again.

  The room was silent as could be. No one wanted to be the first to talk. Although, what more really was there to say that wouldn’t just make things worse?

  Finally, Lily broke the silence by lashing out in frustration.

  “The party is over. Everyone get out of here,” she said.

  Chapter Five

  As Chloe and Paige made their way out of the party with the rest of the guests, they were left with a number of unanswered questions. That was especially true for Chloe. She felt like she was completely in the dark about a slew of different things. What a night for long-simmering grudges to boil over.

  Chloe would have asked Paige about the checkered pasts of everyone involved, but her friend’s mind was already preoccupied. As an actress, it wasn’t uncommon for Paige’s head to drift off into the ozone, but this wasn’t just an average head-in-the-clouds kind of moment.

  Something was eating at Paige. It must have troubled her to see her old friends at each other’s throats. Chloe had only just met these people, and she couldn’t help but be bothered by how quickly the party blew up. That kind of raging dysfunctionality didn’t come around very often. There wasn’t much Chloe could do other than comfort her friend. She decided to do just that.

  “What’s going on?” Chloe asked.

  Paige pulled her head out of the clouds, only to have something else catch her eye. She pointed down the street. “Trouble.”

  Chloe turned and saw that Ryan Foster had run into another person that seemed to have a beef with him. About forty feet down the street, Ryan was engaged in a heated exchange with a greasy-haired man in his forties wearing a leather jacket.

  With the argument occurring so far away, there’s was no way for Chloe to overhear the specific words being said. She didn’t really need to. All that mattered was that trouble had found Ryan Foster again.

  Just when things seemed like they couldn’t get any more contentious, the greasy-haired man slammed Ryan against a car door, shouted at him, and then walked to a nearby car. The greasy-haired man got into the car and drove off.

  Ryan, meanwhile, took a moment to catch his breath. Surprisingly, his girlfriend Olivia did not rush over to his aid. Instead, Olivia shook her head in frustration, then chewed him out herself. After that, Ryan and Olivia got into a car, still bickering, and drove away.

  Back in the Foster’s driveway, Chloe took a deep breath. What a night, and it wasn’t even over yet.

  Chloe instinctively told a joke to blow off some steam.

  “Maybe now the fireworks show is finally over for the night.”

  That got no response from Paige. Granted, it wasn’t the best joke Chloe had ever told, but she was hoping for at least a half-smile from her friend.

  As Chloe looked over, she saw that Paige didn’t view this night as any laughing matter. Even more, Paige was quietly seething. This was not like her. Paige was known for her bubbliness. That personality trait was completely on the shelf tonight, sidelined in favor of rage.

  Chloe didn’t know what had gotten into her, but Paige didn’t look like herself at all. If anything, she looked like she was back in character. As if she was still up on stage acting in the play.

  Chloe wanted to bring her back to reality. She was getting a bad feeling in her stomach.

  “Are you okay?” Chloe asked.

  “Uh yeah, I’ll be fine,” Paige muttered.

  Considering Paige was an actress, that was the least convincing answer Chloe had ever heard.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. Let’s get out of here,” Paige insisted.

  Chapter Six

  Chloe wanted nothing more than to get to the bottom of all that had happened tonight. Conversely, Paige didn’t seem to have any interest in that whatsoever. Chloe had never known her friend to be closed-off emotionally. Apparently, there was a first time for everything, which left Chloe getting a good night from Paige instead of the answers she was looking for. As Chloe and Paige arrived at her parent’s house, Paige couldn’t have been more eager to get inside.

  That was especially strange, considering there was nothing waiting for Paige inside but an empty house. Her parents were seventeen hundred miles away at their timeshare condo in Florida. They had seen their daughter’s big break a few weeks ago when the play made a five night stop in Tampa.

  While Chloe thought her friend’s mood was odd, she knew it wasn’t her place to judge. What Paige needed now was comfort, and Chloe was there to give her just that.

  “I hate to cut the evening short, but I really should be calling it a night,” Paige said.

  “I
understand. There was almost as much real life drama tonight as there was onstage,” Chloe replied.

  “That’s never a good thing.”

  “You know what they say, you can take the actor out of the drama club, but you can never take the drama out of an actor.”

  Paige groaned. “Even former actors, apparently.”

  Chloe became very concerned. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

  Paige nodded. “Yeah.”

  Paige could say she was going to be fine all she wanted, Chloe didn’t believe it for a second. While she vowed not to interfere, Chloe couldn’t keep her heart from going out to Paige.

  “Do you want to tell me what your problem is with Ryan Foster…besides the fact that he blew up the party tonight?” Chloe asked.

  Paige bit the corner of her lip, looking as uncomfortable as could be.

  “Maybe I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

  The more secretive Paige remained, the more curious Chloe became. She couldn’t help it. That was just her nature. Chloe was also especially concerned because Paige just looked so broken up.

  “That’s all you’re going to give me?” Chloe asked.

  “I’ll just say this. Some people never change, and Ryan Foster is one of them.”

  That was the least satisfying answer Chloe had received all night, mostly because it only led to more questions. Judging by the look on Paige’s face, Chloe wouldn’t be receiving any more answers, at least not tonight.

  Chloe decided to respect her friend’s privacy and let it be, as much as it went against her nature to do so.

  “All right. Well, get yourself some rest. The world is much easier to tackle on a full night’s sleep.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  Chloe gave her friend a big hug. “You did a great job tonight onstage. I was really impressed by your acting.”

  Paige managed a smile after hearing that compliment. “Thanks.”

  Chapter Seven