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“Don’t work too hard.” As I hung up, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to swoon or pout. I needed to perfect the art of doing both at the same time.
I’d barely disconnected when my phone rang. A glance at the screen showedBetsy Cocker.
I wasn’t ready to talk to Easton’s grandmother, and I may never be. She was my boss, and if she was going to fire me, I’d probably better find out now. I could either ruin the rest of my weekend by losing my job, or by worrying about whether or not I’d lost my job.
The latter was tempting, but I forced myself to hitAnswer. “Hello?”
“Megan, honey. Did I wake you?” Betsy sounded genuinely concerned. Then again, she’d always been a genuine person. Apparently, that wasn’t genetic.
“No.”
“Good. How are you holding up?”
I didn’t know if I was supposed to just answer her questions, or ask some of my own. “You know. How are you?”
“Worried about you. I wanted to let you know, neither of us thinks what happened is your fault. Easton screwed up in letting you go. I’m hoping you’ll take Spring Break off and heal as much as is possible in a case like this, and come back to work when your vacation is over.”
She wanted me back. She wasn’t mad at me. “I…” How was I supposed to respond?
“Think about it. Don’t tell menonow, please.”
I didn’t need to think about it. I did love my job. “I’ll be back in school in a week. Thank you.”
“Take care of yourself, hon. And please remember this isn’t your fault.”
I thanked her again, and hung up. For a while after the call, I lay in bed, letting the last few days race through my head. The wedding. What came after. Landon. Nigel.
I wasn’t sure I believed Betsy, that this wasn’t my fault, though. Her assurance mingled with Easton’s accusations, with the fact that I’d stayed with him for so long, with the lack of ache in my heart that I wasn’t lying in bed next to him in Cancun…
“Are you up?” Carly called as she knocked.
I glanced at the clock. Had I been stuck in that mental loop for more than two hours? “Yeah. Come in.”
She nudged my door open. “Did you see? It’s raining.”
I’d been too wrapped up in early morning mental drama. I tugged open the blinds over the window next to my bed, to see gray skies, and raindrops on my window.Pretty. “Yay.” I loved the rain.
“You wouldn’t have gotten that in Cancun, am I right?” Carly teased.
A pit twisted in my gut. I should be on my honeymoon right now. Not that I wanted to be if Easton was there, but I’d had plans. A vision for the future. One he said he shared and hadn’t meant at all. Did he ever—
“I shouldn’t have said that.” Carly sounded apologetic. “But I came in here to see if you want to go to the bookstore. I’m buying, both coffee and any books you want.”
“I’m not ten, you can’t bribe me with books.”
“Not bribery—shopping therapy.”
I wasn’t sure I was in the mood to go out, but it did mean books and not being alone with my thoughts. If Nigel was working, odds were that Sonya and Jeremy were too. Mom and Dad flew home yesterday morning, so my alternatives were to stay here or… “I’m in.”
“Good. Get dressed, we’ll go when you’re ready.”
This would be nice—a drive in the rain, some time with my sister, and not having to think about my life. Our family was close. Mom and Dad raised us to love stories, helping people, and each other, and gave us a great example of what a loving marriage looked like.
On rare occasion, I wondered if they’d set the bar too high. Carly was a sworn bachelorette, and Jeremy had been the ultimate relationship cynic until a few months ago.
I’d always figured if I could find a nice man, get married, live the same wonderful life that Mom and Dad did, that would be one more thing that would make me special.
Why did I think that?
