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I plaster on a smile and send my brother all the thankful thoughts.
I follow my family out of the dining room. Theo stays behind at the table.
“I’m sorry, Cassie,” my brother whispers.
“His ex left him at the altar.”
“Oh fuck,” Cash curses. My eyes water as I nod in agreement.
“Cassie, I’m sorry if I upset you…” my mother starts, but I shut it down.
“Mom, your version of the end of my engagement to Howard is twisted. The story you just spun in front of Theo is going to cause us a lot of issues.” She gasps. But I’ve never spoken to her like this and it’s due time. “I’m disappointed that you felt that tonight, during a dinner where you met my new boyfriend, was an appropriate time to bring up such a painful part of my past.”
“Cassie,” she says, her voice watery and worried.
I shake my head. “I’ll see you at church Sunday, but right now, I have a story to clear up with a man who was very publicly humiliated at his own wedding.”
She makes a choking sound as my dad ushers her out of my condo. Cash gives my shoulder a squeeze and tells me good luck, then closes the door behind him.
Locking the door, I rest my forehead against it and mentally prepare myself for the storm I’m about to enter and hope like hell we can make it out of it whole.
Chapter 15
SADNESS GETS YOU NOWHERE
THEO
I hearthe sound of the front door shut and then there is silence.
I’m still in shock at everything that just happened. Everything that Cassie's mother just shared over casual conversation. Shit. There was nothing casual about everything she shared.
I’m not sure what the fuck just happened, except one thing I know for sure.
That the woman I was falling for is a liar.
She’s a fucking liar.
“I’m not a liar.” The woman in question sighs behind me as she enters the room.
I must have said that out loud.
I push out of my seat, a bit too forceful as the chair wobbles, but I catch it before it can crash to the ground.
“Not telling you I was engaged or called off the wedding is not the same as lying. We haven’t talked much about our past relationships, so I didn’t see that as something that needed to be shared.”
“So you hear me say that I was left at the altar and you think it’s not relevant for me to know that you did the same fucking thing to another bastard?”
“Theo. What my mother said happened is not in fact what happened.” Her tone is hesitant as I turn toward her. It’s the first time I’ve been able to look at her since her mother started running her mouth.
“I just want to know how the hell you were able to take me for a fool, Cassie.”
“You’re not a fool and again, I didn’t lie to you.” Her eyes water with tears.
Fuck that. She doesn’t get to cry.
“You left your ex at the altar and then proceeded to let me fall for you, a man who was left at the altar, and didn’t tell me. Plain and simple, Cassie, it’s lying,” I bellow.
She flinches.
