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“What...what did you say?” she managed.
“I’m getting married, Colleen.”
There was something wrong with her lungs, because she couldn’t breathe. “That’s not funny.”
“To Ellen Forbes. I think you might’ve met her once or twice.”
He was serious.
Colleen closed her mouth. “I don’t...I don’t understand.”
He didn’t clarify.
Colleen took a step backward. Her legs felt watery.
Ellen Forbes. Ellen Forbes. Oh, shit, Ellen Forbes.
Yes, Colleen remembered her. Ellen had offered them a ride once, when they were walking back to campus, pulling over in her little BMW. And while the O’Rourkes were pretty comfortable financially, there was that aura of Money with a capitalMaround Ellen Forbes, and it didn’t come only from the last name (though that sure reinforced things).
It came from a blissful ignorance of things as mundane as bills and taxes and budgets and sales, and allowed her the freedom to focus on other things. Her clothes were preppy and dull and screamed expensive—crisp white shirt and little gold hoops in her ears, a sumptuous bag at her side, the designer unfamiliar to Colleen, who might’ve been able to recognize a bag sold at Macy’s or Nordstrom, but not from Saks or Bergdorf. Colleen was used to being the prettiest woman in the room and didn’t worry too much about clothes, but suddenly, she’d felt juvenile and blowsy in her peasant skirt and tank top, long dangly earrings (from Kohl’s) and scruffy sandals on her feet.
Lucas was marrying Ellen Forbes?Marryingher?
“Are you...are you serious?” she asked, her voice just a whisper.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and to his credit, he looked it. Those dark eyes were all ripped up inside.
“Why?” she asked.
He started to say something, then stopped.
“Lucas...you can’t marry her. What about us? I mean, we had a fight, but you don’t have to—”
“I wanted to tell you myself. That’s why I’m here. I’m sorry.”
GoodGod.
“You can’t marry her,” she said, striving to sound calm. “I love you, Lucas. I always have, since the first time I met you. I’ve never loved anyone else.”
Shut up,Con’s voice said.
Lucas was staring at the grass. “I’m sorry,” he said again.
“Is it her money?”
“No.”
“Is she pregnant?” Oh, please, not that.
He looked at her a long minute. Something flickered through his eyes, and her stomach seized.
“No,” he said, and thank you, God, thank you. No, Lucas was paranoid about that.
“Then...I...I don’t...” she stammered. “Lucas, please.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Lucas...” Colleen took a shaking breath. Another one.
