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At the sound of her name, Gretchen turned and was greeted by a familiar face. Someone from her graduating class. She struggled to dredge up a name to go with the face.
“It’s Carol. Carol Furness.”
“Carol.” Gretchen couldn’t believe she’d stumble on a sorority sister here at the fountain an hour before the formal reunion festivities were scheduled to start. They hugged each other fiercely.
“I wondered if that was you,” Carol said, sitting down next to Gretchen on the edge of the fountain.
“Have I changed so much?” Gretchen asked. “Lie, if you have to.”
Carol responded with a good-natured laugh, her blue eyes twinkling. “Not at all. You look the same as you did the day we graduated. I would have known you anywhere. The years have been good to you.”
“Ditto for you, Carol.” Gretchen smiled. “I couldn’t resist coming down and walking around the campus.”
“Me either,” Carol admitted as she scanned the grounds. “I haven’t been back in all these years.”
“Nor have I.” But Gretchen doubted that the reasons for her absence were the same as her old sorority sister’s.
“Are you attending the dinner and the dance later?”
The day of the reunion was here, and Gretchen had yet to make up her mind. “The dinner definitely, but I don’t know if I can drag my husband to the dance.”
“The same with me,” Carol said. “My husband’s a wonderful dancer, but he refuses to believe it.”
“Gretchen? Carol?” The voice belonged to a tall striking auburn-haired woman approaching from the left.
Gretchen hadn’t a clue who it was, and she looked at Carol for help. Carol just shook her head.
The redhead grinned. “Not more than two minutes ago I wondered if anyone would recognize me. I’ve changed, I know. It’s me, Maddie Coolidge.”
“Maddie?” Gretchen couldn’t believe it. The Maddie Coolidge she remembered was nothing like the well-groomed woman who stood before her now. Maddie had been outlandish in appearance, as well as in word and deed. Stubborn and defiant, a nonconformist. Yet beneath all the bravado Maddie had a heart of gold.
Gretchen recalled that Maddie had struck up a close “friendship” with John Theda, a math professor. It was supposed to have been a secret, but everyone knew the two were secretly engaged. The romance had caused quite a stir about campus, but then “controversy” was Maddie’s middle name.
“You look wonderful,” Carol said, standing up and hugging Maddie. Gretchen did likewise, and then all three sat down, with Gretchen in the middle.
“I’m pleased someone else thought to stop off at the fountain,” Maddie said.
“It brings back memories, doesn’t it?” Carol murmured thoughtfully.
The three were silent for several moments. Caught up in the wonder of years past, Gretchen suspected.
“I was hoping to get a chance to talk to you, Carol,” Maddie said excitedly. “I bet you’ve had a fabulous fifteen years. I don’t pay much attention to professional sports, but whenever I hear anything about football, I keep my ear open for news of Eddie.”
“Eddie Shapiro?” Carol asked on a disdainful note. “The guy’s a worm.”
Maddie looked shocked. “You were engaged to him, weren’t you?”
“Yeah, but he dropped me like a hot potato once he was picked up by the pros.” Carol folded her arms and crossed her legs. Her foot swayed so hard she created a draft. “Let’s change the subject, shall we?”
“Of course,” Maddie said apologetically.
A short awkward silence followed while Gretchen absorbed the information. Like Maddie, she’d assumed Carol and Eddie had married. “What about you, Maddie? Being a professor’s wife certainly appears to agree with you.”
Instant hot color blazed in Maddie’s cheeks, and her eyes snapped with fire. “I never married John Theda. The man’s a cheat.”
“Weren’t you two engaged?”
“Oh, yes, until John got what he wanted, and it’s not what you think. I suspect it was one of the shortest engagements on record.”
“What about you, Gretchen?” Carol asked, quickly changing the subject once again. “How many children do you and Roger have?”
“Roger Lockheart?” Gretchen said. “I haven’t seen that rat in years.”
Gretchen watched as her two college friends exchanged glances. It seemed they were as shocked by her news as she was by theirs.
“Well, it appears we have a lot more to discuss than we realized,” Gretchen said. And to think she’d worried herself sick about this silly reunion. She leaned back on her hands and smiled softly. “If I’m hearing you correctly, you were both engaged and then dumped.”
They nodded.
“Me too,” Gretchen confessed. “So there we were—three brides and no groom. Who would’ve believed it?”
“I can’t believe you didn’t marry Roger,” Maddie whispered, apparently having trouble taking it all in. “He was always so…so perfect.”
“I used to think he was wonderful,” Carol added.
“At one time I thought so, too,” Gretchen admitted.
“What happened?” Carol asked. “From what I remember, you and Roger were less than a month away from your wedding.”
“Yup.”
“If you tell your story, I’ll tell you what happened with John,” Maddie promised. “I’d like you to know.”
Carol grinned. “And I’ll spill my guts about Eddie Shapiro.”
Gretchen laughed. “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Carol said.
“I do—” Maddie smoothed her hand down her skirt “—and you’ll get the whole story from me. It’s time someone knew exactly what kind of person John really is.” She glanced at Gretchen. “You go first, then Carol and then me. I can’t think of a better way to spend the afternoon.”
Gretchen’s Story
Chapter 1
This was supposed to be one of the happiest days of Gretchen’s life. The day was memorable, all right, but it would be forever marked as a day of pain and betrayal. Emotion clawed at her throat, and she battled tears. She wanted her mother, but her parents had already left the campus. They’d driven up to Seattle from San Francisco to attend her college graduation and were taking a few extra days to visit Victoria, British Columbia, before returning home and making the final arrangements for her wedding to Roger, and she didn’t want to bother them on their brief vacation.
Except Gretchen was beginning to doubt that there would be a wedding.
She stood at the far end of the sweeping veranda of her sorority house, out of view of her friends. Most were excitedly loading up their cars with another year’s accumulation of treasures. She could hear their tearful farewells, their promises to keep in touch.
Promises.
She held her stomach and raised her chin in an effort to forestall the brewing emotion. Her long blond hair cascaded down the middle of her back. Roger loved her hair long, enjoyed playing with it, brushing it, burying his face in it.
“Sweetpea?” The sound of Roger’s contrite voice came from behind her.
She’d always hated his pet name for her, but no amount of protest could persuade him to come up with another.
Standing directly behind her, he cupped her shoulders and nuzzled her neck. “Let’s talk about this, all right?”
“Talk?” Gretchen asked with a short abrupt laugh. As far as she was concerned they had nothing to discuss.
“You’ve got to know Didi doesn’t mean anything to me.” Now his hands were in her hair, lifting the thick tresses to his face. He wove his fingers into it and brushed his lips across her crown.
Gretchen’s eyes slammed shut at the sharp pain.
“It was stupid,” Roger continued. “I want to throw up every time I think about how incredibly stupid I was. My only excuse is that I was drunk.”
“You cheated on me with another woman, and I’m supposed to forget it ever happened because you were drunk?”
His hands returned to her shoulders and squeezed. “Didi’s always had the hots for me. You said so yourself, remember? I…I wasn’t thinking straight. I was with the guys, celebrating, drinking, and the next thing I knew, Didi was coming on to me. She wouldn’t take no for an answer. Ask anyone. She was all over me and…you know how those fraternity parties can get.”
Gretchen’s stomach clenched. “Don’t tell me any more. I don’t want to hear it.”
“But I have to tell you. I need to. This is going to stand between us unless you know it all. You’ve got to believe me, Gretchen, I’m as sick about what happened as you are.”
She said nothing, too numb to argue.
“Didi knows we’re engaged, but that didn’t stop her. I told her again and again that it was you I loved, but she wouldn’t listen. The next thing I knew she’d stuck her hands inside my clothes.”
“In front of everyone?” Gretchen cried in disbelief.
He hesitated, and when he spoke, his voice was barely audible. “We…we were in a closet.”
“A closet?” Gretchen nearly choked on the word.
“She was feeling me up, and, Sweetpea, I’m so very sorry, but I’m only human. I was…excited, and then she had her mouth on me and was saying things like she bet my uptown girl never did anything like this for me and—”
“I don’t want to hear any more,” Gretchen said again, more forcefully this time.
“But it’s true,” Roger whispered. “You insisted on waiting until we were married to make love, and I’ve respected your wishes. But I don’t think you appreciate what sexual frustration can do to a guy.”
“In other words this is all my fault.”
“No, no. If anyone’s to blame, it’s Didi. When I woke up this morning, I was sick to my stomach, knowing what I’d done. I couldn’t be sorrier. Say you’ll forgive me. I’m begging you, Sweetpea. We can’t let someone like Didi come between us. If you do something foolish, you’ll be doing exactly what she wants. The only reason she came on to me was to hurt you.”
“And you let her.”
He paused. “Let’s put this behind us, all right? Mom’s looking forward to you spending the next few days with her. All she can talk about is the wedding plans, and that’s exactly what you need to help take your mind off my unfortunate slip.”
So that was how he thought of infidelity, as an unfortunate slip.
“What do you say, Sweetpea?”
She pressed her fingertips to her temple. “I need time to think.”
“What’s there to think about? I told you everything. This isn’t easy for me, you know. I just bet Didi took delight in letting you know what happened. She’s just being nasty, looking to ruin both our lives. You’re not going to let her, are you?” The soft pleading quality was back, the desperation to make matters right, as if that were possible now.
“What did you expect would happen when you went into a closet with Didi Wilson?” she demanded, whirling to face him.
His bloodshot eyes revealed his shock at being confronted. “I…I was drunk.”
“Not too drunk apparently.” If he expected her to sweep his indiscretion under the proverbial carpet, she couldn’t do it, wouldn’t do it. Not without giving the matter a great deal of thought.
“The wedding’s less than a month away,” he protested.
He didn’t need to tell her the date of her own wedding. “Are you saying it’s too late to change our plans?”
“You wouldn’t! Baby, please, don’t do anything stupid.”
“Like you did?”
He let her words soak in before saying, “Two stupid acts don’t make a right.”
It amazed Gretchen how desperately she wanted to forget what Didi had taken such pleasure in telling her. The other woman’s timing didn’t escape Gretchen’s notice, either. While she’d been escorting her parents around Seattle’s tourist attractions, her fiancé had been doing who knew what with another woman.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Didi had hit her with the ugly details shortly after the graduation ceremony. Instead of getting to enjoy the sense of exhilaration and accomplishment she’d felt on receiving her diploma, Gretchen had seen her world fall apart when Didi cornered her on the front steps of the sorority house shortly after her parents had left for Canada and delivered her news.
“Mom’s waiting,” Roger pressed now, breaking into her thoughts.
“Then she’ll just have to wait. I told you, I need time to sort everything out.” Gretchen knew that his mother was not the patient sort. Stella Lockheart was a forceful woman who generally got what she wanted. Both Roger and his father catered to her wishes rather than risk dealing with one of her explosive outbursts.
Gretchen could tell by the way Roger’s breathing altered that he wasn’t pleased with her decision. He’d been calm and in control, at his persuasive best. Now he was impatient and frustrated. Fine, so be it. She wasn’t going to let him pressure her, nor would she be rushed because he was afraid of a confrontation with his mother. This was her life, and she was determined to take a long hard look before making a decision about the future.
“OK, if that’s what you want,” Roger said shortly. “I’ll tell Mom to go on ahead without you.”
She nodded.
He lingered a moment longer, his gaze boring into hers. “There isn’t any reason to tell Mom about what happened, is there?”
Gretchen almost felt sorry for him. “Why would I want to humiliate myself even further?” she asked.
He was visibly relieved as he turned and hurried toward the parking lot. As Gretchen watched him go, the knot in the pit of her stomach tightened. Needing to do something, anything other than stand there on the veranda, she moved down the steps and began walking. She soon found herself by the fountain, and with a heavy heart, she lowered herself onto the concrete rim. The urge to bury her face in her hands and weep was nearly overwhelming, but she had too much pride to publicly display her pain.
Most of the activity around the school had stopped. Graduation was over, and the majority of students had already left the campus. She was grateful for the quiet, a rarity at the university. She needed to mull over what she’d learned, to assimilate what Didi had told her, followed by Roger’s weak justifications.
Every time she tried to make sense of the cold ugly facts of his infidelity, distance herself from them, she stumbled over the pain.
