Page 8 of Accidental Fiancé

Emma winced while the other two laughed harder. “Let’s go look at the memory wall.”

“Sounds good.” I followed her, but to my dismay Chloe and Harmony joined us. There was enough noise that I was certain they couldn’t hear me. “What are you doing with them, Emma? You obviously don’t like their brand of humor. I don’t think you ever have.”

She sighed, and we stopped in front of the wall. “You know how it is. You make friends and you just kind of stick with them. Thick and thin.”

“Out of habit?”

“Something like that.”

“Like I said before, sunk-cost fallacy. You could leave them anytime you?—"

Chloe thrusted her arm between us and over our shoulders to point at a picture. “There I am! Top of the pyramid. I can still do the splits, you know.”

Sure enough, there she was, on top of everyone else. A visual metaphor if there ever was one. And Harmony was right beneath her. Shocker.

If Nora was here, she would be vicious, talking about how many guys had seen Chloe do the splits in private or something equally harsh. Hell, she would have already gotten me out ofhere by now. Sadly, I was not Nora, being mean was not my thing, and I had no idea how to get out of uncomfortable situations.

It was my curse, thanks to a midwestern mom who didn’t have a mean bone in her body and a Southern father who raised me to believe good manners were more important than life itself. One time, at a church picnic, a bee stung his nose during the prayer, and he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to interrupt the preacher. Dad was allergic to bees. He nearly died from good manners.

Assertiveness was a sin in our household.

“Where are you, Maggie?” Harmony asked, scanning the pictures on the wall. “I don’t see you… oh wait. There you are. Eating.”

I was in the background of a cafeteria picture, devouring lunch and sitting with Nora. The central focus of the picture was the football team and all their friends, but we were just inside the frame.

Chloe continued to hunt for anything that was about herself. “Oh, look. There I am at the pep rally.”

Harmony, ever the breath of stale air, asked, “Was anyone hurt in the fire?”

Slowly, I twisted to face her. I had no desire to continue speaking to her after that question, but my upbringing yanked an answer out of me. “No.”

“Too bad, right? I bet the payout would have been huge if you had gotten hurt.”

“What kind of a ghoul are you?”I’m sorry, Mom, the question just popped out before I could stop it.

She folded her arms over her chest and scowled. “What’s the big deal? You weren’t even hurt.”

Chloe laid her hand on Harmony’s shoulder as she looked at me. “No, she’s right, Harm. We should be supportive. I mean,she’s single. She worked hard to put herself through culinary school, and then her cute little shop went up in flames. She has nothing. Isn’t that right? You’re probably destitute at this point. That would explain the dress. I’m shocked you came at all.”

Emma quietly said, “Chloe, that’s enough.”

But she continued, “You’re so courageous for showing your face among your much more successful classmates. It’s inspiring, Maggie. Like one of those sad human-interest stories on the news. Brave, despite reality. Cheers to you.” She lifted her glass in a mock toast and drank.

High school was over, but somehow, Chloe Foster still came out on top.

Except something in me steeled. I was not going to let her ruin my night. Not if I could help it. My high school reunion was not going to be another time she made me feel bad with no repercussions.

I passed a business card to Emma. “If you ever want to get a cup of coffee with someone who will listen to you, someone who is a decent human being, I’d be happy to meet up.”

Her smile lit up. “I’d like that.”

“No card for me?” Chloe snapped.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t spend time with petty, selfish women who haven’t changed since high school. Excuse me.”

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