Page 3 of The Engagement Party

Alex

The same invitation Alex threw out two days ago either crawled out of the garbage can and leapt back onto the kitchen counter or, worse, his wife had found it. Seeing their names, Alexander and Cassandra Greene, on it made him twitchy.

He held up the postcard, catching her attention across the granite-topped kitchen island. “I dumped this in the garbage for a reason.”

“And I fished it back out.”

He exhaled, hoping to find the necessary patience to get through this conversation. “Attending this party would be a huge mistake, which—see my previous comment—explains why I tossed out the invite.”

“Your concern is noted. I noted it yesterday morning when you made the same argument.”

Cassie meant before they left for the law office around eight. The same office suite they shared in a refurbished bank in downtown Providence. It housed their newly formed eighteen-person firm. Bound together in life and in business... and by a more-than-decade-old secret that ruined everything.

He stepped around the island and grabbed her arm. “Please listen to me.”

She shrugged him off, almost dropping the pan of stir-fried vegetables she held. “Hey!”

“Sorry, but I’m not joking about this.”

He loved her. That was his burden because most days he also hated her.

The physical attraction, once all-encompassing, had leveled off to more of a simmer with occasional flare-ups of madness. Love watered down by time and secrets that proved heavier to carry each year.

She was still stunning. Put-together, tall and lean, with a short brunette bob. She walked into a room and owned it because she led with confidence. She’d grown up poor, hungry, and scared and fought for a different life. Mapped out every milestone well in advance and ruthlessly stuck to her schedule out of a fear that any deviation could send her back to the trailer park and an upbringing she despised.

Their daughter, Zara, arrived four years after they graduated from law school, exactly on the timeline Cassie had set out for their lives before they even left undergrad. Marriage. One pregnancy. No time off from the legal ladder climb.

Cassie had vowed to set them up in their own firm, be their own bosses, before Zara started kindergarten. Their daughter was a few months shy of four, which meant Cassie had hit every life goal target on time or early, as if she held complete control over the entire universe.

Their daughter was one of the reasons Alex wanted to move forward and never look back. She needed them, so he tried toreason with Cassie again. “You know that going to Maine can only end badly.”

“That’s not a very romantic way to talk about the place where we met.”

Bowdoin College. It had been his dream school until graduation weekend, when it became a nightmare.

“We got out and we need to stay away.” They’d escaped. Not everyone in their group had been that lucky. “Smart people avoid situations that can blow up and fuck them over.”

“Did you read that in a book?”

Her personality shifted to cold and detached whenever he had the nerve to disagree with her or say anything that threatened to tangle up her well-laid plans.

“How can you be so calm about this?” he asked, needing to understand.

Some of the tension ran out of her shoulders and her voice grew softer, more coaxing. “It’s a small get-together with some of our oldest and dearest friends.”

Flirting. It was her fallback move. Smile at him the right way. Walk toward him, leaving no doubt what his reward would be if he was a very good boy.

He wished he didn’t love her—or fear her—as much as he did.

“Honey, it’s only a problem if you make it one.” Cassie stopped in front of him and wound her arms around his neck. “Aren’t you even a little interested in meeting Ruthie in person and hearing about this whirlwind romance? When we saw Will a year ago for dinner he was with a different woman he claimed to love.”

Alex wanted to push her away and stay focused, but his hands landed on her waist. He gave into temptation and pulled herclose. “Counting this woman, Will has been engaged four times in the twelve years since we graduated. None of those relationships actually ended in marriage. Why get attached to this woman?”

Cassie kissed the underside of his chin then trailed her mouth down the side of his neck. “That’s not fair. You know Will has commitment issues.”

“Not that knowing someone for years guarantees happiness either,” Alex muttered.

Her body stiffened as she pulled back. “Excuse me?”

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