Page 45 of Fall at Once

“But I’m so good at it,” she whined. “Let me do this for you, my little baby sister. You’re too sweet to handle this properly. This needs to go down ugly, Madi. He doesn’t deserve it any other way.”

I burst out in a startled laugh. “Don’t make me laugh when I’m—I don’t even know how I feel about this.”

“You don’t care,” Riley insisted again. “He’s not worth it.Youdumpedhim,and he deserved it. Do not forget that.”

Tears filled my eyes again, but I managed to blink them back. “Yeah, but he’s already moved on? What was wrong with me? It’s barely been two months. He cried when I broke it off. I told you that, didn’t I?”

They exchanged a look, and I grew alarmed.

“Nothing is wrong with you,” Abigail slurred. “Not one fucking thing. You are not crying over that prick, not tonight. We got you. Try not to listen to anything he says. It’ll all be a bunch of bullshit anyway.”

The time was nigh. He was almost here at my table. As he approached, he looked at me like he felt sorry for me.What the hell?

“Madi. I heard you were in Cozy Creek.” His eyes drifted to Riley and Abigail like they had planned this. Like they were expecting him to show up here tonight.

“Don’t look at us like we’re all still friends, dick. We didn’t tell you she was here.” Abigail huffed.

My eyes darted between them. The music here was loud, but I had a feeling Abigail would become louder.

“I told him,” Hanna confessed. “I can’t wait anymore. We need to clear the air before we announce our engagement. With you being Gigi’s granddaughter and her being so prominent in town, I felt it was important to give you a heads-up. I didn’t want this to cause a scandal?—”

“Why would this cause a scandal?”

Ice ran through my veins when I saw a ring on her finger.Thatfinger. A big round solitaire on a white gold band. I didn’t want it, but it should have been mine.

Weird thoughts coursed through my mind as I put the pieces together.

They were engaged.

Already?

What the ever-loving hell?

“Um…” Ross looked to the ceiling, searching for words. It was a familiar quirk, but I no longer found it cute. Instead, I wanted to throttle him.

“Well, honestly, it shouldn’t be scandalous at all,” Hanna answered earnestly. She looked up at him with adoration and took his arm with both hands. She was all blond, bubbly, head-over-heels, and full of smiles for him. “Love rules all of us, doesn’t it? I met Ross last Christmas at the coffee shop when he was here in town, and we fell in love. It was amazing, special, and almost at first sight, right, baby?”

He looked down at her and winked in answer.

“When you know, you know,” she continued. “It’s as simple and as complicated as that.”

“Wait a second. Back up. Hold on.” I shushed them. “Last Christmas? When he was here in townwith me.”I did the mental math. “Ten months ago.”

Ross held his hands out placatingly. “About that. Let me explain?—”

I held up a hand to quiet him. My mind was whirling with dates and numbers, and I realized that Ross would never have asked me to marry him when he had already been falling in love and planning his happily ever after withsomeone else.

“Hush. Shut up. Be quiet. Excuse me? Ten months.Ten months.TEN MONTHS.Wewere together ten months ago. You. And. Me. Together.” I was getting louder and louder and couldn’t stop it or find it in myself to care. Causing a scene was the last worry on my mind now. I was so angry.

“Wait for me outside, Hanna. I’ll handle this.”

“Handle?” Abigail screeched. “This?You mean the situation you caused by being a selfish motherfucking prick?”

Heads were turning in our direction.

Eyes were on me.

I decided to see what he had to say. I had to; grim curiositywas killing me, and I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t know every detail. I required closure on all things. I needed it to survive. Not knowing something would be worse than walking away on the high ground.

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