Page 9 of Jilted
“Well, who is she?”
“Her name is Vanessa. She’s a costume designer on the show. She’s friggin’ gorgeous. She’s also an obnoxious, hose-beast of a woman that is intent on destroying my friendship with Brett.”
Lucy laughed. “Have you even met her?”
Amy simply sniffled and nodded. “Yeah, but I didn’t stick around to get to know her.”
“Maybe she’s different than his other girlfriends.”
With a snort, Amy said, “Yeah, right.”
“Brett has never let a woman come between you two before.”
She hoped her sister was right, that Brett would never let anyone come between their friendship. “I know.” She released Lucy and straightened. “But he’s never been engaged before either.”
“You need to talk to him, Amy. Let him know you’re worried about your friendship. I’m sure he’ll tell you the same thing...that nothing will ever come between you two.”
“I feel like the most horrible person on the face of the earth. My best friend is getting married. I should be happy for him.”
Lucy shook her head. “It’s hard to be happy for someone when you know they’re making a mistake.”
Amy stood and grabbed a tissue from the bookshelf. She blew her nose. “I just don’t get it. How can he know she’s the one when he’s only known her six months?”
“I don’t know, sweetie.” Lucy got up and went into the kitchen. She busied herself with making a pitcher of margaritas. “I do know one thing, though, you have to tell him.”
“Tell him what?”
“How you feel about him.”
Amy rolled her eyes. “He’s my best friend, Lucy.”
“Yeah, your best friend who you’re in love with,” Lucy said.
“I’m not having this conversation with you again.” Amy threw her dirty tissue in the garbage and stormed out of the room.
Amy had made the mistake of telling Lucy that Amy had always been attracted to Brett, and that she could see herself falling in love with him. Not once did Amy say she loved him. There was a big difference. But ever since she’d told her sister, Lucy had been on her case about telling Brett – something Amy vowed she would never do. Nothing would ruin their friendship quicker than professing her love for him when he clearly didn’t feel the same.
And now that he was engaged, she definitely couldn’t tell him. There was only one thing she could do: be the dutiful best friend and be there for him, for whatever he needed. She also had to remove herself from his life. Doing so on her terms would be easier than hearing him say they couldn’t hang out or be friends any longer because Vanessa didn’t like it.
“Margaritas are ready!” Lucy shouted from the other room. “Come on, sis, I know you want to get drunk with me tonight.”
Amy nodded to herself. Getting drunk sounded like a pretty good idea considering how her night had turned out. She was so excited to finally see Brett and hang out with him. All he wanted to do was gloat about his fiancée. To hell with that.
“Coming,” she called to her sister. “Make mine a double.” She was going to need it.
“Here.” Lucy handed Amy a glass. “So, what are you going to do if you’re not gonna tell Brett the truth?”
Amy shrugged and took a long sip of her drink. It burned as it slid down her throat, but it tasted good. “Brett and I have talked about opening another studio in the next county over. Maybe now’s the time to do that. He can continue to teach lessons here, and I’ll move to the new studio.” In fact, Amy had been scouting studio space while Brett was gone the past few months.
“What about all the kids here? You love teaching them,” Lucy said.
“There will be other kids.” Just saying that made Amy feel rotten.
She really had formed a special bond with the kids she taught. Leaving them would be hard. But staying and seeing Brett every day wasn’t an option. He had a bad habit of inviting his girlfriends to watch lessons, and the last thing Amy wanted was to see Brett and Vanessa together.
“I’ll figure something out,” Amy said.
Chapter Five
