“He won’t what?!” The words flew from my mouth with the velocity of a ninety-mile-per-hour fast ball and the volume of a catcher yelling, “Hey, batta, batta.”
“He won’t call off the wedding,” my mama finished.
“He won’t?” I had to laugh. “Mama, I called off the wedding. He doesn’t have a choice.”
“Oh no, he worked that all out. We met with Bianca this morning and—”
“You met with our wedding planner?”
“Of course I did. The wedding’s next Saturday and—”
“Mom, listen to me. There’s not going to be a wedding next Saturday. I’m not going to marry Blaine. Not Saturday. Not ever.”
I felt like I was going crazy. For the past week I’d been talking in circles with her. She wasn’t listening to a word I said. Or if she was, it wasn’t sinking in.
I’d told her exactly what I’d walked in on, in graphic detail. She knew that I’d moved to Firefly and accepted a new job. I honestly didn’t understand where the breakdown in communication was.
“You’re always so dramatic,” she said dismissively.
I opened my mouth and let out a silent scream. If I’d been anywhere other than where I was, it would not have been silent.
“Listen, honey, these things happen. Best not to dwell on it and just move on.”
I took a deep breath. “Mama, I’m not the one dwelling on this. And I am moving on. I moved on to Georgia.”
“Like I said, you made your point. He knows that he messed up and he’s had his slap on the wrist. You know this little stunt could’ve cost you your wedding at The Plaza. But you should’ve seen him this morning with Bianca, he fixed everything.”
My little stunt.
He fixed everything.
“I’m not going to marry a man that cheats on me. It’s that simple.”
“Honey, don’t be so naïve. If you think you’re the first woman who walked in on their husband banging his secretary?”
“It was Heather?”
All I’d seen was brown hair. I’d just assumed it was Julie the new paralegal. I’d seen the way she looked at him.
Heather Donnelly had been Blaine’s executive assistant for six years. I considered her a friend. I knew her parents. She was in our wedding.
“It doesn’t matter who it was. Men cheat. That’s just life.”
“Hal didn’t cheat.”
“Hal was…” I could hear the sadness in my mom’s voice. She missed him as much as I did. “You’re never going to find someone like him, Fancy. That is an unrealistic standard that is too high for anyone to ever reach.”
I didn’t agree with most things that came out of my mom’s mouth, but I did agree with that. I would never find anyone like Hal.
“Mom, I have to go. I’ll call you later. Love you.”
She was still talking as I hung up. I considered calling Blaine to ask him what the hell he thought he was doing going to meet with Bianca but decided against it. I wasn’t going to play his games. This was a strategic move on his part. He was using my mom. He invited her to go with him to the wedding planner, when it was easily something that he could’ve taken care of himself, because he knew that my mother would call and tell me.
A light knock on my door drew my eyes upward, and I smiled when I saw Nadia. Nadia had been in Texas over the weekend visiting her grandmother when I arrived in Firefly so we hadn’t been able to catch up.
“Hey, lady! What are you doing here?” I was surprised to see her in the middle of the day. She was a teacher and had mentioned that she didn’t get off for spring break until next week. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was after three.
“Hey, chica. I’ve got an hour before I have to be back for a meeting. Got time for a quick cup of coffee?”
“Yes. Let me just grab my bag.”
I was so excited to see my friend. This was exactly what I needed. Billy’s face popped up in my mind’s eye and a wicked little voice piped up saying, no, he’s exactly what you need.
No, I shut that voice down. Or at least I tried.