“What the hell? They said that to your face?”
“Good lord, no. Nothing so unbecoming. But you overhear stuff.”
“What a bunch of snobs. If you’re such a lowly nobody” —Brooke snorted— “why were you asked to be her maid of honor? Why not one of her high-society friends?”
“Catherine hated them. They treated her like dirt after her father lost all his money in bad investments.” It had destroyed Catherine’s position as the queen bee of her social circle, and she’d never forgotten or forgiven those who’d humiliated her.
“So much for fancy families,” Brooke said, almost too gleefully.
“It worked out for me…sort of. If it weren’t for that, I might not have crossed paths with Gavin again.” While the newlyweds had enjoyed their wedding night, she’d slipped into Gavin’s bed and seduced him, convinced it would be the only time she’d be able to have the man she loved.
Reality had intruded the morning after, and she’d snuck out of his room and run back to L.A. She hadn’t expected to see him again, but one day she’d gone to work at the local Art4Kids—a charity that provided free art lessons to inner-city children so they would have a positive outlet to express themselves and avoid getting into trouble—and Gavin had shown up with another board member.
He was scheduled to give a speech. She’d thought he would just go through the motions, but that hadn’t been the case. There was a Q&A session after the speech, and he’d responded to each child’s comments and questions with thoughtful consideration, attentive and concerned as he spoke with kids about their experiences and solicited opinions about how the foundation could serve them better.
A hand went up. It was a skinny teenage boy named Shawn. He’d been with the program for a few months. “Mr. Lloyd?”
“Call me Gavin.”
“Okay, Gavin. Um. I don’t want to sound greedy or anything, but do you know if we could eat, like, some snacks or something?”
A few other kids had started to nod. Their parents didn’t have enough to feed them, and oftentimes the school breakfast and lunch were the only real food they got. Amandine remembered how much her brother Pete used to eat when he’d hit his teen years.
“That can be arranged,” Gavin had said without missing a beat. “How thoughtless of me. Snacks to tide everyone over until dinner is a great idea. I’ll make it happen.”
A huge smile split the boy’s face. “Thanks, Gavin!”
The boa
rd member’s secretary had scribbled something on her notepad.
Gavin turned to her. “Order pizzas and drinks for everyone. Send the bill to my admin.”
Anticipation rippled through the kids.
“It’s almost five thirty,” the secretary said.
“What about it?”
“That’s our closing time.”
Gavin smiled. “Better hurry, then.”
Later, he’d approached Amandine and asked her out. She might have turned down the Gavin from the wedding, but not the man from the foundation.
And the rest, as some would say, was history. In a year they were married.
“I don’t know if that was such a good thing,” Brooke said with a frown. “I hate seeing you so anxious and worried about fitting in with his crowd and going along with what he wants.”
“Oh, I don’t mind all that. It’s just…” Amandine hesitated. “He’s never once mentioned the word ‘love’.”
“Seriously? Not even when he proposed?”
Amandine shook her head, a fresh wave of humiliation washing over her.
“What the… So why did you say yes?”
“Because.” Amandine blinked away her tears. He’d seemed so uncertain and earnest when he’d popped the question. She’d never seen him like that. Ever. “I loved him so much. I still do.”