“Nothing, really. He didn’t give any details. Do you want to talk about it? Spencer claims you probably broke up with Brad because you don’t do long relationships. Is that true?”
“Yes, it’s true. I don’t do long, and I don’t do serious. I broke it off, and it’s for the best.”
“But I really thought you guys were in love, like Spencer and me.”
“Oh no, I’m not in love with Brad. It’s only been two months—it’s way too soon. And would I break up with him if I were in love with him?” Silence greeted her on the other end of the phone. “Emily? Are you there?”
“Uhmm, yeah. It’s just that... Oh never mind.”
“No. What? What were you going to say?”
“Well, I don’t want you to get mad, but Josh just called me.”
Grace felt a sudden urge to buy a gun. She spoke in a terse voice, “What did he tell you?”
“Don’t be upset with him—I already knew y’all had broken up. Josh just thought you might need a little encouragement to call Brad and fix things up. And he told me about Horatio.”
Grace groaned. “Josh is worse than my sisters at keeping secrets.”
“So did you call Brad? Are y’all going to talk?”
“I called,” Grace admitted, “but he didn’t answer.”
“So you really do love Brad? And you want to get back together? Because I’ll do anything to help. You know that—”
“No—I’m not in love with Brad. I just... I feel bad for hurting him.”
“Okay, if you say so.” Emily sounded unconvinced.
“Really,” Grace insisted. “And like Josh said, I’m dating Horatio now.”
“Are you bringing him over on Friday night?”
“No. He uhmm... He has to work.”
“Where does he work?”
“He works...” Why did she keep backing herself into corners with these lies? “He waits tables at a restaurant—at Per Se.”
“Isn’t that a really expensive place?”
“Yeah, it’s really pricey. Too bad we can’t go there and meet him, but we can’t afford it.”
“Oh, I bet Steven would take us. That would be fun—so we could all meet him.”
Grace felt beads of perspiration on her forehead. She’d forgotten about Emily’s generous and wealthy stepfather and his penchant for taking all their friends to expensive restaurants. “But he only works part time, because he’s in school.”
“What’s he studying?”
“Uhmm... Meteorology.”
“Okay, well I guess we’ll meet him eventually. Right? Unless you get back together with Brad,” said Emily.
“I’m afraid that’s not
going to happen. I don’t think Brad even wants to talk to me.” Grace’s tongue felt thick as she spoke the words. It was as if saying it made it true.
“So about tomorrow night... Are you still coming over to Spencer’s to watch the baseball game? I forgot to tell you, Ben’s going to be there. You don’t mind, do you? We asked you first, so we could tell him not to come.”