A Timeless Romance Anthology: Spring Vacation Collection (8 page)

As the roar died down, Mrs. Kennington leaned in to her husband and said, “I would have thought that with us footing the bill for the evening, that that Pack boy would have let
us
address the crowd first.” She sniffed and straightened.

Tess pretended she hadn’t heard anything.

Garrett nodded at the applause. “It’s great, isn’t it? Three years of hard work, finally completed. I happen to know that James is ready for the next stage of his life, and he would like to come up now to tell you all about it.”

More clapping. Tess joined in as her heart went wild in her chest.
Here it comes. This is the “something else” he hinted at.
She prayed she still looked nice—that her curls hadn’t drooped, that her dress wasn’t wrinkled from sitting, that she hadn’t eaten off all her lipstick. All of these thoughts passed through her mind in a flash as she watched James, in his slick gray suit, move from a spot near the left side the room to the front. He hopped onto the platform and took the mic from Garrett, the two of them slapping each other’s backs in a manly variation of a hug.

Garrett stepped into the background beside the band, grinning ear to ear. He had to know what James had planned. Tess never expected to have such a public proposal—had always envisioned something more intimate, private—but so long into this relationship, she would be thrilled just to hear the question any time, any place.

Grinning broadly, James faced the audience. When he caught her eye, his face brightened a little more, which warmed her head to toe.

Oh, how I love this man.

“My man Garrett is right,” James began. “I’m now a law school grad, which means you can all officially crack evil lawyer jokes about me.”

Laughter rippled throughout the room, including a polite chuckle from the Kenningtons.

James rubbed his chin and shifted from foot to foot. “I’ve been in this same place for three years now. It’s been a hard climb at times, but it’s been worth it. I’m sure my parents will be doubly glad when I’ve passed the bar and am practicing law, because then I can start paying off all those school loans, and they’ll know I’m not coming back to live in their basement.”

More rumbles of laughter.

“So the time has come for the next step in my journey, to leave this part behind and move forward to a new phase of my life.”

Tess’s heart threatened to hammer right out of her ribcage. She sat at the edge of her seat so that when he called her forward, she’d be ready, and so she’d stand gracefully in her heels.

“I have been given the once in a lifetime opportunity... ” He let his voice trail off, building the suspense in the room. “To be an intern at Preston, Carson, and McNeil in New York City, with the possibility of taking on a full-time job after I pass the bar.” He raised his glass and bit his lip, something he always did when excited.

This was it. Tess could feel her heart pounding in her chest with anticipation.

“I’m moving to the Big Apple!”

Smiling broadly, Tess stood and took three steps toward the platform, when his words registered.

Wait, what?
She stopped in her tracks, catching the toe of her shoe on a chair and nearly pitching forward. She caught herself on the back of the chair, saving herself from sprawling across the floor. James scanned the room. As Tess stood there, frozen, she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d imagined the slight hesitation when his gaze reached her—and moved on.

How many miles is it from Tempe to New York? Hundreds? Thousands?

She felt a sudden urge to check a map. Or to run up to the platform and shake James by the lapels. This didn’t make sense. An internship
couldn’t
be the big “something” he wanted to say tonight. He’d promised that after law school, they would get engaged. Wasn’t that
now
? What did he expect her to do, get married tomorrow by a justice of the peace? Not have a nice wedding?

Or worse... the other option came over her in a wave cold as ice. What if he didn’t plan to marry her at all? What if he planned to settle in New York... without her?

That’s exactly what he’s decided.
Her hand covered her mouth as she heard a cry. Not until all heads turned to look at her did she realize that
she
had made the sound. Her face went hot. Her knees felt ready to buckle, and she couldn’t breathe. Tess shook her head and backed up.

James’s eyes widened, and he called out to her. “Tess! Please, let me explain!”

But there was nothing
to
explain. He was taking the internship. Moving to New York. He’d strung her along for three years, and what did she have to show for it? Drooping curls and a coral-pink dress she’d never wear again.

Tess whirled around, unable to stand the pitying eyes on her. She scooped her purse from her chair so she could drive home—right now—and saw, with another stab of dismay, that Mrs. Kennington wore a pleased, smug expression.

Hearing James call her name again, she fled, running out the door before anyone said more. When she reached her car, she fumbled with the keys, but despite her haste, she kept an eye on the door of the museum, wishing James would come out to stop her, to beg forgiveness, to offer the ring she’d waited for so, so long.

She sat in her car, worrying her keys between her fingers and fighting tears, hoping to see James push through the glass door. But five minutes later—she watched each one tick past on the car’s clock—he still hadn’t come out. She turned the key, backed out, and drove away. Tears blurred her vision. She swiped at her eyes with the back of one hand.

It wasn’t the ring she wanted after all, although that would have been nice. It was James. Dear, sweet James. But he was lost to her now.

Chapter Two

Tess drove straight to her condo, where her sister Hope waited.
Fitting,
she thought
. I could use some hope about now.

She could feel tears streaking down her cheeks; her makeup had to be a total mess. She didn’t care. Nothing about her appearance mattered any more. James was leaving her. He didn’t care like she’d thought he did.

The jerk!

By the time she got home, Tess had burning fury in her chest as much as horrid sadness washing through her. The mixture of emotions was upsetting and tiring all at once. And energizing. And so, so confusing. Right then, she both hated and loved James. Although how such a thing was possible, she didn’t know. She opened the door and slammed it behind her.

Hope looked up from a magazine she was reading. “What’s the matter?”

“James dumped me.” Tess walked to the couch and collapsed on it.

“He
what
?” In a flash, Hope tossed the magazine to the couch scooted to Tess’s side.

“Okay, I guess he didn’t
technically
dump me—he didn’t say the words. But what he
did
do was practically the same thing—and in front of his friends and family! You should have seen his mother’s face. So smug. She never did like me. She must be thrilled I’m out of her son’s life.” She told Hope about the evening, finishing with, “Now everyone there—at least a hundred people—know it’s over. I couldn’t stay in that room another minute.”

“I don’t blame you.” Hope’s face was a mask of worry and confusion. “But I’m confused. Didn’t he say he was going to propose tonight?” 

Tess shrugged. “I thought so. He never said it exactly, but he was hinting about something big, about something he had to say to me tonight.” She sighed. “So I assumed...”

“You assumed the same thing any woman would have three years into a relationship, having been promised an engagement ‘after school.’”

“Maybe I missed some red flags. Maybe I was just kidding myself.”

Hope scooted closer, and Tess leaned her head on her big sister’s shoulder, like she used to when they were kids. “I should have known he wasn’t really committed after the lame Valentine’s gift.”

“I don’t think I heard about that one,” Hope said.

Tess played with her fingernails in her lap. “That’s because I didn’t tell you. He put together this huge romantic night—everything was perfect. At the end, we were sitting on a park bench by moonlight, when he pulled out a jewelry box. What was I supposed to think?”

“That he was proposing,” Hope said.

“Exactly! But it was a stupid necklace.” She took it off and chucked it across the room.

Hope watched it smack the wall and scoffed in disgust. “The pig…”

“He was only a couple of months from graduating. I figured that if we got engaged in February, we’d have plenty of time to plan a wedding before fall. I figured he’d be able to pass the bar and get a job by then.” She sighed, verbalizing her fantasies, the ones she’d let herself think about—just a little—regarding their future.

They would have gotten married in June or July. As he studied for the bar, she’d be his wife, the support he never had at home during law school. He wouldn’t have to rely on Coke and Doritos to stay awake as he crammed for tests with Garrett. She would take care of him, be the nurturing wife she’d thought he deserved.

Hope’s voice was flat as she spoke. “What a turd. And I’m only saying that word because, as your big sister, I won’t swear in front of you. But I’m totally cursing him out in my head.”

“He
is
a turd.” Tess wiped at her eyes. Her fingers came away black from smeared mascara. “I better wipe some of this mess off my face before I stain the couch. I must look like the undead.”

“You look great. You always do,” Hope countered as Tess headed for the half bath.

Behind her, Tess’s phone went off in her purse by the couch. She cringed, hearing James’s ring—the Law & Order sound effect: “dun-kung.” He’d put it on her phone as his ring tone because to him that sound meant “lawyer.” It rang a second time. Tess spun around, marched back, and, before it could ring again, declined the call then set it to vibrate so she wouldn’t hear that noise again. She stood there by the couch, Hope watching, Tess staring at the phone.

As much as she wanted to hate James, she desperately wanted him to be the man she’d thought he was. “Leave a message,” she ordered, staring at the screen of her phone, hoping a notice of a message would pop up. “Leave one.” But after a few minutes, the phone still didn’t show anything but a missed call. No message of any kind. Not even a text. Tess tossed the phone back into her purse with disgust. As she headed to the bathroom, she wondered whether to block his number. Pro: blocking him would feel good. Con: she’d never know if he was really sorry and trying to contact her.

Why do I care? He’s a jerk.

Tess closed the bathroom door, looked at herself in the mirror, and replayed Hope’s words about how she looked great no matter what. Her sister was trying to make her feel good. It didn’t work. She took stock of her reflection, noting every flaw. If her nose had been straighter, her complexion clearer, her eyes not so wide set—if she had been
prettier
, then would James have wanted to marry her? Why had he pretended he’d wanted to marry her for so long, when he obviously didn’t?

He was the top of his law school class. He was smart. No way was he stupid enough to think that she’d stick around like a pathetic puppy, waiting around forever for any scrap of attention or affection he was willing to throw her when it occurred to him.

Except for the fact that she’d basically proved that she’d always be a puppy, always waiting, always there.

After wiping her mascara off with a tissue, Tess leaned against the bathroom counter and gazed at her reflection, studying it—really studying it, but this time not for flaws. She tried to be as objective as possible.

“I’m not ugly,” she whispered, after taking a full inventory. Even with red, puffy eyes and no makeup, she really wasn’t ugly. She was actually quite pretty. Not model gorgeous. Not even beautiful. But pretty. Maybe James was holding out for beauty bombshell.

Turd.

What now?
Mom,
she thought.
I have to go see Mom. She’ll know what to do. She’ll let me stay with her while I figure this out.
Her mother would make her famous brownies then hold Tess and let her cry it out over cups of Mexican hot chocolate. She could hide from James there at her mother’s place in California. She’d screen her calls and never—ever—answer a call or text from him again.

Yes
. The more she thought about the plan, the better it sounded. She wouldn’t check her e-mail—or better yet, she’d just block his email address from her account. She’d unfriend him on Facebook. Change her relationship status back to single.

She’d take control of her life. She’d surrendered that control entirely to James for far too long.

Three years I’ll never get back.

With the energy of anger and purpose, she pushed away from the counter top and headed back to the living room, where her sister still sat on the couch, now watching a dating reality TV show. The couple was making out in a Jacuzzi. Tess wanted to throw up at the sight—it created new questions for her. Had James fallen for someone else? Had he
cheated
on her? She’d never have thought so, but before tonight, she’d never thought James was capable of being a jerk, either.

Hope looked over her shoulder and noticed the look on Tess’s face. She grimaced and punched a button on the remote and changed the show to some mystery series. “Sorry,” she said. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s okay,” Tess said, collapsing on the couch and pulling a pillow onto her lap. “Do you think Mom’s home right now?”

Hope’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Probably. Why?” She looked at her watch and added, “I doubt she’s in bed yet. What are you thinking?”

“Just an idea.” She smiled for the first time since leaving the party, feeling a strange rush, a sense of power.

I have no intention of letting James ever see me again.

* * *

Two hours later, Tess was in her red Mustang convertible, driving west on Interstate 10, headed for Newport Beach. After Tess’s father suddenly died five years ago, her mother had moved there, leasing a house a few blocks from the ocean. It was a place Tess loved to visit. Going to the beach and strolling the pier always cleared her head. There was nothing in the world like the calm, cooling waves and the salty tang of the ocean. Only a six-hour drive from Tempe, yet a world away. Tess had called from her apartment before packing up her car with three suitcases. Her mother had happily agreed to let Tess stay in the guest room.