not made any true friends since my return so personal baggage had remained locked in the closet. Somehow, I thought Honora knowing would help her resolve her issues with Andy’s betrayal.
“I was engaged once.” I smiled and shrugged, trying to make it casual. “But he was a schmuck who decided two weeks before our wedding that he liked the cocktail waitress he’d been screwing better than me. He moved out saying he wanted a little space before the wedding and into the hotel where she worked. We worked together and he rescheduled his vacation so that he could have those weeks off as well as the ten days we were going to be gone on our honeymoon. I didn’t think anything about it. I was secure in our relationship and the plans we made. A couple of days after he moved out, the cruise line called about my request to reschedule our honeymoon since I’d bought the tickets. The office had lost my new contact information, the agent said, but was very glad that the one on file was still good. I’d paid for everything, you see.”
I sat there and put my hands in my lap to keep them from trembling. I hadn’t realized how hard it was going to be to say the words aloud, but now that I was started, I couldn’t seem to stop it. “I made more money than he did was the excuse he always used when it came to dividing up expenses when I’d make a comment that there was no dividing if I was paying for everything. After the agency called, I called his hotel room and she answered the phone. When I asked to speak to him, her comment was that she was his wife and any business I had with him I could deal through her. When he heard that, he snatched the phone away and said some rather unforgivable things to me about not being the trophy wife he needed now that his career was on the fast track. In short, he didn’t need me any more. A few weeks later, my landlady came by to talk to me about my rent check bouncing and I went to the bank and discovered he’d closed out all the bank accounts that he was on and taken the money with him.”
“What did you do?”
It was some measure of comfort that her voice was as raw as mine was and I was surprised to find tears in my eyes when I looked up at her.
“I got royally drunk, jumped off a bridge, and then rebuilt my life. Luckily, I came into my inheritance after that, so had that to fall back on. You had the sense to look closer when it didn’t feel right so he didn’t catch you in that trap.”
Her laughter sparkled across the room and I smiled sadly. If she only knew how literally I meant the words. Now, my moment of sharing was done, so I changed the subject.
“So, is your Gray a lawyer? He said that you’d brought the contract by for him to look at…”
“He’s the Assistant District Attorney. But I figured for a good once over, he’d do. It didn’t feel right and my mother always said that if you trust your gut, you‘d never make a wrong move. She was a smart lady. I lost her to cancer last year, but she always said that I’d been kissed by an angel for my voice and to follow my heart.”
She blushed and looked away. “Listen to me rattling on.”
I blinked as she hugged me. People didn’t touch me voluntarily often enough for it to be a commonplace occurrence.
“Let’s go back to the party and get you introduced around since you’ve taken such a strong stand on our careers. Did you really hire us an agent and draw up a contract?”
“Well,” I winked cheekily, “no, but he doesn’t know that. By the time he figures it all out, it’ll all be done, anyway, so what’s a little careful fact making?”
“That’s lying,” she accused and laughed as she leaned back in her chair. She laughed until she was crying again, but for an entirely different reason. “I love it. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it, Honora.” Standing up, I offered her my hand. “That’s what friends are for, after all, right? I could still kill him for you, just say the
“I was engaged once.” I smiled and shrugged, trying to make it casual. “But he was a schmuck who decided two weeks before our wedding that he liked the cocktail waitress he’d been screwing better than me. He moved out saying he wanted a little space before the wedding and into the hotel where she worked. We worked together and he rescheduled his vacation so that he could have those weeks off as well as the ten days we were going to be gone on our honeymoon. I didn’t think anything about it. I was secure in our relationship and the plans we made. A couple of days after he moved out, the cruise line called about my request to reschedule our honeymoon since I’d bought the tickets. The office had lost my new contact information, the agent said, but was very glad that the one on file was still good. I’d paid for everything, you see.”
I sat there and put my hands in my lap to keep them from trembling. I hadn’t realized how hard it was going to be to say the words aloud, but now that I was started, I couldn’t seem to stop it. “I made more money than he did was the excuse he always used when it came to dividing up expenses when I’d make a comment that there was no dividing if I was paying for everything. After the agency called, I called his hotel room and she answered the phone. When I asked to speak to him, her comment was that she was his wife and any business I had with him I could deal through her. When he heard that, he snatched the phone away and said some rather unforgivable things to me about not being the trophy wife he needed now that his career was on the fast track. In short, he didn’t need me any more. A few weeks later, my landlady came by to talk to me about my rent check bouncing and I went to the bank and discovered he’d closed out all the bank accounts that he was on and taken the money with him.”
“What did you do?”
It was some measure of comfort that her voice was as raw as mine was and I was surprised to find tears in my eyes when I looked up at her.
“I got royally drunk, jumped off a bridge, and then rebuilt my life. Luckily, I came into my inheritance after that, so had that to fall back on. You had the sense to look closer when it didn’t feel right so he didn’t catch you in that trap.”
Her laughter sparkled across the room and I smiled sadly. If she only knew how literally I meant the words. Now, my moment of sharing was done, so I changed the subject.
“So, is your Gray a lawyer? He said that you’d brought the contract by for him to look at…”
“He’s the Assistant District Attorney. But I figured for a good once over, he’d do. It didn’t feel right and my mother always said that if you trust your gut, you‘d never make a wrong move. She was a smart lady. I lost her to cancer last year, but she always said that I’d been kissed by an angel for my voice and to follow my heart.”
She blushed and looked away. “Listen to me rattling on.”
I blinked as she hugged me. People didn’t touch me voluntarily often enough for it to be a commonplace occurrence.
“Let’s go back to the party and get you introduced around since you’ve taken such a strong stand on our careers. Did you really hire us an agent and draw up a contract?”
“Well,” I winked cheekily, “no, but he doesn’t know that. By the time he figures it all out, it’ll all be done, anyway, so what’s a little careful fact making?”
“That’s lying,” she accused and laughed as she leaned back in her chair. She laughed until she was crying again, but for an entirely different reason. “I love it. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it, Honora.” Standing up, I offered her my hand. “That’s what friends are for, after all, right? I could still kill him for you, just say the
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