Touch of Love by Ellen Wolf

days before. At that rate, they would be married by next month.
    ‘I’m really sorry .’ Jess hesitated briefly before asking, ‘What about Jake’s offer? Wasn’t it this weekend? The birthday party, I mean? It was a whole weekend affair, right?’
    ‘ Yeah, and I said no, remember?’ She regretted even mentioning it to Jess. ‘I can hardly call him up now and say I changed my mind. Anyway, he probably has someone else coming with him by now. It’s been almost a week. Guys like him don’t need to sit and wait for the phone to ring.’
    ‘I saw the way he looked at you, silly.’ Jess wasn’t giving up, as usual. She was the most stubborn person Elly had ever met. ‘He really has a soft spot for you, Elly.’
    ‘And that makes it all ok ay?’ She was getting irritated with the conversation. Probably because she’d thought she had this one in the bag. To be disappointed yet again was too much. ‘Should I just call and say, “Oh, honey, I know I said no, but now my fiancé screwed my coworker, and I’m free for the weekend. Do you still want me to come?”’
    ‘Something like that.’ Jess sighed. ‘Maybe some power words as far as Brad is concerned. He is a son of a bitch, and you should be able to say it out loud. Anyway, what do you have to lose? The worst that can happen is he actually has someone else and will tell you so. Not like you have so many other options if you really want to disappear for the weekend.’
    She made perfect sense. As much as Elly didn’t like it, Jake’s offer was the best one on the table. The only one, to be honest. Probably long gone, too, though.
    ‘I might try,’ she agreed grudgingly, annoyed with Jess’ s sigh of relief, wondering if Jess was really hoping it would work out or if she was just plain glad to be off the hook.
    It didn’t matter. Time was ticking , and if she didn’t want to face Brad, she had to hurry. She searched her phone for his number, glad that she’d kept it. She remembered her fingers poised over it a few days ago, deliberating over erasing it. Not as if we’ll get to see each other again, she’d thought back then, assuming her future with Brad was a done deal.
    ‘Good luck .’ Elly could tell Jess was smiling by the way her voice rose just enough to let her know she approved of her decision. ‘Let me know how it goes. We could swap stories on Monday.’
    Not very likely, she thought darkly as she punched the numbers. Not likely at all.

FIVE
    ‘What do you mean, you’re leaving?’ Elly’s mom followed her around as she collected her clothes. ‘Where are you going? And who with?’
    She t hanked God that her place was too small to keep all her things, so she’d kept some of them at her parents’ house. Ever since she’d shared the limited closet space in the apartment with Brad, she stored some of her less useful outfits in her old walk-in closet. She always thought she would have more space in the new place they were planning to buy. Well, she wouldn’t have any more space-related problems in the near future.
    She eyed a bunch of dresses hanging at the back of the closet—fancy stuff she usually avoided. She had needed to dress up a few times. Her sister’s wedding and her parents’ vow-renewal ceremony had called for something more festive than a blouse and a skirt.
    ‘A friend .’ She hoped her clipped tone would stop her mom from any further cross-examination. The less she told her, the better. Keep it short and sweet, she thought as she added another dress to the small suitcase she planned on taking to Jake’s family home.
    The black silky one with capped sleeves and a bias-cut skirt was perfect for the evening. Who knew, maybe she would get the chance to wear the forest-green one during the day. Somehow, she couldn’t imagine Jake’s family in jeans and T-shirts.
    ‘What friend?’ Her mom watched her doubtfully, her eyes narrowed to slits. ‘You haven’t told me about any friends who spend weekends in the