Rainier Drive (Cedar Cove #6)(72)

“What about Grad Party?” her father asked. She suspected he’d purposely steered the conversation away from anything too emotional.

“I’ll go in a little while. Wake me in the morning, okay?” Grad Party, with nearly her entire graduation class, was scheduled for later that evening. It was the last time this senior class would be together. From this point forward, they would go their separate ways.

“Okay, good.” Her father left the den to attend to their guests.

Allison returned to her bedroom for a moment’s solitude—and hoped she’d made the right decision.

“Allison,” her mother called from out in the hallway.

“I’m in here, Mom,” she said, forcing herself to smile. “I needed to change my shoes,” she said, offering a convenient excuse.

“Here.” Rosie handed her a single red rose in a crystal vase. “This came for you. It was delivered just now, and there’s a card with it, too. Who would do something so sweet?”

Allison didn’t need to guess; she knew. Anson. He hadn’t come himself, but he’d done the next best thing.

Taking the rose and the card, she looked up at her mother, and the expression in her eyes must have conveyed the truth.

“Anson?” her mother whispered.

“I think so.”

“Rosie, we’re out of punch,” Zach announced from the hall.

Allison could have kissed him. Her mother turned around and spoke briefly to her father as she walked past.

“That’s from Anson?” her father asked.

Allison shrugged. “I think so,” she said again.

He hesitated for only an instant before he left her to open the card in privacy. Inside was a simple message. I will always love you. Anson.

Allison closed her eyes and, leaning against the wall, whispered back, “I will always love you, too. Always, always, always.”

Thirty-One

The only person Teri could talk to about this was Rachel Pendergast and rather than spill her heart out over the phone, she drove to her friend’s rental. By the time she arrived at Rachel’s, her eyes had flooded with tears and she was an emotional wreck, shaking from head to foot. She’d almost expected to get a speeding ticket on her way here.

Rachel answered her door, and immediately grabbed Teri’s arm and pulled her inside. “Good grief, what’s wrong?”

Collapsing onto her friend’s sofa, Teri covered her face and burst into tears. She doubled over, leaning her forehead against her knees. Rachel sat down next to her, placing one arm around Teri’s shoulders, and made soft, comforting sounds.

“I’ve done something really stupid,” Teri bellowed out between sobs. All at once she was so furious she couldn’t contain her anger.

“You’d better tell me,” Rachel said in a soothing voice as she continued to rub her back.

Teri pounded her foot against the carpet. “I am so stupid, I can’t believe this. I just can’t believe it!”

“Teri.” Rachel was beginning to sound frustrated with her.

“It’s his fault,” she cried. “It’s all Bobby’s fault.”

“What is?” Rachel asked.

Teri held out her hand. As she’d expected, Rachel gasped when she saw the huge diamond engagement ring.

“I’m in love,” Teri shouted. “I said I’d marry him.” She wept noisily. “It’s never going to work. Bobby is…Bobby.” She stamped her foot some more. “He loves me! At first I didn’t think it was possible. He doesn’t even know me, the real me, but he says it doesn’t matter.”

“He phones you every day, doesn’t he?”

“Three times a day.” No matter where he was in the world, he managed to reach her, and the sad part was, Teri lived for his calls. They never lasted long, but he made her laugh without even trying. And his innocent expressions of love brought her to tears.

He claimed he didn’t “do” emotion and that he didn’t “get” romance, but he was about the most romantic man she’d ever met. He loved her. She didn’t understand why, and yet he loved her. No man had ever cared about her the way Bobby Polgar did. He was constantly proving it. If she made even the most casual comment, some silly remark like she enjoyed pickles, then he had a case delivered to her doorstep. He showered her with gifts, half of which she refused. The only thing he’d ever asked of her was to marry him. He’d asked over and over, and in a moment of weakness she’d said yes. But a chess genius shouldn’t be married to someone like her. Bobby needed a wife who was his intellectual equal. She wasn’t even close. She had to back out of this ridiculous engagement.

“He phones three times a day?” Rachel repeated.

Teri sniffled. “Before I go to work in the morning, at noon and then before I go to bed.” Bobby’s chess-playing had never been better, and he was convinced it was all due to her. He wasn’t talking about the haircuts she’d given him, either.

“Why are you crying?” Rachel asked. “You should be over the moon that Bobby loves you.”

“Because…” Teri was hardly able to speak. “He wants to marry me. And it’s just not possible…and…and I have to tell him that.”

“Why is it so impossible?” Rachel demanded. “He says you’re good for him, and I know he’s good for you. I’ve never seen you happier. He thinks you’re fabulous, and you are.”