The Perfect Match (Blue Heron #2)(113)

She opened the door to O’Rourke’s, and there he was.

He was sitting at the bar, talking to Colleen, and he was smiling, though his eyes were somber. Didn’t anyone else see that, how sad his eyes could be, even when he was smiling? Didn’t they see that he was lonely? That his heart had been yanked out of his chest when Charlie moved?

Then he looked up and saw her, and his smile dropped a notch. She gave a small wave, and he nodded back.

The bar was noisy tonight, and Honor was grateful. The Yankees game was on and apparently was a good one, judging from the cheers from the patrons on that side of the bar. In addition, the fire department was having one of its famous meetings, which seemed to involve such grave activities as Jessica Dunn flipping quarters off her elbow. Brogan wasn’t there, at least, though she’d seen his car at the firehouse the other day. Gerard Chartier whispered into Jessica’s ear, and she rolled her eyes and slapped him fondly on the head before waving to Honor. Now there was a woman who didn’t mind being single. See? It could be done.

Welp. Time to say hello to her ex-fiancé.

She took a breath and went over, her heart stuttering. “Hi, Tom.”

“Hallo, Honor.”

Oh, fungus. Would she ever get over the way he said her name, his voice low and rich as hot fudge? Probably not, the eggs said, rubbing Ben-Gay into their knees.

“How are you?” she asked, and by some grace, her voice was steady.

“Quite well. And yourself?”

“Just fine, thanks.”

How’s Charlie? Have you heard from him? How’s your dad? Are you staying in town? Please don’t move without saying goodbye. I think about you all the time.

“It’s good to see you,” she said, and this time her voice was husky.

This was a mistake. She shouldn’t have come, because it seemed like she was about to cry.

“Hey, Honor.”

She jerked her eyes off Tom to see who was speaking. “Oh, Dana. Hi.”

Dana glanced between her and Tom. “Um, want to have a drink?”

Honor waited...for what, she wasn’t sure. For Tom to say, Actually, darling, I want to talk to you, and then tell her he’d made a horrible mistake.

“Good night, then,” he said, turning back to his beer. “Take care, Honor.” Maybe there was something in his voice, too, but his eyes were on the Yankees game.

“You, too.” She followed Dana to a table and sat down with her back to Tom.

“I heard you guys broke up,” Dana said, sitting down across from her.

“Yes.”

“I’m really sorry.”

The words sounded sincere. “Thank you.”

Hannah O’Rourke brought over a martini. “On the house,” she said, “courtesy of the owners of our fine establishment.”

“Thanks, Hannah.” Honor turned back to Dana. “So how are you? Um, Brogan and I talked a couple weeks ago.” Brogan had emailed her a couple of times since the dreadful kiss, apologizing profusely, telling her about his confusion over Dana, yadda yadda.

He was a good guy. But Honor was a little tired of him these days.

“I guess everyone knows,” Dana said tightly. “I faked being pregnant.”

“So he said.”

“Aren’t you gonna ask why?”

“Why?”

Dana sighed. “I don’t know.”

“Sure you do.”

Her perfectly waxed eyebrows rose. “Yeah, okay, so I do.” She shrugged and took a sip of her white zinfandel (the very thought of which made Honor shudder). “Here’s the thing, Honor,” she said. “Men want what they want.”

“Do they want women to lie about being pregnant?”

“Okay, fine, I guess I deserve a little bitchiness from you. Brogan and I are still apart. Probably forever. As you probably know.” She shrugged, the misery on her face belying her tone. “Maybe you have a chance with him, after all.”

“I’ll pass.”

“Why? Isn’t that why you and Tom broke up?”

“No.” She didn’t want to talk about Tom with Dana, that was for sure. “Did you ever love Brogan, or was this just...whimsy?”

Dana looked at the table. “I loved him. Who wouldn’t?”

“Then why did you lie to him?” Dana shrugged, and all of a sudden, Honor was tired. “How about if I tell you what I think, hmm? From my point of view, there’s only one reason why a woman would pretend to be pregnant, and that’s because she wasn’t sure the guy would stay with her otherwise.”

A tear slid off Dana’s face onto the table. “You’re right. Congratulations. As usual, Honor, you know everything.”

“What do you want, Dana?”

Dana’s face crumpled. “It was so stupid,” she whispered, still not looking up. “You ever feel...I don’t know. Like you’re on the outside, looking in?”

“Everyone feels like that sometimes.”

“Well, me, too. Ever since I met you, you and Brogan were a thing. You had a special relationship, and he was so awesome and all that. And you had this big fun family, and such a cool job. And I was jealous. I mean, there it is. I was.” She swallowed. “And I really did like him. I always did. But I wasn’t about to make a move when you guys were together, even if it was kind of a f**ked-up relationship.”