Shine Not Burn(65)

“Yes, Andie, I’m here. Can you believe the nerve of that man? Picking up my calls on my phone and putting his nose in my business? He’s going to pay for that one. I’ve had it up to here with him.”

“Ruby, calm down. You can’t report him for that. He’s upset with me, it’s my fault.”

Ruby sighed heavily. “When are you going to learn that you are not responsible for the behavior of the men you date? He’s a big boy. He makes his own decisions.”

“I haven’t called him in over twenty-four hours. He was worried, especially when the first person I called wasn’t him.”

Her voice dropped lower. “Good for you! Does this mean you’re finally going to get rid of his sorry behind?”

“No. Maybe. Shit, Ruby, I don’t know. That’s not why I called.” My hands were shaking so bad, I clenched my free one in a fist and hit the bed with it a few times.

“Mmm-mmm-mmm, you still haven’t cleaned up that language, I see.”

“Stop. Seriously. Did you go into my computer and look at my files?”

Silence.

“Ruby, I know you did. I already talked to Candice. What did you see?”

“Well…” She stopped there.

“Come on, Ruby. I don’t have all day.”

“Fine. I saw your…,” she lowered her voice to a loud whisper, “...marriage license.” She raised her voice again. “Is it real? Did you really do that?”

Tears threatened. “Yes, I really did do it. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking, but I married a practical stranger two years ago at that stupid bachelorette party you made me go to, and now I’m out here trying to unwind the mess before my wedding to Bradley.”

“You’re blaming me for this?”

“No. I just put that in there to make you feel guilty.”

She snorted. “Huh, like that would work. I’m proud I did it. I’m glad I did it. Anything to get rid of that Bradley is a good thing.”

“Listen, Ruby, he didn’t do anything wrong, okay? He’s been a good boyfriend. I was set to marry the guy for … poop’s sake.”

“Were set to marry him? As in past tense?” She was back to whisper-yelling at me.

I shook my head and took a deep breath, ready to bawl again. “I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do. I have to talk to Bradley, and I have to talk to Mack. It’s pretty much out of my hands at this point. My lifeplan is swirling down the toilet as we speak.”

“Who’s Mack? Is he your husband?”

My heart lurched at the word husband. Mack is my husband. The idea gave me chills and brought gobs of fear along with it too. “Yes. He is.”

“Oh my dear Lord … this is a problem, isn’t it? Do you want me to start canceling things? Maybe we can get some of your deposits back.”

“No! No, don’t cancel anything. Just transfer me over to Bradley’s line, please. And Ruby? Please don’t say anything to anyone else. Candice is fine, but no one else can know. It’ll ruin everything at work.”

“Oh don’t worry, baby girl. Your secrets are safe with me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, right. Bye, Rubes. Talk to you later.”

“Please hold,” she said in her professional secretary voice, sending me over to Bradley’s line.





Chapter Twenty-Eight





“BRADLEY.”

THAT ONE WORD SAID it all. Strong. Firm. Take no prisoners. He never cared who he trampled over to get what he wanted. It’s what attracted me to him eventually, that he made no apologies for who he was. He was so driven and in control. I was jealous of that for a long time until I became that. Now I knew it had been a mistake. I’d lost me somewhere along the way, right along with my two best friends and the respect of my colleague, Ruby.

Time to finish destroying my life. “Hi, it’s me, Andie.” The line went silent for so long I thought I’d lost him. “Bradley?”

“Still here. Just waiting for an explanation.”

His voice was so cold it made me ill. I’d hurt him. He was a prick sometimes, but that didn’t mean he deserved to be cheated on or lied to. “I have something to confess. Something big.”

“You’re with another guy, aren’t you? How long has it been going on?”

I sighed, trying to work up the bravery to come totally and completely clean. I saw my future crumbling into tiny fragments right in front of my eyes, my lifeplan and all the solidity and security it offered disappearing into the wind. My future was now a cloud of dust motes floating away to clog up some stranger’s nostrils…

“Andie, I’m not going to sit on this line forever. I have work to do.”

“Sorry. I’m just … never mind.” I cleared my throat. Time to do the right thing. “Do you remember when we started dating?”

“Of course. I’d been trying to get you to go out with me for months. Getting that first yes out of you was a real coup.”

I smiled sadly. “I think … I might have said yes for reasons that weren’t necessarily all the right ones.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Are we going to be talking in riddles now, Andie? Because I really don’t have the time or the patience for it.”