“I’m sorry.”
“How about you and your mom?” Andrea asks.
“I was mad initially, but not so much now. But our situation is a little different than yours.”
“Yeah.”
Andrea sounds sad, and I hate that for her. She didn’t ask for any of this to happen.
“I’m glad you’re in my life now,” I say.
“You’re not just saying that to make me feel better, are you?”
“I’m not. And I want to know a lot more about you and Emily, but we’ll have to do that another time, because I have plans here in a few minutes. Do you want to set a time for another call? I’m sure you’re busy, so it might be easier to plan it instead of making random calls.”
“I’d love to.”
twenty-seven
“You ready for this?” Wendy asks when she marches up to the front of McConnell’s, where I’ve been waiting for several minutes.
“As I’ll ever be.”
She nods and slips her hand into mine. When I glance down at her with a surprised look, she says, “United front. For Tammy.”
“For Tammy,” I echo, gripping her hand tightly, ignoring the hammering of my heart from the contact.
We walk into the pub together, and I can’t decide whether I’m happy or not when the only empty table is in Tammy’s usual section. Wendy pulls me in that direction, and we settle into the seats at the high-top table.
I can’t help but scan the room for any sign of Tammy, and when I spot her, she’s heading our way but hasn’t noticed who we are yet. The second she spots me, her steps falter, but she doesn’t turn around like I expect she will. Instead, she takes a visible breath and continues toward us, her gaze focused firmly on the table.
When she reaches us, she pulls out her order pad and says in a tense tone, “What can I get you folks tonight?” without looking up or acknowledging she knows us.
Wendy shoots me a pointed look and tilts her head toward Tammy.
“Tammy,” I say, “I need to apologize for the other night.”
Her eyes finally meet mine, and then she glances over at Wendy. Her eyes go wide, and her hand covers her mouth. “Oh, no. No, no, no.”
“Listen to me,” I say in a low voice so nobody at the surrounding tables can hear. “What happened wasn’t your fault. It was all on me. I was drunk and not thinking straight. I shouldn’t have flirted with you or done anything to lead you on, but I did, and I’m so sorry.”
Wendy adds, “You have nothing to feel bad about, and there are no hard feelings on my part. Randall made the bad decisions, not you.”
“But itwasmy fault,” Tammy says, and then she looks at me. “I didn’t know you had a girlfriend, but I knew you were drunk, and I did it anyway.” She turns her anguished gaze to Wendy. “I’m so sorry. I’ll never forgive myself for it.”
“I hope you do,” Wendy says. “Because I forgive you. Like he said,” she points at me, “his fault.”
Tammy shakes her head. “My fault. I made the move. And I could get fired for what I did.”
The look on her face reveals she’s terrified that might happen.
“Nobody here will find out about it,” I assure her, as my heart goes out to her. “I promise. Your job is safe.”
“Tammy,” Wendy says, and Tammy looks at her. “I know as well as anyone how charming this man can be and how he can make a woman feel like she’s the only person on the planet, without even realizing he’s doing it. Yes, you played a part in what happened, but he was the one who was responsible for turning off the charm with you and making it clear he was dating someone, and he didn’t. Let him take the responsibility for that, and please forgive yourself for your part.”
Tammy looks back and forth between the two of us and gives a tentative nod. “Okay. I’ll try.”
“Now,” Wendy says, “we didn’t come here to make you feel awkward, but we’ve fully managed to do so, and we’re going to go now. I’m going to act like I’m not feeling well, so nobody will wonder why we’re leaving already.”
