Chapter 34
Cassie stared at me from across the small table. "So you're broken up?"
It was the morning after she'd dropped off the cake, and we were sitting in the front room of her cookie shop. On the way over here, I'd picked up two lattes, along with a couple of frosted cinnamon rolls, which neither one of us were eating – me, because I wasn't hungry and Cassie, because she'd been too engrossed in my latest tale of woe.
Last night, rather than telling Cassie the story over the phone, I'd suggested meeting for coffee before her shop opened.
As far as her question – whether Joel and I were broken up – I didn't even know how to answer. "Honestly, I’m not sure. I guess so. I mean, I don't think we're exactly together."
Probably, this was a massive understatement. It had been four whole days since that one short phone call, and he never did call me back. As far as me calling him, I'd resisted, in spite of some pretty strong urges otherwise.
As miserable as I was, I was actually pretty proud of myself.
Across from me, Cassie still looked stunned. "Seriously? So you're not engaged anymore?"
"Actually, I don't think we ever were." I sighed. "After all, it wasn't a real engagement. It was more of an obligation thing, on his part, I mean."
It hurt to say, but at some point, I had to accept reality and move on.
But Cassie was shaking her head. "You don't know that for sure."
It was a nice sentiment, and I tried to smile. "If you want to say it, I'll totally understand."
Her eyebrows furrowed. "Say what?"
"I told you so."
"Why would I say that?"
"Because you tried to warn me." At her blank look, I said, "You know. That I'd be crying before it was over?"
"Oh, that?" She winced. "Forget I said that, okay? I was totally wrong."
"You were not," I said. "You called it perfectly." In truth, Ihadbeen crying, more than I cared to admit. Happily, this was mostly at night, when I didn't have an audience.
Across from me, Cassie looked anything but smug. "Listen, there's something I've got to tell you."
"What?" I asked.
"There's a reason I was so crabby that day." She glanced away and let out a long, shaky breath. "It was Angelina the Skank. I ran into her just that morning, and she told me something that set me off."
"Really? What?"
Cassie hesitated. "Okay, before I tell you, I want you to know something. What she told me, it wasn't true. I'm absolutely sure of it."
Now, I was getting nervous. "What's not true?"
"Well, according to Angelina, she and Joel hooked up like five minutes after you two broke up."
True or not, my stomach clenched. "When?" I asked. "You mean like a few days ago?"
"No. A fewweeksago. After that whole moving-truck fiasco."
"Oh. Right." Based on the timing, I should've been able to figure that out for myself.
Cassie continued. "Anyway, the way Angelina tells it, Joel was on his way out of town and stopped at that gas station off the highway." Cassie paused, as if afraid to continue.
"And…?" I prompted.
