Three Brides, No Groom Paperback - 2012

Summary

Excerpt

This was supposed to be one of the happiest days of Gretchen's life. The day was memorable, all right, but it would be forever marked as a day of pain and betrayal. Emotion clawed at her throat, and she battled tears. She wanted her mother, but her parents had already left the campus. They'd driven up to Seattle from San Francisco to attend her college graduation and were taking a few extra days to visit Victoria, British Columbia, before returning home and making the final arrangements for her wedding to Roger, and she didn't want to bother them on their brief vacation.

Except Gretchen was beginning to doubt that there would be a wedding.

She stood at the far end of the sweeping veranda of her sorority house, out of view of her friends. Most were excitedly loading up their cars with another year's accumulation of treasures. She could hear their tearful farewells, their promises to keep in touch. Promises.

She held her stomach and raised her chin in an effort to forestall the brewing emotion. Her long blond hair cascaded down the middle of her back. Roger loved her hair long, enjoyed playing with it, brushing it, burying his face in it.

"Sweetpea?" The sound of Roger's contrite voice came from behind her.

She'd always hated his pet name for her, but no amount of protest could persuade him to come up with another.

Standing directly behind her, he cupped her shoulders and nuzzled her neck. "Let's talk about this, all right?"

"Talk?" Gretchen asked with a short abrupt laugh. As far as she was concerned they had nothing to discuss.

"You've got to know Didi doesn't mean anything to me." Now his hands were in her hair, lifting the thick tresses to his face. He wove his fingers into it and brushed his lips across her crown.

Gretchen's eyes slammed shut at the sharp pain.

"It was stupid," Roger continued. "I want to throw up every time I think about how incredibly stupid I was. My only excuse is that I was drunk."

"You cheated on me with another woman, and I'm supposed to forget it ever happened because you were drunk?"

His hands returned to her shoulders and squeezed. "Didi's always had the hots for me. You said so yourself, remember? wasn't thinking straight. I was with the guys, celebrating, drinking, and the next thing I knew, Didi was coming on to me. She wouldn't take no for an answer. Ask anyone.

She was all over me and…you know how those fraternity parties can get."

Gretchen's stomach clenched. "Don't tell me any more. I don't want to hear it."

"But I have to tell you. I need to. This is going to stand between us unless you know it all. You've got to believe me, Gretchen, I'm as sick about what happened as you are."

She said nothing, too numb to argue.

"Didi knows we're engaged, but that didn't stop her. I told her again and again that it was you I loved, but she wouldn't listen. The next thing I knew she'd stuck her hands inside my clothes."

"In front of everyone?" Gretchen cried in disbelief.

He hesitated, and when he spoke, his voice was barely audible. "We…we were in a closet."

"A closet?" Gretchen nearly choked on the word.

"She was feeling me up, and, Sweetpea, I'm so very sorry, but I'm only human. I was…excited, and then she had her mouth on me and was saying things like she bet my uptown girl never did anything like this for me and—"

"I don't want to hear any more," Gretchen said again, more forcefully this time.

"But it's true," Roger whispered. "You insisted on waiting until we were married to make love, and I've respected your wishes. But I don't think you appreciate what sexual frustration can do to a guy."

"In other words this is all my fault."

"No, no. If anyone's to blame, it's Didi. When I woke up this morning, I was sick to my stomach, knowing what I'd done. I couldn't be sorrier. Say you'll forgive me. I'm begging you, Sweetpea. We can't let someone like Didi come between us. If you do something foolish, you'll be doing exactly what she wants. The only reason she came on to me was to hurt you."

"And you let her."

He paused. "Let's put this behind us, all right? Mom's looking forward to you spending the next few days with her. All she can talk about is the wedding plans, and that's exactly what you need to help take your mind off my unfortunate slip."

So that was how he thought of infidelity, as an unfortunate slip.

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