EXCERPT
The story was outlandish.
At turns, both unbelievable and absurdly awful.
All the same, the story was true.
Leaning forward in her chair, her body braced as if for impact, Miranda Monroe watched as her words sank in. She canvassed the face before her. The high cheekbones tautening, those green eyes narrowing, clouding with confusion, with disbelief as they stared so questioningly back at her.
Waiting, Miranda carefully studied the face of Sam Church.
Her best friend and emotional benefactor. Her anchor.
He looked… gobsmacked, she decided. That was only to be expected. She turned her attention to the cocktail glass in front of her next; it was bleeding with condensation. Absently, Miranda stirred the quickly melting ice—but it was a lost cause. Especially since she had no intention of actually drinking her drink.
Probably should have been an odd choice, then, for her to end up at The Oasis Bar and Grill.
“That doesn’t—what are you talking about?”
Miranda smirked fatalistically as she peeked back up at Sam. “You know, I think those may have been my first words as well.”
“Noel got married.” His voice was incredulous.
“Mm. Yes. To Kourtney.”
“In New Hampshire?” He repeated.
“While on a business trip,” Miranda reminded him through numbed lips. All the same, the ache in her stomach intensified, restricted her breathing as she forced herself to relive the horror of those words again.
“Apparently,” she added, for good measure, “it seems that for the first time in his life, Noel decided to make an exceptionally grand gesture.”
Marry one woman while still dating (while still living with) another woman.
“Are you—are you okay?” A stupid question, to be sure, but Miranda couldn’t blame Sam for asking it. It was a hard situation for knowing what to say.
….
It was supposed to be her.
Miranda was supposed to be the one marrying Noel. (Granted, he hadn’t technically asked but it had been an unspoken though long-expected part of their future.) Four years; that’s how long they’d been together. Pictures of them dotted the walls and shelves of their apartment—a perfectly happy couple smiling back at the camera. Furniture they’d agonized over and purchased together filled every nook and cranny of the place—marking it theirs and theirs alone.
And then, in one instant, an instant in which she’d had no say, they simply, they simply weren’t dating anymore. She was left alone. He was left with someone else’s ring on his finger.
Tears misted Miranda’s eyes. A few slipped past her lids, inking down her face. She brushed them away impatiently, sniffed the rest back in place.
He’d never let on. Never let on that he’d fallen in love with his co-worker. Miranda’s teeth ground together as a picture of Kourtney floated before her eyes. Long, willowy frame; stylishly arranged dark hair always draped just so over her shoulder; large oval eyes with an open, honest face. The snake.
Miranda had liked Kourtney. She’d welcomed her into their home. Into their social circle. Stupid fool that she was, she’d thought nothing of her and Noel’s inside jokes or shared smiles. She’d chalked it up to professional camaraderie. Frankly, she’d enjoyed not having to listen to his lengthy stories about this client or that one—she’d enjoyed the reprieve from acronyms and talk of policies and procedures she knew nothing about. She’d been happy to let them carry on without her.
She just hadn’t realized then what that meant.
(This excerpt is an abridged version of what appears in the book.)
About the Author—
I enjoyed the excerpt and reading about the author.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds awesome, love a good friends to lovers story!
ReplyDeleteI'm super excited to check this book out.
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