Chapter 16 #2
Rhett’s friends looked from me to Rhett and then to the girl at his side.
Their eyes widened collectively. Alison already had a furious expression on her face and when she saw me her mouth popped open, but I could see her delight at being front row for the drama.
Caleb grabbed her arm and dragged her away.
“Lucy,” Rhett croaked out my name.
The girl, finally sensing something was wrong with him, turned my way questioningly. “Uh, hi?”
I didn’t look at her. Not yet. I only had eyes for my two-timing piece of shit fiancé. “Are you going to introduce us, honey?”
Rhett opened his mouth. Then closed it.
The girl frowned. “I’m Jenn. Jenn Moore.” She didn’t put out her hand for me to shake, which was a good thing, because I’d probably break her fingers.
Rhett still hadn’t said anything, so I turned to the girl and gave her a smile that could kill. “Hi, Jenn. Nice to meet you. I’m Lucy.” I paused for dramatic effect. “Rhett’s fiancée.”
I saw the moment it sunk in. Jenn looked from me to Rhett, who had turned to her, his expression pleading. He wasn’t even looking at me—he didn’t seem to care about my feelings at all. His focus was entirely on Jenn.
I wanted to scratch her eyes out—then go somewhere and sob.
“Rhett?” His name came out as a broken whisper on her lips.
“Jenn, I can explain—”
I stood there, watching them, like I was the one intruding and not the other way around.
I moved closer to Rhett, pushing Jenn out of the way.
“I’m sure Rhett has told you all about our wedding next month, though I hope he explained that the invitations have already gone out. Otherwise, I’d tell him to invite you.”
Jenn appeared in shock. “Your wedding?”
I nodded with a grin, looping my arm through Rhett’s. Rhett, who was still staring at Jenn like I wasn’t even there. Like she was the only woman that mattered.
“Yes, our wedding.” I playfully swatted Rhett as if my heart wasn’t breaking. “My Rhett sure is modest. It’s going to be the event of the summer, isn’t it, babe?” I turned back to Jenn, whose face had gone alarmingly white. If she wasn’t a homewrecker, I might have been worried about her.
I heard Rhett audibly swallow, and he finally had the wherewithal to look at me. “Um, Lucy, I think we should talk—”
“Yes, I agree, we have so much to talk about,” I said between clenched teeth.
I looked at Jenn, wanting her to feel my anger and my hate directed solely at her.
But her eyes were locked on something on the other side of the bonfire.
Her face drained of its remaining color.
She suddenly let out a whimper and turned and ran toward the tree line.
“Bye, then,” I called after her with as much venom as I could summon. I turned back to Rhett, expecting him to look apologetic, but his eyes were on the girl that had just taken off. And his eyes weren’t the only ones following her.
I noticed how Jeremy stared after here, a strange look on his face. One that was almost hungry.
And Alison looked as if she were still filled with a rage I wasn’t sure she had the right to feel. Why was she so angry? I was the one who had been publicly humiliated.
“Jenn!” Rhett hollered. Then, without a word, he snatched his arm away from me and ran after her. I was left standing there like the jilted idiot I was.
I glanced around, horrified that everyone was watching me. No one came to check on me. No one offered me any support.
I had never felt so alone.
And just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, the whispering started, growing louder and louder. Eventually, people weren’t even trying to hide what they were saying.
“Oh my God, did Rhett just ditch Lucy for that girl?”
“I heard he’s been sleeping with her for weeks.”
“Caleb told me he heard Rhett was planning to call off the wedding.”
“If you ask me, Lucy deserves it.”
I straightened my back, lifted my chin, and oh-so nonchalantly headed back toward my car, my head held as high as possible. I wouldn’t let these people see me crumble.
Even if I wanted to fall onto the dirt and wail.
One thing was for sure: I was now the laughing stock of Fern River. There were enough people in this town who had been waiting for an opportunity to see me brought low, and my fiancé had served me up to them on a damn platter.
I fumbled with shaking hands to get my keys out of my purse and dropped them on the ground. When I leaned down to get them, someone picked them up and held them out in his palm for me to take.
I stood back up, snatching the keys from him. “Thanks,” I muttered, not bothering to see who it was.
“You look like someone ran over your cat.” He laughed. “Maybe you should run them over.”
Now I looked up, recognizing his voice.
Marty Richards leaned against my car, thumbs hooked through his belt loops, a cigarette dangling from his lips like a freaking Marlboro ad. His dark hair fell into his eyes. He looked messy. And dangerous.
“Move,” I commanded, crossing my arms over my chest.
He didn’t.
“I saw what happened back there.” Marty inclined his head in the direction of the bonfire. “Looks like my buddy Rhett has been dipping his wick elsewhere.”
His words were clipped and hard, and I could hear a trace of anger beneath his blasé exterior. Marty was pissed off, but it was nothing compared to what I was feeling.
“He is not dipping his—” I shook my head.
My disgust at the crudeness of his words, and the actuality that it was probably true, stopped me from finishing my sentence. Rhett had been cheating on me with that woman. Had he really been planning to call off the wedding? How long had it been going on?
The questions pummeled me.
The devastation fed my rage.
Marty snorted. “I didn’t take you for one of those chicks who rolls over and takes somethin’ like that lyin’ down. But I guess a woman should know her place when it comes to her man.” He shrugged as if he hadn’t just said the most sexist thing I had ever heard.
I let out a peal of shocked laughter. “Are you for real?”
Marty frowned. “What’d ya mean?”
“ ‘A woman should know her place’?” I rolled my eyes. “What kind of 1950s bullshit is that?” I shoved him hard in the side. “Now get out of my way. I need to get out of here before I commit murder.”
Marty wrapped his calloused hand around my wrist and squeezed. “Who the fuck do you think you’re talkin’ to?”
Something twisted inside me. I had taken enough crap for one evening. I whipped around and shoved him again. This time firmly in the chest. He looked surprised when he stumbled backward.
“Don’t touch me.” I pointed my finger at him. We stared at each other for a long time. Marty was good-looking, despite the scar across his face, but he was also a jerk. He was a man who looked down on almost everyone, especially women, despite him having nothing to offer.
Marty’s eyes started at my feet and slowly worked their way up my body. “I’ve never met a woman quite like you, Lucy.” I couldn’t tell if that was a compliment or not.
“It’s Lucinda.”
Marty looked over his shoulder then back at me. “So, you gonna let him get away with making you look like a fool?”
“I am not a fool.”
Marty shrugged again. “From where I’m standing, you don’t look too smart either. That man of yours just flaunted his side piece for the whole town to see.” He leaned in close, his breath fanning across my face. “So what are you gonna do about it, Lucy?”
“Why do you care? Aren’t you Rhett’s friend? Shouldn’t you be looking out for him?” I posed the questions as a challenge.
Marty’s eyes became dark and ominous like an impending storm. “Rhett ain’t no friend of mine.”
He continued to stare at me with a note of challenge. He was disgusting, and I hated the way he looked at me like I was a piece of meat. But he wasn’t Rhett. And right then, that made him incredibly appealing in the worst possible way.
“I’m getting out of here,” I told him.
We stared at one another, weighing each other up, and it was clear we were both thinking the same thing.
“I’m coming with you,” Marty stated, heading to the passenger side and getting in. He didn’t ask. A man like Marty never asked for anything. He took what he wanted, and it was obvious that he wanted me.
If I got in that car, I knew exactly what would happen between us.
I could still hear people laughing and saying my name. The humiliation of Rhett’s betrayal burned me from the inside out.
Right then, I thought this was what I needed to take back control of my life.
So I got in the car and drove us to the same remote spot where Rhett and I used to go to be alone.
Then we climbed in the backseat and I tried to forget about Rhett. And Jenn. But it wasn’t that easy.
Being with Marty felt like the perfect payback, but I also felt like the worst kind of hypocrite. I hated myself for letting my jealous rage dictate my actions.
My needs were simple. All I wanted was to be loved.
I wanted Rhett to love me.
And Marty was no substitute. Giving him my body felt like a betrayal of myself more than of my relationship.
Because the whole time I was with Marty, I could only think about how I tried to be the perfect fiancée. Pretty, smart, well-mannered. I knew what was expected of me as a partner, and I made every effort to be everything for Rhett.
But it wasn’t enough.
I wasn’t enough.
Sleeping with Marty made that crystal clear. All it left me feeling was alone and ashamed.
And afterward I hid my tears as my heart turned to stone.