An Engagement in Seattle - Debbie Macomber [116]
“Pinch me,” Lori said to Jo Ann, “because this doesn’t seem real. We’re not actually hearing this, are we? Lesley, this isn’t like you.”
Jo Ann shook her head and added, “It’s because of Tony, isn’t it? You’re far too sensible to do something like this otherwise.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything.” Lori looked down, rearranging the salt and pepper shakers on the cream-colored tablecloth. “But…Tony phoned me. He’s worried about you, Les. He said he’s been trying to get in touch with you, but you weren’t returning his calls.”
“Tony’s been calling you?” Jo Ann sounded outraged. “Does April know about this?”
“She’s out of town.”
“That creep!”
“I knew when he married April that it wouldn’t last,” Lori said with a hint of self-righteousness.
Lesley laughed, grateful for her friends’ loyalty. “You suspected it wouldn’t last because Tony wasn’t marrying me. If he had, you would both have been singing his praises.”
“I’m beginning to think Daisy might be right about him,” Jo Ann said, stabbing her fork into some crabmeat. “How could she see through him so quickly? The three of us work with the guy nine months out of the year and we have to be hit over the head before it dawns on us that Tony isn’t playing fair.”
“What did you tell Tony about me?” Lesley inquired casually, although her interest was anything but casual.
“Nothing much, just that I’d talked to you recently and you sounded happy.
“He seemed surprised to hear that and said he was afraid you were depressed and avoiding people. He acted concerned and guilty about the way he’d hurt you. I…”
“Yes?” Lesley prompted.
“I felt sorry for him by the time we hung up.”
“Sorry for him?” Jo Ann asked, incredulous. “Why would you feel sorry for Tony? He’s the one who broke Lesley’s heart and married someone else.”
Lori shrugged, looking mildly guilty herself. “He didn’t actually say so, but I had the feeling he regrets marrying April.” Lori paused, frowning. “She’s never been very friendly toward the three of us, has she?”
“Who can blame her for being unfriendly?” Lesley was the first one to defend April.
“Tony made her situation impossible at school,” Lori agreed. “We did our best to make her feel welcome, but we’d all worked with Lesley and April knew that. She attended hardly any faculty functions after the wedding. I’ll bet she’s really a nice person, and we’d find that out if she ever gave anyone the chance to know her.”
“She gave Tony plenty of chances,” Jo Ann muttered, unwilling even now to forget the upheaval the new first-grade teacher had brought into their lives.
“You haven’t talked to Tony yourself?” Lori asked, ignoring Jo Ann’s pettiness. For that, Lesley was grateful.
“Not since school got out.” She felt good about resisting the temptation to phone him, but it had exacted a high emotional price. “I won’t, either,” she said, her resolve growing stronger.
Jo Ann nodded vigorously. Lori looked uncertain.
“Aren’t you curious about what he wants?”
“Come on, Lori. What do you think Tony wants?” Jo Ann asked.
Lori studied her for a disbelieving moment. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
“Lori, wake up!” Jo Ann said sarcastically and snapped her fingers. “When a married man phones another woman—his ex-fiancée, no less—while his wife’s out of town, there’s only one reason.”
“I hate to think Tony would do that.”
Lesley felt the same way, but she couldn’t allow her tenderness for Tony to mislead her.
“Stop.” Jo Ann raised both hands. “We’ve strayed from the real subject here and that’s Lesley’s wedding.”
“‘Lesley’s wedding,’” Lori echoed, sending a dismayed glance at Jo Ann. “Are you in love with Chase?” she asked.
“No.” Lesley refused to be anything but honest with her friends. When she