An Engagement in Seattle - Debbie Macomber [78]
It wasn’t until a week later that Lesley discovered more time meant he’d fallen head over heels in love with the new first-grade teacher. Within three weeks of meeting April Packard, Tony had broken his engagement to Lesley. If that wasn’t bad enough, Tony and April were married a month later, following a whirlwind courtship. Since she was under contract and her savings slim, Lesley couldn’t just leave the school; she’d been forced to endure the sight of the happy couple every day since. Every school day, anyhow.
She worked hard at not being bitter, at pretending it was all for the best. If Tony was going to fall in love with another woman, then it was better to have discovered this penchant of his before the wedding. She’d heard that over and over from her friends. In fact, she’d heard all the platitudes, tried to believe them, tried to console herself with them.
Except they didn’t help.
She hurt. Some nights she wrestled with the loneliness until dawn; the feeling of abandonment nearly suffocated her. It didn’t help to realize how happy Tony and April were.
He’d tried to make it up to Lesley. He’d wanted her to assuage his guilt. Because they worked in such close proximity, there was nothing she could do but repeat the platitudes others had given her. For the last months of school, she’d had to make believe a broken heart didn’t matter.
But it did.
The last time she’d felt this empty inside had been as a six-year-old child, when her father had arranged for the family to fly to Disneyland in California. Lesley had been excited for weeks. It would’ve been her first trip in an airplane, her first time away from Washington State. Then, three days before the vacation was to begin, her father had packed his bags and left. He’d gone without warning, without a word of farewell to her, apparently without regret, taking the money they’d saved for the family trip.
Her mother was so trapped in her shock and anger that she hadn’t been able to comfort Lesley, who’d felt guilty without knowing why.
As an adult she chose to forgive her father and accept that he was a weak man, the same way she’d decided to absolve Tony of the pain he’d caused her. It would do no good to harbor a grudge or to feed her own discontent.
Although it was easy to acknowledge this on a conscious level, it took more than logic to convince her heart. Twenty-one years had passed since that fateful summer, but the feelings were as painful and as complex now as they’d been to the little girl who missed her daddy.
When neither Jo Ann nor Lori had phoned by noon, her mood sank even lower. Maybe they were thinking she’d forgotten what day it was, Lesley reasoned. Or maybe they didn’t feel they should drag up the whole ugly affair. But all Lesley wanted was to do something fun, something that would make her forget how isolated she felt.
Jo Ann wasn’t home, so Lesley left an upbeat message. The significance of the day seemed to have slipped past Lori, as well, who was all starry-eyed over a man she’d recently started dating.
“Any chance you can get away for a movie tonight?” Lesley asked.
Lori hemmed and hawed. “Not tonight. Larry’s been out of town for the last couple of days and he’ll be back this evening. He mentioned dinner. Can we make it later in the week?”
“Sure,” Lesley said, as though it didn’t matter one way or the other. Far be it from her to remind her best friends that she was suffering the agonies of the jilted. “Have fun.”
There must have been some telltale inflection in her voice because Lori picked up on it immediately. “Lesley, are you all right?”
“Of course.” It was always of course. Always some flippant remark that discounted her unhappiness. “We’ll get together later in the week.”
They chatted for a few more minutes. When they’d finished, Lesley knew it was up to her to make the best of the day. She couldn’t rely on her friends, nor should she.
She mulled over that realization, trying to decide what to do. Attending