Page 98 of Forget Me

Maybe I’d get a cat anyway. The allergy meds would make me sleepy, and when I was asleep, I didn’t feel the ache in my chest.

* * *

The text cameas I waited for Natalie after work at the country club where we were supposed to walk through the space with the decorator, a week before the gala.

Ben: When can I see you?

I pulled up the calendar on my phone. There were no blank spaces between now and the gala.

Me: After the gala?

Ben: That’s a week away. I need to see you before then.

Me: Why? Is something wrong?

While I waited for him to type his response, my mind raced. Had something happened to him or Cooper? Or Mom and Dad? After that miserable night at the bar with Bree, I’d kept myself so busy—it was my first Mateo-free week since December—that I hadn’t called or texted any of them.

Ben: I don’t know. You tell me.

I gritted my teeth. That was my little brother, always sticking his nose into my business. I looked up and saw Natalie approaching from the parking lot. Quickly, I ended the text.

Me: I’m good.

And why wouldn’t I be? The gala was almost here, and I’d know soon after that if I was going to get the assistant director job. Everything I wanted was within reach. All I had to do was work my ass off to ensure the gala went off without a hitch.

Last week’s wallowing at Raisa’s with Bree was a one-off. PMS. Mercury in retrograde.

“Hey, friend!” Natalie bustled in, looking perfect as always in a spotless oyster-pink wool coat, a charcoal gray sheath dress, and knee-high boots that made her tower over me as she bent down to hug me.

“Hey.” I hugged her back. Before the gala planning, I’d never have thought someone as elegant and well-connected as Natalie would call me a friend.

Her brother Andrew sauntered up behind her, a golf bag over his shoulder. “Hey, Mimi. Good to see you again.”

“Hi, Andrew.” I shook his hand. Natalie seemed to drag him everywhere with her. Was it a rich-people thing? I mean, yes, Ben had lived with me for a while, and we did things together, but he’d never come with me to a foundation planning activity.

“Is Mateo here?” he asked.

Pain sliced through my chest. “No, not today.”

“Too bad. I liked hanging out with him the night we went dancing.”

I gave him a weak smile. So had I.

“I’ll let you ladies get to it. Nat, come find me out on the range when you’re done.” Andrew jerked his thumb behind him at the corridor I remembered from the night I’d come here with Mateo.

He’d told that ridiculous story about me being his kryptonite. He’d put his hands on me, adjusting my grip on the club, and I’d practically swooned.

“Go play,” Natalie said. When he’d walked off, she turned to me. “Gail’s right behind me. She just needed to get some things out of her car. Larissa’s running late and says to start without her. Where’s Mateo?”

“Not coming. But I’m ready to start.” I turned toward the ballroom.

Natalie held my arm. “Oh, no. You guys are fighting?”

“Something like that.” Over the course of the gala planning, we’d gotten closer. I wouldn’t have minded telling her, but my throat tightened up, and if his name crossed my lips, tears would flow.

There were no tears when a job was on the line. Mom had taught me that.

“Let’s get down to business.” I pivoted toward the ballroom and took a deep breath.

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