Page 73 of Little Gray Dress

“Yes, he told me.”

“Well, I am here to set you straight.”

“Straight?” I ask, confused.

“Greta has proved to be a compulsive liar, and I honestly think she may be a tad mentally unstable, but that’s just my own opinion of a girl who’s taken complete advantage of my son.” She pauses for a moment and looks to me with her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed. “Greta Mayfair is not pregnant.”

“What?!” I half-yell at her in shock, jumping out of the chair.

“I found it peculiar that she should choose the day after Jack broke things off with her to suddenly announce that she’s pregnant, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but… Greta is a psycho.”

Amelia stifles a pinched laugh and nods her head in agreement. “That’s one word for it. When she announced this pregnancy, I was suspicious and decided to look further into it – and I’ve discovered that Greta is not pregnant at all.” Her tone is steady and unnerved.

“How did you find this out?”

“I paid her a visit and she told me.”

I let out the breath I’ve been holding in and laugh almost uncontrollably. Greta is not pregnant. It was another lie. Oh my God, she’s not pregnant!

I burst into tears, as Amelia stares at me with a shocked look on her face.

“Sit down.” She motions to the other chair. “Are you OK?”

“So… She’s really not pregnant?” I bite my lip, unsure of what to say now.

“She’s really not pregnant. I questioned whether she was telling the truth as well, but I drove her to my doctor’s office for an ultrasound as proof. When we got there she confessed in the parking lot. There is no baby. Her and Jack are officially over, and she’s preparing to leave the country with her father so she can discover who she truly is.” Amelia leans towards my chair. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if that too was a lie, covering the fact that she’s admitted herself to a hospital to fix whatever is wrong with her.”

She laughs to herself. I sit silently, nodding my head.

“Well… Are you interested in finding him or not?”

“Yes.” The smile that’s now spread across my face, through the few tears still escaping probably make me look just as crazy as Greta. “Where is he?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” She reaches into the purse sitting near her chair and hands me a plane ticket to Cancun San Lucas.

“He’s disappeared there more than once while he and Greta were together, I’ve been told. I found out that it was someplace you said you wanted to get married one day, so I assume he’d go there because of you. I already called the hotel Greta told me he stays at, and he’s there. It’s the one in the notes here.” I glance at the card inside, and the same hotel we stayed at when Lily got married is written there.

My heart stops. He goes there. Even though he was on board with the huge wedding Amelia wanted us to have, he remembered what I said that night so long ago when I thought he didn’t hear me. And he tries to relive it anytime he misses me.

“Thank you.” I realize I’m crying again when Amelia stands and pulls me towards her for a stiff hug.

“I’m so sorry, Emi. You didn’t deserve any of this. If I had only known sooner what had really happened that day you two broke up, maybe I could have helped get to the bottom of it before it went this far.” She holds me at arm’s length, sincerely apologizing for everything up until now.

“Thank you.”

“Go.” She nods before walking away from me to her car.

I turn to walk into the house, but Lily greets me at the door with my suitcase, with Josh not far behind her. “Let’s go.” she says.

“But—”

“She told us before you even got here.”

“Oh my God, Lily! I almost can’t believe what’s happening! This is the right thing, right?”

“You really are going to ask me that now?” She laughs and walks my suitcase out to the car, tossing it into the back seat and opening the door. “We’ll drop you off at the airport. You know you want this, so stop trying to over-think it.”

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