Page 17 of Sunset Serenade
She had to tell them all of that before she could get to the most incredible part of the story. “And, after all of that, you won’t believe who called me.”
Lillian spoke first. “That guy who interviewed you last week who was super rude? Did he offer you a job?”
Rose shook her head. “Not him. Someone good.”
Lucy groaned. “Was it Greg?”
“Yes!” Rose’s smile faded. “Why did you say his name like that?”
“Because it’sjustlike him to rise from his murky bog to drag you down.”
“He doesn’t live in a murky bog,” Rose snapped. “And he’s not dragging me down. He saw I got a new job and congratulated me. He wants to get dinner soon! It’sfinallyhappening! The timing is perfect. I can feel it.”
Lucy and Lillian looked at each other, then back at Rose.
“What? Don’t make those faces,” Rose said. “If Lillian can get back with her high school boyfriend, why can’t I get back with my college boyfriend?”
“Dustin is a different story,” Lucy said. “He’s not a jerk.”
Rose narrowed her eyes. “Greg isn’t a jerk. We’ve just been…we have a complicated history. Back me up, Lillian.”
Lillian bit her lip. “Itiscomplicated.”
“No, it isn’t.” Lucy rolled her eyes. “It’s not complicated at all. It’s actuallyverysimple. He had the chance to be with you for the last five years, and he chose not to be.” She crossed her arms. “There. That’s all the history you need.”
It was so like Lucy to try to oversimplify things. How could she understand? Rose and Greg were like two ships passing in the night, and then passing each other again and again. The dock was always full, or a storm blew in, or one of them had to really commit to work for a while.
They had something special, though, and she never stopped thinking about or dreaming of him. No other guy measured up. He wasthe one, she just knew it. It was tragic, it was torturous, but it wasromantic.
What did Lucy know about romance?
“He always leaves you upset,” Lillian said gently.
Rose shook her head. “That was just that one time, and it was my fault. He wasn’t in the place for a relationship, and I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
Lucy took control of the phone. “Listen. I need to tell you something. I think you deserve to know.”
Another story about Greg as the creature from the San Francisco lagoon? “Okay, what?”
“Greg is engaged.”
The couch Rose was sitting on started to spin. She put a hand out and sat up. “What? No, he’s not.”
She nodded. “He is. I wasn’t going to tell you because I thought he’d finally disappeared for good, but…” She sighed. “A friend of mine has a catering company and said she met with this really rich family who made a big deal about sparing no expense for a wedding. Long story short, it was Greg and his fiancée. Her family owns a cell phone company or something.”
“A cell phone company?” Rose shook her head. “And she’s a horrible bridezilla monster and I need to rescue him?”
Lucy winced. “Apparently, she’s really nice.Sweet as honeyis what my friend said.”
Rose had to unclench her jaw. “You’re telling me Greg is marrying some telecom heiress? And she’snice?”
It made no sense. Greg hated being around rich people. It always ruined his career prospects in Silicon Valley. He’d say the wrong thing to the wrong person and end up fired. It had happened three times in the last five years. He was a total dunce.
Rose loved him for it.
Lillian took the phone back. “I know this is hard to hear, and I’m sorry, but maybe it’s for the best?”
Maybe it was, if Greg was coming to see her because this engagement felt wrong.
