Page 62 of The Fiancée Farce
“Confused,” she repeated, her relief that Tansy wasn’t mad ather short-lived, replaced with a gnawing sort of anxiety that worsened the longer Tansy went without clarifying. “Confused about what?”
Tansy finally met Gemma’s eyes, gaze stony and steady. “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
“Not particularly.” She scrunched up her nose. “But we told Mr.Barnes we would, so—”
“No.” Tansy gave a quick, curt shake of her head. “Not the interview.This.” The front of her throat bobbed. “Us.”
Gemma’s chest went tight, breathing suddenly a labor instead of an impulse. Had something happened between now and the last time they’d spoken? “Are you having second thoughts? Do you not want to—”
“It’s not that.” Tansy cringed softly. “It’s not about what I want.”
The bartender returned, setting Gemma’s drink down in front of her. She murmured a quiet thanks and filched out her orange peel, tossing it on her napkin as soon as he turned his back. She took a quick swig, preferring the burn of the whiskey to the gaping maw of dread growing in her stomach. “Then what is it about?”
“I don’t know if now’s the best time—”
“The interviewer isn’t here yet.” And Gemma would be a wreck if forced to wait, all raw nerves. “We’ve got time.”
Tansy frowned as she stared down at her hands, picking at her cuticles. “I guess I should start by saying it was a complete accident. I was in the library after you left when Bitsie’s dog came in. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but she stole my earring and ran off with it and I chased after her.” She cringed, fingers curling into fists atop the table. “I swear I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, and I know I should’ve said something sooner, but I was... processing. I overheard you and Lucy talking.”
Gemma’s fingers spasmed around her lowball, causing the iceinside to click against the glass. Everything inside her drew up tight. “Oh.”
No wonder Tansy was acting distant. Gemma would be confused, too, if she’d overheard someone else profess their love to Tansy.
Not only confused. Gemma would be angry and hurt and a myriad of emotions she’d have no right to feel, certainly no business feeling, but she’d feel them all the same. And living with those feelings and without answers, trying to fill in the blanks all by herself forhours,would’ve sent her up the wall. Tansy was a more patient person than she was, at any rate.
“I promise I was just trying to get my earring back,” Tansy said. “But then I heard footsteps and I panicked and had the brilliant idea of hiding behind a curtain.”
Despite the mess of emotions churning away inside her gut, Gemma laughed. “You hid behind a curtain?Tansy.”
Tansy buried her face in her hands and groaned. “I know,I know. It was not one of my brightest ideas, trust me.” She raised her head, leaving her chin cradled in her hands. “I don’t know how much your uncle heard, but he has to have heard some of it.”
Gemma nodded slowly, letting everything Tansy said sink in. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Let me worry about Brooks.”
She liked Brooks, loved him even, but whether she trusted him was a different question entirely. The situation was delicate. To confront him, come out swinging, guns blazing, would be reckless and irresponsible. In this, it would be smarter to proceed with caution, let Brooks come to her—however much being patient might kill her.
“Are you saying you’re worried?” she asked.
“I’m notnotsaying that.” Gemma sighed and set her drink down on her cocktail napkin. “I’ll handle it. But what you heard... thereisnoLucy and I, okay?” That wasn’t entirely accurate, and it wasn’t fair, either, so she added, “Not anymore.”
“Ah.” Tansy nodded, pulling a face when she tore at a hangnail.
Gemma cringed as the skin around Tansy’s fingernail went red and raw, angry. “You’re going to hurt yourself.” She reached out, meaning to cover Tansy’s hand. But Tansy drew back, leaving Gemma’s hand hovering awkwardly in the air. She lowered it to the table, folding her fingers into a fist, mimicking the clench of her chest. “Look, it’s a complicated situation.”
“It’s not my business.” Tansy shook her head. “I only brought it up so you’d know that Brooks heard something and because... if you’re having second thoughts and you want to back out, we should probably pull the plug on this sooner rather than later.”
Gemma couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“I don’t want to back out,” she stressed, the edge of the table pressing against her sternum as she leaned toward Tansy. “Idon’t. Lucy and I, we’re just friends now. I swear.”
“Friends like we’re friends?” Tansy asked. “Friends with benefits?”
Friends with—her jaw dropped. “No.No.Lucy and I aren’t like that. We haven’t been like that for a long time. I swear.”
Gemma was a one-woman kind of girl.
