Three Brides, No Groom

At the sound of her name, Gretchen turned and was greeted by a familiar face. Someone from her graduating class. She struggled to dredge up a name to go with the face.

“It’s Carol. Carol Furness.”

“Carol.” Gretchen couldn’t believe she’d stumble on a sorority sister here at the fountain an hour before the formal reunion festivities were scheduled to start. They hugged each other fiercely.

“I wondered if that was you,” Carol said, sitting down next to Gretchen on the edge of the fountain.

“Have I changed so much?” Gretchen asked. “Lie, if you have to.”

Carol responded with a good-natured laugh, her blue eyes twinkling. “Not at all. You look the same as you did the day we graduated. I would have known you anywhere. The years have been good to you.”

“Ditto for you, Carol.” Gretchen smiled. “I couldn’t resist coming down and walking around the campus.”

“Me either,” Carol admitted as she scanned the grounds. “I haven’t been back in all these years.”

“Nor have I.” But Gretchen doubted that the reasons for her absence were the same as her old sorority sister’s.

“Are you attending the dinner and the dance later?”

The day of the reunion was here, and Gretchen had yet to make up her mind. “The dinner definitely, but I don’t know if I can drag my husband to the dance.”

“The same with me,” Carol said. “My husband’s a wonderful dancer, but he refuses to believe it.”

“Gretchen? Carol?” The voice belonged to a tall striking auburn-haired woman approaching from the left.

Gretchen hadn’t a clue who it was, and she looked at Carol for help. Carol just shook her head.

The redhead grinned. “Not more than two minutes ago I wondered if anyone would recognize me. I’ve changed, I know. It’s me, Maddie Coolidge.”

“Maddie?” Gretchen couldn’t believe it. The Maddie Coolidge she remembered was nothing like the well-groomed woman who stood before her now. Maddie had been outlandish in appearance, as well as in word and deed. Stubborn and defiant, a nonconformist. Yet beneath all the bravado Maddie had a heart of gold.

Gretchen recalled that Maddie had struck up a close “friendship” with John Theda, a math professor. It was supposed to have been a secret, but everyone knew the two were secretly engaged. The romance had caused quite a stir about campus, but then “controversy” was Maddie’s middle name.

“You look wonderful,” Carol said, standing up and hugging Maddie. Gretchen did likewise, and then all three sat down, with Gretchen in the middle.

“I’m pleased someone else thought to stop off at the fountain,” Maddie said.

“It brings back memories, doesn’t it?” Carol murmured thoughtfully.

The three were silent for several moments. Caught up in the wonder of years past, Gretchen suspected.

“I was hoping to get a chance to talk to you, Carol,” Maddie said excitedly. “I bet you’ve had a fabulous fifteen years. I don’t pay much attention to professional sports, but whenever I hear anything about football, I keep my ear open for news of Eddie.”

“Eddie Shapiro?” Carol asked on a disdainful note. “The guy’s a worm.”

Maddie looked shocked. “You were engaged to him, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, but he dropped me like a hot potato once he was picked up by the pros.” Carol folded her arms and crossed her legs. Her foot swayed so hard she created a draft. “Let’s change the subject, shall we?”

“Of course,” Maddie said apologetically.

A short awkward silence followed while Gretchen absorbed the information. Like Maddie, she’d assumed Carol and Eddie had married. “What about you, Maddie? Being a professor’s wife certainly appears to agree with you.”

Instant hot color blazed in Maddie’s cheeks, and her eyes snapped with fire. “I never married John Theda. The man’s a cheat.”

“Weren’t you two engaged?”

“Oh, yes, until John got what he wanted, and it’s not what you think. I suspect it was one of the shortest engagements on record.”

“What about you, Gretchen?” Carol asked, quickly changing the subject once again. “How many children do you and Roger have?”

“Roger Lockheart?” Gretchen said. “I haven’t seen that rat in years.”

Gretchen watched as her two college friends exchanged glances. It seemed they were as shocked by her news as she was by theirs.

“Well, it appears we have a lot more to discuss than we realized,” Gretchen said. And to think she’d worried herself sick about this silly reunion. She leaned back on her hands and smiled softly. “If I’m hearing you correctly, you were both engaged and then dumped.”

They nodded.

“Me too,” Gretchen confessed. “So there we were—three brides and no groom. Who would’ve believed it?”

“I can’t believe you didn’t marry Roger,” Maddie whispered, apparently having trouble taking it all in. “He was always so…so perfect.”

“I used to think he was wonderful,” Carol added.

“At one time I thought so, too,” Gretchen admitted.

“What happened?” Carol asked. “From what I remember, you and Roger were less than a month away from your wedding.”

“Yup.”

“If you tell your story, I’ll tell you what happened with John,” Maddie promised. “I’d like you to know.”

Carol grinned. “And I’ll spill my guts about Eddie Shapiro.”

Gretchen laughed. “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Carol said.

“I do—” Maddie smoothed her hand down her skirt “—and you’ll get the whole story from me. It’s time someone knew exactly what kind of person John really is.” She glanced at Gretchen. “You go first, then Carol and then me. I can’t think of a better way to spend the afternoon.”

Gretchen’s Story

Chapter 1

This was supposed to be one of the happiest days of Gretchen’s life. The day was memorable, all right, but it would be forever marked as a day of pain and betrayal. Emotion clawed at her throat, and she battled tears. She wanted her mother, but her parents had already left the campus. They’d driven up to Seattle from San Francisco to attend her college graduation and were taking a few extra days to visit Victoria, British Columbia, before returning home and making the final arrangements for her wedding to Roger, and she didn’t want to bother them on their brief vacation.

Except Gretchen was beginning to doubt that there would be a wedding.