I stopped for groceries on my way home from work. Business had been slow at Wonder World and I’d spent the better half of my shift taking inventory of the greeting cards.
So, apart from Jill, no one had said anything to me about the wedding.
Until the cereal aisle.
“Those should fit nicely around your finger.”
My grip tightened on the box of Frosted Cheerios I was holding.
Jenna O’Rourke stood behind me, her hands resting on a shopping cart.
“Excuse me?”
She smirked. “You know, since Chase didn’t put a ring on your finger.”
I could feel the cardboard buckle as my fingers clenched.
“They’re in Hawaii, you know,” she said, adjusting the sunglasses perched on her blond head. “Having the best time.”
What was I supposed to say to that?
“And they had a good laugh over your appearance at the wedding.” She smiled thinly. “We all did, actually.”
I turned away from her so she couldn’t see my cheeks burn. I didn’t know what I’d expected after that stunt. I mean, I knew what I’d wanted to happen. I’d wanted Chase to run away with me. To live out the song, to get the guy, to be that happily ever after. I never gave much thought to alternative outcomes.
“I’m surprised you weren’t better dressed for the occasion.” She selected a box of Kashi GoLean and tossed it into her cart.
I’d spent fifty bucks on the dress at Forever 21. What was wrong with it?
“I mean, what if Chase had changed his mind?” she asked, her eyebrows raised. “If you’d been wearing a wedding gown…why, you could’ve just stepped right in and taken Angela’s place!” She erupted into peals of laughter.
I pushed past her, toward the produce section. I was sure my cheeks were as red as the bin of apples in front of me.
“You could have had her cake, her reception, her gifts.” She snickered. “Even her honeymoon…”
My stomach rolled. How could I not have seen this coming? Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“Is everything OK?”
It was Paul, a blue shopping basket hanging on his forearm. It was filled with single-serving packages of Stouffer’s frozen lasagna.
Jenna quickly smoothed her hair and fixed an innocent smile on her face. “Oh, hi Paul.” She looked him over, her eyes zeroing in on the basket. “You like lasagna? You should totally come over to my place sometime—I make a kick-ass lasagna.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” He glanced in my direction. “You alright?”
Jenna answered for me. “Everything’s perfect. We were just reminiscing about the weekend. Weren’t we, Bonnie?”
I tried to nod my head. My stomach felt funny, but my head did, too, like there was suddenly more air floating around inside of my brain. It was a likely possibility—I was pretty sure a lack of brain cells was to blame for all of my recent acts of stupidity.
“Lay off, Jenna,” Paul said.
She frowned. “I’m not doing anything. Lighten up.”
Paul ignored her and stepped closer to me. “You don’t look so good.”
“Awesome. Thanks a lot.” I leaned against the cart.
“No, no. That’s not what I meant,” he stammered, a rush of red spreading from his neck upward. “You look…sick.”
I didn’t want to admit that I felt sick, too, all queasy and light-headed from my confrontation with Jenna. I knew this was just a precursor of things to come—I’d never live down what had happened at Chase and Angela’s wedding. Never. Maybe my time in Mansfield was coming to an end. Maybe I did need to think more seriously about becoming a hermit.
“Bonnie?” Paul spoke to me through a tunnel, his voice hollow but alarmed.
I tried to answer but I couldn’t. Because the grocery store started to spin and everything went black.
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