‘Her name is Nina,’ Claire replied, matching her stroke for stroke. ‘She’s American.’
‘How long has she been in Australia? How did they meet?’
‘I don’t know, I didn’t ask any of that! I was too stunned by the whole marrying-a-stranger thing. All I know is that she’s a yoga teacher.’ She couldn’t help the way Nina’s occupation came out sounding like an insult.
‘Bondawillop has a yoga studio? I thought you said it was the back of beyond.’
‘Bindallarah. And it is the back of beyond. At least, it used to be. When I left it didn’t even have a coffee shop,’ she said. ‘But, again, that’s not the point.’
They reached the end of the pool and kicked off the wall to head back the way they’d come. ‘Then what is the point, Claire?’ Jackie said, slightly breathless. ‘The guy’s getting married. So what? You’re sort-of-kind-of maybe just friends. You didn’t want to date him. Is he not supposed to date anyone else?’
No, he’s not!
Claire drew in a sharp breath as the words rushed to the tip of her tongue. Thankfully, she bit them back before they were able to tumble out. She didn’t really feel that way. Of course Scotty could date. He should date. He should fall madly in love and live blissfully ever after. She wanted him to be happy. After everything she’d put him through over the years, she wanted happiness for Scotty even more than she wanted it for herself.
But how could he be happy with a woman he’d only known for four weeks? And why hadn’t he ever mentioned Nina in his emails to Claire? A fiancée was a pretty significant life event to leave out when catching up with a former flame.
‘He never said a word about her,’ Claire said miserably. ‘Not once. He’s my friend. He is,’ she said, when Jackie rolled her eyes, ‘and friends are meant to tell each other when they fall head over heels in love.’
Jackie stopped swimming. ‘Maybe he didn’t know how to tell you,’ she said, treading water in the middle of the lane. ‘You know what men are like – they’re not exactly fans of sharing their feelings. It was probably easier for him to stick his head in the sand than to worry that you’d feel . . . you know.’
Claire didn’t know. ‘That I’d feel what?’
‘Well, stupid.’ Jackie switched to freestyle and powered down the lane, leaving Claire staring slack-jawed after her.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ she said when she caught up with her friend. ‘Why would Scotty worry that I’d feel stupid?’
Jackie sighed. ‘I know you say you’re not carrying a torch for him —’
‘I’m not!’ Claire interrupted.
Jackie held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. ‘Okay, okay, I believe you. But what if Scotty thinks you are?’
Claire suddenly felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. He couldn’t possibly think that. Could he?
‘I mean, the guy is hot,’ Jackie went on. At Claire’s sharp look she added, ‘Hey, I might prefer the ladies myself, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a fine male specimen when I see one. Men with the sort of magnetism that Scotty Shannon has always assume women are interested in them, because women always are interested in them. Especially old girlfriends who track them down out of the blue after eight years.’
Claire groaned as the truth of Jackie’s statement crashed over her like a wave. Scotty thought Claire was still in love with him. And because he was kind and considerate and always gentle with her feelings, he hadn’t wanted to embarrass her by admitting he was in love with someone else – that he would never want her again – until the last possible moment.
What an idiot she’d been to imagine for even a moment that Scotty might still have feelings for her. Why had she even entertained the thought when all she wanted from him was his friendship? She never should have agreed to meet him. She should have been content with his occasional presence in her inbox. She’d brought this torment on herself.
And it was torment. As foolish as she felt, it didn’t change the fact that Scotty was about to marry a woman he barely knew. That was what was really bothering her. It was such a reckless decision. When he’d dropped his bombshell in the pub last night, Claire had heard herself offering congratulations, had felt her face contort into a shell-shocked smile. But inside, she was stunned – and horrified. Why would he do something so rash? Scotty had always been decisive, always gone after what he wanted, but not without proper planning and consideration. She didn’t need to know this Nina person to know that proposing to someone four weeks after meeting them, and rushing to tie the knot two weeks after that, was just crazy. He couldn’t know she was The One yet. Nobody could make such a huge decision so quickly.
Claire had known Scotty her whole life, had loved him for more than five years when he proposed to her, and even then she hadn’t been sure.
‘Okay, let’s say you’re right,’ Claire said. ‘How do I make him see that this wedding is a huge mistake without him thinking I want him for myself?’
‘You don’t,’ said Jackie.
‘But he can’t marry her, Jac. It will be a disaster!’
She hadn’t even told Jackie the worst part: that Scotty actually wanted her at the wedding. There wasn’t an ice cube’s chance on this sweltering day that she would go. Attend her oldest friend’s ill-conceived wedding to a stranger in a town she despised? She would rather take rectal temperature readings from flatulent horses every day of her life.
‘How do you know? You haven’t met this Nina. Maybe they’re meant for each other.’
It was Claire’s turn to roll her eyes.
‘And even if they’re not,’ Jackie continued, ‘having a terrible, awful, disastrous marriage is their prerogative.
