“We’re doing everything we can to resolve this issue, sir.”
The Cole library was one of the most beautiful buildings in Blue Springs. Inspired by the Guggenheim in New York, it had a spiraling tower and rotunda. Each of the four floors housed different genres of books as well as classrooms and computer labs. They often had charity events on the main level under the magnificent domed ceiling.
The other young man who had been tasked with finding out what to do with them returned with Aaron in tow. He looked less than pleased to see them there. Instead of that making Bonnie feel empowered, she was quickly overwhelmed with shame.
Aaron spoke only to Bonnie. He didn’t even spare Mitch a sideways glance. “This is what you want to do? This is the statement you want to make in front of everyone here?”
Bonnie swallowed hard. Her throat was suddenly too tight to let the words pass. She wanted to shake her head no, but she nodded yes against her better judgment. The disappointment in his eyes was almost too much to bear. He wasn’t angry—he was sad.
“I’m surprised they pulled you away. I thought for sure they were going to bring the big guns. Your dad and sister are here, right?” Mitch asked. When Aaron didn’t respond with more than a glare, he continued, “How is the date with Hilde going so far? Are you two hitting it off?”
Mitch had reminded her why she was there. If Aaron could go on dates, so could she. Straightening her shoulders, she found her voice. “Are we free to join the party?”
“I hope this makes you feel better, but I’m betting it won’t.” He stepped aside and waved them past.
Mitch offered her his arm, and they strode past Aaron. Bonnie’s stomach rolled, and her heart was beating so fast she was afraid she was going to have a full-blown panic attack. They walked out into the festivities. Waitstaff with trays of champagne flutes glided by. Mitch snagged two and handed her one.
The whispers and stares began immediately. Bonnie felt more like a zoo animal on display than a guest at a fancy party. All the years she’d dreamed of coming to the gala, she had not imagined herself as a spectacle. Every reasonable part of her brain was screaming for her to leave. She didn’t need to do this. Aaron had seen her. That was enough. He knew that she knew he had brought someone else as his date. Angering Lauren didn’t seem worth the negative attention she was receiving from everyone else there.
“You are not here. You are not here with Mitch. You are not here with Mitch wearing that dress.” Lauren’s cousin Kathy gaped at them. “You have no shame. I don’t even know you.”
Jeanne Watson and her tightly curled blond hair was also there. “You need to leave right now,” she said.
Mary came swooping in and grabbed Bonnie by the arm, ushering her down one of the halls to the library offices. “Why are you doing this? Are you some kind of glutton for punishment?”
“Did you help Lauren destroy Aaron’s house?”
“Bonnie...”
“Yes or no? All I need is a one-word answer.”
Mary pushed her long brown hair over her shoulder. “No. Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know,” Bonnie admitted. She’d felt so paranoid all week, sure that everyone had conspired to ruin every good thing in her life.
“When you accused me of being a bad friend, I deserved it, because I have been. By not standing up for you and by not standing up to her, I let you both down. But now you’re accusing me of vandalism? When do you think I had the time to turn into a criminal?”
Bonnie shrugged.
“What about you? Why are you here trying to convince the whole town they were right about you? Why would you spend all summer professing your innocence and then do this?”
Bonnie hung her head. She didn’t have a good answer to that, either. She was angry. She’d wanted to hurt Lauren like she had hurt Bonnie since the wedding. Mitch had simply been a willing accomplice.
“You should leave now. Lauren will hear things, but if she doesn’t see you, maybe it won’t bother her as much.”
“Too late,” Lauren said from down the hall. She slowly made her way to where the two women were huddled together. “Nice dress.”
“You win, Lauren,” Bonnie said. “I thought I could be as mean and hateful as you’ve been, but I don’t have the stomach for it.”
“Well, for someone who doesn’t believe they’re cut out for the revenge game, I think showing up in your bridesmaid dress on the arm of my ex-fiancé is next-level hatefulness. Kudos to you for really knocking it out of the park.”
Her tone was so dry and flat, it was hard to tell how angry she was. Bonnie didn’t care. She’d thought sticking it to her would make things better, but it hadn’t. “I was trying hard to think like you, and that’s what I came up with. Unlike you, however, I can’t spend the whole night here making you and everyone else uncomfortable, so I’m leaving.”
Lauren blocked her from going. “Do you love him?”
Bonnie was so tired of this rivalry that neither one of them was going to win, because Lauren couldn’t win and Bonnie didn’t want to win the prize. Bonnie didn’t love Mitch. She never would.
“Because he loves you,” Lauren said before Bonnie could respond. “And I don’t mean he thinks he’s in love with you because you smiled at him one time like Mitch. I’m talking about he cares about you and wants what’s best for you and would give up everything for you kind of love.”
Bonnie’s brows drew together. “Wait, you weren’t asking me about Mitch?”
Lauren pressed the palm of her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. “Mary, please help her out. I can’t.”
“Aaron,” Mary whispered.
His name made her heart skip a beat. The way she felt
