Book of Luke (Book 2) (18 page)

“No, I am Troy De La Fontaine.” His eyes
glistened. “Nice to meet you.”

She sucked a breath through her teeth. “Wow!
It gets hotter every time you guys are in here,” she mumbled, and
in her normal voice said, “Let’s go.” She grabbed some menus and we
followed her fabulous swaying butt through the restaurant doors,
just as the lights went out.

“What on earth?!” Lilly shrieked.

“Power outage,” Gino said. “Walk slow.”

And yet they
still
walked right into
us!

“Ouch!” I screamed when the giant put all
his weight on my foot.

“Sorry,” Gino grumbled.

The lights came on suddenly.

“Surprise!” shouted like a hundred
people.

We all drew back—except Gino—and Lilly
covered her gasp. The room was covered in greens, yellows, and
browns, with teddy bears, balloons, gifts, and a huge pink and blue
swirl baby shower cake resting on a center table.

Okay, so there weren’t a hundred people
there, but there seemed to be a good sixty. It certainly explained
the unusual clutter of cars in the parking lot.

“She’s stunning!” gushed one lady.

“She does not even look it!” cried
another.

Gino’s mom rushed over to Lilly, her dark
locks bouncing. She’s a beautiful woman, with rosy cheeks and dark
green eyes. “Surprise, sweetheart!” she said, cupping her hands
around Lilly’s white face and kissing each cheek.

To my displeasure, my mom and Mrs. Jacobson
appeared beside us.

Lilly stared at Mrs. Barone, breathless and
in tears.

“She’s just
really
surprised,” Anna
said dryly when some people started looking puzzled.

Mrs. Barone clasped her hands. “She really
surprised
me!
” She pulled up a chair. “Have a seat,
sweetheart, don’t overexert yourself!”

People gathered around Lilly, who—in shock
and seemingly involuntarily—fell into the chair.

She looked freakin’
traumatized
.

More guests surrounded us. Mrs. Barone
hugged Lilly’s mom. They were both in tears.

And they weren’t the only ones!

Gino looked to his parents—who would have
thought his dad’s even taller than he is?—and heaved a sigh. He
dropped to one knee, pulled a ring box from his pocket, took
Lilly’s hand and—as the room fell silent—asked,

“Lilly Jacobson, will you marry me?”

After a blank stare, Lilly’s eyes met mine,
her expression still stunned. She was clearly at a loss for words,
and I had never seen her so frightened.

Luke kissed my cheek, his hand gliding down
my arm to my ring finger. “I love you,” he breathed in my ear. But
I couldn’t even look at him. My best friend was holding her sobs,
and I could see it.

“I love you,” Gino said a moment later, when
Lilly still hadn’t responded. He glanced at Troy beside us—the only
other person in the room who
wasn’t
smiling.

Gino knitted his eyebrows, swallowed hard,
and in a soft voice said, “You
will
marry me, won’t
you?”

Tears rushed down her cheeks as she looked
from him, to his blissful mother, to her mom, to mine, over the
guests, the gifts, Troy, Luke, and me. Her gaze finally rested on
Gino’s terminally ill grandmother, and her mouth opened, but she
couldn’t speak. She began to tremble, and people started to
whisper.

A sob suddenly escaped her. Her head fell
into her hands. After a strained breath she cried,

“I’m not pregnant!”

And as if someone flipped a switch, the only
smile in the place belonged to Troy De La Fontaine.

Yeah, he looked
elated.

There were countless gasps. Widened eyes.
Mrs. Barone’s face dropped. Gino stared.

And a girl in the back screamed,
“What!”

Mrs. Jacobson glared. My mother looked to
me, confused. I covered my mouth.

“See?” an Italian lady behind us shouted to
Mrs. Barone. “I told you it is bad luck to throw a shower this
early! Did you listen? No! Look what happened! Now there is no
baby!”

All eyes glided from her, back to Lilly.

“I’m not pregnant!” Lilly sobbed. “I didn’t
expect this! So soon? Why would you do this?!” she demanded, her
tear-soaked face beet-red.

Mrs. Barone put her trembling hands around
Gino’s grandmother. “I—I got excited. I guess I went a little
overboard, but my mother doesn’t expect to be here much longer. She
wanted to at least be here for this moment, to celebrate the baby…”
Her teary eyes rested on Gino. “To see my son propose,” she
quavered. “Why would you say you’re pregnant if you’re not?” She
burst into tears. “I don’t understand!”

His grandmother was in tears herself, and
Gino was at a loss for words. He rubbed his forehead.

Luke beside me breathed rapidly. “Why did
you say you’re pregnant, if you’re
not
?”

Lilly looked at him through tears. Then at
Gino. “I wanted Gino to move in with me, but he said he’s going to
British Columbia. I wanted to make him rethink our relationship…”
her voice trailed off. “I didn’t mean for this to hurt anyone, I
swear!”

Mrs. Jacobson’s face reddened.

Gino sighed, looked down and closed the ring
box.

“Wait,” Luke demanded. “You tried to
manipulate
my friend into moving in with you? And you
expected
no one
to get hurt?
”

Lilly covered her face. “I feel bad enough,
Lukasz! Don’t lecture me!”

Luke’s face grew dark, and his eyes suddenly
settled on me. “You knew?”

My body quivered. I nodded.

“And you let me throw my best friend into a
locker, threaten him and call him an asshole?”

My eyes widened, and my chest constricted. I
looked from Luke, to Gino, to Lilly. “Luke,” I breathed. “I’m
sorry.”

“You’re sorry…” Luke shook his head. He
looked down for a moment, then to Gino. “Gino,
I’m
sorry.
I’m sorry I mistrusted you and mistreated you.”

“Luke,” I attempted, all glares in the room
suddenly on me.

Luke shook his head again. “Forget it,
Adonia.”

My heart stopped. “Forget what?”

Luke swallowed hard. “Forget trying to
explain this to me. I can’t wrap my mind around it. I can’t fathom
why you would know something this serious is
bullshit
and
not tell me!”

“I didn’t know how to take it back!” Lilly
sobbed. “It was a stupid little lie. I was just too scared to tell
the truth! I was afraid—”

“Once again, the whole fucking world
revolves around
you!
” Luke growled. “Do you
ever
think about anyone else? Immature and
selfish
, that’s what
you are!
Again!
”

Lilly hunched in her seat somewhat, hugging
herself.

“By the way, this doesn’t look like a
little lie
to me,” he said, putting his arms out.

People began collecting their gifts and
tramping out in furor. The words some uttered as they passed her
weren’t nice ones.

Before long only a handful remained—our
mothers, Gino’s grandparents and some cousins—and they were all in
or near tears.

Lilly looked at Gino. “I’m so sorry, Gino.
I’ll move to British Columbia with you. Whatever you want…”

Gino put his hands in his pockets. “Never
mind,” he ordered.

His glossy eyes brushed his mother’s. “I’m
sorry, Ma.”

Luke grabbed my hand. “Let’s go.”

A step closer to the door, I pulled my hand
free and touched Lilly’s shoulder.

Luke turned and looked at me, his eyes
betrayed.

“Please,” I wept. “Can we stay with
her?”

“You’re
still
on her side? You choose
her
, after what she did?” he asked in disbelief.

“How can I leave her?” I pled. “She’s my
best friend! She’s shattered, Luke.”

His eyes widened. “Will you look around and
see who is
truly
shattered? How about that terminally ill
lady over there? How about Gino’s mom, who paid for all this shit!
I just treated my best friend like crap, and you didn’t have the
decency to tell me, or stop me? You’ve known this whole time and
you said nothing! And to think a minute ago I wanted to forgive
you, because of how much
I love you
.”

I trembled. He’d turned on me. I’d made him
turn on me, just by defending her. Just by being her friend.

“People make mistakes!” I blurted.

His eyes were soulful, his face grave.
“Toying with people’s feelings about things as sensitive as this
isn’t a
mistake
. It’s intentional, it’s cold, and it’s
downright
cruel
.”

And at that, Luke gathered his posse of male
models, and walked out of my life.

~ ~ ~

Lilly slept at my house. I don’t think her mother
even knew what to say.

Mom was clearly disappointed, but I guess
you can say she felt bad for us, so she was soft on us.

When we got home, she put her purse and coat
away. “Go upstairs,” she ordered. “I’ll bring you girls something
to drink in a bit.”

We sat on my turquoise carpet, and like so
many times, did our nails. This wasn’t like those times, though,
because this time we were both broken.

“Don’t worry,” Lilly sobbed. “Lukasz will
come around, he loves you.” She squeezed more tears out. “Gino and
I are done.”

I don’t know about Luke coming around, but I
could tell from the disheartened look on Gino’s face when he closed
that ring box that she was right—they
were
done.

“In case you forgot,” I noted, “this isn’t
the first time I chose you over Luke. So I won’t hold my
breath.”

She sighed, wiped her eyes and picked up the
nail polish, smearing pink glitter on her toenail. “Seriously, I
feel
so
stupid.” She covered her face, and it was noticeably
redder the next time I saw it. “I crushed so many people. I’m going
straight to hell!”

“I accused your brother of planning to cheat
on me with your cousin,” I confessed.

She grimaced.
“What?”

“Nikki kept texting him, and she sent a
photo of the two of them at the beach. I thought she was his ex,
because he was telling her he thinks about her, and that he can’t
wait to see her. I went through his phone while he was sleeping,
and when he woke up I freaked out on him.” I hugged myself. “So
don’t feel
too
stupid.”

“Sounds embarrassing,” she said,
sniffling.

“Tell me about it.” I filed my thumbnail for
a moment. “He really didn’t tell you?”

Her eyes glided to the right.
“No…”

I bit my lip. “The moose I hit while skiing,
did he tell you about that?”

Her eyes widened. “You hit a
moose
while skiing?”

I nodded.

“Uh,
no
, I think I would have
remembered if he did. Apparently your secrets are safe with
him.”

I looked at the fairy tale ring on my
finger. “I love him,” I wept.

Lilly sighed. “You’re not making this
any
easier on me.”

“I know,” I said softly.

“At least you didn’t tell a roomful of
people who just bought your baby gifts that the baby doesn’t
exist—I’m probably the biggest bitch in North America right now!”
She groaned. “They’re probably returning that stuff as we speak,
like ‘I want to return this because the psycho girl I bought it for
wasn’t really pregnant.’”

“At least you didn’t steal a baby and say
it’s yours,” I noted.

She shot me a look. “Trust me, to them, I’m
just as bad! I don’t know
what
I was thinking, I’m so
humiliated!”

“Troy didn’t seem to be judging you.”

She sniffled some more. “He wasn’t?”

“No. Did you see his face? He was blissed
out.”

“No,” she said quietly. “The only faces I
saw were angry. And yours and Anna’s, scared.”

“Troy looked really grim when Gino proposed,
but when you said you’re
not
pregnant, his spirits soared.
I’d never seen such a mood shift!”

“Oh well. I’m sure Gino only proposed
because he felt he had to. In a way it’s good I spilled and he
dumped me, so he’s not stuck with me.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t think
any
guy would consider himself
stuck with you
, you’re freaking
hot
.”

“Yeah, well, you always know what to
say!”

“I’m serious,” I said. “Sometimes I’m
jealous of you.”

She waved a hand in contempt. “Puh-lease.
I’m just an average girl.”

“You’re average like Luke is average.”

“Luke
is
average.” Her glance fell to
the carpet. “Now Troy… Troy is
hot
.”

“He’s also a criminal.”

She furrowed her brow. “Huh?”

“My dad ran a background check on him, and
found out he
jaywalked
, twice.”

“Oooooh,” Lilly moaned. “A
bad boy
,
sounds dangerous!”

We giggled.

The smile I got out of her was short-lived,
though.

“Seriously, I
can’t believe
it has
come to this!” She whimpered, her lips in a pout. “This has turned
into
such
a disappointment that I want my virginity
back!”

“Ask him for it back, I want to see what he
says!” I said with a grin.

Mom knocked on my door. She carried in a
tray of hot chocolate and s’mores. “I brought you girls a treat,”
she breathed, sitting beside us.

“Loads of calories! Thanks, Mrs.
Morrison!”

Mom smiled. “Your mother called. She said
you’re welcome home anytime you wish to go.”

Lilly bit into a s’more. “Are you sure you
don’t just want me gone?”

Mom chuckled. “Of course not.” She put her
hands in her lap and was thoughtful for a minute. “Listen, Lilly, I
know why you did it. I’m sure Mrs. Barone will be okay, and won’t
be mad for too long.”

“How about her cancer-stricken mother, will
she not be mad for too long?” Lilly asked casually.