Three Brides, No Groom Read Free Page A

wasn’t
going to let him pressure her, nor would she be rushed because he was afraid of
a confrontation with his mother. This was her life,
and she was determined to take a long hard look before making a decision about
the future.
    “OK, if that’s what you want,” Roger said shortly. “I’ll tell
Mom to go on ahead without you.”
    She nodded.
    He lingered a moment longer, his gaze boring into hers. “There
isn’t any reason to tell Mom about what happened, is there?”
    Gretchen almost felt sorry for him. “Why would I want to
humiliate myself even further?” she asked.
    He was visibly relieved as he turned and hurried toward the
parking lot. As Gretchen watched him go, the knot in the pit of her stomach
tightened. Needing to do something, anything other than stand there on the
veranda, she moved down the steps and began walking. She soon found herself by
the fountain, and with a heavy heart, she lowered herself onto the concrete rim.
The urge to bury her face in her hands and weep was nearly overwhelming, but she
had too much pride to publicly display her pain.
    Most of the activity around the school had stopped. Graduation
was over, and the majority of students had already left the campus. She was
grateful for the quiet, a rarity at the university. She needed to mull over what
she’d learned, to assimilate what Didi had told her, followed by Roger’s weak
justifications.
    Every time she tried to make sense of the cold ugly facts of
his infidelity, distance herself from them, she stumbled over the pain.
    Again and again, Roger had told her how much he loved her, how
she would be the perfect wife for him. His insistence caused her to wonder if he
was mouthing his mother’s sentiments, not his own. A man who truly loved her
wouldn’t step into a closet with Didi Wilson. But at the same time, Roger was
full of regret. Despite her own pain, she could sense his. He was genuinely
sorry. She wanted, needed, to believe that.
    One thing he’d said rang true. Didi had never made a secret of
how attractive she found Roger. Nor had she bothered to disguise her dislike for
Gretchen. It was probably that dislike that had prompted Didi to confront
her.
    Didi’s neck had been covered with hickeys so livid that no
amount of makeup could fully hide them. She’d boldly walked up to Gretchen,
looked her in the eyes, smiled and then casually asked her if she knew what
Roger had been doing the night before. At Gretchen’s stunned silence, Didi had
crudely asked Gretchen if she thought she was woman enough to satisfy Roger’s
healthy sexual appetite. The question insinuated that she wasn’t and never would
be.
    The roar of an engine shattered the peace. Gretchen glanced up
to see Josh Morrow speed across the campus parking lot on his Harley, a plume of
dark exhaust in his wake. He’d been cited by campus security a dozen times,
she’d heard, for driving above the speed limit, but it hadn’t fazed him.
    Josh was a loner, a known troublemaker, a rebel. She’d spoken
to him once months earlier, and Roger had been furious with her. In the weeks
since, she’d avoided Josh, but that hadn’t stopped her from noticing him. He
stood apart from everyone, watching, studying. The outsider, looking in. He
hadn’t sought her out again, and she was grateful. She supposed it was natural
to feel a certain attraction toward Josh. She suspected a lot of the women at
Queen Anne did. Maybe it was the black leather and the motorcycle, the sense
that the love of a good woman would tame him.
    Now her gaze must have lingered on him a second longer than was
prudent, for he eased his huge bike to a stop, placed his feet on the road to
maintain his balance and stared at her. After what seemed an eternity, he revved
the engine, then roared over the cement curb and onto the narrow walkway,
directly toward her.
    Gretchen stood, her heart in her throat. The last thing she
wanted was company.
    He pulled to a stop right in front of her. Lifting the