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“Fine.” Audrey sailed past me and looked around the suite, which was a total mess. I’d started and stopped packing three times. My clothes and toiletries were strewn all over the bed. “What’s going on in here?”
“Every time I start packing, I start crying.” I sank onto the edge of the bed. “Everything’s just a mess.”
“What happened?” Audrey asked. “Cole texted James and told him he was flying back to Boston alone. He didn’t answer when James called.”
I shrugged. I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.
Audrey put her hands on her hips. “I’m your best friend, Jenny. This is the second time you guys have broken up, so I think you should tell me what’s going on. You two seem happy together, so this doesn’t make sense to me.”
I sighed. “We were happy together, but it’s complicated. I don’t think it’s meant to be.”
“Why not?”
“Because we’re from two different worlds,” I said lamely.
“Please stop with this!” Audrey exclaimed. “We’ve been over and over the same thing. Just because you grew up poor doesn’t mean you can’t have a relationship with someone wealthy.”
“It’s not just that?—”
“I know,” Audrey said firmly, “and I’m getting to the point. You can have a relationship with someone wealthy, and you can have agoodrelationship. You can, Jenny. You deserve one. No matter what happened in your past.”
I twisted one of my curls around my finger. “What if that’s not true, huh? I keep getting signs.”
“Signs?” Audrey asked. “What on earth do you mean?”
“Every time I think I’m supposed to be with Cole, something bad happens.” I blew my nose with a loud honk. “It’s like the Universe is trying to stop us from being together.”
Audrey sank onto the chaise lounge and eyed me. She looked concerned, with a little V forming in between her eyebrows. “So you broke up with Cole because you thought the Universe wanted you to?”
I shrugged. “Not exactly. And technically, he broke up with me.”
“Why did he break up with you?” Audrey asked. “Can you please just tell me what happened?”
“I really can’t,” I admitted. “You’ve got enough problems, dealing with your crazy-ass mother-in-law and your wedding coming up and everything. You do not need the Jenny Drama in your life, trust me. Frankly, I don’t need it in mine, and I’m Jenny.”
Audrey blew out a deep breath. “Okay, you have got to stop talking in circles. Just tell me what happened. What did you two fight about? Why did he leave?”
I picked up one of my shirts, listlessly folding and re-folding it. “I think Cole caught me on his phone. He didn’t say so, but I think that’s what it was.”
“What?” Audrey looked confused. “What do you mean?”
I shrugged. “I got on his phone last night when he was asleep. I was on his messages.”
“Doing what?” Audrey asked. “Snooping?”
“Not exactly.” I looked at my friend. She looked too pretty and pulled together in her pink cashmere sweater and jeans to be listening to my soap opera drama. Sighing, I continued anyway. “Cole’s father asked me to send a text message to one of Cole’s business associates, so that’s what I was doing.”
Audrey arched an eyebrow. “How and why is Cole’s father asking you to do something like that?”
“How is easy. He called me and told me to. He threatened me.” Giving up, I threw the shirt down in a wrinkled ball. “And the why is easy, too. He wants me to do his dirty work. And then he wants me to ghost Cole and never look back.”
“Rich people are seriously f’d up.” Audrey shook her head. “So… I’m guessing that Cole’s father didn’t want Cole to know about this? He made you keep it a secret?”
“Correct,” I said, “which was why he had me do it in the middle of the night.”
“And you did it because he threatened you?” Audrey waited for me to answer, her eyes wide in her pretty face.
I nodded. “He’s blackmailing me,” I admitted. It felt good to have it off my chest. Cole had already guessed the truth, so there was little harm in sharing it with my friend. With one caveat: “You can’t say anything about this to anyone, I swear to God. Cole’s dad is dangerous. If he’s coming after me, I’m sure he’d happily come after you, too. He already threatened that. So this stays between us. You have to swear on it.”