Page 96 of The Best of Friends

Rebecca’s good mood bled away. “Hello, Mother.” There was a lot more she wanted to say—like ordering her out of her house. But now she was conscious of a greater good, of the universe moving all around her. She could afford to be gracious.

Elizabeth picked up Rebecca’s glass of wine and drained it in a single gulp. “Your brother is sleeping with Jayne.”

Rebecca breathed deeply and let a feeling of calm flow through her. “It’s all right. I know, and I think this is good for David. Jayne’s lovely. He’s back, having a little fling. She’s leaving town in a few weeks. It’s all right. I know it delays his finding the bride you’re so eager for, but you have to trust this will work out the way it’s supposed to.”

Elizabeth glared at her. “Are you on drugs?”

“No, I’m calm and focused. I’ve been practicing breathing. You should try it.”

“I should have you committed. This isn’t a situation I can ignore, and neither can you. David isn’t just seeing Jayne. I think he’s in love with her.”

Rebecca drew in another breath. David in love with Jayne? “You’re overreacting. He’s having fun, nothing more.”

“I tried to talk to him.”

Rebecca walked into the open kitchen and found another wineglass. “Big mistake. You’ll make him feel trapped. He’ll push back.”

“He already did. He said that if I tried to come between them, he would turn his back on me. His own mother. He’s choosing Jayne over me. He’s in love with her. I don’t know if he’s realized it or not, but he is.”

Hearing the words was like being plunged into an icy pool. At first Rebecca felt nothing. Then there were sharp, cold knives slicing her everywhere. She wanted to throw up, to scream, to protest to the universe that this couldn’t be happening!

David in love with Jayne? Sweet, sensible, funny Jayne? Jayne washerfriend. David couldn’t have her. Couldn’t. She wouldn’t allow it. It was impossible. Jayne already had Katie. If she had David, too, if they were together, what would happen to Rebecca? Who would love her best? Who would take care of her?

“No,” she breathed, hanging on to the counter, half afraid she would pass out. “They can’t.”

David had been there for her whenever she needed him. The same with Jayne. But if they had each other, they would be too busy. They would talk about her together, take each other’s side. She would be left alone, with nothing. No one.

“You have to do something,” Elizabeth told her. “You have to stop this. Do you know what a disaster it would be if they got married?”

Married? Together always? Forever shutting her out?

“I won’t let them.”

“Can you stop this?” Elizabeth asked.

“I have to.” Rebecca had never been more certain of anything in her life. She straightened. The pain receded, but the panic remained. “I’ll go see him. Talk to him.”

“He’s not going to listen.”

“He’s my brother. He’ll listen.” She walked into the bedroom and picked up her purse.

“You have to be delicate,” Elizabeth said, following her. “You have to say it the right way, or you’ll push them together.”

“I know that.”

“I should come with you.”

“Because your last conversation with him went so well?” Rebecca asked, moving toward the door. “I’ll do it. I’ll make him understand this isn’t possible.”

Then she was running down the stairs because the elevator would take too long.

She got in her car and started the engine. Thoughts swirled in her head as she drove east on I-10, then exited and drove north to the Four Seasons. Traffic was a bitch, as usual, but she didn’t mind the delay. It gave her time to think.

The knot in her stomach didn’t go away. No matter how she considered the problem, there was no good solution. David and Jayne together meant she was abandoned. They were the two people she loved most in the word—how could they do this to her?

“I trusted you,” Rebecca whispered, wiping away tears. “I trusted you to be my friend.”

She pulled into the hotel and gave the keys to the valet. “I won’t be very long,” she told him.