James,” Rachel murmured.
“You’re feeling okay?” Teri felt obliged to ask. “No side effects?”
Rachel shook her head. “You might find this difficult to believe,” she said thoughtfully, “but … I’m grateful for what happened.”
She wasn’t kidding; that didn’t even begin to make sense. “Grateful? In what way?”
“Well …” Rachel rubbed her forehead. “If it wasn’t for that horrible night, I don’t know how long it would’ve taken me to realize I love Bruce. He’s the man I want to be with, Teri. I’m sure of that now.”
“Bruce,” Teri repeated slowly. She’d been right all along.
“At first I thought James and I were both going to be killed,” Rachel said, lowering her voice. “I was terrified. You’ve heard what they say about your life passing before your eyes? I didn’t experience that, exactly, but I sure had a chance to think. Well, maybe think isn’t the best word, because I felt like I had no control of the memories and images that were running through my mind. The person who was in my thoughts the most was Bruce.”
“I knew it!” Teri said, unable to hold back her glee. Being right was just so satisfying. Especially when you were right about something good.
Suddenly it dawned on her that Rachel didn’t seem happy about this discovery. “So … what are you going to do about it?”
Instead of answering, Rachel picked up her menu and read it avidly, as if it was a best-selling novel.
“Rachel?” Teri pulled away the menu so she could look at her friend. To her horror, she saw tears in Rachel’s eyes.
“Sorry,” Rachel whispered. “Teri, I.” She began rooting through her purse for a tissue.
“What’s wrong?” Teri asked urgently. “Rachel, what’s going on?”
“Just because you love someone, that doesn’t make it easy,” Rachel said with a sob. “Any of it.”
Teri nodded sympathetically.
After taking a moment to regain her composure, Rachel said, “I told Nate.”
“And?” Teri prompted. “How did it go?”
Rachel blew her nose and answered with a shrug. “About as awful as you can imagine.”
“Oh, Rach, I’m so sorry.”
“At first he didn’t believe me. He said that because of the trauma, I wasn’t thinking straight. I told him I knew what was in my heart, and then he really got upset. He said he was afraid this would happen. Because … because he’s in San Diego, and that gave Bruce the … the home field advantage.” She gazed up at Teri in wonderment. “He actually said that.”
“Men and their sports analogies,” Teri muttered. “How typical.”
Still, breaking off a relationship was always difficult. Teri had done it often enough to know. Even when that bum Gary Underwood had emptied her bank account, she’d felt guilty about kicking him out. She’d worried about him while she was struggling to pay her rent because the jerk had stolen all her money!
“Go on,” Teri told her.
“He tried to convince me I’m in love with him and the fact is, I do love Nate—just not as much as I love Bruce.”
As if discerning that this was the worst possible moment to interrupt their conversation, the waitress came for their order.
“It ended badly,” Rachel went on to explain after the waitress had left. “Nate said some unkind things and so did I.” She paused. “I believe he does have feelings for me, but I’ve come to realize that he had an agenda, too. His mother didn’t approve of me, but Nate saw the situation differently. I think he saw me in terms of his political career—he wanted an ordinary wife because he felt that would enhance his image with voters.”
“That’s true. Not the ‘ordinary’ part, I mean, but the part about voters liking you. Who wouldn’t like you?” Teri said loyally.
Smiling through her tears, Rachel dug in her purse for a second tissue. “I feel terrible, but it’s over now and I doubt I’ll hear from him again.”
Teri let a few seconds go by before she asked, “Have you talked to Bruce?”
“Not yet.” She exhaled slowly. “That conversation won’t be any easier than the one I had with Nate.”
“What makes you say that?”
Rachel frowned, shaking her head. “He’s behaving so oddly.”
“He’s in love with you,” Teri said confidently, “and it scares him.”
“Maybe,” Rachel said slowly. “Maybe …”
“Are you going to see Bruce anytime soon?”
She hesitated. “I don’t know yet.”
“Rachel!” Why were people so stubborn? First James and her sister, and now Rachel and Bruce. Teri felt as if she personally had to take charge, as if she knew what they needed better than they did.
“I will talk to him,” Rachel promised. She sat up straighter. “I tried to tell him on Friday after the … incident, but he didn’t want to hear it. He told me I needed someone, that anyone would do and he just happened to be convenient. But that’s not true,” she said vehemently. “We were supposed to talk the next day and it didn’t happen.”
“You have to tell him,” Teri insisted.
“I will,” she said again. “Can we talk about something else now?”
“Yeah, sure.” Teri wracked her brain. She’d read the Chronicle that morning; surely there’d been some article of interest. The Harbor Street Gallery had been sold and would be staying open, after all. That was the front-page story, so Rachel probably knew about it already. As she was mulling over the local news, the waitress delivered their order.
“Guess what I heard?” Rachel murmured into her soup. She’d chosen the cream of broccoli with cheese, plus a caesar salad. Teri’s meal looked bland by comparison. “The Taco Shack’s being turned into a barbecue place.”
“Say it ain’t so,” Teri groaned.
“I feel the same way.” Rachel sounded equally disappointed.
“You and Bruce used to go there a lot, didn’t you?” If she could’ve taken the words back, she would have. Rachel didn’t need to be reminded of that right now.
“Yeah.” Rachel stared out the window. The trees were bare and a few leaves skipped along the street, carried by the wind.
“How did the doctor’s appointment go?” she asked after a while.
“Fine. He suggested I walk every day.”
