Bad Blood by Mary Monroe Page B

in!”
    â€œRachel, I’m sorry.” He shook his head. I had never seen such a look of anguish on his face. “I wasn’t being fair to myself by keeping you in the dark.”
    â€œFair to yourself? What about you not being fair to me? ”
    â€œI thought maybe my feelings would change . . . but . . . but they haven’t! I can’t marry you, and that’s final.”
    I pressed my lips together and rubbed the back of my neck. It felt like every muscle in my body from the chest up was aching, like I’d been run over by a bus. And in a way I guessed I had been thrown under a bus. I wanted to crawl into bed and stay there until this was over. It had to be a nightmare, and I couldn’t wait to wake up. But when I looked at Seth again and saw the serious look on his face, I knew it was not a nightmare.
    I could feel the blood rushing up to my face, the same way it had that day I caught my ex-boyfriend Jeffrey in bed with another woman before I moved from Alabama. I was not about to bust up one of my cute lamps upside Seth’s head the way I had with Jeffrey.
    â€œSeth, I advise you to vacate the premises,” I said abruptly. “I need to be alone right now.” It did me no good to attempt to maintain my normal tone of voice. I sounded as squeaky as Minnie Mouse.
    He stood up so fast, he stumbled. Had he not grabbed on to the back of the easy chair facing the couch, he would have fallen. “I . . . I still care about you . . . uh . . . Rachel,” he blubbered, blinking hard.
    I shot him a hot look and nodded. “Sure you do. Now, if you don’t get up out of my place, I am not going to be responsible for my actions,” I warned.
    â€œYou’re not going to do anything stupid to yourself when I leave, I hope.”
    â€œIf I do anything stupid, it won’t be to myself. If you don’t get your ass out of here while you still can, you’ll find out.”
    Seth began to move toward the door, walking backward. I was surprised at how calm he appeared to be while I was falling apart inside a piece at a time. “Rachel, are you going to be all right?”
    â€œGood-bye, Seth,” I said, rising. I rushed over to the door and flung it open. “And good luck.” As soon as he crossed the threshold, I slammed the door so hard and fast, it hit his butt.
    He must have flown down the stairs from my second-floor apartment to his car, because a few seconds later, he started his motor and drove off like a bat out of hell. I sat back down on the couch and stared at the wall until the telephone rang an hour later.
    â€œHey, girl.” It was Lucy.
    â€œI’m glad you called,” I croaked.
    â€œYou free for company now? Paulette and Patrice told me to pick them up on my way over.”
    â€œCome on over,” I managed to say. “I’ll be here.”

Chapter 16
    Rachel
    T WENTY MINUTES LATER P ATRICE , L UCY, AND P AULETTE ARRIVED . After we had all sat down in my living room, I poured each of us a glass of wine. We immediately started roasting Lucy’s boyfriend for giving her herpes.
    The telephone rang again, and I motioned for everybody to get silent. I leaped up and darted across the floor to the end table. I lifted the telephone with a shaky hand. This time it was Mama on the other end of the line.
    â€œHi, baby,” she began.
    â€œMama, I can’t talk right now. I have company.”
    â€œI just wanted to know if you and Seth had picked a date for the wedding yet—and one y’all going to stick to this time. Shoot! Your aunt Hattie keeps bugging me about it. Since you and Seth keep fiddling around with the date, she can’t determine when to start saving enough money to buy y’all a real nice wedding gift,” Mama said.
    I had a hard time trying to decide what words I wanted to use. I didn’t say anything until Mama finished her last rambling sentence and paused to clear her throat.