there, as my maid of honor. Wearing your best jeans. You looked great, if that helps. You brought Max with you.”
It didn’t. Tensley felt as though her brain, which had been sprinting to keep up with processing all of this, stopped with a wheeze and a go-on-without-me wave of the hand. “But I wasn’t. There. Neither was he.”
“Not after Madame Claire made it all go away.”
Another dog joined in the barking.
“How long were you married?”
“Oh, let me think,” Kate said. Her tone was casual, but laden with bitterness. “Right about nine days, three hours and thirty-one minutes. Mitch’s father had the marriage annulled and Mitch didn’t say a word. He just … ” Kate turned her palms up, lifting a shoulder, “ … left early for Yale. And his father told everyone that I’d tricked his son into marrying me because he never would have ended up with someone like me otherwise. It was humiliating. I started wondering if his father was right.”
“Like you would ever do something like that.” Tensley pressed her lips together.
“That’s what you said then.” A small, sad smile. “But then everything happened with you and Max and I lost my best friend. Started drinking way too much and hanging out with people I shouldn’t have. A few weeks later, I’d totaled a car and been arrested for drugs. The university couldn’t pull my scholarship fast enough.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Never graduated. Never became a vet. Never got over Mitch and his father making me feel like dirt.”
“I had no idea.”
“I shouldn’t have had any idea, either.” Anger surged through Kate’s voice, building in intensity as she went on. “Madame Claire was supposed to be able to erase all of the memories, along with the mistake. That’s what she told me. That’s what I believed.” Kate sucked in a breath. “But she got it wrong with me and now with you.”
Kate’s expression changed. “You have to believe me,” she pleaded. “I don’t remember sending you to Madame Claire. Until you came in today, I didn’t even know we were still in touch, still friends. As far as I knew, you moved away after the whole thing with Rhonda and I’d never heard from you again.”
“Which,” Tensley felt compelled to point out, “didn’t actually happen until I went to see Madame Claire.”
“Right.” Kate nodded her head and then shook it. “God, this is so complicated.”
Understatement of the year.
“But obviously, we were friends and I did send you to Madame Claire.”
“Best friends.”
“Some best friend I am. I can only hope the reason I sent you to her was because she swore she’d figured out what she did wrong the first time. I’m sorry. I really am.”
Tensley met the anguished gaze of her best friend. “Hey, you were trying to help. And you must have believed her when she said it wouldn’t happen again.” She tried her best and brightest smile, figuring she might at least be able to manage one that was semi-good and only slightly dim. “And you’re a great best friend, by the way. Except for this one slip-up.”
She watched as cautious relief crossed Kate’s face. Then the barking dog chorus began hitting high notes.
“I have to see what’s going on.”
“No!” Tensley stepped in front of her, blocking the way. “I can guarantee it has to do with that cat I ended up with. Marla will take care of it.”
“But it’s my clinic. I have to — ”
“No, you don’t.” Tensley shook a finger in her friend’s face. “You, Kathleen Margaret O’Brien, have to figure out how we’re going to me get out of this mess you got me into.”
Kate’s shoulders sagged. “If there is a way out of it.”
“Of course there is.” Tensley drew her own shoulders up and back.
“Okay.” Kate was close to drawing blood from her lower lip, as hard as she was biting it.
“Remember the ‘Problem Solvers Club’ we cofounded in grade school?”
The ghost of a smile. “Yes.”
“This
It didn’t. Tensley felt as though her brain, which had been sprinting to keep up with processing all of this, stopped with a wheeze and a go-on-without-me wave of the hand. “But I wasn’t. There. Neither was he.”
“Not after Madame Claire made it all go away.”
Another dog joined in the barking.
“How long were you married?”
“Oh, let me think,” Kate said. Her tone was casual, but laden with bitterness. “Right about nine days, three hours and thirty-one minutes. Mitch’s father had the marriage annulled and Mitch didn’t say a word. He just … ” Kate turned her palms up, lifting a shoulder, “ … left early for Yale. And his father told everyone that I’d tricked his son into marrying me because he never would have ended up with someone like me otherwise. It was humiliating. I started wondering if his father was right.”
“Like you would ever do something like that.” Tensley pressed her lips together.
“That’s what you said then.” A small, sad smile. “But then everything happened with you and Max and I lost my best friend. Started drinking way too much and hanging out with people I shouldn’t have. A few weeks later, I’d totaled a car and been arrested for drugs. The university couldn’t pull my scholarship fast enough.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Never graduated. Never became a vet. Never got over Mitch and his father making me feel like dirt.”
“I had no idea.”
“I shouldn’t have had any idea, either.” Anger surged through Kate’s voice, building in intensity as she went on. “Madame Claire was supposed to be able to erase all of the memories, along with the mistake. That’s what she told me. That’s what I believed.” Kate sucked in a breath. “But she got it wrong with me and now with you.”
Kate’s expression changed. “You have to believe me,” she pleaded. “I don’t remember sending you to Madame Claire. Until you came in today, I didn’t even know we were still in touch, still friends. As far as I knew, you moved away after the whole thing with Rhonda and I’d never heard from you again.”
“Which,” Tensley felt compelled to point out, “didn’t actually happen until I went to see Madame Claire.”
“Right.” Kate nodded her head and then shook it. “God, this is so complicated.”
Understatement of the year.
“But obviously, we were friends and I did send you to Madame Claire.”
“Best friends.”
“Some best friend I am. I can only hope the reason I sent you to her was because she swore she’d figured out what she did wrong the first time. I’m sorry. I really am.”
Tensley met the anguished gaze of her best friend. “Hey, you were trying to help. And you must have believed her when she said it wouldn’t happen again.” She tried her best and brightest smile, figuring she might at least be able to manage one that was semi-good and only slightly dim. “And you’re a great best friend, by the way. Except for this one slip-up.”
She watched as cautious relief crossed Kate’s face. Then the barking dog chorus began hitting high notes.
“I have to see what’s going on.”
“No!” Tensley stepped in front of her, blocking the way. “I can guarantee it has to do with that cat I ended up with. Marla will take care of it.”
“But it’s my clinic. I have to — ”
“No, you don’t.” Tensley shook a finger in her friend’s face. “You, Kathleen Margaret O’Brien, have to figure out how we’re going to me get out of this mess you got me into.”
Kate’s shoulders sagged. “If there is a way out of it.”
“Of course there is.” Tensley drew her own shoulders up and back.
“Okay.” Kate was close to drawing blood from her lower lip, as hard as she was biting it.
“Remember the ‘Problem Solvers Club’ we cofounded in grade school?”
The ghost of a smile. “Yes.”
“This
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