The corner of Lucy’s mouth tugged, and she broke into a large smile. “This is major.”
“It is?” Gretchen asked.
Lucy nodded. “This could be it.”
“I don’t follow . . .” Gretchen’s eyes narrowed as she focused on Lucy.
“He might be ‘the one.’”
“Jesus Christ,” Gretchen blurted. “It’s only been a month.”
“Gretchen, he moved here fromJapanfor you. It’s not like he drove over from Indianapolis. He couldn’t stop thinking about you for, like,years. That’s true love. You’re the one that got away.”
“I think you have that the wrong way around.”
“Don’t you love him?” Lucy asked.
“I think so.”
“You think?” I asked.
“After all this time, how do I know if I still love him? Is he the same person? Am I? How can I know if this is right?”
“You can’t, Gretchen. Love means having faith.” Lucy swirled the wine in her glass and looked off into the distance. “Of course you still love him. That doesn’t just go away.”
“Maybe not . . . but what if it lessened?” Gretchen asked. “I’m not really sure how I feel.”
“Love doesn’t have levels,” Lucy decided. “It just is.”
I flicked my thumbnail over the rim of my glass. “So you can’t love one person more than another?” I asked quietly.
“No, I just mean that love doesn’t change or morph into something else. It just is, you either love him or you don’t. Of course I love Andrew more than anyone else, but that doesn’t mean I love you guys any less. I just love you in a different way.”
“What about loving two people at the same time?” I asked. They both looked at me. “In the same way,” I added.
“You mean like friends?”
I felt suddenly warm and pulled at my collar. “No . . . not friends.”
“I don’t understand,” was all Lucy said while her eyebrows met in the middle of her forehead.
“Like what if Gretchen had met someone else when Greg was away,” I said. “What if she were married now? When Greg shows up, does she love them both?”
“Well, no,” Lucy said.
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because that’s just not plausible,” Lucy said, seeming to grow cross. “You can only love one or the other.”
“Never mind,” I said. I knew better than to point out that maybe her theory had some holes.
“This is much too philosophical for my state of mind.” Gretchen tossed back the last of her wine and set the empty glass on the table. “I think we’re getting way, way ahead of ourselves. Marriage is not even in the equation, trust me.”
Lucy pursed her lips to show that she didn’t approve. She looked at me. “I’m not even going to ask what you think. After your drunken diatribe at my bachelorette party, I’m sure it’s cynical.”
I smiled a little, glad I’d started to move out of that phase. But I wouldalwaysbe part-skeptic, no matter what. “Sorry, but I’m with Gretchen. Anyway, there’s one very important detail that makes this whole discussion—they’re breaking up.”
“Wait, back up,” Lucy said, turning to Gretchen. “What?”
