Prologue
Twenty Years Ago
Joey
That last Cosmo was a mistake. As I follow Uma and Belle into our third bar of the night, my stomach lurches. After today, I’m never drinking again.
“Our table’s in the back,” Uma shouts over Queen blasting from the sound system. “We have the karaoke stage from seven to eight.”
“I am not singing,” I protest. “I love you, babe, but—” I belch, tasting bile, and groan, “—karaoke is the one line I will never cross.”
The three of us perch on stools around the high-top table, and Uma checks her watch. “Betty and Pilar should be here soon, and they’ll drag your pre-med ass up there.”
“They’ll fail.” A server swings by with water, and I down half the glass, praying it’ll be enough to stop me from hurling all over my “I’m with the bride” t-shirt. “I’ll do anything for you. But I won’t do that.” My voice warbles in a pitiful attempt at mimicking MeatLoaf’s iconic song, and my two best friends applaud as I take a half bow and barely manage not to fall off my stool.
And that’s when I see him.
For a few seconds, I’m stone cold sober. Staring at the profile of the man who slipped a ring on my finger six months ago and promised me as soon as I finished med school, we’d get married.
Except…he’s supposed to be halfway around the world. Deployed with the Marine Corps. Instead, he’s sitting thirty feet away, staring into his beer, while a scantily clad bar-bunny presses her ass against his hip.
“Oh, hell no,” I say as I bounce off the stool and weave my way through the crowds. Uma calls my name, but I’m too angry. Too focused on Ford to respond to her.
As I reach the little floozie sucking a neon green drink through a bright pink straw, I narrow my eyes, and she makes a little o with her perfectly painted lips. Ford doesn’t notice her scampering away, but when I clear my throat and say his name, he flinches, his shoulders slumping further before he slowly turns to face me.
“Want to tell me what my fiancé is doing in San Diego? In a bar? With…that? I jerk my head towards the bar-bunny, who’s now grinding her hips against another Marine in dress whites.
He doesn’t speak for several long seconds, his mouth slack, defeat marring his features.
“Well?”
“I…we…it’s a three-day furlough. Just enough time to—”
“To cheat on me?”
Ford pushes his glass away and reaches for me. “Joey—”
“Don’t ‘Joey’ me. You’re in a bar, in our home town, and you didn’t call the woman you’re supposed to marry. Tell me what else I’m supposed to think?” My voice cracks as I try to make myself heard over the music, and I slap my hand over my mouth as my stomach lurches again. Shit. I’m going to be sick. Everything I thought I knew… I can’t do this now. Can’t watch him try to come up with excuses that’ll make this all okay. It’ll never be okay.
“I thought you were one of the good ones.” I pull and twist until the ring pops off my finger, then slam it down on the bar next to his beer. “Go fuck yourself, Ford.”
Whirling, I almost go down, but Uma and Belle appear behind me, each taking an arm. “Ford?” Uma asks as her gaze bounces between me and my now-former fiancé.
“I have to get out of here,” I say, my voice choked with the tears I won’t let fall in front of him. Pushing out of my best friends’ arms, I stumble back to the table, grab my purse, and make my way to the door.
Bursting into the cool evening air, I start to run for Market Street. I can catch a cab there to take me home, and all I want right now is to throw up and cry.
“Joey!” Ford’s voice behind me propels my feet faster, but I can’t see much through the tears welling in my eyes. “Joey, wait, please!”
He catches up to me on the corner, steps in front of me, and wraps me in his arms. The tender gesture shatters me, and I dissolve into hoarse, choking sobs. “You…bastard. I hate you.”
“Call me any name you want, buttercup. I deserve them all. But,” he dips his head so his lips are close to my ear, “I swear on my life I didn’t cheat on you. I would never. You’re…you’re it for me.”
As a tear lands on my bare shoulder, I peer up at him. In the two years we’ve been together, I’ve never seen him so…unsure. “Then why—?”
“Can we go somewhere? Your place? Mine? Anywhere you want. Just to talk?” He presses my ring into my palm, and a fresh wave of tears tumbles down my cheeks. “Please, baby. I can’t lose you. I love you. I’d die before I’d cheat on you.”
“Lisa’s at my apartment. With her boyfriend.” I sniffle and swipe my hands over my cheeks. “I told her I wouldn’t be back tonight.”
