"He's engaged?" Riley's eyes grew even wider, and her jaw dropped. She looked so comical Paige would have laughed if she wasn't so miserable.
"Well, he's married now, and she's—" Paige's voice broke as the emotions of that terrible Valentine's Day rushed to the surface all over again. "Sh-she was very pretty and nice, c-considering the circumstances."
"Wait, you met her?" Riley unbuckled her seat belt and shifted to face Paige. "Like actually talked to her?"
"She showed up at Tulio's on Val-Valentine’s Day before Phillip did." Snot and tears ran down Paige's face now, but she didn't care.
She thought she’d worked through Phillip’s deceit, but apparently, she hadn’t even started. All the tears she’d shed in the hospital had simply been her grieving the loss of what could have been.
"She ambushed you and told you she was dating Phillip too? And you believed her just like that?" Riley grabbed napkins from the glove compartment and handed them to Paige.
"No, not just like that." Paige mopped at her face. "She said she'd been engaged to Phillip for almost a year, but I didn't believe her—even though she had an engagement ring—until she showed me a picture on her phone of her and Phillip at her ultrasound appointment."
"Ultrasound?" Riley's mouth dropped open again. "She's pregnant?"
A new rush of tears filled Paige's eyes as she nodded. "They got m-married last month."
"That lying, cheating louse!" Riley smacked the steering with the palm of her hand. "How could he do that to you?"
"And why?" Paige sniffled. "Why did he ask me out when he was already engaged?”
"I always knew there was something I didn't like about that man." Anger filled Riley's voice.
"You should have told me." Then before Riley could speak, Paige waved her hand and went on. "I had a feeling you didn't like him. At first, I thought you were just jealous of the time I spent with him. Then later, I got the impression you didn't think he was good enough for me because he traveled so much."
Except he didn't really travel.
"Hewasn'tgood enough for you.” Riley's brows tilted downward as remorse filled her face. "I'm sorry I wasn't around for you to talk to last year. Maybe if I'd told you something felt off about him, you would have thought twice about getting involved with him." She leaned over the center console to slide her arm around Paige's shoulders and pulled her close until Paige's head rested on her shoulder.
"Maybe, but none of it was your fault. You were dealing with so much after being assaulted last year." Paige shook her head. "No, this is all on me. We had so many friends getting married, I decided I wanted that too. When Phillip paid attention to me, I jumped in with both feet."
"So, when you left the restaurant and got hit by the car it was after meeting Phillip's pregnant fiancée? Not because Phillip dumped you?"
Paige dabbed at her eyes as she nodded. "I was in shock and utterly humiliated, but then I spotted Phillip coming down the sidewalk with a bouquet of roses. I just couldn't face him, so I…" Paige's voice died off as she acknowledged yet again how stupid she'd been.
She should have had the courage to face Phillip and tell him to take a hike. She was just so certain she'd been hearing wedding bells that finding out they weren't for her left her reeling.
Riley brushed a lock of hair back from Paige's face. "Why didn't you tell everyone what really happened?"
"I just couldn't." Paige lifted her head and pointed a finger at her cousin. "And you can't either."
"Why not?"
"I'm ashamed. I-I…was theother woman,"she said the words withdisgust. "I'm practically a homewrecker." Paige shifted her gaze to stare out her window. "I'm such an idiot."
"It's not like you did it on purpose. It’s not your fault he was living a double life."
"Maybe not, but I should have realized something wasn’t right." Paige shook her head again as she straightened in her seat.
"Hey," Riley massaged Paige’s shoulder. "I know it's been a rough road, and you still have a ways to go, but you're going to be okay."
Paige wanted desperately to believe Riley, so she nodded. "But why did things have to turn out like this? Why couldn't God just tell me with a neon sign or something that Phillip was wrong for me. I would have listened. Eventually."
Paige's mind raced over the past year. Had God tried to warn her? She couldn't think of any signs she might have missed. Sure, Phillip was gone a lot, but he was very devoted when he was around. Had she been so sure he was “the one” that she’d overlooked the warning signs?
"Maybe you just needed a love reset," Riley said.
"A what?" Paige's full attention was on her cousin now.
