Amy made a shocked noise. “Did he dump you?”
“I dumped him.”
“Why? Memphis Eve is in Boston.”
“Yes. That was the whole plan. I was just leading him on until I could get rid of her. Now she’s gone,” I said, stabbing the fabric with my needle. “So I’m not going to be with Mark anymore.”
“But you like him!” Amy cried. “And if the rumors are correct, he likes you very much.”
I blushed. “Ivy needs to keep her big mouth shut.” I looked back out to the garden. “There’s no way he and I would have worked out. I lied about my sister.”
“I mean it’s not like Memphis Eve is really your sister,” Amy said. “You didn’t grow up together, you legally aren’t sisters. You share DNA—that’s it.”
“It’s still a lie by omission.”
“I’m sure he’d be fine with it,” she told me.
I thought about what Liz had said, about how after Mark had been betrayed and heartbroken by Rhonda, he became sad and withdrawn. I didn’t want to be the cause of that kind of hurt.
“At least give him a chance to hear the truth from you,” Amy said. “Don’t throw a good thing away because of Memphis Eve.”
She looked at me critically. “Also, find a way to soften the blow.”
“So I should bring cookies?” I asked, confused.
“So you should wear one of your skimpiest, sexiest little corset creations, tell him about Memphis Eve, say you were jealous and horny and wanted his big D all to yourself, and then whip off your clothes and be like, ‘Am I forgiven?’ With tits like those, there’s no way he can refuse!”
* * *
I thoughtabout it later that evening after the wedding. Normally I didn’t stay through the whole wedding unless a bride needed to be sewn into and carefully removed from her wedding or reception dress. But tonight there had been emergency after emergency, and I had to remove grape juice from a white silk flower girl’s outfit and redo the dog vest again after the Jack Russell terrier managed to gnaw it off. Then the mother of the bride insisted that I stay for food and drinks at the reception because, as she put it, I was basically family now.
“I’m going to find you a nice man!” she told me over the music. “My girlfriend from college has a son who works on Wall Street at an investment firm. Let me set you up!”
After eating way too many snacks and taking a large box of leftovers home, I wandered back into the apartment late at night. As soon as I was inside, I reached for the amaretto-chocolate-raspberry layer cake that Sophie had made and that I was absolutely addicted to. I took a huge bite as I kicked off my shoes in my bedroom.
I checked my phone. I’d been so frazzled the whole night that I hadn’t checked it. When I put in my passcode, there was a text message from Mark.
Mark:I’m sorry my family is crazy. I’ll do anything to have you back in my life.
That made me feel even more shitty. This whole terrible situation was my own fault, and now Mark was apologizing.
A picture came in with a note.
Mark:What’s your favorite dinosaur?
I peered at the photo. There was what looked like a misshapen stuffed animal. “Is that supposed to be a dinosaur?”
Mark:So sewing is harder than it looks.
Mark:Maybe you want to come give me some pointers?
Fuck. He was sewing. It was so adorable I couldn’t handle it.
Don’t respond. Just ignore it.
But I couldn’t.
The thought of not having Mark in my life made my stomach clench. I thought about what Amy had said then browsed through the packed closet for the perfect outfit. I needed to take this chance. I just didn’t know how he would take the news.
