“Mom?” Gillian asked.
“I agree with my sister. Were there things about him I didn’t particularly care for? Yes. Of course. You are my baby girl, and no man is ever going to be good enough for you. But I didn’t think he would make you unhappy.”
Gillian asked, “What about Dad? I don’t think Dad liked him.”
“That’s complicated,” her mother replied. “You’re his princess. But I think what Dad didn’t like about Jeremy is more Dad’s problem than his. Dad had some business dealings with Jeremy’s grandfather that didn’t end well. I think it’s more a case of your father unfairly casting sins-of-the-father type of blame upon Jeremy because of that rather than anything Jeremy did. Well, except for the golf.”
Gillian straightened. “Golf?”
Barbara shrugged. “Dad doesn’t like to play with him.”
“Why?”
When Barbara didn’t respond right away, Caroline spoke up. “He cheated when he played with Jackson.”
Gillian sighed. “Tucker told me about that. Did Jeremy cheat when he played with Dad?”
“Yes. Yes, he did,” Barbara said.
“Did he cheat in any way besides golf?”
“Not that I ever heard,” Barbara said definitively.
“Me either,” Maisy added. “And something like that is hard to hide in Redemption.”
Gillian released a relieved breath. That particular betrayal would be the cherry on top of this foul-tasting dessert. She’d never once suspected Jeremy of sleeping with another woman. Scarred by his own father’s serial philandering, Jeremy had never hesitated to denounce infidelity.
“Okay, then.” Gillian took a sip of her champagne. “So what else? Angelica? I know he led a couple of team-building programs for bank employees at the inn. What did you think of Jeremy?”
“Well, if you want to know the truth, I—”
Celeste interrupted by cautioning, “Angelica, stick to the facts.”
Her voice filled with affront, Angelica replied, “I wouldn’t lie to the girl.”
“Take care in what truths you tell her,” Celeste snapped. “Your truth is not always the truth.”
“Sure it is.” Angelica sniffed with disdain. “You may be the wise woman among us, Celeste, but I know things, and you can’t deny it. However, Gillian didn’t ask me what I know. She asked me what I think of Jeremy. Two different questions entirely.”
Angelica looked directly at Gillian and said, “I don’t see any sense in dancing around the truth. Yes, I think Jeremy is a louse. He’s a weak, selfish man. Gillian, you missed a bullet.”
“Well.” Fresh tears filled Gillian’s eyes. “I asked, didn’t I?”
“Now, now, dear,” Celeste interjected. “Perhaps your Jeremy was a flawed man, but we are all flawed individuals.”
Angelica lifted her champagne in toast and interrupted right back. “My cousin is right. Jeremy is definitely flawed, but he’s not a total villain. He loved you, Gillian. I believe he intended to be a good husband to you. But relationships require honesty, and he gets a big fat F in that.”
Warning in her voice, Celeste said, “You’re not helping, Angelica.”
“Sure I am. Lance the boil and all of that. Jeremy is a carbuncle on honesty’s butt. Gillian needs to face that particular truth.”
“What she needs is time for her heart to heal.”
“I know. That’s why we brought her here to Eternity Springs. This is where broken hearts come to heal, right, cousin?”
“That is correct.”
“And healing happens fastest after you pop the pimple.”
“That’s disgusting imagery, Angelica.”
“It’s straight talk. It’s honesty. That’s what Gillian needs. She needs her friends and family to be honest with her, and she needs to be honest with herself. That’s the answer to your original question, Celeste.”
“Except I’m not asking you, I’m asking her,” Celeste snapped back. She visibly summoned her patience, then smiled gently at Gillian. “So, back to my original question, what do you need from your friends and family both tonight and going forward, Gillian?”
Gillian glanced at Angelica, who rolled her eyes and then winked at her. Suddenly, Gillian’s tears evaporated. From deep down inside, laughter bubbled up and broke free. “This. This is what I need. My family, my friends, and the nicest gesture of support I could possibly have imagined.”
She found her feet on the bottom of the hot springs pool and rose. The cold night air made her shiver, but the love in her heart kept her warm.
She lifted her champagne glass and spoke. “This is not the speech I had intended to make tonight, but maybe this is the one I’m supposed to make. I want you all to know how much you mean to me. How much I appreciate the caring and the effort and expense to make this trip happen. Celeste, I love your home. Angel’s Rest is a fabulous place, your hospitality is divine, and nothing beats a hug from you. It warms me from the inside out. Angelica, Maisy, and Caroline, I wouldn’t have made it through this past month without your friendship. You were there for me during the wedding planning and now in the breakup. I don’t have words to express how grateful I am to be your friend. I love you dearly.”
“We love you too,” Maisy replied.
Gillian turned toward her family. “And finally, Mom and Aunt Cathy. My mother and bonus mom. I could talk for hours about all the wonderful things you’ve done for me throughout my life, but then everyone would turn into prunes. You are my champions. You are my most fearsome supporters. Your love has sustained me and strengthened me throughout my entire life. Thank you. I love you.”
Gillian lifted her glass higher and finished, “To you, my friends and family. My tribe. Y’all are the most magnificent women in the world. I adore you. Cheers!”
“Cheers!” they all exclaimed.
Angelica added, “Somebody open another bottle of champagne.”
Later, Gillian and Angelica brought up the end of the line as the group walked back to their guest rooms in the main house of the resort, wrapped in the warm, fur-lined robes Angel’s Rest provided for the short journey from the hot springs to the house. Slipping her arm through Angelica’s, amazingly mellow for a jilted bride on what was to have been her wedding night, Gillian observed, “People say you have an uncanny instinct about the future.”
“It’s true. I do. It’s a gift.”
“About that happy year you predicted?”
“It’s gonna happen.”
“How do you know? What do you know?”
“Oh, my dear. I’m glad you asked.” She halted and brought up her free hand to cover Gillian’s and give it a squeeze. “I know because it’s my gift. I know that this broken engagement needed to happen. Marriage to Jeremy would have brought you tepid happiness, but never unbounded joy. That is meant for another. I know Eternity Springs will help your heart to heal and your soul will find peace in Enchanted Canyon. It will not happen overnight, but it will happen. Only then will you be ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“Your soul mate, dear. He is there waiting for you.”