That was a whole lot of goods in a conversation where much more meaningful adjectives should’ve been used. But I didn't know what else to say. There was so little passion behind his words, and that scared me. Sure, he and Priscilla worked in their work world, but what about the real world? But I couldn't ask if he loved her. He'd already answered that. Those words would haunt me forever.
"I know this isn't what you probably pictured for me, Jos. I know you're the romantic. And I want that for you because that's what you want. That head over heels tumbling of your heart that you never recover from. But that's not me. I've seen the way those kinds of feelings can almost kill a person, and they'll definitely kill a relationship. That kind of all-consuming passion wouldn't work for me."
Wouldn't it, though? I'd heard Easton talk about his adventures with more feeling than when he was talking about the woman he was going to spend forever with.
"Doesn't Priscilla want it all?" I asked.
Easton shook his head. "She just wants to give her parents a good reason for her to be moving down south." He laughed like this was amusing when it was anything but. "And a gorgeous wedding to shove in her friends' faces."
"And she can get that done by June?" I asked.
"If we get married here, we won't have to invite everyone we know, like we would’ve in Chicago. It can be a small thing, and Priscilla will have her beautiful photos to show her friends."
"Easton. Do you hear what you're saying? A wedding for the pictures and a marriage because it will work?"
My stomach was pitching a fit and demanding that Easton see my point of view.
"It’s perfect for us," Easton said, and I felt nauseated when Easton said us. Because us no longer meant me and him; it meant Easton and Priscilla.
"If you're sure," I said, and then I had to start walking out of the room before the tears or vomiting started. Both could happen at any moment.
"I am. I love you for caring so much, Jos," Easton said.
"I better go get ready for work," I muttered. Then I ran to my bathroom before spilling the meager contents of my stomach into my toilet bowl.
"Miss Josie," Claudia, one of my tennis players, said as she came into the training room. I had gotten to work about an hour early because we had tennis matches that started right after school today. The kids from some of the other sports had been in and out before their practices, but the tennis team was my main focus that afternoon.
"Do you mind taping my ankle before my match?" Claudia asked, and I shook my head as I patted one of my benches and then began to rummage through my things for a roll of tape.
"Are you ready for today?" I asked Claudia as I wrapped her ankle. It had been weak ever since she'd sprained it a while back during one of her matches. But Claudia was the strongest girl on our team, and I knew her coach had encouraged her to get back onto the court asap. She didn't seem to mind.
Claudia nodded. "The girl I'm playing is ranked second in the state," she said. "I'm hoping after today I can take that spot."
I grinned at the cute girl's smile before focusing on her ankle again.
"Josie." Sophia's voice came into my training room before I saw my friends. "You can't ignore us forever."
I groaned as I finished wrapping Claudia's ankle.
"Your friends?" Claudia asked as Whit and Sophia invaded my workspace.
I nodded, and Claudia grinned, folding her arms as she leaned back against the headrest of the bench. "This should be good."
"Don't you have a match starting soon?" I said, unwilling to let a student witness whatever was about to happen. I couldn’t trust that what Sophia and Whit were about to say would be completely kid-friendly.
"In fifteen minutes," she said, but she jumped down from my bench as I fixed her with the look I'd perfected to get these teens to listen to me, and I shooed her out of the room.
"I expect a full report when I come back to ice my ankle, Miss Josie," Claudia said sassily, and I rolled my eyes. Teenagers.
"Wait, wait, wait," Emmie called from outside of the training room, and I heard her heels smacking against the tile of the hallway. "Don't start without me."
Whit and Sophia grinned from the spots they'd taken on one of my empty benches. They'd met Emmie a handful of times, and I knew all three women got along great. Especially since they all seemed to be of one purpose today. Why had I told any of them I was going to do a grand gesture for Easton?
"Why are you avoiding us?" Sophia fixed me with a piercing look of her own green eyes as soon as Emmie came into the room. Emmie settled into the rolling chair that I used while I examined or taped the kids.
I leaned against the wall between the motivational poster that quoted Martin Luther King, Jr. and the sterling silver tub my students used to take ice baths. I shrugged my shoulders.
"You didn't do it, did you?" Emmie asked before she pursed her pouty lips.
I shrugged again.
"Josie, if you shrug one more time," Emmie warned as fire gleamed from her blue eyes, and Sophia grinned.
They were both the kind of Southern belles who appeared sweet and demure on the outside, but as soon as their mouths opened, you knew they shouldn't be crossed.
"He's getting married." I voiced the words I still couldn't believe were true.
"What?!" all three women asked in unison, shock apparent on all of their faces.
"To whom?" Whit asked with raised eyebrows, the look on her face a blend of shock and skepticism.
"Married?" Emmie exclaimed at the same time Sophia said, "Easton?"
I nodded and then turned to Whit. "Priscilla."
Emmie shook her head, for once at a loss for words.
"It has to be a joke, right? Easton would never marry Priscilla," Sophia said, more to herself than to the group at large.
I couldn't blame her. I'd felt the same disbelief for a long time. Maybe I still did. It was probably the only reason I was able to keep living life instead of curling up in a ball in my room and never coming out.
"If it's a joke, it's an awful one. Complete with a ring," I said. Granted, the ring was for Priscilla from Priscilla, but I decided to keep that little fact to myself. If my friends realized the kind of marriage this was, I was sure they'd want me to keep fighting for Easton. But they didn't know Easton like I did. This wedding was more real than any he could’ve had with a woman he'd fallen in love with. Because I was now realizing the latter would never happen. I had been blind to the truth for too long because I'd held out hope I was the exception to the rule. But I wasn't. Easton didn't believe in love.
"So you told him how you felt, and he told you he's getting married to ..." Sophia couldn't seem to say Priscilla's name. The Ten of Us had all met her, and we all felt the same way. Well, my feelings of dislike might be a bit stronger than the others.
"I didn't tell him," I said softly.
"Josie!" Emmie said, and Whit's question of why not? was easy to read in her dark blue eyes.
"He didn't give me a chance. He told me about the wedding first," I said.