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“Oh?”
“That surprise you?”
“A little. It looks ideal. Your family is wonderful. You probably didn’t want for anything. What was there to ruin all that?”
“Exactly what caused you to freak when you found out I was rich. Assholes and snobs who have too much money but a decided lack of compassion or integrity. Intolerance isn’t directed only between those from different classes, but those in the same class, too, even the upper class.”
She stopped walking and so did Jamie. “People were intolerant of you? Why?”
He shrugged. “Because, as you like to remind me, I’m a nice guy. I’ve never been the stud or the rebel. I love my family and often preferred to spend time with them rather than go out partying with my friends. There were plenty of times I felt out of place. Pressured to be something I wasn’t.”
“But?”
“What?”
“I can hear it coming. You were going to say you felt out of place but...what? You didn’t let it change who you were? Didn’t let it change your attitude about people or who you chose to associate with?”
“I wish I could say that, but it’s not true. Stuff happens, and as a result of that stuff, I am careful about who I associate with. About what kind of women I’ll get involved with.”
“And what kind of women is that?”
“You already know the answer to that, too, Lucy. For any long-term relationship to work out between me and woman, she has to be willing to fit into my world.”
“You mean compromise who she is.”
“If she thinks there’s a need to compromise, that’s her decision. Or if she decides not to compromise because she needs to be herself, that’s her decision, too. I just need to know she can deal with the consequences in a way that doesn’t involve her hurting herself or running away.”
“And you think I’m a runner. I mean, obviously you do. I left my family. And broke up with you. Which is why we’re not getting involved.”
He just stared at her.
She stared back at him.
She was the first to look away.
Until he put a hand under her chin and turned her gaze back to his. “Lucy…”
She shook her head. “Sorry. You must think I’m crazy saying something like that given I’m the one who broke up with you in the first place.”
“I don’t think you’re crazy. And I’m the one that’s sorry. I didn’t mean to steer the conversation that way. I’ve been having a great time with you. Can we just enjoy the rest of the day?”
She smiled and nodded. “I’d like that.”
* * *
Jamie and Lucy stopped at a quaint little café for lunch. The food was delicious, and Jamie and Lucy were enjoying a piece of chocolate cake when a woman sitting with a man at a nearby table squealed as if she’d noticed Jamie for the first time. She jumped up from her seat and approached their table. Lucy noticed that she was wearing a three hundred dollar pair of jeans and a pair of shoes that had to be worth at least five. Her bag was designer, as well, and her hair was long and straight with a perfect cut and color, which was probably touched up weekly.
Lucy suddenly became accutely aware how she must look, dressed in her bike clothes and tennis shoes, wind-blown from their jaunt.
“Jamie Whitcomb! What are you doing?” the woman screamed out in one of those fake, annoying voices that Lucy hated.
Jamie stood up and said, “Hi, Rachel. I was just out for a bike ride with my fiancée. This is Lucy Conrad. Lucy, this is Rachel Smythe.”
Rachel glanced sideways at her and gave her a fake smile as she nodded. Then she turned back to Jamie and said, “That’s Rachel Smythe Landon, if you don’t mind! Michael, get over here,” she called to the man who was still in the middle of his lunch. He pushed himself back from the table and did as he was told. To Lucy, he looked like a man who had already been beaten into submission.
“Hey Jamie, long time no see,” the man said, holding out his hand. At least his smile seemed genuine.
“Yes, it’s great to see you too, Michael. I didn’t realize you two had gotten married.”
