Page 87 of The Wedding Favor

She shrugged. “You never know. I’m not saying you should hop in your car and drive a couple of thousand miles but maybe doing something unexpected and out of character is what you need. It might help you figure things out.”

I loved Ellie, really I did. But, no, thank you. All I wanted was to figure out my next step, not join a cult on a whim.

“Yeah, I’ll think about that.” I stood. “Thanks for, you know, whatever this was.”

“Being a friend?”

“That, yes. Thanks.” I bit my lip. “And thanks for letting me keep my job for now.”

“Of course. Besides, I was worried I’d never be able to find someone with your charm and sunny disposition.” She was still laughing when I left the office.

THIRTY-FOUR

“I never planned to marry. I never met a man worth the effort. But that was before I met Thomas.”

—excerpt from the unpublished memoir,

Darling, I Must Say by Gloria Hayes

That afternoon, I waited to pick up Hallie as usual, and when she appeared, I knew immediately something was wrong. With her scrunched shoulders and downturned head, she looked like a kid version of a walk of shame. I didn’t like it.

“What’s up?” I asked, keeping my voice light. “Bad day at the office? Not enough glitter for your craft project?”

“Yeah,” she said, her voice quiet. “I just want to go home.”

“Okay then.” It didn’t take a master liar to figure out there was a story but I wouldn’t push her. She’d tell me when she was ready. “Let’s go home.”

Before we could leave the building, Hallie’s group leader, Jolie Summers, called my name. “Can I speak to you for a just a moment?”

“Sure.”

Jolie was close to my age and although we’d never hung out together as kids, she’d always been nice to me. She tipped her head to Hallie. “Privately.”

“Oh, right.” I turned to Hallie. “Miss Jolie and I are going to talk for just a minute. You want to play on my phone?”

Hallie nodded, her eyes darting between the two of us. Slowly, she took the phone. “Okay.”

After Hallie wandered over to a bench and sat, I turned to Jolie. “Is everything okay?”

“I wanted to let you know that something happened at lunch today.” She gave me a small smile. “I wasn’t there but after lunch, Hallie didn’t come back. A few of the staff and I searched for her. I found her in the girls’ bathroom, locked in a stall, crying.”

Crying? Someone had made Hallie cry? “Do you know what happened?”

“Not really. She didn’t want to tell me and I didn’t want to force it but I’m afraid it probably has to do with a group of girls…”

I was shocked by the wave of protectiveness that came over me. “Let me guess? Audrina?”

“I can’t tell you who. It’s against policy but…” As her voice trailed off, she nodded. “Whatever they said, it wasn’t nice.”

“Did you tell her parents about this?”

“I don’t know what to tell them if Hallie won’t tell us what happened.”

She did have a point there. But still, me, her, and the fly on the wall all knew who had upset Hallie.

“Hallie’s such a sweet girl,” Jolie said. “But she’s new to town and it can be a struggle.”

“That does not mean they get to make her cry,” I snapped. My hands curled into fists. Between the uncomfortable drive home from the wedding with Abe, Ellie practically ushering me out of the Sit-n-Eat door, and now my girl crying, today was turning out to be a real crapfest.