I hurriedly swished some mouthwash to freshen up and wound my wet hair into a top knot, then grabbed my phone. There were two text messages from Meredith.
Mer: Update! I think I know what he said in French. Lol. Call me later.
Mer: Oh crap. Tabitha just said she got an email from him and asked if I’d heard from you. Call me!
My heart thudded, and I frowned and perched on the edge of my bed while I dialed Meredith’s number. It went to voicemail. “Shit,” I murmured and gritted my teeth as I dialed Tabs.
“Hey, Josie,” she answered on the first ring.
“Tabs! How are you? Isn’t it the wedding this weekend? You must be so busy.”
She gave a short laugh. “My sister has the world’s most intense wedding planner. Everything is ready, but I’m so busy because the damn planner and my sister have micro-managed everyone’s time down to the minute. We’re on a packed schedule. I have hair and make up for the rehearsal dinner in, I kid you not, seventeen minutes. Not fifteen. Not twenty. Seventeen.”
“Yikes. That does sound intense. But you’re having fun though, right?”
“I am.”
“And what about the hometown guy you were worried about seeing? He there?”
“He’s here,” she said. “But I don’t want to talk about him. How’s it going there?”
“Fine. I mean, I think. Dauphine is amazing. And we’ve totally bonded.”
“But?”
“How do you know there’s a but?”
She let out a short breath. “Listen, you’d tell me the truth if anything had gone on between you and Mr. Pascale, right?”
My belly flipped over. “Um,” I managed through a throat now filled with rocks. “What do you mean?”
“Josie, don’t make me say it.”
“But that’s the thing. I mean, I think you’re asking if anything sexual has happened, to which I can categorically tell you no. No way.”
She let out an exhale. “Thank God.”
Her reaction of relief should have made me feel better, but somehow, I felt worse. And what had happened to even have her ask that question. She seemed to be waiting for more from me, so I decided to share my thoughts. “But I think he has a problem with me for some reason. He’s nice and chatty one minute, and then snapping at me the next. Basically, I love Dauphine, but I’m not having the best time with him, if that makes sense. But I mean, he’s not my job. She is.”
“Right.”
I licked my lips. “Why did you ask that?”
“I haven’t checked my email in a few days, and I dunno, maybe I missed it when I did check, but he sent me an email.”
My forehead creased up, and I tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling brewing inside me. “And,” I pressed when she paused.
“And he asked me if I could find a replacement for you.”
My stomach plummeted, and ice swept over my skin. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. Like I said, it was a while ago, and I overlooked it. I just thought I had everything with the business squared away and put an out of office note on my email, and we’ve been nonstop here, and I feel awful that I didn’t see it and respond to it. I should have seen it and called him. But of course, I wanted to check in with you first and hear your side.”
My heart was drumming in my throat, the sick feeling now spreading through me. “My side? There’s no side. I feel like—”
I felt betrayed by him, is what I felt. “How long ago was the email?” I asked instead and waited as she looked it up.
She named a date. Almost two weeks ago. I guessed that should make me feel a little better.
“And he hasn’t sent you another one, calling off that request?” I clarified. “Even though you didn’t respond?”
“Maybe he thought I was still working on it. What happened two weeks ago?”
“I don’t know,” I said truthfully. “I mean, the night I arrived he was so rude to me that I kind of quit. It was clear he wanted me to stay. And I didn’t want to let you down. So I stayed. And since then …” Since then he’d been hot and cold. Kind, then mean. Friendly, then icy.
“Since then, what?”
“Nothing. Honestly. I’ve been busy with Dauphine. She’s happy. I just … I don’t know, Tabs.” I picked at a tiny piece of peeling skin leftover from a sunburn on my knee. “Can—can I ask? What did his email say exactly?”