Change of Heart - By S.E. Edwards Page 0,52

while?” I ask, trying to steer the conversation away from me. The simplest lies are the best, and the less we talk about the circumstances of my meeting with Rich, the less chance I have of accidentally saying something that might not match what he had told Amanda.

Amanda sighs. “You could say that. Almost half a year. He was crazy for me. Told me I meant the world to him, told me I was his only true love.” She looks down at her hands. “But, you know. Things change. People drift apart. Sometimes, even love isn’t enough to keep them together.”

“Did you love him?” I ask, trying to figure out how Amanda’s story meshes with the one Rich had told me.

“Of course!” she says fiercely. “Why would I stay in a relationship for so long if I didn’t?”

“Convenience? Apathy? Indifference?”

Amanda scowls at me. “You sound like you’re forty years old and stuck in a loveless marriage. No. Of course not. I loved him.”

“Then why did you break up?”

“He became too possessive.” Amanda’s eyes flicker to meet mine for a moment, then she looks away again. “He thought he could control me, tell me where I could go, who I could see, what I could wear.” She shivers visibly. “It was suffocating.”

“That doesn’t really sound like Rich.”

Amanda’s eyes shoot back to meet mine. “Just you wait,” she warns. “Things will be going smoothly at first, and then—” she snaps her fingers, “—he’ll change. They always do.”

“You’re assuming,” I point out, “that we’re together.”

Amanda looks taken aback. “Aren’t you?”

“I’m not sure,” I say slowly. I don’t know exactly what Rich had told Amanda about us. If I admit or deny a hard fact like that, and Rich had told her something different, she might get suspicious. Better to play it safe.

“Come now, don’t play coy. I’ve seen the way you look at him. You lust after him, don’t you? I bet he showed you the time of your life the night you met.”

I feel my cheeks go three types of red. Amanda gives a delighted laugh and points at me. “You see? I can tell these things.” She lowers her voice. “I taught him everything he knows.”

I clear my throat and look away before the blush turns my whole body red. “Ahem. Can we talk about something else?”

Amanda raises her hands in the air, palms forward. “Sure. I didn’t realize you were so sensitive.” It sounds like a judgment.

“Well, I am,” I fire back, stiffening. I’m actually not, not really, but I don’t have any great desire to talk about sex with Amanda, either. “Is that a problem?”

“No, no problem. What would you like to talk about, then?” She looks at the clock behind her. “I’ve got to go soon, though. Work beckons.”

“Where do you work?” I ask, hoping the pull the conversation back into neutral territory.

“In town,” Amanda answers slyly.

“That’s not what I meant—”

“I know it’s not what you meant. But those types of questions lead to such boring conversations. It’s like all those clueless guys at the bars.” Amanda holds her hands out in front of her and mimes them talking to each other. “‘Oh, hi, can I buy you a drink?’ ‘Sure, why not?’ ‘So, what do you do?’ ‘I’m a hairdresser.’ ‘Oh.’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘Do you, um, like it?’ ‘It pays the bills.’ ‘Hmm.’” Amanda rolls her eyes and groans. “Please. Don’t tell me you want to have one of those with me. Anyway, I bet Richard didn’t say anything of the kind when you met.”

I think back to that night. Even though only a few days have passed, it feels like a lifetime ago. I wonder how Abby’s managing after getting evicted. I wonder what she thinks has happened to me. Probably that I’m staying away because I’m pissed at her.

“You’re right,” I say finally. “He didn’t say anything like that.”

“You see? Those conversations are BO-RING. As if you can tell anything about a person by where she works. You won’t know if she’s fun to be around, if she’s trustworthy. If she’s ever slept with your ex…” Amanda meets my eye and holds it. I clear my throat again. She laughs. “Tell me. How much do you know about Richard?”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard what I said. How much do you know about the man you came here with?”

I shift in my seat. “You mean like, his history? Not a lot.”

Amanda nods. “Did he tell you about his family?”

“Just a tiny bit.”

“Figures. When I met him, he was trying