with you. I’ll call you in a few days about the paperwork. It will take that long to get everything updated.”
She nodded and then let him out, sighing deeply as she shut the door behind him.
The press release hit the news the next day. When Terri came out of the school the next afternoon, there were two reporters standing next to her car.
“Mrs. Briggs, what really happened between you and Lucas Hogan?” one of them demanded as she walked through the parking lot.
“Now, now,” a voice said. “I don’t think you need to be bothering Mrs. Briggs.”
Terri smiled at the gym teacher who was standing next to his truck. He’d played football in high school and college and he still had broad shoulders. Ten years of teaching gym to high school students had perfected his cold stare, which he now turned on the reporters.
“We just want to ask her a few questions,” one of them said, taking a step backward.
“She doesn’t want to talk to you,” another teacher said. “I’ve already called the police. Ah, here’s Stanley now.”
Stanley Blake was the town’s most popular police officer. Terri was pretty sure that he knew every single person in Ramsey and she was positive everyone knew him.
“Is there a problem?” he asked mildly as he climbed out of his car.
“These men were bothering Mrs. Briggs,” the gym teacher told him.
“We were just asking her a few questions,” one of the reporters snapped.
“I don’t think Mrs. Briggs wants to answer any questions,” Stanley said. “Are you parked in the lot here?”
The men exchanged glances. “Yes,” one of them admitted.
“Do you have a permit to park here?” was Stanley’s next question.
“We’re in visitor spaces,” one of them replied smugly.
“Then you should be inside the school, doing your visiting,” Stanley suggested. “Otherwise, you need to move your cars. Now where did I put my ticket book?”
He walked back to his car and climbed inside. Terri could see him reaching into his glove compartment. As he was doing that, the two reporters were whispering back and forth. As Stanley got back out of his car, ticket book in hand, the two men began to walk away. Terri hid a grin as they jumped into their cars and drove away.
“If they give you any more trouble, call me,” Stanley told her after she’d thanked both him and the other teachers.
“Hopefully, they’ll give up,” she replied before she got into her car and drove home.
Terri’s life almost seemed to return to normal after that. She met Camille for dinner a few nights later.
“Apparently, he’s miserable,” she told Camille while they ate.
“Maybe he was developing feelings for you, too,” Camille suggested.
“Impossible.”
“You said the kisses were amazing.”
“I’m sure they weren’t anything special for him. He has a much younger girlfriend, or maybe he doesn’t. See? I can’t believe a single word he said.”
“So he lied to you about his girlfriend.”
“Definitely, unless he truly does have a girlfriend.”
Camille patted her hand. “What else did he lie about?”
“The entire engagement.”
“That was a lie to the rest of the world, not you.”
“His mother’s illness.”
“I thought you said you overheard them talking when he’d just found out and then you dumped him. Did he actually have time to lie to you about it once he knew she was faking?”
Terri frowned. “We didn’t talk about it after the hospital visit,” she admitted. “But he told his mother not to tell me the truth.”
“Maybe he simply wanted to tell you himself.”
“Or maybe he was going to lie about it.”
“Maybe.”
“Why are you taking his side?”
“I’m not taking his side. You know I’m totally on your side no matter what. I just want you to fully understand why you’re so angry with the man. He lied to you about having a girlfriend, which is upsetting, of course. Is that all?”
Terri looked at her and sighed. “I’m angry at him for not falling madly in love with me,” she said in a low voice. “Actually, I’m not really angry at him, or not much. Mostly, I’m angry at myself for falling in love with a man I can’t have.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere. You need to stop being angry at yourself, then.”
“Falling for him was a truly stupid thing to do.”
“Except he swept you off your feet, treating you like a princess. Believe me, I can understand how intoxicating that can be.”
Terri smiled at her. “Except you’re going to live happily ever after.”
“I hope so. We’re working on it. But this isn’t about me.”
“Let’s talk about something else,” Terri suggested.