“MAMA, HOW ABOUT this one?” Gabby asked, holding up a beige silk top.
“Oh, that’s nice,” Elaine said. “See, I told you it was worth comin’ all this way. This mall is way better than Geauxchamp’s.”
Gabby laughed. For a forty-five-year-old, her mom had quite the trendy taste. Everything she’d seen at the Toulouse department store was too “old lady” for her style. And that’s why they were twenty miles away at the Lafayette mall, shopping at places like H&M and Forever 21, which Gabby had to admit had some seriously cute work clothes.
“Does this one say ‘Hire me!’ or ‘Take me to the club?’ ” Elaine asked, holding up a little black dress.
“Ooh, I like,” Gabby said, giving it the once-over. She walked over to the rack and grabbed a gray blazer. “Pair it with this for the interview,” she said, holding them together. “And take it off when you go dancing,” she said, moving the blazer away.
“My daughter’s a genius,” Elaine said, laughing. “Add it to my pile.”
They collected dozens of skirts, tops, shoes, and belts until finally Gabby reined her mom in. “Why don’t you go try these on?”
“Something’s bound to work, huh?” Elaine sighed and headed into the dressing room.
Gabby sat outside on the plush white leather bench, watching all the people scurry around the store. A tween was rolling her eyes at her dad as he told her the shorts she had picked up were way too short. A couple holding hands perused the lingerie section, shooting each other shy grins. Gabby spent a moment checking out a handsome guy looking at belts in the men’s section . . . and then he turned around.
Oh my god. Tony. Every muscle in her body froze up. She looked away quickly, trying to hide her face and hoping he hadn’t seen her. A few seconds later, she heard a familiar voice right behind her.
“Hey.” Tony stood next to her, wearing dark blue jeans and a gray T-shirt. Gabby’s heart stopped in her chest and her stomach felt like it was turning over. He was even more gorgeous than she remembered him. She felt torn between looking for somewhere to hide and wanting to reach out and touch him.
“Hi,” she said softly, resisting the urge to do either. She pushed her hair behind her ears and stood up. “How, um, are you?” she asked awkwardly.
“Well, I really wish you would have called me back,” he said, scratching his head. “But I’m surviving, I guess.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, lowering her gaze.
He shrugged his shoulders. “What do you want me to say to that, Gabby? I’m sorry, too. It’s a real shame that you ended things like that.”
She swallowed, not knowing how to respond. If he was standing here, still wondering why she broke it off, his dad had held up his end of the bargain and not told Tony that she’d lied to him. But that meant she couldn’t tell him, either. She had to get out of here before Tony saw her mom. “I’ve gotta go,” she said, feeling suddenly panicky and grabbing her bag.
But it was too late. “Gabby!” Elaine came out of the dressing room wearing a navy dress. “What do you think about this one?” She ran her hands down the pleated cotton dress.
Gabby’s hands began to sweat, her heart beating as fast as the store’s blaring techno music. “Looks great,” she said, nodding her head. She prayed that her mom would go back into the dressing room immediately.
“Great!” Elaine smiled and then turned her gaze to Tony. “Oh, who’s this?”
She wondered if she could make a run for it—just distract both of them by throwing her bag on the ground and sprinting out of the store, through the mall, and into the parking lot, where she would get into her crappy little car and drive far, far away. Surely that would be easier than what she knew she had to do. With a pit in her stomach, Gabby answered: “This is Tony.”
Elaine’s eyes widened. “Oh Tony, yes,” she said. “I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Elaine, Gabby’s mom. It’s nice to meet you.”
Emotion flitted quickly across Tony’s face—his brows furrowed in confusion, his jaw clenched with anger. No doubt the pieces clicked into place. He coughed and glanced at Gabby. “I’ve heard so much about you, too,” he said, slowly drawing his gaze back to Elaine and plastering on a smile that Gabby recognized as fake.
“Well, you kids catch up.” Elaine waved her hands at them. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got forty other outfits to try on!” She bustled back into the dressing room.
Tony turned to Gabby, his eyes narrowing. “Your mom?” he hissed.
She bit her lip. “It’s . . . complicated.” Her body temperature shot up. She could only imagine what was going on in Tony’s head. She wished she could explain it to him, explain everything—how things spiraled, and her deal with his dad.
He paused and raised his arms. “What the hell is going on, Gabs?”
She looked around at all the people surrounding them—the women in line waiting for a dressing room . . . the employees folding tank tops and T-shirts . . . the little girls spraying each other with vanilla-scented body mist. She’d imagined this moment—when he’d catch her in a lie and she’d have to be honest—so many times, but she’d never imagined it would be in such a public place.
“What’s going on?” he repeated, leaning toward her, the scent of his familiar cologne making her heart wrench. “Were you lying to me this whole time?”
Here we go, she thought to herself, taking a deep breath for confidence. It was time. “You assumed my mom was dead, and I never corrected you.” She lowered her head, knowing she’d have to come clean. “I figured it was easier than telling you the truth. She was in jail for four years, and I lost everything when she left. Her. Our house. My chance to go to college. She just got out. I tried to tell you the truth so many times, Tony, I really did.” Her voice cracked with emotion. “But then I fell for you and I just couldn’t do it. Once the wedding date neared, I realized I had to get out of your life.”
“I can’t believe you,” Tony said, his dark eyes flashing with anger. “How could you lie to me? We were weeks away from getting married!”
She lowered her head. “I’m sorry.” A lump formed in her throat. No doubt he hated her as much as she hated herself right now. “I never deserved you, and I’m sorry.” Her voice began to crack as she held the tears back. “But for what it’s worth, I want you to know every stupid lie I led you to believe was only because I was madly in love with you.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s supposed to make it acceptable?” His voice got angrier. “This entire situation is so unbelievable. I just can’t even process this right now.”
“Oh, there you are,” a tall girl with short black hair shouted to Tony from across a display of neon-colored bikinis. “I’ve been looking for you. We’re late!” She looked at the silver watch on her tiny wrist. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah,” he said, turning around and glancing back at Gabby. His gaze was cool and unfamiliar. “I’m done here.”
She watched as the two of them walked away. The girl linked her arm through Tony’s, throwing her head back in laughter at something he said. Gabby could only watch as the man of her dreams walked out of the store—and her life—for good, with another woman at his side.
Elaine came back out of the dressing room, gripping the navy dress tightly. Gabby withered under her mom’s appraising gaze. “So, that was the Tony, right?”
Gabby stood there in silence. Every muscle in her body was tight as she replayed that painful conversation over and over again in her head.
“Are you okay?” Elaine asked, putting her hand on her shoulder.
She let out a long sigh and closed her eyes, trying to get rid of the image of Tony . . . except that when they were shut, the picture of him was even clearer. She couldn’t forget any of the amazing moments of their near-perfect relationship. And now, alongside all of the good—the laughs, their conversations, the feeling of his arms around her—would be the memory of how his face looked when he’d realized what a liar she’d been. Gabby thought her mom’s arrest was the worst moment of her life, but this was right up there. It was a different kind of low, though, with a deeper cut in her soul. Perhaps because she had only herself to blame.