“I still don’t know anyone who meets your fake boyfriend requirements, though. Maybe Iris can give you another name.” Lily lifted her tall glass of iced tea and took a sip.
“I can’t go back to Iris. She’d ask too many questions.” Rose traced a line through the cool condensation on her glass.
“You mean like, why, after working with Van for more than six weeks, you now need to start over with someone else?”
“Yes, like that one.” Rose gave her sister a hard look, cautioning her against that line of questioning.
Lily ignored the silent warning. “Rosie, what’s going on?”
Rose hesitated. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to confide in her sister. She was afraid to face the truth. “I’m worried that if I spend more time with Van, I’ll start confusing what’s real and what’s fantasy.”
“Why would that be so bad?”
Rose’s eyes widened. “I can’t make the same mistake twice. I can’t trust my feelings with someone like Van.”
“Van isn’t Ben.” Lily leaned into the kitchen table. “Van isn’t a selfish, self-centered, egotistical user. From what I can tell, Van is the anti-Ben.”
Rose winced. Her sister had just ruthlessly described Benjamin down to the bone. “Men like Van and Ben are players. They can’t commit to one woman. And why should they when they can have any woman?”
“You’re judging Van on his looks.” Lily settled back on her chair, crossing her arms. “You’re right—Van’s a very handsome man. And so is Ben. But they couldn’t be any more different.”
“What makes you so sure? You’ve spent one dinner with Van. That doesn’t mean you know him.”
“Can you see Ben volunteering for a homeless shelter?”
“No.”
“And Van has real friends. I always had the impression that Ben was more tolerated than liked.”
“I know.” The more she thought about it, the more she wondered what she’d ever seen in Benjamin. He’d really had her fooled.
Lily continued. “This puts you right back where you started. You can either cancel your plans to attend your reunion—”
“I’m not going to do that.”
“Go to your reunion alone—”
“I’m not doing that, either.”
“Or attend with Van and risk having your heart broken again.”
“Well, you’re just a fount of great ideas.” Rose frowned. “I can’t let that happen.”
“Is getting back at Ben your main goal in attending your reunion?”
“I want him to see that I’m over him. That he doesn’t matter to me anymore.” More importantly, she wanted Benjamin to recognize that she was woman enough to attract and keep a man who, by the way, was even more attractive, successful and admired than Benjamin.
“If your only interest is revenge, you don’t need to worry about falling in love.” Lily stood, carrying Rose’s glass and her own to the refrigerator.
“What do you mean?”
“You can’t fall in love with one person while you’re consumed with hate for someone else.” Lily filled the glasses with more iced tea. She returned to the table, offering Rose her glass before reclaiming her chair.
Rose blinked. “I’m not obsessed with revenge, if that’s what you’re trying to say.”
“Yes, you are.” Lily projected supreme serenity as she sipped her drink. “You’re stuck in time, Rosie. Until you let go of the anger you’re feeling toward Ben, you won’t be able to move forward with anyone else.”
Oh, yeah? Tell that to my heart. It seemed to be trying to move forward with Donovan. “Bringing a date to the reunion will help me let go of the past and move forward.”