Prologue

Maggie

And then there was one, I thought. I picked up my glass of wine and drained it. Everybody else was doing the same so I didn’t look out of place. Easton, Missy’s boyfriend had just proposed to her. It looked like she was genuinely surprised and honestly, so was I. Easton hadn’t said anything to us when the two of them had invited us to their dinner party, so I had no reason to suspect anything.

Kind of weird though. I mean who came up with the whole public proposal thing anyway? Wasn’t it embarrassing? It was an inconvenience to the people who had to watch it and what if she said no?

Careful, Mags, you sound mighty single right about now and not the fun, flirty kind.

That was the natural progression of things anyway. First came love, then came marriage, and then the baby in the baby carriage. I rolled my eyes and turned away, looking for more wine. I was happy for then, seriously, I was. Missy was my boss and I had started to feel safe calling her my friend as well, but out of the four of us in the friend group; her, my old colleague and friend, Brenna, and their friend, Eddy, I was the only single one.

I knew it didn’t really make sense, but when Missy wasn’t engaged, it didn’t feel as lonely over here at the metaphorical singles table. I topped up my glass with wine and since I didn’t want to look like the one drowning her sorrows, I offered to top up other peoples as well.

“I’ll take some, thank you,” Toby, Easton’s colleague said when I offered him some wine. He smiled and we made brief eye contact. His date, what was her name? Alyssa? She didn’t want any. Good call. She had barely eaten any of the delicious food that Easy and Missy had catered tonight, and she was about the size of a twig so more booze would bowl her over. I watched her sit there a little awkwardly. She was the only true stranger at this get-together, knowing neither Easton nor Missy… nor did she seem to know Toby all that well if we were being honest, but that was none of my business.

Toby and I were the only ones invited who weren’t in a couple and while he had brought a date, I had not. I didn’t have anyone on the roster, not because I couldn’t find anyone but because I didn’t want anyone filling that role. When I made that decision, I hadn’t anticipated feeling this sorry for myself about being unattached.

Being seemingly surrounded by loving couples on every side, you would think that I caught the bug and wanted to join in, but at this point in my life, I was over it.

Now, those might have sounded like the sentiments of a fifty-year-old woman who had finally divorced her philandering husband after a thirty-year marriage, but they weren’t. They were mine. At the grand old age of twenty-seven, I had had enough. Maybe I didn’t have as much reason to be so over love and relationships as someone who had had it worse, but I was.

Since the meal was over, everyone was kind of dispersing around Easton’s loft, mingling, and having some more wine before they made their way home. Eddy and Brenna were admiring the brand, spanking new ring on Missy’s finger but I didn’t want to approach. I didn’t want my negativity ruining what was a happy night for them.

There was a terrace attached to the loft, completely private which we hadn’t used because it had rained earlier today, and it was all wet. The weather had turned though, and the doors were open, letting in a nice cool breeze. I noticed Toby and his date walking out together. As everyone kind of paired off with their dates or spouses, I felt myself becoming the third wheel. It was time to go home.

I picked up my wine glass and went over to Missy and Easton so that I could bid them good night.

“You’re leaving already?” Missy asked.

“Yup, early morning for work tomorrow,” I said with a smirk. She knew I was lying about that part. I worked for her and early mornings were completely unheard of. I was fully expecting her to tell me to take tomorrow and probably a couple more days off so that she and Easton could celebrate their engagement.

“No really?” Missy asked. She looked at me quizzically, but she didn’t push me to stay or ask any questions. She got it. I had gotten to watch the not so rosy parts of her relationship with Easton leading up to this beautiful union so I knew she was empathetic.

“Feel free to grab a bottle of wine if you want,” Easton said as I hugged him good night. He was a good guy, I was happy for Missy but tonight, my emotions were

a mess. I was going from that, to jealous, to happy, to sentimental and everything all over again every time that I blinked.

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