Footloose. Leanne Banks

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      Amelia pulled into the parking lot of the popular restaurant and walked into the entryway, hoping to see William, but he wasn’t there. She checked with the hostess and was led to a back room of the restaurant where a couple and Will, looking more gorgeous than ever, sat at a small round table.

      Will glanced up at her and stood. “Amelia, there you are,” he said and lightly touched her back. “Mrs. Fitzgerald is dying to meet you. She’s a big fan of Bellagio shoes.”

      That feeling under her nerve endings grew stronger when Will introduced her simply as Amelia Parker, not as Amelia Parker, his fiancée. He didn’t kiss her or touch her hand during the meal. Although he was polite, he seemed detached.

      Her stomach twisting into a knot, she still managed to make friendly conversation. By the end of the meal, however, she couldn’t stop wondering why Will was acting so cool when he had been adamant about her joining him at this dinner. He’d said it was important to him, so of course she’d come.

      Feeling every tick of the clock, she refused dessert and wondered if she should excuse herself. Mrs. Fitzgerald saved her from her quandary when she received a call from the sitter saying that her child had a fever. The couple quickly excused themselves, leaving her alone with Will. Finally.

      “Let me walk you to your car,” Will said.

      His silence as he escorted her to the parking lot made her stomach hurt even more. Amelia bit her lip. “I wasn’t sure where you planned to stay tonight.”

      He shrugged. “I got a room downtown since I’m just here for the night. I guess we should talk,” he said as he opened her car door for her.

      Amelia had the sudden feeling of dread, the same, she’d bet, that someone being led to the guillotine would feel. She’d had this sensation when he’d broken up with her before. Amelia couldn’t fool herself any longer. Will was going to dump her once and for all.

      Maybe not, her hopeful naïve side argued weakly.

      But deep down, she knew. He was going to give her the biggest heave-ho of her life and there was nothing she could do about it. She sank blindly into the driver’s seat.

      Will slid into the passenger seat and turned toward her. He sighed. That sigh was never a good sign.

      “I don’t know how to say this, Amelia, but I’m not in love with you anymore.”

      Her heart sank to her feet. No, lower—it had to be lower, lower than the bottom of her car and the paved parking lot. He’d never put it exactly that way before. She shook her head, her mouth opening, but she couldn’t find any words.

      “I don’t know how it happened, but I fell in love with someone else.”

      Amelia’s brain screeched to a halt. “Pardon me? There’s someone else?”

      He shrugged. “I didn’t mean to fall out of love with you, bugaboo,” he said, his pet name suddenly grating on her raw nerves. “It’s just that I met Sidney and she knocked me on my butt. She’s everything you’re not.”

      She felt as if someone were shifting her internal gears without the benefit of a clutch. “She’s everything I’m not,” she echoed, confused. “I thought I was everything you wanted.”

      “I can’t explain it. She’s as ambitious as I am, always doing something that surprises me. She’s impulsive, has a temper, but she makes me feel alive every minute.”

      Amelia couldn’t digest it. She couldn’t believe what he was saying. “Did you even notice that I fixed my hair the way you always said you loved it?” she asked him. “I’m wearing your favorite dress. Did you notice that? I’m wearing your favorite perfume.”

      He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Amelia. I just don’t feel that way about you anymore.” He sighed again. She hated his sighs. “Sweetheart, I think I just outgrew you.”

      Outgrew her. Fury blasted through her fear. Some small bit of pride and self-preservation bubbled up from her desperation. She had made sacrifices for Will. She had traded a scholarship to a prestigious university for a state school where Will could gain admission, too. She had cut and colored her hair for him, dressed for him, put her career ambitions in the backseat for him. She had agreed to delay their wedding so they could be more financially stable. She had made sacrifices.

      For the first time, she had the ugly feeling that she had made too many sacrifices.

      “Would you mind giving me a ride to my hotel?” he asked. “I can tell you need time to think about all this. You can go ahead and give me the ring back, too,” he added casually. “And bugaboo, we’ll always be friends.”

      Amelia felt something inside her shift. She could almost hear the sound of stone platelets scraping against each other. It was monumental. She’d based most of her life on the plan that she and Will would be together forever. That plan had just been cancelled for good. After six weeks of waffling, she could tell that Will didn’t want her anymore, even though she’d done everything she could to make him love her.

      To be honest, she’d known it for a while, but had been too terrified to face it. Everything had changed. Everything would be different.

      But her heart kept beating. She kept breathing. Her brain kept working. She was still living. She laughed in relief. Maybe the anticipation had been worse than the reality.

      She looked at Will, really looked at him, without the gauze of love covering her eyes. He had a weak chin, he chewed with his mouth open and he rushed her during sex. He had chosen her engagement ring based on his taste, not hers, and he was cheap.

      She removed her engagement ring from her finger and handed it to him.

      Then she started her car. “Get your own ride and get another friend.”

      “But—”

      “No buts,” she said. “Get out of my car.”

      Looking at her as if she’d sprouted a third head, he complied. Still dazed, she headed back to her suite at Aubrey’s house, where she smashed Will’s favorite CD into a million pieces, poured his favorite bottle of wine down the toilet and gave his homemade apple pie to a sympathetic but appreciative Harry.

      AMELIA HELD ON TO HER anger as long as she could. Anger, she decided, was loads better than sadness. Anger had energy and kept her from getting weepy. Anger was big and hot and bright. It filled up her bewildered insides like fireworks filled up the black sky on the Fourth of July.

      The problem was that Amelia had never been able to hold on to anger that long. It had always seemed like a stupid waste of energy. So four days after Will had dropped the big bomb on her, the ache inside her overrode the anger. She felt so empty and so sad.

      Her mother had always said the best way to deal with feeling sad was to bake a pie for someone. Focusing on someone else would help you feel better about yourself. Even the good book said, “It’s better to give than to receive.”

      A lot easier, too, Amelia decided and began to bake some pies. She baked pies for thirty straight days, until her boss and friend Trina Roberts took her aside and gently referred her to a shrink.

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