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told her you were very busy with the wedding, since I had no idea it was called off.’
    Jade ’s palms were sweat y with sudden anxiety. How typical . Her mother was so proud that her daughter was finally getting married , she would talk about it to anyone, starting with the postman and ending with the cashier at the bank. No wonder she had almost fainted when Jade told her about the breakup last Friday.
    ‘Did she mention what she wanted to talk about? ’ I t was much safer to pursue this avenue , and she was curious to find out more anyway.
    ‘No, but she didn’t sound too cheerful.’ Her mom bustled around, searching through the pile of notebooks next to the phone. ‘ H ere it is — the phone number she gave me for you to call her. I forgot about it completely with all the other stuff going on this weekend.’
    Her mother made it sound as if it w ere entirely Jade’s fault that her engagement had fallen through, she thought defensively as she smoothed out the sheet of paper with the number on it ; as if she had done it to spite her parents, destroying their dream of her as a married woman. That was un fair and annoying. Her own feelings didn’t even seem to register in her mom’s mind.
    ‘I ’ ll try to call her , then.’ Glad to have a good reason to escape this stifling conversation, Jade rose to her feet and smiled at her mother, feeling guilty to have caused her so much grief and disappointment.
    She grabbed the phone and took it with her to her old bedroom , which had served as a guestroom ever since she had official ly move d out of the house four years before . During her years studying , she had kept it unchanged , glad to be able to return to the familiar four walls that had witnessed her joys and sorrows over the twenty - three years she had lived within them .
    The room looked different now, she thought as she opened the door and walked in. T he pristine white coverlet that lay on the queen size bed was perfectly smooth and wrinkle - free, which in itself was an upgrade from the cheerful, colorful mess that had reigned with in those four walls in her day. The walls ha d been carefully patched, all the places where her posters had hung painted over in a soothing cream color — a color she absolutely hated. It was clean, functional , and about as interesting as a hospital ward. But she was staying here only for the weekend, she reminded herself as she plopped on the bed and closed her eyes. It was easier this way. Easier to pretend she still belonged here, the memories of her colorful quilt and cheerful , shabby furniture waiting to pounc e at her with overwhelming force .
    She wondered about Laura’s phone call. She had sent her an invitation to the wedding , her initial hesitation to see Liam’s sister lasting just a brief second before she dropped the pale pink envelope into the mailbox. She wanted her friend to come and share her happiness, even if it would remind Jade of her brother . After all, she was marrying someone else , and if that wasn’t making the statement that she was totally over Liam, nothing else would.
    Well, if they talked tonight she would have a chance to straighten out the story, she thought with self - deprecating humor, trying to prepare herself for the inevitable question that she had got ten used to hear ing all through the weekend: What happened?
    She could hardly admit that her fiancé had gotten fed up with her infatuation with Liam, now could she? It would make her seem like some kind of an obsessive stalker who doesn’t know when to call it quits and move on . So she would play it cool and just give Laura the official version , that both of them had realized their lives ha d grown apart , and it was a mutual decision .
    She punched in the numbers and waited, impatient to hear her friend’s voice once again.
    Laura picked up almost immediately , and Jade smiled, remembering her friend sitting in her room, her brown eyes large and full of laughter as they talked