I guess we had all been jealous of Joanne. Not only for long legs that went on forever or her blond hair and blue eyes that seemed able to hypnotize any man, but the way she had found Brad, the fact they were together, how they looked together. Also just because they were the item we all talked about at college.
Brad, who was one of those rare breeds of men that could be one of the boys one moment, then the most affectionate, considerate boyfriend the next. Brad, whose smile used to make us girls’ knees go weak. He was wanted and desired by every girl in the college.
Many a late night discussion over what he would be like and what each of us would do with him, given half the chance, had taken place over bottles of wine in “girls only” discussions.
That was until Brad and Joanne became a couple.
Joanne seemed to seize every chance she could to parade Brad in front of us, as if to show off her conquest, loving the knowledge that she had him and the jealousy and envy she was able to bring from us.
.
Then, towards the end of our last term, something seemed to go wrong between Mr. and Miss. perfect. Tempers, frayed by final exams, erupted. Nights consoling one or the other were not infrequent.
Whispered words soon spread the news that Brad and Joanne were no longer an item.
It was so hard to watch good love go bad.
I would love to tell you a happy ending; well, perhaps I can.
Despite what was going on in their lives, both Brad and Joanne graduated, as I am proud to say did I.
Joanne found herself a new man to take her to the Graduation Prom, looking once more the High School Queen she was. Despite a few cold looks passing between her and Brad, by the end of the evening what had gone before was just history.
Brad also went to the dance with another partner; as they sat together that night under the stars he told her she “Had made him realize just what love really was.”
It had been so hard to watch good love go bad. It was just as hard not to shout to the world that Brad had found a new love, and that love was me.
That all happened several years ago.
In one month’s time, Brad and I are to be married. We have invited Joanne and her new husband to the wedding. We hope they will come and share with us a love that is meant to be.
When Miranda Nolan inherits a house she soon discovers a need to solve the mysteries surrounding the late owner along with resolving the strong attraction she feels for a co-claimant who lost his hearing and faces a world of silence.
