Prologue

He hated Halloween.

Not because he thought it was a Pagan celebration, or because it pandered to commercialism, or even because it encouraged the destruction of young kids' teeth.

No, he hated Halloween because it had been the night of his greatest humiliation.

Robby was going to a costume party with his long-time girlfriend, Patty. They had been friends since about the fourth grade, and going steady since his sophomore year in high school. She was one year behind him and a senior in high school now, and he was a freshman at the community college. He was putting in a year there so that they could go to the same college when she graduated. His eventual plans were to earn his MBA degree and get a job with an accounting firm in the city.

His best friend, Gerry, was also going to the local college, although his plans were less structured. He was thinking of just getting his degree locally and joining his father at his business. Gerry and Robby had met in the sixth grade when Gerry's family had moved into the neighborhood. When his father's business started flourishing, they were able to buy a house and move out of his mother's parents' house.

The three of them became fast friends after that. They did everything together. For the eighth grade dance, the boys both took Patty as their date and had a blast together. It was after that, though, that Robby started looking at Patty with different eyes. It wasn't until she joined them at the high school that things had really changed. Patty had blossomed, and Robby couldn't keep his eyes off her. It seemed only logical for him to ask her out, officially, and they became a couple. Gerry didn't seem to mind, but Robby noticed that Gerry stopped hanging out as much. When Gerry started dating some of their classmates, things evened out; the three of them, four counting Gerry's current girlfriend, got together more often.

Like tonight, for example. Robby was driving, so he was going over to Patty's house to pick her up, along with Gerry and his date. They'd planned on leaving Gerry's car at the house and traveling all together to the party. On his way to collect everyone, Robby noticed a young woman dressed as a scalawag stomping angrily along the sidewalk as he neared Patty's home.

He turned into the driveway and shut off his car. Getting out of his car, he decided to leave the plastic foil that was part of his costume in the car. He was dressed as a Musketeer, preferring to think of himself as the dashing D'Artagnan rather than one of the original three. Patty was dressing as one of the ladies-in-waiting from the same era. Robby didn't know what Gerry was going as – probably a pirate again, like the last few years. Robby admitted to himself that the costumes were getting better each year as Gerry got more sophisticated.

He was on the walk leading to Patty's front door when it opened, and Patty herself came out. He stopped on the walk and looked at her. The lamp beside the walk showed her forlorn look and the tears streaking her cheeks, dripping to the front of her bodice. He noticed rather distractedly that the outfit seem to fit her a little more snugly than when they'd had it fitted. His eyes returned to her face just as she began to speak.

"I'm so sorry, Robby. I didn't know how to tell you ... about what happened." She came to a stammering halt when she saw the confusion on Robby's face. She sobbed hard, once, and then continued.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it," she sobbed. "I ... I'm pregnant, and, and Gerry's the father."

Robby looked at her, his heart aching in his chest as he looked at the woman he'd planned on marrying, when the time was right. He thought to himself that the time would never be right, now. He felt a tear glide down his own cheek, not realizing until then that he, too, was crying.

Movement by the door drew his attention, and he glanced up to see Gerry behind Patty. He stood there, his hip cocked, his arms crossed on his chest, with a smirk on his face. Robby felt his brow furrow as he frowned and looked back at Patty. She simply stood there with her arms hanging by her side, clenching and unclenching her hands. She looked into his eyes and flinched at what she saw there.

"Say something, Robby. Please," she pled, hoping for something, some reaction to her betrayal. Gerry snorted in the background. Robby lifted his eyes to Gerry.

"I trusted you," he stated in a flat, gray tone. "I thought you were my friend." The smirk left Gerry's face and he shuffled his feet, dropping his arms.

Chapter 1 »