Ten

She had called Joni only once since coming back from her first art show to ask if she had made a decision about marrying Pete.

"No, I haven't," Joni had said, "and with school starting in less than two weeks, I don't know what I could do, anyway. I mean, what does Pete expect? I can't just quit at this late date. He's got me cornered and I can't stand it."

The conversation shifted to Mark's wedding. Joni didn't know Andrea had seen him recently. Joni went into detail about Jenny's dress, the reception, the flowers and cake. She mentioned how happy Jenny looked and how handsome Mark was in his dark blue tuxedo.

"He looked scared too," Joni had said.

"I guess that's natural enough; it's a big step," Andrea said, trying to sound detached. She didn't like pretending that Mark's wedding was just another item of gossip to her; but Andrea couldn't bring herself to confide to Joni about Mark's visit to Chicago or the depth of their involvement. Joni liked Mark, and she would have been disappointed in him, and in Andrea if she knew how close Andrea came to yielding. Joni was a contemporary woman, but Andrea knew how she felt about infidelity. Though Mark hadn't technically been married, it was a fuzzy area that Andrea didn't want to defend. She couldn't bear to have Joni disappointed in her or Mark. Besides, nothing happened and it was over now. There was no need to trouble Joni with it.