“Oh dear!” said Mom. “The young girls in town are going to be devastated.”

“Why?” I asked.

“It seems there is a Mrs Dube, Grace. She’s arriving in a few weeks. Dr Dube will be moving out of the single quarters to live with her.”

I tried not to let my shock show. Shadrack – married! So much for my dreams of an Awesome Foursome wedding!

I suppose I should have told Lucy straight away. Even now, I don’t know why I didn’t. Maybe I felt she would hear the sad news soon enough from her bank customers? Maybe I just didn’t want to say the words out loud? Maybe it was because she was so excited about our upcoming weekend on the lake? Why spoil her joy?

“Imagine!” she said on our Thursday lunch break. “A weekend with just the four of us all together! And I tell you what else: since you won’t make up your mind, I’m making it up for you.”

“Oh yes, Luce? And what have you decided?”

“Well, opposites attract, right? So it should be you paired off with BK. Because you are quiet and he’s talkative. And it should be me with Shadrack ’cause he’s quiet and I’m the noisy one. Perfect combination!”

I should have told her about Mrs Dube that very moment.

Instead, the Awesome Foursome spent all Saturday and Sunday on the lake. Lucy put her words into actions right from the start. She made sure she was always close to Shadrack. They sat together on the boat, she went on the jet ski behind him, they dived into the water together to cool off.

So I was left with BK. And yes, he was charming. He made me smile often even though I was feeling sad. I told myself I must forget all about Shadrack. He was not a decent man. How could he spend time with young, single women, leading them on, when he was already married?

It didn’t help. Even while I sat close to BK, all my longing was for Shadrack. When Shadrack put his arm around Lucy, when he kissed her there in the water, I wanted to scream with jealousy.

And then BK took my hand and kissed my open palm. He said, “Well, Shadrack is lucky, but I have won first prize! Grace, I think next weekend we should spend alone, just the two of us.”

I thought: no more Awesome Foursome. Just a twosome. And the wrong twosome at that! What saying had I heard once? Oh yes, the Gruesome Twosome. Yes, that summed me and BK up.

The weekend finally ended: with Lucy and Shadrack locked in a steamy embrace. Yet it seemed to me that Shadrack was gazing at me over Lucy’s shoulder. Gazing with deep longing. And I had to tell myself again that he was an awful person, betraying his wife. Two-timing her. What did I want with such a man? No thank you!

Anyway, maybe I was just imagining things.

On Monday at the bank, Lucy was completely OTT! Completely Over The Top with joy and excitement.

“Oh Grace, this is it! I have found the man of my dreams! He’s everything I want, everything I need.”

I knew I had to tell her now, no matter how it broke her heart. “He’s married, Luce. I am so sorry. Shadrack has a wife!”

***

Tell us what you think: How will Lucy react to this news that Shadrack is married?