by Abbi Glines
I grimaced and then shrugged. No, I wasn’t okay. I would be. But right now, I was far from okay. I was the hot mess everyone assumed I was. The girl who had deserted this place. I was still that unstable girl with daddy issues. I didn’t want that. I wanted to be he girl who had made a name for herself in New York.
“I should have stopped a bottle of champagne ago,” I replied honestly.
She looked as apologetic as a drunk girl could I guess. “It was fun in the beginning though. The table dancing was memorable.”
I managed a laugh. “Let’s hope Shay agrees when we’re sober in the morning.”
Chantel waved her hand and stumbled a bit. “Shay knew what she was getting into inviting us all to this shindig. Can’t just change the past and hope for the best. The past is there, she knows that. And he showed up with the redheaded sex-on-a-stick goddess. Jesus, I hate him for you.”
Sober Chantel would never admit any of that. Drunk she had loose lips. I wasn’t sure I was still drunk enough to hear it all. “We all moved on. I never imagined Marty not to have a beautiful woman on his arm.” Which was true.
“Not sure how moved on he is,” Chantel muttered.
I didn’t want to talk about Marty. Or the redhead.
“I’m trying to decide if Shay would rather me go to my room and be on excellent behavior the rest of the weekend. Or go back in there . . . and try to finish the night without embarrassing her.”
Chantel grinned. It was her drunk grin and I wondered why I was asking her anything. She was in worse shape than me. I’d sobered a bit after vomiting. “She was prepared for this. She had to be. Go back in there and enjoy your evening.”
Enjoy was a bit of a reach. But I could return and be pleasant. Get through it. “I’ll do my best.”
“I don’t care about the stupid seating assignments. I can come sit with you if you want. We can make fun of the redhead together.”
That was a bad idea. That wasn’t going to help things at all. “No, that’s okay. Thanks though. I need to fix this the best I can.”
Turning on the water, I slowly washed my hands, procrastinating with every drawn out second. Finally, I dried my hands and took a deep breath. I could do this. I could. “Wish me luck,” I said with a smirk. Chantel opened the door for me.
“Luck,” she repeated.
“Thanks. For coming to check on me,” I told her before walking back outside into the courtyard.
“It’s what we do. Friends.” She reminded me.
“Yeah, friends,” I agreed.
One more calming breath then I headed back to where I had run from. Each step feeling as if my feet were suddenly made of bricks. Proving difficult to look as sophisticated as I wanted to appear after my race out of here. I knew Chantel was behind me and that helped somewhat.
I didn’t feel as alone. Although I knew everyone was trying to look like they were watching Chantel walk by. She hadn’t made a scene by breaking into a sprint after announcing she needed to vomit. Holding my head high I made eye contact with Shay who appeared concerned. I did my best to apologize through my gaze. I’d properly apologize later. Right now, I wanted to get through this crisis.
Taking my seat, I saw the first course had arrived. I wasn’t sure what the salad type thing on thin cracker bread pieces was, but I lifted it carefully and took a bite needing something on my stomach.
“You sure you can eat that so soon?” Marty asked. His tone was amused and it annoyed me. He had a reason to be amused.
I lifted my eyes to meet his gaze. “Thanks so much for your concern but I think I’ll manage fine.” My tone was as sweet and polite as I could make it. I smiled just as sweetly at the redhead before focusing on my plate and the food I didn’t want to eat. I knew I should try.
“I ordered you water,” Shay said moving the glass toward me with a nudge as if I was five years old.
“Thanks,” I replied not able to give her a fake smile because she’d call me out on it.
“Unless you want more champagne of course,” Mack added. I shot an annoyed glare at my soon to be brother-in-law and rolled my eyes.
He chuckled and I relaxed a bit. This dinner would be over soon and I’d escape. I just needed to keep smiling.
Marty
SHE WASN’T HAPPY WITH HERSELF. That much was obvious. It was as entertaining as it was painful to watch her suffer through the rest of this meal. She needed a bed and some sleep. Not steak tartare which she hadn’t touched.
I only half listened as Beulah talked about their daughter and her dislike of piano lessons. It must have been an entertaining story because there was laughter all around the table. I wasn’t able to fully focus on what she said. And trying to hide that I was watching Fiona was taking too much of my concentration.
“I doubt we can get another teacher in this town,” Stone drawled.
“I’m afraid she’s made a name for herself,” Beulah added equally amused.
Fiona wasn’t commenting much. I wondered where her thoughts were. Was she trying not to look in my direction or was she just trying to get through each course of the meal without getting sick again?
“Stop staring,” Rowan whispered with a smile on her face as she laughed along with the others at whatever Mack had just said. Were they still talking about Stone and Beulah’s daughter?
“At what?” I asked, turning my eyes to meet Rowan’s.
She rolled her eyes and took a bite of her potatoes. “You know what,” she said after swallowing.
I was being more obvious than I realized. Shit. Had Fiona noticed?
“Just me,” Rowan replied to my silent question.
I frowned at her.
“You need to say more,” she encouraged.
I didn’t know much about kids. How was I supposed to join in on this conversation? I wasn’t one to talk about shit I had no clue about. It would be more obvious if I tried now.
“When’s the baby due?” I asked like it was something I cared about. It was a topic about their kids and that’s what they all seemed to want to talk about.
Beulah smiled at me as if it was sweet I’d asked. “I have five more weeks,” she replied.
Jesus, they’d be doing this baby thing again soon, and they’d just gotten the last kid old enough to do shit on its own. They seemed happy about it. Stone appeared ready to laugh at me. I’d shown interest. I didn’t see how that was funny.
“Try a topic that’s not already been discussed,” Rowan whispered this time.
Confused I frowned at her. “Huh?”
“They already talked about her due date,” she said softly while holding a smile.
Yeah, I was great at this shit. “You talk,” I muttered then went back to eating.
There was a pause in conversation then Rowan opened her mouth. At that moment, I realized I shouldn’t have told her to speak. “So which one of you was it that thought she was sleeping with her brother or cousin?”
If my mouth had been full I would have choked. Mack did. He had to grab his water while Stone slapped his back hard. I shifted my gaze to apologize to Beulah. I shouldn’t have told Rowan her story. And Rowan having no fucking filter shouldn’t have brought it up. Crazy bitch. Beulah’s eyes were wide and then she did something I wasn’t expecting. She began to laugh. Not a nervous laugh, or one to ease the sudden tension at the table. She was belly laughing. Like she’d just heard a hilarious joke. Confused, I glanced a Stone who was watching her with that sappy love gleam in his eyes. She was all he could see or would ever see. It made me sick and I was jealous as hell of him at the same time.
“I take it that was you,” Rowan replied. “Everyone else looks like they are torn between punching me in the nose or hiding under the table. I like you. You’ve got a sense of humor and that whole stunningly beautiful thing going for you.”
Beulah got control of her laughter but was still smiling as she nodded her head. “Yes. It was me. I thought I was in love with my Prince Charming. Turns out it was his siniste
r best friend with his secrets and angry glares that would become my one and only.”
Rowan leaned forward. Her eyes were glued to Beulah with undivided attention. And that was saying a lot because Rowan had severe ADHD, and it was that time of night her meds had worn off. Keeping her attention for much of anything would take a fucking miracle. “I don’t know this part. Do tell. I’m intrigued.”
Beulah seemed pleased with the attention. She winked at Stone. “Well, the prince charming was very charming and he is my cousin, not my brother. Anyway, he has a best friend who wouldn’t give me a break. He was determined I needed to leave. The moment I was on my own and lost”—she snapped her fingers—“he was the one who stepped in and saved me. The rest is a long story but it’s ours.”
“Stone was an idiot before Beulah. That’s about all you need to know,” Mack said with a smirk.
Stone didn’t argue. “She saved me. It was the other way around,” he told Rowan but he kept his gaze fixed on Beulah.
“Listen, this is my wedding weekend. If you’re gonna eye fuck your baby momma while we are trying to eat, could you take it elsewhere. I will not be outdone in the romance department. I’ll have to step up my game. And we aren’t ready to start spitting out kids just yet. The knocking her up thing is cheating.” Mack’s rant got a burst of laughter from Shay and the remaining lingering tension faded.
I felt like I could take a deep breath. My eyes moved toward Fiona without my consent to find her smiling softly as she looked from Beulah to Shay. She seemed happy for them. No jealousy or envy. Just happy. But then that was Fiona for you. She had the biggest heart under that stone-cold exterior. She hid it well to protect it. And she should because it was so easily hurt.
I should know. I’d done it twice.
My mood shifted and I leaned back no longer feeling so relaxed and pleased. My stomach felt sour. Sick. Regret was hard to live with. And harder to accept. I knew that all too well. I had lived with it for years.
“If she wasn’t so amused by your vulgar description, I’d break that pretty nose before your wedding,” Stone said to Mack.
Mack lifted his left shoulder slightly. “You’d have to catch me first, old man.”
Stone didn’t seem as amused as Beulah did. Shay touched Mack’s arm. “Stop picking fights. At least with Stone. And he’s right. That was rude. You shouldn’t have said that.”
Mack threw his hands up in exasperation. “What? I can’t joke about eye fucking but Rowan can ask about incest?”
Shay stiffened at Mack’s question looking like she may put her fist in his nose. No one spoke for a second and I wondered if Mack had gone too far. I didn’t want his nose broke for his wedding but then again I didn’t want anywhere near Stone’s fists either. My brother was a dumbass.
“I thought both comments were funny. I needed to laugh. We all did. Didn’t we honey?” Beulah asked giving her innocent sweet smile to her husband. Stone’s shoulders once again relaxed and he nodded.
“Yeah, we did.”
Fiona sat silently through that entire exchange. I never forgot she was sitting there. Close enough to inhale her perfume and watch the rise and fall of each breath she took. She was always the first thing on my mind.
Fiona
STAYING IN BED ALL DAY was the only thing I wanted to do as soon as my eyes opened this morning. However, I had to make up for last night’s behavior and that meant following the itinerary Shay had left for me. The first item on the itinerary was a girls-only breakfast. After that, Shay said she’d send us all on our daytime adventure, whatever the hell that was. I wanted my adventure to involve a bed.
There were only three days left. I could do this. Today, tomorrow, and the big day. Once it was done I would leave and I wouldn’t have to deal with all these old feelings and conflicted thoughts. Making a fool of myself.
Slowly, I opened the door to my hotel room and peeked out to see if there was anyone leaving the room across from me. I didn’t like how everyone had warmed to Rowan. I thought she was rude last night. Knowing the facts and details of our lives wasn’t her business. Asking things that she didn’t need to know about annoyed me. She was lucky Beulah was the sweetest human on earth. I’d have set her straight had it been me.
Marty should have shut her up. Shaking my head with disgust remembering last night’s conversation, I softly closed my door and hurried to the elevator. Rowan wasn’t going to be at breakfast. She wasn’t a bridesmaid. I doubted those two were out of bed. The picture of them in bed together made me grimace. Not what I wanted to think about this morning.
Pressing the elevator button several times hoping that made it come faster was silly, but I wasn’t in the mood to see Rowan or Marty. I had a headache and I needed coffee. Then I would smile and pretend I liked everyone and life was fine. Before caffeine, however, I wasn’t a very good actress.
Maybe the gods thought they were being funny or the bastards hated me. Whatever it was, I heard the door opening down the hallway and I KNEW. I just knew what door it was without looking. I kept my eyes on the elevator door and my spine as straight as possible. Maybe they were getting ice or something. If you even got ice at a place like this.
The elevator doors opened and I all but ran inside. I frantically pressed the lobby button. It wouldn’t light up and the elevator doors wouldn’t close. Frustrated, I pressing it more violently, with force, but still nothing. Why was this happening to me? Why couldn’t I just get through one awkward morning without having to see them. Either of them? Why was fate fighting against me?
A body filled the open elevator doorway. Scowling, I lifted my gaze to see Marty standing there. Alone. Looking like he’d had caffeine. Asshole.
“Beating the hell out of the lobby button won’t help.” He pointed toward the arrow above the doors. “This thing is going up. Not down.”
I slowly lifted my gaze to the arrow and sighed with annoyance. Why had the elevator stopped then? I had pressed the down button.
Marty leaned over and pressed the down button. He stepped outside the elevator. “Might as well get off and wait with me.”
The doors began to close and I just stood there glaring at him. Finally, they clicked shut and I was inside alone. Headed up. But Marty wasn’t in here and I wasn’t in the hallway with him. That was a win. Leaning back against the wall of the elevator I closed my eyes a moment and took a long calming breath. The elevator stopped again and Shay appeared. Confused, she frowned when she saw me. Her frown quickly turned into a pleased smile “What are you doing?”
“Trying to get to the lobby,” was my response.
“On an elevator going up?”
“Long story. I need coffee.”
Shay chuckled. She stepped inside. “Well, this works perfectly. We can walk to breakfast together. Did you sleep well?”
“I passed out.”
“I bet you did,” Shay said with a chuckle.
“Sorry about last night. I was an idiot.” But I wasn’t as rude as Rowan.
“Don’t apologize. Last night was fun. Seeing you and Chantel together like old times was great. I do hate you got sick though.”
The elevator stopped at my floor again and I clenched my jaw as the door opened and sure enough, in walked Marty.
“We meet again,” he said cheerfully to me. Then he turned to Shay. “Good morning, beautiful. You’ve found grouchy here I see. She needs to be caffeinated before her scowl causes wrinkles.”
Shay gave him a warning glance. I saw the glance but ignored it just like I did him.
“She will have some soon and will function like the rest of us,” Shay assured him.
“Thanks for inviting Rowan to breakfast. She was getting dressed when I left. She’ll be there right behind you.”
My gaze jerked to Shay this time. I wasn’t ignoring that. Why would she invite Rowan? She wasn’t a bridesmaid. She didn’t belong there. Shay saw my anger and my surprise.
“Is that an issue?” Marty asked.
I acted like he didn’t exist which was easiest.
“I’m glad she can come,” Shay replied glaring right back at me.
“Do you think she can keep from asking rude questions long enough to get through the meal?” I snapped.
Shay rolled her eyes at me. “Don’t be that way Fiona.”
“Be what way? Protective of my friends and their feelings? That woman gives no thought to the words coming out of her mouth.”
“She was just curious,” Shay replied.
I opened my mouth to argue that normal people didn’t ask those things when curious, but Marty spoke first. “She was asking shocking questions. But that’s Rowan’s way of changing the focus and lightening the mood. Maybe she should have tried doing the change the mood another way, but it worked. Everyone stopped looking at you.”
I opened and closed my mouth several times. I turned my glare back to the elevator doors and stood there silently.
“Don’t be a bitch, Fiona,” Marty said softly. As if he was asking me nicely.
I inhaled sharply but bit my tongue to keep from saying anything more. I wouldn’t take the bait. I was going to get off this elevator and walk away from this man.
“Rowan is great. If you give her a chance—”
“I don’t plan on seeing either of you again after this weekend. Why would I be nice to her or give her a chance? I don’t care, Marty. I. Do. Not. Care.”
The doors opened and I stalked out.
“You sure you don’t care? Because, baby, from where I stand it seems like you care a fucking lot.”
“Marty don’t,” Shay interjected.
I spun around and shot my angry gaze at him. “Don’t call me baby. I prefer bitch over baby.”
Marty smirked. “Why? That’s a word you hear most often?”
“Stop it, Marty,” Shay said again.
“I don’t care, Shay. Come on. Let’s go. He can talk to himself if he needs to hear his own voice that bad.”
“Why is it that Chantel gets forgiveness and I don’t?” he called out as I walked away. I didn’t check to see if Shay was following me. I was focused on getting distance and fast.