by Megan Ryder
Delaney took a small step back from Wyatt, putting some distance between her and the tense situation. As if the movement broke the ice, Wyatt turned to her, a muscle jumping in his jaw.
He exhaled, visibly relaxing his muscles, and held out his arm to her, ignoring the scowling Anna. “Shall we beard the lions together, milady?”
Delaney laughed. “My hero. Thank you.”
She took a deep breath and felt him do the same. They walked out onto the patio, and the conversation died immediately, all eyes turning on them. Behind them, Ethan murmured something to Anna, who snarled back. For a long moment, no one said anything. Delaney lifted her chin and faced each person, one at a time. For the most part, the looks were welcoming, except from Brigid. She barely spared a glance for Delaney, the one person who didn’t seem to care when Delaney disappeared. She was focused on her conversation with Matthew, who was valiantly trying to subtly indicate other people had arrived. Delaney couldn’t tell if she needed an ice pick and warm woolens or a first aid kit and a shield. She focused her gaze on Caroline, her lifeline in a morass of uncertainty and stress.
Anna pushed between her and Wyatt, headed for the drink cart, muttering something about needing a double.
“May I get you something to drink? White wine?” Wyatt asked quietly.
“I’ve got it.” Ethan growled and stalked past them to join Anna at the outdoor bar cart.
Wyatt winked at her and sauntered after Ethan, leaving Delaney to navigate the treacherous waters of the patio. Matthew murmured something to Brigid and excused himself, walking over to embrace Delaney.
“It’s been a long time. You’re looking well. How do you want your steak? Grady and I are getting ready to fire up the grill.”
“Grady?”
Recognition dawned on his face and he gestured for the other man standing with Brigid to come over. “You haven’t met my brother yet. Grady Coughlin, meet Delaney Winters, Caroline’s best friend since forever and maid of honor.”
“A best friend wouldn’t have disappeared for years,” Anna muttered from her perch on the stone wall.
Matthew colored slightly and sucked in a breath. Fortunately, Delaney didn’t have to dig too deeply for her socialite education. Anna needed to be pushed back a little. Nothing outrageous, but just enough to remember that Delaney wasn’t a doormat and wouldn’t tolerate her attitude. She held up a hand to Matthew and stepped around him, confronting Anna face to face. Anna’s eyebrow lifted imperiously, something Delaney had seen her do on her evening drama, Passions.
Delaney cocked her head and studied Anna in mock seriousness. “I thought you would have left Bianca St. John behind for this weekend. Or maybe you and Bianca are one and the same. Isn’t she the bitch? Or was that you?”
A gasp went up from the crowd and a little titter of laughter. Ethan glanced over from the drink cart, a small smile playing about his lips, a hint of pride and approval in his look. Anna’s jaw dropped and her eyes narrowed, clearly surprised that Delaney would take her on so publicly. She closed her jaw with a snap and hopped off the wall, standing toe-to-toe with her, Anna at eye level due to the heels she wore.
“Excuse me? You come gliding in here like the big society princess you always were, taking over, telling us all what to do, expecting everyone to bow and scrape to you. Well, I have news for you, ice queen. You were knocked off that pedestal a long time ago. I was there. Then you were gone. Left us peons in the dust like yesterday’s pastry.”
The words slapped Delaney and she barely maintained her composure. She glanced around the small patio and what she saw, and didn’t see, shook her to her core. Caroline shrugged, but there was sadness in her eyes. Matthew stood behind Caroline, a tight smile on his face, uncomfortable and awkward in the moment. But no one stepped in, leaving the two women to duke it out.
Brigid, however, strode between the two women and held up both hands as if directing traffic. “Stop it, both of you. This is not about your anger or your past. This is about our friends getting married and starting a new life together. They don’t need this tension to ruin their week. So, take your corners and stay out of each other’s way. I don’t care what you do, as long as you shut up.”
A stunned silence fell over the patio. Only the dull roar from the waves and the chirping of bugs broke the silence. For a long moment, no one said anything. Then Anna started to laugh, a deep, throaty, sexy sound that she had perfected so many years ago and was now a trademark sound for her character, Bianca St. John.
“Of course, counselor. I can see why you’re a lawyer, Brigid. No problem with confrontation and a blunt mediation style. I’d hate to be on the witness stand facing you.” Anna stood and held out her hand to Delaney. “I’m willing to bury the hatchet if you are.”
“Where are you burying it?” Delaney muttered but, at the sharp look from Brigid, subsided and took Anna’s hand. “Fine. For Caroline.”
“For Caroline.” Anna agreed then pulled her close for an awkward hug. She whispered in Delaney’s ear, low enough only for her to hear, “It’s not over, though.”
Delaney patted the other woman on the shoulder and nodded once. They might have been interrupted this time but a reckoning was coming.
The next two hours were excruciating for Delaney. Awkward conversations, punctuated by occasional nervous bursts of laughter. The only people who seemed comfortable were Caroline, Matthew, and Brigid, probably because they were the three members of the group who had stuck together. Of course, Brigid worked with Matthew at the law firm, so they couldn’t exactly avoid each other.
Delaney sipped her wine and sat on the porch swing, casually swaying and watching the group dynamics. It was a position she had grown accustomed to, not being the center but skirting the fringes, or serving the main crowd, in the case of her job at the museum. Her new role allowed her the freedom to assess the situation and observe quietly, without having to be responsible for everyone at the party. She never realized how much she had hated her role as society darling, forced to play a part in a society that judged people based on their money, the clothes they wore, and who their family was.
At one time, these people had been the one group she could be herself with, and yet now, after all that had happened, they were judging her just as much, but for very different reasons.
“Is this seat taken?” The one new member of the group stood next to her and gestured to the empty seat on the swing.
“Please, have a seat. Grady, right?”
He nodded. “I’m Matt’s younger brother.”
She frowned, thinking back to college. “I don’t remember you from our college days.”
He let out a short laugh. “Yeah, college wasn’t my thing. I’ve been working with our dad on his contracting business.”
“That’s right. I’m sorry to hear about your dad. Alzheimer’s is a rough disease. It’s nice to meet you.”
He smiled, looking so much like Matthew. “It started as Parkinson’s and morphed into Alzheimer’s. It’s been a challenge but we’re making it work. I hope I wasn’t disturbing you. I just needed a bit of a break.” He nodded toward Brigid, still deep in conversation with Matthew. “They have some case going on and that’s all they talk about.”
She smiled. “Brigid can be pretty intense and driven with regards to goals.”
“She has more lists that anyone I’ve ever met. I think she has a list for everything.”
“That sounds like Brigid. Even in college, she had her schedule all mapped out, her assignments and days planned out for the whole semester. I think her whole life was planned by the time she could read.”
“But who planned it—her or her family?” He countered, almost under his breath.
Delaney arched her brow. “An astute observation. How well do you know Brigid?”
He glanced away. “I’ve spent some time with her, as a fourth with Caroline and Matthew.”
Delaney laughed then stopped suddenly “Oh, my God. Caroline is setting you up with Br
igid.”
He colored. “What? No, I mean I am walking down the aisle with her, but that’s it.”
For the first time since she’d arrived, she relaxed and felt a genuine smile cross her face. “Don’t worry about it. As the week goes on, she’ll get preoccupied with the wedding and forget all about her matchmaking ideas.”
“I hope so.” He shifted uncomfortably. “Besides, I won’t be here that much. I’m renovating a cottage on the island and I have to finish this week.”
“Caroline allowed you to work this week?”
He leaned in and lowered his voice. “Caroline doesn’t know it but her father asked me to fix up a place for her and Matthew. I’m just putting the finishing touches on it.”
“Caroline will love that! She always loved the island. I can’t wait to see it.”
He grinned. “It’s not as big or nice as this one, but it’s cozy and I think she’ll love it. Her father said it was a place she mentioned often.”
Charmed by his easygoing attitude, she relaxed her shoulders, the tension flowing out of them for the first time all day. “I’ll bet it’s the old Hanson place. Adorable cottage but it needed a lot of work the last time I saw it. I can’t imagine how much it needed now.”
As they chatted about the renovations and the island, a heated stare settled on her from across the stone patio. Ethan slouched in a chair, a glass of whiskey in his hands, eyes burning with intensity as he watched her and Grady without any expression on his face. Occasionally, he replied to Wyatt and Anna, but his gaze never wavered from her. Delaney studiously ignored him and concentrated on Grady, enjoying the relaxing conversation, no ties from the past strangling her, but Ethan continued to pull her attention. A slow burn simmered, a reminder of their shared almost kiss earlier that day, and she resisted getting up and walking over to him and taking up where they left off.
“So, what’s the deal with you and Ethan?” The question was casual but there were undertones of curiosity there.
The question pulled her attention back to Grady completely. “You don’t know?”
He shrugged. “I guess there’s some history. All of you have some sort of history with each other, but I’m new here. Blank slate and all that.”
She mulled his words over for a moment, remembering her mother saying something very similar about wanting to move somewhere where no one knew her, her history, or the sordid details of the scandal. It was an attractive idea, being somewhere and someone completely unknown. If she moved somewhere else, she could be anonymous and maybe find someone nice and have a new life.
She caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. Ethan stood and gestured with his glass toward her. She shook her head at the unspoken question. Another drink was definitely not what she needed, not as she was having visions of seducing Ethan under the moonlight, in the one place where her life had been pretty perfect. She longed to return to that time, when life was simpler and she knew her path.
“Delaney?” Grady’s voice interrupted her reverie.
“Sorry, thinking about the past.” She took a deep breath. “Ethan and I were engaged and broke up five years ago.”
He nodded. “Doesn’t seem like it’s over. Not with the dagger looks he’s been sending me all night.”
She followed his look over at Ethan, who watched them while pouring more whiskey. She shook her head. “No, that’s in the past.”
He stood up. “Doesn’t look that way to me. Can I refresh your drink?”
She eyed Ethan hovering over the drink cart. “I think I’ll pass.” She stood. “In fact, I think I’ll take a walk on the beach. It’s been a while since I’ve felt the sand between my toes.”
“At the risk of angering your ex-fiancé, do you want company?” He flashed another charming smile.
She smiled and shook her head. “No, thanks. I’ve got this.”
She walked past the group of people, brushing off offers of company, and through the opening in the stone wall out to the lawn leading to the private beach. She strolled across the grass, ignoring the voices left behind. Again.
The grass gave way to dunes and beach grass, then sand and surf. Despite the fall, there was no one on the beach. The houses were well separated so she had this stretch to herself. She slogged her way through the soft sand and onto the hard pack pounded by the surf. She kicked off her sandals and walked into the water, the slow waves licking her feet, cooling her down from the heat of the day and the altercation at the house. The waves rolled in, breaking far offshore, but were only ripples as they lapped at her feet. The water pulled at her feet, tugging her away, away from the shore, away from her past, away from the pain.
Daylight had given way to dusk, the sun slowly setting behind her, enhancing her feeling of isolation. Night had always been the roughest time since her father’s death. The darkness emphasized how alone she felt and the despair often settled in her bones, accompanied by tears and sleeplessness, magnifying her depression. Hearing her mother crying down the hall had jarred her out of her own sadness and forced her to step up. While she hated the reason behind it, she was glad she had had the opportunity to learn how strong she could be.
“Running away again, Delaney? Isn’t that what got you into trouble in the first place?”
Ethan’s voice pulled her back to the moment, from her wishes and dreams of what could have been. She turned slowly. He stood a few yards away, hands buried in his cargo pants pockets, white shirt unbuttoned, hair ruffling in the sea breeze, a solemn look on his face.
“Not running away. Taking a break. There’s a difference.” She crossed her arms, hugging herself against the slight chill in the air.
He nodded slowly but didn’t budge from his spot. “What are you thinking about?”
“You really want to know? Fine. No one wants me here, except maybe Caroline, and I’m sure she’s regretting that now. I should have gone with my gut.”
“And kept hiding?” His quiet voice was neutral, no inflection or judgment.
“It was safer,” she admitted in a small voice.
“Maybe. But you’ve taken the first step. Takes a lot of courage.”
She arched an eyebrow at him. “I thought you were still pissed at me. Why are you being so nice?”
He grinned and walked toward the water. He bent down and picked up a rock, tossing it into the water. “I’m still pissed. But we have too much of a past for me to completely ignore you when you’re in pain.”
His words snapped her out of her funk, and she stared at his back for a long moment. Then she stepped up and looked out over the Gulf. She wanted to reach for his hand, reach for him, but fear and self-preservation overrode her desire. “Why did you follow me?”
“I’ll always follow you.” His words were solid and true, a statement of fact.
She was shaking her head before he even finished. “That’s not wise, Ethan. We can’t be anything more than what we are now.”
“What are we now?” he asked, genuine puzzlement in his tone.
“I don’t know.” She looked down and dug her toes in the sand.
“Come back to the house, Delaney.” He held out his hand, palm up, and waited.
This time, she heeded his words and her heart. Maybe she had blown her chance with Ethan, when life and circumstances intervened. But she could have this one week, their lives isolated like this island, before reality invaded.
She took his hand then bent to pick up her sandals.
“Ready?” He cocked his eyebrow at her.
She nodded. He tucked her hand against his chest, and they walked back to the house.
Much later, Delaney needed some alone time. Being with so many people, maintaining a facade, was taxing on her, not to mention the thought of Ethan sleeping on the other side of the wall, which she was sure was Caroline’s plan. Judging by the itinerary, she was definitely planning on proximity for each couple to do the majority of the matchmaking for her. While Delaney and Ethan could ignore reality isolated on the island
for a few days, all too soon, it would come rushing back and the reasons for Delaney letting him go were still there. Admittedly, they were weaker now that he didn’t work with his father, but it was only a matter of time. Van Owen Financial was a family legacy, one his father would want carried through his son and heir, Ethan.
For once, Delaney wished Ethan’s father wouldn’t have been so old school, letting Ethan’s sister take over the firm, to take the pressure off of Ethan. He seemed happier now, not stressed about living up to expectations. It didn’t matter though. He wanted his eldest son to be his heir. Samantha, Ethan’s sister, who was reputed to be a shark in the investment world, wouldn’t do for William Van Owen. Who said the upper class changed with the times? It was like they had never heard of equal opportunity or women’s lib. But Delaney couldn’t chance it. She had to stay away from Ethan, even if she desperately wanted this one last week fling before having to move on.
She strolled away from the patio and the fire pit, the grass cool against her feet, toward the beach and the rolling waves. Two Adirondack chairs and a table had been placed near the edge of the lawn, overlooking the water. The sun had completely set now, the moon shining over the Gulf. She went to settle in a chair when a voice startled her.
“Needed to get away too?”
Brigid had curled up in the other chair, hidden from the house view. Delaney looked back at the house, not remembering when the other woman had disappeared.
Brigid gestured to the chair. “Please, sit. You’re the one person who probably understands best how I feel right now.”
There was no easy way to sit straight and proper for an easy getaway in the slanted chair, so she reclined into it, poised in case she needed to make a break for freedom. They each sipped their wine in silence, listening to the night call of birds, the wind rustling through the sea grass, the roar of the waves and the incoming tide. Delaney slowly let the peace wash over her as darkness fell, and every muscle slowly released the tension she had barely been aware she had been carrying.
“Isn’t this a bitch? This wedding? This whole week?” Brigid spoke in the darkness. “Not that Caroline and Matthew getting married sucks. But this whole reunion week, like we’re one big happy family who just drifted apart?”