Well, that certainly didn’t help the anxiety needling my chest.
I sighed. “And I didn’t realize that until just recently. For that, I’m sorry.” I kicked off my heels and perched on the edge of the couch on the other side of Serena. Taking her hand in mine—because I knew that’s what she would’ve done—I continued, “We’re concerned about you and Jesse and his family. I can’t quite put my finger on it, S, but we don’t think they’re good people. And it seems as if you’ve been swept up into this whole thing, and maybe you feel like you can’t get out. So if you’re waiting for a lifeline, well, here it is.”
Tears filled Serena’s eyes. Georgie took her other hand and squeezed, scooting closer with a tissue box in tow.
Thiswas the moment. The dam would break, Serena’s finely tuned armor would fall off, we’d escape this manicured hellhole and end the night at Captain’s with burgers and shakes. The three of us would go home—together.
Serena gathered a breath, sounding ragged.
Then, after a silence pregnant with hope, she whispered, “You think I don’t know? Of course I know. I may be nice, but that doesn’t make me a fool.”
It shattered around us in a spray of jagged shards.
I blinked. My pulse stuttered, and for a moment, my brain went completely blank. Then, I released her hand and squinted at her like she’d just asserted two plus two equaled seven. “So you know he’s a terrible person,” I muttered, too dumbstruck to maintain a filter.
“He’s not terrible,” she replied with a small laugh, “Just…flawed. As we all are.”
“But are thoseflawsthe type you want to live with?” Georgie asked gently, still holding her hand.
Serena hummed. “They’re the kind I can manage.”
A burning wave of acid washed through me. I flushed, rising to my feet, suddenly jittery and hot and overwhelmingly tired all at once. Serena knew. She wasn’t some damsel in distress; she was prepared to walk down the aisle toward a man who only appeared to respect money and status.
It occurred to me then that, maybe, she was no longer the Serena who donated her first paycheck to the Port Camden animal shelter. Maybe seven years changed her more than I knew.
I shook the thought away. She just didn’t understand—I had tomakeherunderstand.
Back on the couch, I wrung my hands together and tried again. “My Mom is really similar to you, Serena—I think you know that. And my Dad, he… he’s like Jesse, if he was a broke artist. He—” My voice caught. I paused to draw a shuddering breath. “It’s been eleven years since he left, and my Mom is still recovering from everything he broke. I don’t want that to be you,” I whispered.
I hated every second, from the tears pricking my eyes to the emotion laid bare in every syllable. But if it was between Serena getting hurt, and my pride being damaged, I’d take the former any day.
“Thank you for telling me that,” she replied.
A pause.
“What will you do?” Georgie asked.
Serena smiled, genuine and wide, the kind that made the entire room feel like it was washed in sunlight. “I’m going to walk down that aisle and become a Newhouse. Because—despite everything that’s wrong—they’re family to me. They’re… they’re all I have.”
The desperation threaded in her words made my heart break.
At the very least, she hadn’t changed.
“We’re your family,” I replied, meeting her eyes as a tear fell down my cheek. “Don’t forget that.”
Serena sent me a watery nod.
Deep down, I couldn’t help but wonder: would she have ever considered marrying Jesse if I’d been a better friend? That perhaps, if our group didn’t splinter apart seven years ago, none of this would’ve happened.
I wanted to vomit.
“Hey,” Serena murmured, taking my hand. “You can’t fix everything, Margot—and that’s okay. Life is tangled and chaotic. If you try to iron out all the wrinkles and remove the blemishes, you’re not really living anymore.”
In one fell swoop, she released the pressure in the room with the perfect mixture of Serena-branded salve. I crumpled forward and breathed properly for the first time in hours.
My makeup artist nearly had a heart attack when she arrived for last-minute touch ups.
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