Later, a thousand goodbyes were said, and Maddy was free.
‘Tired?’ Adam asked, appearing beside her with car keys in hand.
‘A bit.’
He kissed her temple. ‘You were wonderful tonight.’
‘Glad I gave good bride,’ she said.
Adam looked at her. ‘That’s not what I meant.’
Maddy laughed quickly. ‘No, I know. Sorry, I think I need to go to sleep.’
He nodded. ‘Sure.’
Maddy slipped into the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt.
Then, before she could overthink it, she opened Eva’s thread. Her thumbs hovered over the keyboard.Engagement party tonight, she typed. She didn’t send it.
Instead, she locked the screen and slid the phone back into her bag. Eva was not her friend. Eva was her wedding planner.
Hawthorne Manor awaited. Everything would be impeccable. It was a good choice after all. Everyone was right. She’d almost made a mistake. Adam would look right there. She could picture him perfectly.
And yet, somewhere in the quiet part of her mind, the inevitable question arose.
But where are you?
Sixteen
Everyone was seated in the long drawing room at Hawthorne Manor. The vendor coordination meeting was already fraying. Eva had never seen such a badly behaved pack of vendors in all her days.
The DJ was talking uplighting for his set. The florist was talking over him to say tall arrangements were necessary so they wouldn’t get lost in the size of the space. Catering was talking overherto ask when final decisions about the menu would be made, as they hadn’t evengottento place settings.
‘OK, everyone, maybe we can do this a bit more… I know we all have things to get to, but if we all talk at once, it takes longer,’ Eva was eventually compelled to say.
‘Right, me first,’ said DJ Vortex. ‘Smoke effects during the first dance would look incredible in this crib.’
Maddy inhaled to respond. Eva had been observing her pattern. The way she’d absorb questions with wide, frightened eyes and then turn slightly to Adam, who would pick up his cue and say something like, ‘Yeah. That sounds great,’ with barely any understanding of what had been asked.
She couldn’t see it again.
‘Absolutely not,’ Eva said.
‘It’s about atmosphere,’ he insisted.
‘It’s about safety,’ Eva replied. ‘And not blinding half the guests.’
The florist began to say something about lighting temperatures. Catering interjected about timing.
Maddy leaned forward. ‘I—maybe we—’
No one heard her.
Eva stood. ‘Everyone, stop.’
She didn’t raise her voice, but everyone shut up anyway.
‘One vendor at a time. No crosstalk. Questions through me unless Maddy or Adam chooses to answer directly.’
