“Carina was expecting you at the reception.”
I shake my head. “I don’t know if I can show my face there.”
“No one cares, darling. Although you two were pretty convincing,” she says with a sly grin. “You can fake a title, but you can’t fake that kind of chemistry.”
My chest tightens as Collette takes a step closer to me.
"Truth is, you've been more honest with my daughter this week than most of the people she keeps in her circle. She thinks of you as a friend.”
I smile at the thought. Carina and I couldn’t be any more different on paper. But somehow, someway we’d found common ground. And maybe that common ground is our mothers.
Collette passes by me, the sophisticated scent of her Black Orchid perfume trailing behind her.
“If you change your mind, you know where to find us.” She says, then opens the door and disappears behind it.
I stare at the empty doorway for a long moment. Do I want to spend my last night in Maui at this reception? My original plans sounded much better. But I am on vacation, and I could do something like that back at home. How many celebrity wedding receptions would I frequent in Maui? The words my mother had hollered at me over the phone before I came here make me reconsider.
Let your hair down and do something wild for once.
I unwrap the towel from my hair and head to the closet where my dinner dresses hang.
44
maui rain
OTHELLO
“Yo, Thello, let’s go, man,”James hollers. His voice cuts through the open-air atrium, where rows of lanterns and fairy lights cast a dreamy, golden glow over the wedding reception.
I hold up a finger, walking away somewhere private. “Hold on, I gotta take this.”
The reception is situated on the oceanfront lawn of Grand Palms next to swaying palm trees. I walk farther out towards the beach, answering my ringing phone.
“Hey, Aven.”
“Hello, hello, did you get the email I sent?”
“Nah, I haven’t checked,” I tell her.
“Well, check. And tell me what you think.”
I shake my head with a soft chuckle and open up my emails. Sent 30 minutes ago is a photo of my book cover.Noted: A Collection of Unsent Notes for the People I Love.“Wow,” I gasp.
“Is it good or is it great?” Aven exclaims.
“It’s great, I love it.”
“Do you write anything new for the manuscript yet?”
“Not yet, but I will.”
“I figured, but no pressure. I know you’re supposed to be on vacation anyway. Hopefully Maui has finally snapped you out of that blue funk.”
“You have no idea,” I chuckle.
“Perfect! They’re hyping the shit out of this. We even have an invitation fromThe Jennifer Hudson Showsitting in my inbox.”
“J Hud?” I grin.
