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“Um, we don’t have a brand. We are not Kardashians, Mother. And didn’t you start drinking at noon yesterday?”
“You didn’t see me getting carried out of here.” She finally looked at me, her eyes narrowed. “You will not ruin your sister’s special day. I understand that you’re jealous, but try to have a little dignity.” She eyed my drink. “And take it easy on the booze. Jesus, you drink like you’re on JV. This is varsity, darling.” She sashayed off, and I took a rather large sip of Bloody Mary.
I slunk back to my seat, pretending not to notice the worried looks Bob and Josie gave to each other.
“What’s the matter?” Bob finally asked.
I cleared my throat. “My mother just…chastised me for my behavior last night.”
Josie’s eyeballs almost popped out of her head. “Isn’t that a little hypocritical?”
“Yes, but she has a point.” The words tasted funny coming out of my mouth. I wasn’t sure I’d ever said anything like them before. “I was out of control. I shouldn’t have done that at Sienna’s rehearsal dinner.” I put down my napkin. “I should go apologize.”
“Do you need backup?” Bob asked. “I can come and say hi to Tim.”
“Sure.” I nodded shakily. “That’s nice of you.”
He pulled my chair out for me. “I feel responsible. I’m the one who let you keep ordering martinis.”
“I wouldn’t have tolerated you trying to stop me.”
He grinned as he put his hand against the small of my back. “I know. That’s why I didn’t bother trying.”
Claire sailed over to our table just as we were leaving. “I’ll save your seats. Josie and I have a million things to catch up on, including the fact that I totally drunk-cheated on my girlfriend last night.” Claire looked unfazed—in fact, she appeared quite cheerful—as she plopped down into the seat next to Josie and stole the jalapeno pepper from my drink.
“We’ll be back.” I grimaced, either from the vodka last night or from the fact that I had to make up for it this morning.
“You okay?” Bob asked as we maneuvered through the tables of happily chatting guests. Jesus, is no one else hungover?
“Yes, but I feel terrible. I mean, I feel terrible, and I also feel terrible.”
He looked stymied. “Okay?”
“I feel sick because I drank too much, and I also feel sick because I drank too much. Ugh, I’m talking in circles. What I mean is, I feel sick, and I also feel guilty.”
He nodded. “That’s usually how I feel after I drink too much. A little ashamed. It’ll pass.”
Sienna glared at me as we approached. “Ugh, I hope you’re right about that,” I mumbled.
Tim held out his hand for Bob. “There he is! You ready to hit the links?”
“Yeah, of course. I forgot all about it. It’s a beautiful day,” Bob sounded at ease, completely relaxed.
I scooted closer to Sienna, ignoring the side-eye ever-loyal Mia was giving me. “Hey.”
“You look better than I expected.” Sienna arched an eyebrow. “I’m assuming Josie helped out with that?”
“Yeah, she did. Oh, and she had this wicked concealer that you’d love. It’s combined with highlighter. It’s not even on the market yet.”
She sniffed. “If you can get me some, I might forgive you for acting like a drunken ass last night.”
“Ugh, Sienna, I’m so sorry.” I pulled up a chair and slid in between my sister and Mia, ignoring the maid of honor’s glares about being squeezed out of the primary position. “I had three martinis in a row, then champagne, and zero food. I was toast in about twenty minutes. I don’t get out much, you know?”
She frowned. “The caterers were two hours late. Mother threatened to burn them to the ground on Instagram, so they agreed to do the whole thing for free.”
“That’s crazy!” My mother had a knack for getting things for free, even though she had more money than she knew what to do with.
“I know.” Sienna shrugged. “You know how Mom is. She doesn’t want them to think they can fuck with her.”
