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I’d leave enough plates and silverware to use over the weekend, but everything else was going to New York. I didn’t care what it was. If it was Evie’s and had been a part of her life, it was moving with her.
9
Evie
As soon as I walked into the Blueberry Café, I realized just how much I had robbed my family. I might as well have looted Bella’s and walked out with my father’s favorite brandy. The betrayal I inflicted was just as painful.
There was an explosion of tulle in the small cafe. I swallowed as I walked between the chairs and admired the white roses and the place settings. My mother was two steps behind me pointing out every detail. She didn’t want me to miss any of the small touches.
“It’s beautiful. Really.” It was the only thing I could think to say. I couldn’t undo what Jer and I had done. And why would I? It had been the catalyst that brought us together.
We were the couple we were because we were stupid enough to get plastered on bottles of expensive wine and elope to another state. If we had tried to date, it wouldn’t have brought us together. There were no stakes in dating. There were no must-haves. There were no sacrifices. Our marriage created us, not the other way around.
Regardless, I couldn’t pretend it hadn’t hurt my family. I didn’t want my Jeremy to always be a black cloud that hung over the Rossis like it was something dark and sinister.
Frannie gave instructions to the servers. “That’s the bride,” I heard her say. “Make sure she is always served first.”
“The girls will be here in about fifteen minutes.” My mother worked on the center flower arrangement.
“Girls?” I was instantly nervous. “Who did you invite?” I asked.
“Your aunts, cousins, and I thought you’d want Megan and Kelsey.”
Shit. This had the potential to be an awkward luncheon. The cousins were expected. My friends were not. I hadn’t talked to either one since I left Newton Hills. I had lived in a time warp the last few weeks where only Jeremy and I existed. I had received a few texts and social media messages, but I wasn’t great at responding to my friends. It wasn’t that I didn’t care. I was focused on one thing—my husband.
The trip to Tahiti only exaggerated how strong the bubble was we created. It had been almost two glorious weeks of baby-making sex. Would my friends really expect me to come up for air if they knew what kind of sex I was having?
“Great.” I plastered a smile on my face. I couldn’t disappoint my mother now.
I took my seat in the center of the long table and waited for the luncheon to begin.
My cousins clustered around me, asking questions about what it was like to be married to a professional athlete. Cecilia wanted suggestions about Tahiti. She and her fiancé were considering it for their honeymoon. They couldn’t decide between the Caribbean or the South Pacific. Aunt Sophia cried, but she cried at all family functions. She blamed allergies, but no one believed her.
Megan and Kelsey arrived together. I pushed through my family to greet them at the first table. It was on me to welcome them an apologize.
“Hi.” I smiled weakly. “I’m so glad you decided to come. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you didn’t show up.”
Kelsey hugged me first. “Of course we were going to be here. It’s your bridal luncheon.”
Megan hesitated before leaning sideways for half a hug. “Kelsey said I had to.”
“It doesn’t matter. I appreciate it.” I wanted them to be honest. I could take it. I deserved it. I had committed the cardinal sin in our girlfriend circle. I let a man come first.
“Jeremy Hartwell, huh?”
I wasn’t ashamed of my husband. I never would be. But how did I explain that the guy they knew in high school, the teenage heartbreaker who became the baseball playboy, was a different man? Would I ever be able to convince anyone that he was witty and smart? That he was well-read and a brilliant business man? He was more than a Hartwell. He was more than his reputation. He was funny and romantic. He was clever. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was thoughtful. How did I explain all of that?
I nodded. “Yeah. Jeremy, after all this time.”
“I didn’t see that coming. I heard you two met online. Where was that?”
It was a lie we had fabricated for my family and the press. I had to stick to it now. Something changed on our honeymoon. We were no longer afraid of someone trying to discredit our marriage. There wasn’t any evidence to prove we hadn’t been madly in love from the beginning. Things were so good between us now I dared Byron Lancaster to try to find dirt on us. He would come up empty. We loved each other.
Kelsey squeezed my arm, cutting off Megan’s question. “We’re happy for you, if you’re happy.”
“I am extremely happy in the best mushy gushy way.”
“Then, that’s all that matters. We can congratulate him tomorrow night at the party?”
