AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The woman’s serene smile was at odds with the way she shot out of her chair and moved around the edge of the desk. “Of course, Mrs. Callahan. We were very happy to accommodate your request. Right this way.”
The woman led them past a row of white tables fronted by wide leather chairs, past one room with pedicure stations and another with massage tables, and down a narrow hallway to a door marked Private Guests. Twisting the knob, she opened the door to reveal a large room set up with the same manicure and pedicure stations they’d just passed.
Ushering them in, the woman gestured to a bottle of champagne chilling in a bucket next to a row of expensive bottled water and a tray of artfully arranged finger foods. “Please help yourself to whatever you like, and if there’s anything else I can get for you, don’t hesitate to ask. My name is Janelle, and your technicians will be right in.”
“Is that something you ever get used to?” Viv wondered once the door was closed.
“What?”
Viv turned to Libby. “Being treated like royalty when you introduce yourself as a Callahan?”
“Oh.” Libby grabbed a bottle of water from the side table and claimed one of the pedicure chairs. “I don’t know. I’m not a Callahan.”
“Not for Brogan’s lack of trying,” Evie said, and Libby’s cheeks flushed pink. “And no, you don’t get used to it. Or at least I haven’t. It was weird ten years ago, and it’s weird now. But this salon is syndicate owned, so I suspect that has something to do with it.”
Viv waited for Evie to sit before sinking into the last available chair and twisting to face Libby. “Has Brogan proposed?”
Libby’s blush deepened. “A few times.”
“But you don’t want to say yes?”
“I do, but I…I’m not ready yet.”
Evie cocked her head. “Why?”
Twirling a strand of blonde hair around her finger, Libby gave a frustrated huff. “I keep thinking he’ll change his mind and decide it’s not what he wants anymore.” Libby winced. “Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said that.”
Viv’s stomach tightened, and she glanced at Evie, who gave her a sympathetic look. This was her path, and that was that. No point in wasting time feeling sorry for herself over it. “We all make choices. This one’s mine. You have to make the right one for you.”
“Still. I am sorry,” Libby said again, voice going soft and thin. “About everything. If not for me, you wouldn’t be here and—”
They all looked up when the door opened, and three women in identical smocks stepped in, smiling and carrying supplies on silver trays.
“Let’s just have fun,” Evie said, and Viv was grateful to steer the conversation in a different direction.
Everything seemed so much easier to manage when she was singularly focused on getting to the wedding. She didn’t want to think about how she got here, whose fault it might be, or what would be expected of her after.
“The biscotti were delicious,” Evie said into the silence while the technicians filled the basins of the pedicure chairs and motioned for them to dip their feet in. “I refused to share a single crumb.”
Viv chuckled. “I can make more so you can share.”
“That seems unlikely,” Libby said. “She guarded those like a dragon. Not even Declan got a bite.”
“I share a great many things with my husband. Biscotti is not one of them. A wife’s prerogative.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Evie slanted Viv a look. “This is going to sound like a loaded question, but it isn’t. How are you feeling about everything?”
Viv’s spine straightened, and she fidgeted in her seat while the technician added a fragrant oil to the gently swirling water. How could that not be a loaded question? “I feel fine.”
“I think it might be nice to just soak for a little bit.” Evie caught the eye of one technician, and the woman nodded. Evie was silent until the last one filed out and closed the door with a soft click. “No one knows better than us what being in a relationship with a Callahan man is like. But you’re a unique case and not just because this whole thing has been arranged.”
“Because Aidan hates me, you mean.” Viv wanted to claw back the words as soon as she said them. She didn’t know if it was safe to speak the truth with these women.
“He doesn’t hate you as much as he hates the idea of you. I wish it could be different. I wish this war had asked different things of all of us.”
“But this is the price of peace,” Viv murmured.
