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“You’ve met Syl?” I asked Gale, remembering that she hadn’t made much of an impression on Syl.
“Just on the phone.” Gale shrugged. “She’s sweet. So... what is everyonereading?” Gale asked the group, livening up the place as usual, but I knew she was trying to rile me up about the stolen file.
“God, nobody cares, Gale.” Calliope dismissed her with a flick of her wrist, flouncing down in a chair.
“Sit, sit,” Haven commanded Wren, who was completely out of her element. The staff handed us glasses of champagne, Wren grabbed one before anybody else, and the afternoon tea was in full swing with canapés and caviar and cunty behavior.
“This is avibe,” Wren said out loud, taking snaps on her phone, mortifying everyone. I thought Haven might have asked her to stoptaking unsolicited photos of the grounds, but she felt like playing with Wren instead.
“Wren, where do you hail from?” Haven asked.
“Oak Park, Illinois. Just outside of Chicago. But I’ve been in New York since college.”
“Columbia? NYU?” Haven’s nose turned up ever so slightly at the latter.
“FIT,” Wren replied. Haven would have furrowed her brow if she could, but her daughters were excellent at deciphering her frozen expressions by then. I was learning, too.
“The Fashion Institute, Mom. We’ve been to some of their events. It’s a good school for that type of thing,” Chloe explained.
“Ah,” Haven mused. “And how do you know our Bea?”
That was a first. It was odd to hear Haven claim me as one of their own for the first time. I felt strangely proud and wished Collin had been there to hear it, too. That said, Gale definitely heard it. I watched her openly shudder.Heavenly.
“We work out together.” Wren grinned.
“I see. How nice. You are both very fit. Toned. Not just naturally thin. It shows that you work at it. Kudos.”
Haven, petite with minimal effort, smiled slyly, taking another sip of her drink. Well, that was one way to burn a pretty girl. Impressive.
“Chloe got a little fat when she went to college,” Calliope declared, firming up her position as my favorite. Chloe was irate. “What?” Calliope asked her sister. “It all came off when we went to the Southampton house that summer. Mom saw to that.”
“Yes, I did,” Haven said. “Oh, Chloe. It’s all right. It’s very easy to go off the rails after leaving home for the first time. All of those snacks available at all hours of the night. It could happen to anybody.”
“And the beer!” Wren added. “At least that’s what I imagine with the traditional college experience. My college wasn’t really like that, since it was so specific to fashion. Sometimes I regret not going to a Big Ten school or someplace like that. I think I would have loved it.”
“I went toYale,” Chloe said definitively, slow-blinking in Wren’s direction. Wren took a submissive bite of her lobster quiche in response, so I thought I’d take the heat off her momentarily and really get things going. Gale was suspiciously quiet and I wanted to poke the bear. It was time. I licked my lips.
“So, I’m sure you’re all wondering why Haven is generously hosting us here today, and the reason is that, well, you’re all very special to me, and to Collin, and so I wanted to ask the four of you to be my bridesmaids for the wedding.”
“Yay!” Calliope cheered, genuinely happy at the request. “Nobody’s ever asked me to be in their wedding before.”
“I wonder why.” Chloe took the opportunity to bite back at her sister, tapping the side of her nose out of Haven’s sight.
“Bitch,” Calliope muttered under her breath, but didn’t deny the accusation.
“Of course we will, Bea,” Chloe said, nonplussed. “It’s an honor.”
“On that note, who is the maid of honor?” Haven asked me.
“I don’t want to play favorites. It’s not really necessary,” I replied. It seemed old-fashioned to denote a maid of honor, plus I wasn’t actually close with any of these women. It didn’t make any sense, but I had a feeling Haven wasn’t going to let me off so easily.
“Someonehas to be your maid of honor, Bea. It’s tradition,” Haven implored.
“I’ll do it!” Wren offered, a bit too eager for everyone’s taste. I realized I wasn’t going to get out of making this decision so I went with the obvious choice.
“While I appreciate the enthusiasm, Wren, I’d like to ask Gale,” I said without a moment’s hesitation. Gale just about choked on her pâté. “Well, you are the closest to Collin. That’s very obvious,” I challenged her. “I’m sure it would mean a lot to him. And to me. You know him better than anyone, right?”
Sheblushed. How embarrassing.
