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CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
Kate
“Don’t slouch, darling. It’s not becoming of you.”
I grind my molars for the fifth time today. “Yes, Mother.”
I’m sweating in my obnoxious ball gown. The pale blue covered by a subtle shimmer couldn’t be more opposite of the wedding dress I had a final fitting for this morning.
“And would it kill you to smile?” she asks, pasting a fake one on for the woman attempting to take our picture.
I eye her. “Do you want an honest answer?”
She eyes me back before lightly pinching my side.
The plucky woman snaps our photo before moving on to take a picture of the three-tier cake sitting beside a table full of gifts.
My mother heaves a sigh. Placing her hands over my bare shoulders, she turns me to face her. “Must you fight me tooth and nail, Katelynn?”
I cup my elbows, turning my attention to the women who are gathered in our sitting room waiting for me. “I told you I didn’t want a bridal shower. Look at me. I’m like a cheap, knockoff Cinderella.”
She gawks. “That gown is one of a kind and was tailored especially for you.”
Thad’s mother flits by with a champagne flute full of pink bubbly. Her purple gown hugs her perfectly sculpted body as she touches my arm. “Katelynn, you’re absolutely stunning as always.”
Her light smile twists my insides into knots.
“Thank you, Mrs. Aston,” I reply dutifully.
She kisses my mother on each cheek before making her way into the sitting room.
Coraline stands by the window, eyes finding mine from across the foyer. Her head tilts, but I wave her off as Mother drags us around the corner by the staircase.
“You’re doing the right thing, darling. How many times do I have to tell you that?”
Every muscle, every cell in my body screams the opposite. “It doesn’t feel like the right thing, Mother.”
The smoothness of her forehead, cheeks, and mouth have kept her youthful, but her gaze is old and tired. “Is this about that boy you met on the island?”
I’m no boy, Miss Harris.
I can practically hear him rumbling, and an unshakable shudder creeps between my shoulder blades.
“At some point, you’ve got to let go of this happily ever after you’re chasing. You’ve been a ghost of yourself since you’ve been back. You’re exhausted all the time, barely able to get out of bed.”
She’s right. I’ve been a walking wraith, replaying my time spent in Topica Bay on a loop for three straight weeks. The part where I broke Damon’s heart is reserved especially for when I cry myself to sleep.
“The merger is important, yes. But I just want you to be cared for.” A rare moment of emotion attempts to wrinkle her face.
If only the Botox wasn’t so concrete.
I wrap my hands around her thin wrists and give them a squeeze before heading toward the sitting room.
Coraline waves me over, saving me from a group of older women in various pastel dresses.
“All they need is an Easter basket and a man in a bunny suit,” Cor mutters. Her long lashes flutter with her rolling eyes.
I crush her with a tight hug before noticing the table of food beside us. An enormous charcuterie display stretches from end to end, full of meats, cheeses, and a few open bottles of wine.
