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“Traitor,” she grumbles.
Jessi smiles at them.
“Shall we look at the next room and let Lewis and Laura find the table?” Jessi asks, offering me her hand. I bend my arm for her.
Laura and Lewis wander away, still grumbling to each other.
“Sticker shock?” I ask as we enter the bidding room.
Jessi smiles. “You’d think Lewis made half what he does from the way he loves a bargain.”
“It’s for charity,” I say, and she nods.
“Exactly.”
The paintings really are exquisite. I don’t know much, but I know when something is nice to look at. There’s one, bursting with reds and greens and blues, that inexplicably reminds me of Lewis.
“Should I be bidding for a wedding gift anytime soon?” I ask.
Jessi turns to me with wide, sparkling eyes. “Excuse you! I have said no such thing.”
“Mhm,” I say, smirking.
“We are not there yet,” she says, but her twitching smile and tone say otherwise.
“Mhm.” I bid on the painting anyway.
“It wouldn’t be so bad, would it?” she asks when we are about to leave the room.
I place my hand on top of hers. “No,” I say gently. “No, it wouldn’t.”
“And you?” she asks, dropping my hand. It’s busy now, with nearly twice as many people milling around as when we arrived. Through the haze of people, I can see Laura sitting at a table, surrounded by elegant glassware and admiring fans.
She’s like a queen holding court,I think faintly as she says something and a room full of people laugh and lean in.
“Hmm?” I turn to Jessi, question forgotten.
She pats my hand. “Nevermind. I know my answer. Let’s go.”
“What was your question?” I ask, darting around a group of people to follow her.
“Nothing!”
“Jessi!”
“Do you think they’ll have the fish from last year?”
I consider. “I hope so. I think Laura would like it.”
Jessi laughs, though I don’t get what’s funny, and I keep my eyes on Laura as I weave through the crowd to get to her.
Laura beams when she sees me, and I can feel the cheek-splitting joy at seeing her light my own face up.
Whether or not it’s real, this moment is. I see the sea of men and women deflate in disappointment as they see her look at me, and when she leans in to whisper to me, her breath warm and sweet against my cheek, I think that I could live a hundred lifetimes and this, still, would be the greatest moment in all of them.
CHAPTER 21
Laura
