4. Haunted
four
For the rest of the weekend, close family members and a couple of the bride and groom’s best friends stayed in my uncle’s Montauk house. There were ten bedrooms, so plenty of room for everyone.
On Sunday morning, and after we had all packed, we gathered in the garden to enjoy breakfast in the sun. We also wanted to say our goodbyes to the happy couple before they left for their honeymoon in Paris.
Looking around, I noticed that Adele wasn’t anywhere in sight. “Does anyone know where my sister is?” I chuckled as the housekeeper poured my coffee.
My father frowned while my aunt Matilda winked at me, mouthing, “Toby.”
Ah… once again, I had guessed exactly what was about to happen before it did. Shaking my head, I glanced at my uncle from under my eyebrows, and he licked his lips, shrugging. “Well, it was a success. Everyone seemed to enjoy their time.”
Except for Ella, I thought. I had failed to get the stunning, neurotic, and misinformed stranger out of my mind. Ella… it was a name straight out of a fairytale. And just like Cinderella, the beauty had disappeared into the night before I had a chance to know more about her. But if I were to ask any questions now in front of everyone, was I any subtler—or wiser—than my brash little sister?
In the back of my limo, I began to reset my mind into work mode, checking emails and responding to messages while Brett drove us back to New York. I then realized that I had missed a text on my friends’ group, reminding us of my friend Nathan’s birthday party tonight. Stifling a grunt, I made a face as I typed, That’s tonight? Why did I even bother sobering up from the wedding, then?
Soon enough, my friend Armen responded, You really shouldn’t have.
Very funny.
Calling my assistant, I knew that she wasn’t going to be too thrilled about being disturbed on Sunday.
“Hey, boss.”
I appreciated the breeziness she added to her tone. “Hey, sorry to be calling on your day off. I just need to push tomorrow’s eight a.m. to ten. Think you can help with that?”
“Sure, but you have a ten a.m. with the marketing team.”
“Yeah, that’s in-house. We can move it to after lunch.”
“Sure thing.”
“Thanks, Iris.”
“No worries. How was the wedding?”
“Uh—Interesting.”
“Good interesting?”
“I’ll say. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.”
“You, too.”
“I will. Bye.”
Stepping into the house, I heard Dylan’s paws as they raced over the floor, scratching their way to me. Wagging his tail, he barked happily while I dipped my fingers into his thick coat, ruffling his fur and gently pinching and patting him.
My housekeeper followed to greet me. “Welcome home, Abel! How was it?”
“It was nice,” I smiled and nodded.
“Just nice?” the sweet wrinkles around her lips deepened as she dipped her head and grinned.
“What do you want me to say? It’s a wedding. Give me a break.” Walking over to the stairs, I tried to avoid her motherly hovering.
“I know that you love weddings. You just won’t admit it.”
“Oh yeah?” I turned around, placing my hand over the rail. “How’d you figure?”
“Everyone looks so elegant and picturesque? C’mon, you love being surrounded by beauty.”
“Ah,” I wagged a finger, albeit uncomfortable. “You know me so well.”
“Any notable beauties?”
“Nobody was sober enough to take note of anything. Give it a rest, Briga.”
“Fine,” she shrugged. “You hungry? Want some lunch?”
“Uh—No. I’m gonna take a shower, but I do appreciate a green smoothie after.”
“It’ll be ready when you come out.”
“Thanks.”
Dylan still roamed around my feet, wagging his tail and brushing against my leg on the step.
“He really missed you.” She grinned and sighed before turning around and walking toward the kitchen.
“I know,” I whispered, leaning down and grabbing my dog’s face with both hands, massaging his neck. “I missed you, too, buddy.”
My time under the hot water was anything but relaxing, with my mind going back to the distressed Ella and her incensed ex. I wondered if he had bothered her again that night—perhaps waited at her house? Or if he had paid her a visit the next morning, berating her for getting him kicked out of the wedding.
I imagined her living in Montauk, in a small hut by the beach. Soon, I realized that it wasn’t realistic if she had actually worked for uncle Danny. And then it struck me; now that everyone had gone home, I could come up with an excuse to ask him about her or request to see the guest list.
But what would that excuse be?
As agreed, Briga had a large smoothie ready for me when I came back down, so I grabbed it and headed straight out for the pool. As the warm water engulfed me, I closed my eyes and tried to really let go this time.
‘I fucking hate you!’
Had Jude cheated? Was he bleeding her dry because of a gambling addiction? He was a good-looking man, so I understood the initial attraction. But had he always been that hostile, or was this a recent shift influenced by whatever had led to the breakup?
Savoring my beverage, I tried to think about something else. Dylan was taking an unhurried stroll around the pool, following a lone butterfly. She had managed to summon all of his attention, leaving him reckless about his surroundings. I watched him as he nearly fell into the water twice before catching himself at the last minute.
Was that what beauty did to all of us?
And just like that, my thoughts circled back to Ella as I tried to imagine what Jude did to seduce her, if he needed to try at all. She certainly wasn’t an easy woman to befriend, let alone charm and captivate.
Before I sunk deeper into my contemplations of the odd couple, my phone began to ring. It was Armen.
“Hey,” I answered.
“Tell me you’re back in the city.”
“In fact, I’m back in my pool.”
“Good, ‘cause I got a brand new bottle of vodka with your name on it.”
“And I’m not even the birthday boy,” I chuckled.
“Oh, I’ve got a brand new babe with the lucky bastard’s name on her.” He laughed, and I didn’t.
“Awesome. So… we’re at his place tonight?”
“You bet.”
“Right. Alright, man, see you there.”
“Why don’t you sound excited? The dry spell’s over, dude!”
“Ah,” I forced a chuckle.
He was referring to the “Stretch of No Birthdays” as he liked to call it. Our friend group had birthdays in June, August, September, and December. But from January to the end of May—that was his dry spell. Armen loved to party and took every occasion as a reason to break out the booze, recreational drugs, and more. But we could easily claim that he had a strange birthday fetish, unlike anyone I knew. “It’s like a rebirth!” he always said.
But it never was.
The hours passed with me sunbathing by the pool and getting some work done on my laptop. As the sun began to set, the lazy summer breeze carried the fresh fragrance from the lemon trees into my nostrils. Once again, Ella’s face flashed into my mind. Lemon slices in her drink. Her nervous laugh in front of my uncle. The way her expressive eyes glowed.
This couldn’t be healthy, but I wanted to do it, anyway.
Picking up the phone, I dialed uncle Danny’s number. He didn’t pick up, so I sat down the device and picked up a grape from the bowl that Briga had left here earlier. She always wanted me to enjoy healthy snacks. In reality, I craved nothing more than ice cream at the moment.
After clicking on my last ‘send’ button for the day, I folded the laptop shut, and with that, the phone began to ring. “Father of the bride! Did you get home okay?”
“Yeah. Your aunt insisted that we wait until their plane took off.”
“Whoa,” I chortled.
“She’s an emotional wreck, this one.”
“I guess we can’t blame her. They’re technically best friends.”
“She’s only gonna be away for a month,” he grunted. “Ah, what do I know. What’s going on? Did you forget something at the house?”
“Uh—No, actually I… wanted to check out the guest list.”
“How come? Wait, is this about the young man security had to escort out?”
He offered me the perfect excuse. “Precisely. Uh, you see… he was pretty hammered and didn’t quite understand the gravity of it. When they took him out, he dropped his watch. I’d like to send it back to him.”
“Young men these days, huh?”
“I know.” I also knew what was coming.
“Well, I’m proud of you, son. Vicky and Philip did a great job, and thank God, you’re not one of those losers.”
“Thanks, Uncle Danny.”
He said things like that all the time, which made me rather uneasy. The way my family put me on a pedestal was irritating at times as if I were never allowed to be human or make mistakes. Adele with her uncontrollable flings. Lily and her excessive spending. Cousin Jacob and his drug problem. I was the Boy Scout of the Drakos-Engelbert empire, and I didn’t always like it.
“Well, anyway… I’ll have Heidi send you the guest list right away.”
“Thank you. And go easy on aunt Matilda… it’s just a phase.”
After spending the next thirty minutes swimming laps across the pool, I pushed myself out of the water, readying myself for a night with the guys. I may have grown out of whatever Armen was still into, but that didn’t mean that we couldn’t have fun as a group. After years of practice—at work and in life—I had learned to tune out what I didn’t approve of and focus on the positives.
After getting dressed, I picked up the wrapped gift that Iris had prepared and got into the car. While I took a work call on the way, Brett silently glanced at me in the mirror. When I was done, he cleared his throat. “You know? I still remember Mr. Doherty’s twenty-second birthday.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yes.” He nodded and sniggered. “I drove you there with Ms. Hanford.”
“Ah…” There it was. “Well, she’s Mrs. Tunney now.”
“Huh.”
Pressing my lips together, I slowly nodded and stared out the tinted window. Something about wedding and birthday weekends always made people scrutinize us singles with a magnifying lens. I didn’t particularly enjoy that my housekeeper and my driver felt the need to do it on the same day.
At Nathan’s place, the party was already at full blast. Stepping into the pool area, I was greeted by two—no, three—groups of young actresses in their bikinis, sipping colored cocktails and donning glow-in-the-dark accessories.
On the other side, a shaggy-looking band was jamming to some old song while one of them surrounded the group with the smoke from his vape.
Before I made it inside, one of the ushers stopped me with an inviting grin and a tray of mini-cupcakes. “Coconut, date, and chocolate THC treats?” she tilted her head.
“Sure.” I picked one up, and just as I was about to bite into it, Armen’s hand grabbed it from between my fingers.
“No,” he severely drew it out. “What are you doing? A downer? You just got here! Come with me,” he grabbed my wrist, popping the cupcake into his mouth instead.
Leaving the present on the gift table in the foyer, I followed my friend toward the other side of the house. Nathan and Chadwick were lounging with a few others.
When my phone vibrated in my pocket, I pulled it out and found a text from Heidi, my uncle’s assistant, with the guest list.
And I scrolled and scrolled until I found the only Ella. Ella Rose Boraine.
I instantly began to judge myself, feeling a little bit like a creep. But after two shots of vodka, I convinced myself to look the other way.