11. Victoria
Chapter 11
Victoria
T he wedding went off without a hitch. Every detail was tasteful and perfect. A federal judge who golfed with my dad performed the oceanfront ceremony, and the guest list included all the Boston business and social elite, just as my mom had always dreamed.
At the reception, Graham and Alexandra barely interacted, each working the crowd and soaking up the attention.
My baby sister looked beautiful. All willowy limbs and wide blue eyes. She’d changed into the dress she’d purchased to wear to the reception only. There were easily over two hundred people here, so thankfully, my family mostly ignored my presence.
Sadly, Graham’s was everywhere. As were his colleagues, friends, and fraternity brothers. So far, they’d generally treated me in one of two ways: either they totally ignored me or they went out of their way to chat, pretending to be interested in my life. The second type of interaction was epically worse.
At least Noah was here. He was an incredible fake date and hype man, constantly talking up my achievements at the food pantry or telling funny stories about Lovewell.
Then there was the kiss.
We had not spoken of it.
But it had happened. And I’d been thinking about it nonstop since last night.
Noah, the gentleman that he was, had spent the entire day attempting to rescue me from my shitty family.
Last night, before his lips had touched mine, I’d been spiraling into a panic. The contact had grounded me. Pulled me out of the shame vortex that consumed me every time my mother and sisters were near.
It wouldn’t happen again. Obviously. We were pretending until after the wedding. Nothing more. We’d stepped up our act since the interrogation yesterday, but that mostly entailed holding hands and hanging out. Which, given this crowd, was not a hardship at all.
In Lovewell, he fit in easily with his outdoorsy, lumberjack vibe.
But he looked dangerously good in a tux. Today, he was working an Ivy League banker who climbs mountains on the weekends vibe. Though I was wearing heels, he still towered over me, and each time he touched me, his rough calluses rasping against my skin, I had to fight the shiver that worked its way through me.
As a server passed by, he snagged two champagne flutes, then tapped his against mine.
“To the happy couple,” I said with an eye roll.
“Oh, yes.” He gagged. “Best wishes.”
We sipped our drinks, chatting and laughing on the outskirts of the dance floor, hoping we could avoid any more scrutiny. We’d made it through the ceremony and dinner. We only had to hold out a little longer, and then we could get out of here.
He hovered close, the stubble on his cheek grazing my earlobe, and a slight zing zipped through me. Nothing major, just a tiny electrical current running under my skin.
It was strange and yet not unwelcome.
“May I have this dance?”
My parents had spared no expense, and the twelve-piece band was fantastic.
I peered up at him, those piercing blue eyes doing a number on me. They were always arresting, but with champagne in my system, the effect was more powerful. My feet hurt, but there was no way I’d say no.
Because a tiny part of me, so tiny I’d never admit it out loud, enjoyed pretending to be Noah’s girlfriend. He was an incredible friend, but being on the receiving end of his attentiveness and all the small but meaningful gestures he would, presumably, bestow upon a woman he was seeing? If I wasn’t careful, I could get far too comfortable with this. For the first time, I saw him as a romantic, sexy guy, not just an exhausted single dad.
He took my glass, and as the band played “My Best Friend” by Tim McGraw, he led me onto the dance floor.
“You look beautiful,” he said as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
I leaned back so I could see his face. “Thanks. You look pretty good too.”
With a shrug, he angled in close again. “This old thing?”
At his proximity, I shivered in anticipation. His lips near my skin lit me up from the inside out. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was because I was wearing a very expensive and very revealing gown, but my body was on high alert.
“This dress.” He ran his fingers down the deep V in the back. “Is so sexy.”
I swallowed. Those electric currents? They were zapping the shit out of me now.
“You sure you’re okay? You looked shaken up after photos.”
My mother had pulled me aside to remind me of what a disappointment I was. But with his fingertips grazing my bare skin, I barely remembered what she said.
“My mother,” I said, her words coming back to me. “She said it was such a shame I couldn’t, in her words, ‘hold on’ to Graham.”
He scoffed. “No way.”
My stomach roiled, at odds with the gentle way we moved on the dance floor. “Yes. And then she told me that it was for the best because my failure—again, her words—was Alex’s triumph.”
He laughed. Full-on laughed.
“Fuck. That is the most ridiculous shit I’ve ever heard. Who talks like that, especially to their own daughter? Is your mother a real human, or is she a cartoon villain?”
Before I knew what was happening, I was laughing too. He was right. The entire thing was preposterous. My mother was vile. This was a happy day. She had no reason to cut me down. Yet she took every opportunity she got.
And I’d allowed it. Why wouldn’t I? It was all I knew. Day after day, year after year, she’d treated me this way.
“Thank you.” I wiped at a stray tear. “I needed to laugh. This whole weekend…”
His blue eyes darkened to the color of stormy waters, and his fingers flexed on my waist.
He was thinking about the kiss.
Shit, now I was thinking about the kiss.
“When do you think we can leave?” He craned his neck and scanned our surroundings, breaking the spell.
“After they cut the cake,” I replied. “Then we can bounce.”
He gave me a sly smile. To say our hotel room was luxurious was an understatement. Last night, we’d watched Schitt’s Creek before falling asleep in our respective king size beds. It was a lot like being home in Lovewell, except without Tess and with a little more sleep for us both.
I missed that little bugger, and by the way he kept checking his phone and how he smiled at the photos Debbie sent every hour, he was too. Tess was having the time of her life with her grandma, who had undoubtedly been letting her mainline sugar and Bluey all weekend.
We planned to leave first thing tomorrow morning, skipping the post-wedding brunch and dropping Aunt Lou off on the way back. The geezer squad had handled all of yesterday’s deliveries, but summer was coming, which was our busiest time, so I had lots of work to catch up on at the food pantry.
This weekend had been surreal. Part nightmare, part daydream. I couldn’t wait to plant my feet on the ground and get back to reality.
A reality in which Noah and I were friends.
Friends who did not kiss.
We snuck slices of cake and were heading for the exit when my mother hurried over with Elizabeth on her heels.
My stomach sank. I’d had more than enough of both of them this weekend.
“Thank you for coming,” she said formally, as though, instead of sharing DNA, we were mere acquaintances.
Noah’s strong arm was instantly around me, pulling me close. He did this every time my hackles rose. As if he could sense it. I shouldn’t have been surprised that he’d create a physical shield of protection around me this way. Given his career, he obviously had a hero complex.
I wasn’t complaining. It was strangely comforting.
“We’ll see so much more of one another soon.” She gave me a sly smile.
Ice filled my veins. “What do you mean?”
She sipped her champagne, nose in the air. “Oh, I didn’t tell you? Dad and I purchased a lake house.”
The slow smile that spread across her face was so wide I worried her facelift stitches had come loose.
Relief hit me. Okay, so they bought another house. I wasn’t sure why it mattered to me. I had no intention of visiting.
“In Lovewell.”
My eye twitched.
“We’ll be there in two weeks. Alexandra will join us for the summer so she can rest, poor thing.”
“But you don’t like Lovewell,” I blurted out.
“It’s more of a compound, really,” she said, as if she hadn’t heard me. “But we need a place to spend summers with our grandchild.” She beamed at Alex, who was posing for photos while cupping her still flat stomach. Graham hovered next to her, his face ruddy from the abundance of alcohol he’d already consumed.
“You have two grandchildren already.” I glanced at Elizabeth.
She was too busy staring at the bar where Ralph was flirting with one of Alex’s sorority sisters. Bastard.
My mother smiled wider, her gaze shifting to Noah. “Of course. All the grandkids are welcome. It’s a beautiful property. With a lot of privacy. You know we deeply value our privacy.”
My mother in Lovewell? And my sisters? A wave of dread washed over me, threatening to pull me under. This couldn’t be happening.
Life had finally taken a turn for the better, and here my family was, on standby to crush the joy from it.
“This will give us a chance to get to know you better, Noah,” my mom said, her tone lacking even a hint of enthusiasm. “And your… family .” The way she emphasized the word made it sound like she’d rather spend time with a pack of feral raccoons.
No matter that Noah’s family was lovely and generous. In her mind, they were nowhere near acceptable.
“Summers up north are so beautiful,” she trilled. “Dad is having our boat transported to the lake there, and our property has a cottage for Marnie too.” Marnie was my parents’ long-time housekeeper. Of course my mother wouldn’t deign to make her own bed or brew her own coffee, even on vacation.
“We’ll see each other all the time. Won’t that be lovely? We get so little time with you, Victoria.” Despite her words, her tone was pure threat.
“Vic is very busy. I’m not sure how often she’ll have time to come out to your new place,” Noah said, jumping to my defense. “She’s got a lot of fundraising planned. The work she’s done with the food pantry has been incredible, and she’s bringing in even more resources.”
My mother ignored him. She did not give a shit about the food pantry. Her idea of charitable work involved gowns and diamonds, not actually helping those in need.
The lump in my throat grew, threatening to suffocate me. Lovewell had become my sanctuary, my happy place. It was free from the drama and toxicity that came with my family. I had friends and I had a job I was passionate about. Now they were coming back?
Onto my turf?
For months?
I wanted to cry. And scream and stomp my feet.
Before the urge could overtake me, Noah pulled me close and kissed the top of my head.
And with that simple gesture, my mind cleared.
I was done. With this conversation and this wedding.
Seeming to sense how close I was to shutting down, Noah cupped my cheek gently. “Looks like I need to get my girl home.” His voice was little more than a whisper.
It was for me, not for our audience. But it did the trick.
Turning to my mother, he forced a smile. “It’s getting late.” He craned his neck, peering around her. “Is that Senator Blakely? Looks like he may be leaving.”
“Oh no.” She whipped around and stomped away, prepared to continue her social climbing and leaving me to catch my breath. Elizabeth dutifully followed her, looking morose as usual.
Blowing out a breath, I looked up at Noah. “I’m fucked.”
He pulled my body flush against his. The heat of him was a comfort in the cool night air. I buried my head in my chest, willing all thoughts of this wedding and my family away.
“It’s gonna be okay,” he said into my hair. “Let’s get you home.”