29. Jenny
JENNY
We made it through the day mostly unscathed. And by unscathed, I meant that Cole and I had enjoyed the resort. We swam in the gorgeous water, made love, ate delicious food, fed Iggy the Iguana, remembered to apply sunscreen and hydrate regularly, and hadn’t talked further about Things That Made Me Upset.
So, I was mostly unscathed by the time we sat down for dinner with the whole wedding crew. We were in an outdoor seating area with tiki torches and candles, with a view of the ocean and the stars above. It was amazing, and I vowed to enjoy myself. I should be happy. After all, I was unscathed by Cole’s offer of a South End condo and a Range Rover.
Mostly.
“I’d like to make a toast,” Todd said and stood. “First of all, to Evie for agreeing to marry me. I would have been in sad shape if she’d said no.” He leaned down and kissed her, and everybody whooped and clapped.
“Second, I’d like to thank my parents and Evie’s parents for hosting such a beautiful wedding celebration. It was perfect in every way. Thank you for organizing and for, well, paying.” Everyone laughed.
“Third, I’d like to thank my brother James for being my best man, and for taking time out of his busy schedule to actually go on vacation for once. I have a feeling I should really be thanking his girlfriend, Audrey, since James has never been this relaxed in his life. So cheers to James and Audrey. And cheers to all of you for joining us on this happy occasion. To the hair of the dog!” Todd said and knocked back his shot.
“The hair of the dog.” Everyone clinked glasses and drank their tequila, me included. But the shot didn’t make me feel any better. I was happy for Todd and Evie—I swear to God I was—but hearing about their happiness, happy occasion, fabulous vacation with their parents and friends, and legitimate happily-ever-after was sort of making me unhappy. It was sort of making me want to puke.
I leaned over to Audrey, who I hadn’t had a chance to talk to all day. “Can we take a break?” I asked.
“Sure,” she said.
I grabbed her hand, and we walked from the ocean-side restaurant to the central part of the resort. “I just need a little space,” I said, looking back at the table. Cole was talking to Todd and James.
“Is everything okay?” Audrey asked.
I could feel the hurt bubbling up inside me. I’d kept it in all day, but there was no avoiding it now. I shook my head. “No. No, it is not.”
We found a private bathroom with a lounge area; we went inside and locked the door. I started pacing, unsure what to say. My thoughts and feelings were all jumbled up, making me emotional. I didn’t like feeling that way. I wanted that piece of me that was always in control to come back, save me from myself, and make the threatening tears take a hike and never return.
“What’s wrong?” Audrey asked.
“It’s Cole,” I said. “He told me he doesn’t want me to go back to work after this. He said he wants me to be exclusive.”
All of a sudden, the tears were winning. I headed for the vanity and checked my makeup, ensuring my mascara stayed intact.
“Is that a bad thing?” she asked. “You don’t want to be exclusive?”
“It’s not that,” I said. I gritted my teeth and then examined them for lipstick. “It’s that he said he’d buy me an apartment, buy me whatever kind of car I wanted, blah blah blah.”
“Oh. Huh.” Audrey sounded confused. “And that’s bad?”
“Yeah, it’s bad, Dre,” I said. “Because that’s not what I want!”
Audrey was watching me carefully. “What do you want?”
“More.” I rolled my eyes at myself in the mirror. “Jesus, you’d think I was some kind of amateur. I shoulda never come on this trip.”
Audrey came closer and rubbed my arm. “It’s okay, Jenny. But did you tell him how you felt?”
I snorted. “No fucking way. He told me he didn’t want me to go back to hooking after this trip. So I told him to make me an offer I couldn’t refuse, you know? And he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. It was just the wrong one.”
“I think you should talk to him,” she said. “Just like you told me to talk to James. Remember? When you told me to be brave?”
“I’m not you, Dre. It’s not possible to clean this up,” I said, motioning to myself, “put it into a Volvo, and pretend it knows how to play tennis. Do you understand?”
Audrey nodded while I got back to carefully blotting my eyes. “I don’t know if Cole cares about Volvos and tennis, Jenny,” she said. “But I’m pretty sure he cares about you.”
“Do not try to turn my airplane pep talk around on me,” I said. Now I felt like I might really start bawling. “This is totally different.”
“If you say so,” Audrey said. She didn’t sound like she meant it. “But you had some pretty good advice. I’m just saying.”
I blew out a deep breath. “What about you and James?” I asked, changing the subject. “You looked a lot happier in the pool earlier. Are you all better?”
She nodded. “He asked me to move to California with him.”
“I knew it!” I cried. “I knew it! I could tell just by looking at him. You’re gonna live happily ever after.”
“I don’t know about that,” she said.
“I do.” I looked at her levelly. “I know it’s going to happen.”
She met my gaze. “Jenny, I see the way Cole is with you. Ithink he’s in love with you.”
“I thought he was, too,” I said, returning to my reflection and fluffing my hair. “But it must have just been that thing with his balls. I do it exactly the way he likes.”
I smiled at Audrey in the mirror. “I’m not even mad at him, though. He’s great. I’m mad at me . I think I got too inspired by my own pep talk. I’m the one who started hoping—and that was a dumb fucking move. If I hadn’t hoped, I’d be psyched that I was getting a South End condo and a Range Rover. Now all I’m doing is crying.” I blew my nose.
“You should give him a chance,” she said. “See what he has to say for himself.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said and gave my hair one final fluff. “In the meantime, I need some liquid courage to keep up with these people. Rich people sure drink a lot, huh?”
We headed back to the restaurant. Unfortunately, Celia Preston waited in the hallway. Celia was an attractive woman, well-preserved by facial fillers, plastic surgery, and what I assumed was the ice running through her veins. But the constant sneer on her face contorted her good looks, twisting her.
I shivered, remembering what Celia had said about James’s dead girlfriend. You dodged a bullet . Who said shit like that?
“May I have a word with you, Audrey?” Celia asked. She looked at me pointedly. “Alone?”
“Of course, Mrs. Preston,” Audrey mumbled.
Despite Celia’s warning glare, I didn’t budge from Audrey’s side. “You okay?” I asked her, keeping my voice low.
“It’ll be okay,” she whispered. “I hope.”
“If you don’t come back in five minutes, I’ll be back with reinforcements.” I squeezed her hand and then headed back to the restaurant.
“Where’s Audrey?” James asked as I sat down.
“She’s talking to your mom.”
He arched an eyebrow.
“If she’s not back in five minutes, let’s go get her,” I said.
“Deal.” James sat, shoulders tensed, as he watched the door.
We didn’t have to wait long—Audrey and Celia returned, taking their respective seats without a word. But Audrey looked pale, her mouth set in a grim line. James leaned over and talked to her, and then they got up to leave.
“She’s not feeling well,” he explained.
“I bet.” I watched as Audrey straightened her shoulders and left the restaurant, head held high. My friend had been through a lot in her life. Whatever the hell Celia Preston had just said to her, Audrey had most likely been through worse.
I hoped.
“Everything okay?” Cole asked me.
Celia Preston watched me from the head of the table. Her icy, shrewd gaze missed nothing.
“I hope so,” I said.