Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
D espite the fact that Aaron and I ate not even ten minutes ago, Ms. Jennings had grabbed Nancy’s wheelchair and set us on a course to the restaurant, not waiting for anyone to argue. “You can at least have a drink,” she’d insisted. “Nancy would love your company.”
Nancy had one condition, though—only if Sumner came along too.
He’d been out caddying on the golf course, which was why no one could find him earlier, but they tracked him down fast when I’d inquired. Sumner sat to my right on, with Aaron on my left, and it was a suffocating position. Ms. Jennings, seated on Aaron’s other side, talked animatedly, and had been the entire walk from the hotel to the club. We sat at a round table in the restaurant at the country club, waiting for our late lunch to be served.
And I would’ve rather been anywhere in the entire world than here.
“Your life just sounds so fascinating,” Ms. Jennings said as Aaron finished the same resume-like details he’d given me. She batted her mascara-coated lashes at him, tucking her hands underneath her chin like a schoolgirl. “So much accomplished at just twenty-five! I find it admirable… and very impressive.”
Ms. Jennings truly had no shame, given that Aaron, at half her age, could’ve been her son. Then again, shame and Ms. Jennings didn’t really fit in the same sentence.
Aaron lapped up all the attention, though his nervousness seeped through ever so slightly. “Yes, well, it’s been quite an adventurous one, bouncing around from city to city. Experiencing it all while I’m young has been something to remember.” He picked up his water glass, casting a glance to me. “I still can’t believe you haven’t traveled much, darling.”
“Margot’s parents don’t like her traveling without them,” Ms. Jennings cut in, giving her head a small shake. “I agree with your philosophy, Aaron. You should travel when you’re young.”
“Perhaps I can take you somewhere and impress you,” Aaron said to me. His expression was so simple and kind. “Fashion week, perhaps? Milan? You should really see more that the world has to offer.”
I regarded him curiously. “How did you know I was into fashion?”
“My mother mentioned it to me. She said you talked about it on the way to the airport.” His lips quirked. “Besides, judging by your clothing, I thought it was clear. A woman who wears sophisticated clothing can’t be uninterested in fashion, at the very least.”
“We have always loved Margot’s affinity for her suits,” Ms. Jennings enthused, giving a dramatic nod, as if to convince herself. “She’s just so unique. ”
I wasn’t sure who the “we” she was referring to was, but given the fact that she’d told me I dressed like a man at the last fundraiser, I doubted that “we” included herself.
“Can you believe the wedding is this weekend?” Ms. Jennings asked, pressing her palms together. She looked at Nancy. “I can just remember when Annalise was a young little thing, toddling around, and now she’s getting married.”
Nancy didn’t reply. In fact, since her greeting Sumner when he joined us for lunch, she hadn’t spoken once.
With my attention on Nancy now, it was clear she didn’t look well in the slightest. She wasn’t strong enough to transfer from her wheelchair to a dining chair, even though Sumner offered to help, and she somewhat slumped in her seat. Her skin was paler than usual, almost gray-looking, but I tried to tell myself it was just the lighting. I wanted to ask if she was feeling okay, but I didn’t want to draw attention to it, knowing she wouldn’t have been honest, anyway. Instead, I took a sip of my water, swallowing hard.
“And yours and Margot’s wedding is following soon after!” Ms. Jennings said, her segue not smooth in the slightest. She leaned toward Aaron with a bright look in her eye, laying her hand on his forearm. “That is… if you’ve proposed yet.”
Her interest charmed Aaron—then again, he seemed the type to be charmed by anyone’s slightest interest in him. Perhaps it was because he was the youngest of five. “Things are still a bit up in the air.” He glanced over at me. “Margot seems to enjoy playing hard to get.”
“And here I thought I was being subtle,” I replied before sipping my water. I didn’t look at Sumner, who had also been silent the entire time.
“Aaron,” Ms. Jennings began with intrigue, once more leaning forward. “Why aren’t there any photos of you online? Us ladies at the club have been very curious. And you’re handsome—why not show it off!”
He tucked his head in an almost sheepish expression. “I’ve never been a fan of posting everything online. Never been a fan of that sort of limelight. I prefer to wait for people to see me in person to form a judgement of me. I’m sorry I left you in suspense for so long—I hope you weren’t disappointed.”
Ms. Jennings giggled. “Not in the slightest.”
Nancy silently reached for her water glass on the table. When she grabbed it, it tipped toward her in her weak grip, and it nearly upended all over her and the table. Sumner caught it in time, his hand covering hers. “Oh, careful, careful,” he said, though his voice was light. “It was just out of reach.”
Nancy grunted, but when she took the water from him, it was a gentle movement.
Aaron leaned closer to me and lowered his voice. “I know earlier you said she owned the country club, but is this your grandmother?”
“No.”
“She’s practically her grandmother,” Ms. Jennings joined our whispering. “She was there for all the big events in Margot’s life.”
“I’m old,” Nancy snapped, lowering her water glass in her shaking hand. “Not deaf. If you have any questions, you can ask me yourself, young man.”
“I wasn’t meaning to offend,” he quickly assured. “Just trying to piece the puzzle together, that’s all.”
Nancy grumbled something, but it was around the rim of her water glass, and she ended up swallowing the words.
Another near silent member ever since we entered the restaurant had been Sumner. He hadn’t attempted to chime in a conversation, and with Nancy seeming under the weather, she didn’t try to pull him into one. He just sat quietly, listening. I should’ve included him somehow, but the thought of trying to spark a conversation with him, of looking him in the eye, caused my throat to feel too constricted.
“Speaking of puzzle pieces,” Ms. Jennings said, and this time, her focus fell on Sumner. “You knew that Mr. Pennington is Margot’s babysitter, right?”
“I do know that, yes.” Aaron laid his arm over the back of my chair, claiming me like a caveman. The look he gave Sumner was nothing short of challenging. “Now that I’ve arrived, I do believe I could fill your shoes, Mr. Pennington. Your services may no longer be needed.”
Sumner, though, despite his normally good-natured self, didn’t back down to Aaron’s stare. “It’s up to the Masseys how long they need me for.”
Aaron gave an empty smile. “It seems like an odd thing, though, doesn’t it? Hiring a man to get close to their daughter? Doesn’t seem like something they’d do.”
Sumner was calm. “I came highly recommended. ”
Aaron’s smile, at some point, had twisted into a sneer. “Oh, I bet you did.”
Ms. Jennings watched them bicker with an invested smile on her face, eating up the sight of two boys fighting. I should’ve cut in then, said something to stop the display of testosterone, but she beat me to the jump. “It is odd that they hired him,” she agreed. “Especially given the fact that the two of them kissed.”
I closed my eyes and let out a slow breath through my nose, because if there was anything I didn’t want brought up, it was this.
But Aaron’s reaction wasn’t one I’d been expecting. I just wanted to avoid the topic being awkwardly brought to the surface, especially after yesterday, but Aaron—he tensed all over. He gaped not at me but at Sumner, the crease between his brows livid. “You kissed her? When?”
“Oh, about a month ago now,” Ms. Jennings answered him, ever and always helpful. “Right in front of everyone, too. It was his first day on the job?—”
My parents said Aaron had been made aware of the situation, but this was clearly a man who had no idea. “You kissed her ,” he repeated, and on the table, his fist clenched. “Really?”
“If we’re going to get technical, I kissed him.” I picked my water back up, but my glass was empty. “And before you ask, I kissed him because I wanted to. Because I could. My parents hired him, despite that fact, because he made it crystal clear he had no feelings for me. So there you go.”
For the first time, the expression on Aaron’s face was not warm nor charming. The look reminded me of the night my father came into my room, thinly veiled anger about to burst into the open. There it is , I found myself thinking. There’s the red flag. “It’s funny that I never heard about it.”
“When would you have?” I returned. “You refused to speak with me beforehand. Unless, of course, you’re wondering why your spies didn’t tell you.” It was curious that Yvette hadn’t blabbed that particular detail; it was the most scandalous one.
“Indeed.” Aaron went back and forth between Sumner and me, staring us down. “They seem to have gone rogue.”
I couldn’t break away, almost as if there was a challenge in his stare. Was he really that bothered by the idea of me kissing another man? Bothered enough to throw me and my parents’ company away, or just bothered enough to throw a tantrum?
Ms. Jennings leaned back in her chair with an amused grin, tapping her fingers together. At that moment, the waitstaff finally began bringing out everyone’s entrees, breaking through the tension that’d been building to an unbearable degree. “Did you have to catch her salmon yourself?” I snapped, and then inwardly kicked myself for taking the frustration on them.
The server stuttered out apologies as she began placing the plates down, starting with Yvette. Throughout everything, Sumner stared down at his place setting with his jaw locked. Since I sat beside him, I could see his hands clenched underneath the table, resting on his thighs.
Silent through practically the entire conversation, Nancy took in a sharp, shuddering breath. While everyone had been talking, she’d grown paler, to the point where the bags underneath her eyes looked as dark as a bruise.
“Nancy,” I said, my heart stuttering on a beat. “Are you okay?”
Not yet, not yet, not yet . The thought was on a repeating loop in my head, a desperate echo that I was too afraid to think about what it meant.
Nancy never answered. Instead, she collapsed forward, her frail body falling onto the table. Sumner barely caught her before her head slammed onto the oak, and after that, everything had become a loud, roaring blur.