51. Dani
DANI
All the unread messages stare at me from my phone.
Graham hasn’t responded to any of my—count ’em—twenty-seven increasingly unhinged messages.
Dani: The rehearsal dinner’s tonight.
Dani: Free food!
Dani: Do you want to come?
Dani: No pressure—we can just go as non-boyfriend/girlfriend.
Dani: I know I blackmailed you into being my boyfriend, but this can be a fresh start.
Dani: Or not.
Dani: Forget I asked. I know that’s weird.
Dani: Please just tell me you’re okay.
Dani: Everything’s all right again—no one’s going to arrest you.
Dani: You can come home.
Dani: Or not. I can meet you somewhere.
Dani: Anywhere.
Home.
Maybe he’s at his penthouse?
“The rehearsal dinner is tonight, Dani—don’t run off.” My mother’s exasperated as I put on my jacket and race out the door.
“I just have to take care of something. Be right back?”
My mother glares at me. “Is it wedding-related? We’re already the laughingstock—”
“I think people have moved on to Deborah Whitford’s daughter sleeping with Linda Carroway’s husband.”
“We will never live this down.” My mother throws up her hands.
“I’m sure Dani will come up with something.” Dad grins at me.
“Hank, do not joke about that. Dani, if you’re going out, pick up more ice for the rehearsal dinner. The Valewood Club never has enough ice.”
The concierge lets me up to Graham’s penthouse.
“I haven’t seen him, but maybe he snuck in via the parking deck, Dani,” he says apologetically.
I realize when I’m standing in front of his door that I can’t get in. After all that, Graham had never given me a key. Probably because it was never as real to him as it was to me.
I can’t accept that, though. I’m not ready to let go of my last desperate, delusional chance at one true love.
Blinking back tears, I ring the doorbell.
Nothing.
“Graham!” I pound on the door. “Graham, are you in there? I’m just worried about you. I promise I’m not stalking you. Okay, I mean, I’m stalking you a little bit, but it’s because I—” Oh! The door swings open.
For a second I think it’s Graham, but then I realize—
“Hey, Grayson. I was looking for Graham.”
“Yeah, I saw.” He holds up a phone.
“Oh.” My stomach sinks. “That’s Graham’s phone, isn’t it. Where is he? Graham!” I yell, rushing into the penthouse. “Can you please just come talk to me? You don’t have to come to the rehearsal dinner.”
I know I sound crazy, though Grayson is looking at me with pity, which is somehow worse.
“He’s been missing for days.”
“That’s not…” Tears start collecting in my eyes. “No, he can’t be missing. It’s the rehearsal dinner tonight, and I sent him a calendar invite.”
“I can find you another date if you want.” Grayson sounds distracted. “I searched the penthouse—he’s not here. He’s not at the mountain house. We don’t know where he went. We can’t find him.”
He sighs heavily.
“I was half hoping he ran off with you, but then I found his phone.” He looks concerned. “He’s never done this before, but ever since he met you, he’s been like a different person.”
I slump against the kitchen counter. “This is all my fault.” I slide down onto the floor.
“He never should have snatched you off the street,” Grayson says quietly. He looks tired.
“He didn’t want to stay with me. He tried to get rid of me—you were there.
I pushed him. He tried to warn me,” I babble.
“It’s just… he said he loved me, but obviously under normal circumstances, that never would have happened.
Like, he would never have seen me on the street and decided he was in love. ” The tears come then.
Grayson probably doesn’t want me crying over his brother. They’ve known each other for—what? Thirty years? They’re family. I’m just the girl who ruined his life.
“For what it’s worth, I don’t think you ruined his life,” Grayson says gently.
“You said he was different,” I choke out.
“Different doesn’t mean bad.” Grayson pats my shoulder awkwardly. “I have to leave… Finn thinks he has a photo of him at a toll booth in Pennsylvania.”
There’s a long pause.
Right. He needs to lock up after me.
“Can you please text me or something if you find him?” I ask him. “I… I’m really worried.”
“Yes. Me too.”
“Dani, watch out!”
I catch the punch bowl before I can knock it to the floor.
“Sorry, Colette.”
She glares at me.
She’s wearing cropped white trousers, impossibly tall silver heels, and a long sheer overdress with lace flowers along the train. She looks chic and bridal, especially with the blowout and flanked by the Girl Squad all in dove-gray jumpsuits and heels.
I don’t look like anything.
Even the waiters buzzing around the cocktail hour in their crisp black uniforms look more put-together than me, the sister of the groom.
“God, you’d think after everything you did to me, you’d at least try to make sure I have a nice rehearsal dinner,” Colette snaps.
“Honestly, people keep whispering whenever I walk by. It’s embarrassing.
You humiliated me on national television.
You set me up on purpose,” Colette says accusingly.
“I know you did it on purpose, too, because you’re jealous.
You always wanted to be me, and I was nice—I let you be my friend. ”
“You humiliated me?” I choke out.
“It’s funny, though.” Colette tosses her perfect blowout. “Karma gets you in the end.”
“My mom heard from your mom that Graham dumped you,” Nora adds.
Maya smirks. “You’re lucky that Colette’s already in a relationship, too, because it’s so obvious that Graham would have come running to her after having to subject himself to you.”
“I’m surprised he lasted this long,” Greta adds.
“Can you imagine if he’d married you?” Colette throws her head back and laughs.
Piper shoves through the Girl Squad. “Fuck off, Colette. You don’t know what’s going on. Graham didn’t dump Dani. He loves her.”
Gosh, Piper always has my back. Even when I don’t deserve it.
“You don’t have to lie for me, Piper.” My throat is closing up with sorrow. “Yes, Graham did dump me. His brother said he’s gone. They don’t know where.”
“He ran away from you!” Colette is triumphant. “You were so weird and clingy with him—it’s no wonder the poor man skipped town to get away from you.”
My lower lip trembles. “You’re right. I ran him off. He was the only guy I ever had any sort of chance with, and now he’s gone, and I don’t know where he is.” I wipe my nose. “He could be hurt. He could be kidnapped.”
“He’s not kidnapped—he’s hiding from you,” Colette snaps.
Now we have the attention of the whole rehearsal dinner.
My mother’s glaring at me. I can practically feel her beaming orders at me.
Stop making a scene. Be the good hostess. AKA cave and give Colette whatever she wants.
Not this time.
“Yeah.” I raise my voice. “You’re right.
I was a bad girlfriend. But you know what?
” I clench my fists. “A big part of that was because I was trying to be a good friend to you—because I was doing what you want, what I thought would make you like me. I was trying to show you that I was just like you, that I deserved to be in your friend group, that I was worthy of your friendship because I had a boyfriend. So I dragged him around to stuff he didn’t want to do just so I could show off that I was desirable to a man—and therefore good enough to be your friend. ”
Now I’m messy-crying.
“And it didn’t even matter. That’s the stupid thing.
I was mean to Piper, who is one of the few people in this room who actually cares about me.
I sacrificed my work success, my family, and my self-esteem, and now my relationship with Graham—to make sure that you had a nice wedding, that you were comfortable, that you were catered to.
And the worst part is, you were never grateful.
You never said, ‘Hey, Dani, thanks for being my friend. I really appreciate your love and support.’ Instead, you treat me like a servant. ”
Colette just rolls her eyes.
“Graham never could stand you.” I sniffle. “I should have listened to him. Especially since you turned around and stabbed me in the back on national television… maybe if I’d manned up and cut you off when I should have, he’d still be around.”
My mom is hissing at my brother to “Go stop her—do something.”
“Seriously, Mom?” I shriek at her. “I’m the problem here?”
“Yes, Dani, you’re making a scene.” Mom is horrified. “Jeremy, go get your sister.”
“Jeremy’s not going to do anything,” I scoff. “Jeremy doesn’t even do his own laundry.”
“Oh no,” Jeremy says, coming up to stand next to me. “I’m going to do something, actually.”
“If you think I’m going to listen to what you have to say, you are sorely mistaken!” I holler at my brother.
But he’s ignoring me and turning on Colette.
“You drove off Graham on purpose.”
“Uh, no.” Colette is incredulous. “I didn’t do that. That was Dani with her nonsense.”
“Dani knows better than to make people look bad,” Jeremy snaps. “We’re about to be married—we have to be a team. And you’re messing with my livelihood.”
“What livelihood?” Colette sneers. “You don’t work. You’re incompetent. You’re going to be living off my hard work and my money. You’re ‘working’”—she makes air quotes—“because your dad got you that job. You and Dani are two peas in a useless pod.”
“I’m not useless!” my brother shouts.
“Dani.” Colette snaps her fingers at me. “This rehearsal dinner is a disaster, and we’re not even done with cocktail hour. Fix it.”
“We’re not done talking.” Jeremy jumps between me and Colette.
“Oh yes we are.” Colette wags a finger at him.
My brother’s eyes narrow.
“Graham was my ticket to a cushy job, Colette. Dad’s cutting me off, and I needed Graham’s connections. You ruined that for me. What kind of wife are you going to be if you mess up my professional life?”
“Excuse me? Don’t speak to me like that. And what do you mean, cut off?” Colette puts her hands on her hips.