54. Nora
CHAPTER 54
NORA
The Calloway Spring Ball has left Fairhaven transformed. There are hundreds of people here, mingling through the large rooms on the first floor and outside on the terrace overlooking the gardens and ocean.
It feels like the house has come alive.
Like the old and the modern blend, parties held here decade after decade, generation after generation.
My very first night at Fairhaven had been a fundraising party. I was frustrated then, scared and angry. I remember what that felt like, but it’s like a faded memory, chipped and torn.
Now this place feels like home.
I join Amber and Cordelia on the terrace. It’s a rare moment to catch West’s mother alone, it seems, for she is always being pulled in different directions by guests.
“The Winthrops are here?” Amber asks. “I thought they were on the no-no list.”
Cordelia lifts one shoulder in a shrug. “They were. But a decade is time enough to reflect on what they did.”
“Which was what, exactly?” Amber says.
“I can’t remember,” Cordelia says. She puts a hand on my shoulder, and the smile she gives me is a true one. “I really am so grateful that West has found you.”
She asked me just half an hour ago if we were serious. And now I know why. She wants to see her son married so this, all of this , this magical place that’s been in the same family for over a century, doesn’t fall into ruin.
Faking it never bothered me before. It was full of lessons and exercises, and that made me feel safe. Safe to explore and to push boundaries with him, because there were no consequences. It was all a game.
But all games eventually come to an end.
“Me too.” I’m giving her hope, but it’s false hope.
“Have you seen your brother yet?” she asks. “I haven’t seen Raphael in over a year. It would be lovely to say hello.”
“He had business in town earlier, but he’s coming tonight.”
“Is everything… set?” Amber asks carefully. They both know about the stalker, and it seems they’ve been informed about tonight too. There are guards everywhere. I’ve already seen Amos. He’s a few feet away, doing his best to blend in with the red brick wall. Madison is stationed right alongside the edge of the terrace.
“He’s on the guest list, but no one knows if he’ll show,” I say with a shrug.
“The asshole,” Amber says.
“Amber,” Cordelia chides, like her daughter isn’t twenty-seven.
“You were thinking it.”
There’s a brief pause. “Yes, I was. I know Wilde and his brand well. They’ve been a success story. A local one. But I’m never buying another pair of Mather & Wilde loafers.”
“I’ll burn mine,” Amber says, “in solidarity.”
“Well, that’s just wasteful,” Cordelia says, and looks back out at the crowd.
I smile at both of them. My own mother was far more dramatic when I told her that we had confirmation about who had hired an entire team to scare me. You’re going to kill me, you kids. One of these days , she said, like it was either Rafe’s fault or mine that the whole thing had happened.
Cordelia is pulled away, a queen surveying her kingdom. As soon as she’s out of earshot, Amber looks at me over the rim of her champagne glass. Her strawberry blonde hair is piled high tonight. “How are things with you and my brother?”
I laugh a little. “Well…”
“That good? He’s smiling more, you know.” She tilts her glass to mine. “You’re really good for him.”
“We aren’t… nothing is… it’s complicated.”
She shrugs. “I know all about complicated. Sometimes complicated is fun, until it’s not. Can you simplify things?”
“Maybe. I would like that,” I admit, and look back out at the beautifully clad people in the gardens. It’s a warm spring night, and the sky is painted a beautiful pink by the approaching sunset. “I’m building up the courage to have a conversation.”
“I know the feeling,” she says.
“Speaking of…” I take a step closer. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, that night, at the Paradise Lost party. You were there. Right?”
Amber looks at me for a long moment. Her eyes, so like her brother’s, are framed by dark lashes that contrast her fiery hair. “My brother can’t find out.”
“I won’t tell him. I promise,” I say. “But that was risky.”
“I know. I didn’t think he’d come.” She takes a deep breath, and I remember what he told me, that it was her his former friend had once gotten involved with. That it was his house the party was at.
“Did you have fun?” she asks, and I recognize a deflection tactic when I see one.
“I did. That party was… exhilarating.”
“Yeah, they tend to be,” she says. “At least before they go completely off the rails. Oh, and here he is. Your brother.”
Raphael steps between us, tall and dark. He bends to kiss Amber on the cheek with the familiarity of someone who’s basically family. “Amber. This party is beautiful, and so are you.”
“And you say that to everyone,” she says. “Hello, Rafe.”
Rafe nudges me. “Hey.”
“Hi.”
“How are you holding up?”
I raise my glass of champagne. “I’m fantastic, thanks for asking. How are you? How were the meetings in town?”
“Met with my American legal team.”
My hand tightens around the delicate glass. “You’re still planning on taking over their company? The Wilde’s?”
“Yes.” His voice is smooth, but there’s steel beneath it. “And after it’s mine, I’m going to strip every Wilde from the board, the leadership, and positions of power. Before I tear their company apart and bury the brand.”
“But they still have a significant stake. Right? Someone still has to sell to you.”
“They will.”
“Even after you confront Ben Wilde?”
“Yes.” He says it like a vow. My brother has been single-minded for the last few years, focused on growing Maison Valmont bigger and stronger than our father left it. Wilde is one of the few companies that have resisted decades of Valmont’s expansion in the luxury space.
Of course he won’t give it up.
Even after this.
“Not everyone at that company is involved in stalking me,” I tell him. “Some of them are normal people.”
Rafe lifts an eyebrow. “Are you asking me to show them mercy?”
“I know better than that.” And really, I shouldn’t be surprised that what I think regarding this situation doesn’t matter, despite it being me Wilde targeted to get Rafe off balance.
His eyes fall to my wrist. “You bought something new?”
I look down at my bracelet, with its engraved words resting against my skin. I’ve never gotten angry at Rafe. Even when he’s made decisions about my life.
“Yes,” I say. “It’s new.”
“It’s pretty.” He looks back out over the crowd. “Now let’s see if Wilde shows…”
“He won’t.” The words are West’s. His hand comes to rest at the small of my back, and his shoulder brushes mine, and it’s like I can take a full breath again. Like order is restored. “He’s been spotted at a restaurant in the city.”
“Maybe he knows he’s been caught,” I say.
Rafe shakes his head. “Not likely.”
“He might,” West agrees, like my brother hasn’t spoken. His eyes drop to my bracelet. “If one of his hired guns has turned on him. Or he doesn’t want to overplay his hand. As my girlfriend, he knows you’ll be here.”
My lips curve. “You think he can’t face me?”
“I think he might struggle to, yes.”
Rafe looks between us and at West’s arm around my waist. There are people everywhere. Eyes that follow, eyes that track. It’s all a facade. My brother knows that.
And yet, when Amber puts a hand on his arm and asks him if he doesn’t think West and I make a beautiful couple, his answer is tense. “Yes,” he says, eyes on West’s arm. “They do.”
* * *
Invitations to the party are coveted, and now that they’re here, everyone wants to talk to West. “Don’t leave me,” he mutters in my ear between polite conversations. “I might die if you do.”
I laugh. “Are you addicted to me?”
“Yes. Dangerously so.” His hand finds mine and locks our fingers together.
“Good thing I’m still your fake girlfriend in public, then,” I say. “Would your mom have invited a dozen single women otherwise?”
West pulls me closer, like he’s about to press his lips to my temple like he usually does. But he stops himself at the last minute. We’re only supposed to be pretending, and my brother is here. “Yeah, don’t look too in love with me, Calloway.”
“I’m trying my best,” he says, and something flutters in my chest. We need to talk , I think. I need to tell him how I feel.
There’s another low, incessant ringing from my bag. I open it, and what I see doesn’t surprise me.
West mutters, “Again?”
“It’s her sixth call in the last hour. Maybe I should just answer it,” I say. “When Mom gets something in her head like this, she’s not gonna stop.”
“You’ve already texted her and said you’re unavailable.”
“Yes, but you know how she gets.”
He looks over his shoulder at the guests standing only a short distance away. Two of them have already tried to get our attention twice. “Okay,” he says. “Come. Let’s end this.”
He takes my hand and pulls me into the house, down through the east wing. He finds the door to the library and pulls it open. The large room is dark and quiet, and we pause just inside the door.
“Answer it this time,” West says, “and tell her off.”
I look down at my phone. “I’m not sure if I can do that.”
“You can,” he says. “We’ve been practicing. Of course you can. I’m right here.”
I take a deep breath and answer the phone. Mom’s frantic voice is on the other end. “ Finally ,” she says. “I was getting so worried.”
“There was no need to worry,” I tell her, my gaze on West. “I texted you just twenty minutes ago that I was perfectly fine.”
“Yes, but Rafe told me that he was handling the man who hired those guys to intimidate you, maybe tonight? And you might be there too?”
There are birds chirping in the background. It’s no surprise she’s already awake. She’s in her new phase of getting up really early and going for long walks. I wonder how long it’ll last.
“He isn’t going to show,” I say. “Even if he did, I’m surrounded by security. Rafe shouldn’t’ve… I’m fine, Mom. I’m fine.”
She sighs on the other end. It’s one of those resigned, dramatic sighs I’ve heard my entire life. It means I’ve done something wrong. It means she’s about to lay her emotions on me.
It’s my job to fix them. My job is to please her.
“I feel like we never talk anymore, Nora. We used to talk almost daily, and now…” Another sigh. Shorter this time. “With you being off in America… how long will you be there? I didn’t even know about tonight until my son told me.”
“At least until the Fashion Showcase,” I say, and meet West’s whiskey eyes.
“I liked it so much when you were in Paris. London was okay too, but?—”
“Mom,” I say, exhaling. “We have a six-hour time difference. It’s not huge.”
“It’s significant,” she says. “I can feel it, physically feel how far you are from me.” She sighs again. “I’m out here on my walk, and I thought it would be nice to talk to my daughter. Is that so wrong?”
West’s hand finds my waist again. His face is uncompromising. “You have a life,” he mouths.
I keep my voice light. “It’s lovely that you want to talk to me, Mom, but I can’t always chat when it suits you. As I said in my text, I’m not available right now.”
“I know,” she says, “but I figured I’d keep trying anyway.”
In front of me, West’s face tightens. Of course he can hear. My mom speaks loudly.
“Boundaries,” he says. And this time, he’s not bothering to keep his voice low.
She’s going to get upset.
But maybe that’s not the end of the world.
Maybe I can live with being uncomfortable for a moment if it grants me long-term peace.
“Calling me eight times in a row doesn’t increase the chance that I’ll pick up. If it’s an emergency, that’s different. But this wasn’t an emergency,” I say.
“Nora.” She imbues my name with enough censure that it would have caused me to reverse course years ago. Like I’m twelve again, telling her about the movie I want to watch. The sport I want to try. The girl being mean to me at school. Nora, she’d say, and I’d know it was time to stop talking.
West is steady, and I lean into his touch like I can steal some of that confidence. “I mean it. I won’t be able to talk all the time, and that’s okay. I still love you. We’re still close. I’m at a party that I really want to go back to. Enjoy your walk, okay? Next time I’ll call you.”
There’s the briefest of pauses on the other end. No sigh this time. Just my mother’s brisk voice. “Noted. Have fun.”
“You too.”
I hang up. The silence is deafening, broken only by my quick exhale. “Oh my god.”
“You did so well.” West leans in closer, brushing his lips at my temple like he’s been dying to for the past hour. “How did that feel?”
“Not as hard as I thought it would. Terrifying. Exhilarating.” It’s such a small thing in the grand scheme. I’ve modeled in lingerie, walked catwalks, presented my designs to my peers at fashion school. And yet, this cuts me to the core.
“Standing up to your family is going to change everything for you.” His lips move down to my cheek. Hot, quick kisses that tell me just how proud he is of me for it.
I grip his lapels, and surprised laughter bubbles out of me. “I don’t think I’ve ever said no to her like that before.”
“My brave, beautiful girl.” He kisses me fully then, lips against mine, and I melt into the warmth of it. The approval he gives me. Maybe I’m exchanging one form of people-pleasing for another, and maybe I shouldn’t crave his compliments as much as I do, but maybe I don’t care about should s anymore. Maybe my own opinion is the only one that matters.
And with him, I’m allowed to just be me.
“Not a pretty little liar anymore, am I?” I smile and step out of his arms. Our hands are still connected. “I’m going to leave first. Come find me.”
“Always, trouble.”