Chapter Thirty-Four
The first guests arrived early, hours before the party was scheduled to start.
Ana had been in the drawing room with Saoirse and Mrs. Talbot, helping to write out the place cards, when a maid informed them a car full of guests had just turned down the drive.
They hurried out to meet them. Ransom and Jacqueline were there, too, already at the bottom of the steps.
Ana knew they had arrived sometime the night before, but she had been so busy this morning she hadn’t yet seen them.
She gave Jacqueline an enthusiastic wave.
“Why, darling, hello!” Jacqueline waved back. “We missed you at breakfast.”
“Yes, I was helping with the place cards,” Ana said.
“A hostess’s job is never done,” Jacqueline said.
Ana’s eyes met Ransom’s next. She smiled and started to say hello, but his eyes slid past her, to the car that had come to a stop at the front step.
The first girl who got out of the car was tall and lanky, with a pixie cut. Ana recognized her from somewhere, but she couldn’t place exactly where.
“Evie, darling, it’s been too long!” Saoirse said, flinging her arms around the girl. They rocked back and forth enthusiastically, almost losing their balance, then laughing.
“Handsome Ransom!” the girl called out.
“Miss Vanderbilt,” Ransom said, giving a small nod of his head.
And then it clicked. Eve Vanderbilt. The heiress, the model.
She walked on some of the world’s biggest runways: Yves Saint Laurent, Armani, Gucci.
She had just been featured in Vogue. Ana surveyed her more closely.
She was pretty in the way that most models were pretty: she was tall and painfully thin, with wide-set eyes and high cheekbones.
On the runway, she looked exotic—long necked, long legged, like a giraffe.
Up close, there was something striking and androgynous about her features.
Eve kissed Ransom on the cheek and hung on to his arm, and Ana tried hard not to hate her.
Her one respite was that Ransom didn’t appear interested in Eve Vanderbilt at all.
He looked almost bored with whatever she was saying to him, his gaze sliding away from her, back to the car and its passengers.
Another woman slid out of the back seat next.
She was blond, with wavy hair and blue, sullen eyes.
Ana recognized her from some of the pictures in Saoirse’s room—Tessa Montgomery, her best friend and former roommate at Choate.
She tucked her hair behind one ear and nervously readjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder but made no move to embrace Saoirse.
“Happy birthday, Serse,” the girl said tepidly.
Saoirse nodded. Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Good to see you, Tessa.”
Ana wondered at the lukewarm greeting but barely had time to ponder it, because a young man was getting out of the front passenger seat—he was tall and broad in the shoulders and undeniably handsome. His eyes were a salient blue.
“Teddy, you’re here,” Saoirse said flatly, crossing her arms across her chest, as if she’d just been assaulted by an icy breeze.
Ah, Ana thought. She’d overheard Saoirse and Hugh talking in covert whispers about Teddy Mountbatten, the dreaded ex. Though they rarely referred to him as Teddy—their nicknames were much more creative and impolite.
“You’re looking well, Saoirse,” Teddy said.
“You’ve gained weight,” Saoirse said. “I’ve heard of the freshman fifteen, but what do they call this unfortunate phenomenon? The sophomore thirty?”
Teddy merely laughed. “Have I put on a few pounds?” he asked good naturedly, putting his hands on his toned stomach. “Well, I daresay you’ve lost some.” He reached out and poked Saoirse’s bare midriff, and she jumped back, as if he had shocked her.
“There are refreshments on the patio,” Jacqueline announced. She gestured toward the two attendants who flanked her. “Tom and Jonathan will take your bags up to your rooms. There’s croquet set up on the back lawn, if anyone has an interest.”
“Yes, let’s,” Eve said. “Lead the way.”
They shuffled up the stairs and down the hall, toward the back patio, and Ana found herself following behind Ransom and Jacqueline at the front.
“One of us should probably go see about the tent rental for tonight in case the weather takes a turn,” Ana heard Jacqueline say. “The other one of us should stay and hold down the fort. Shall we flip a coin for it?”
“No,” Ransom said, sighing. “They’re my guests. I’ll stay.”
Ana was relieved to hear it and realized she’d been holding her breath, waiting for his answer. She wasn’t sure, with the chaos of the party, whether they’d actually get to spend any time together, and they hadn’t spoken in weeks—not since that kiss they had shared in the pool.
“There’s a good sport,” Jacqueline said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Try not to have too much fun.” Then, she darted off in the direction of the kitchen.
The croquet court was set up on the back lawn.
They decided to play singles—every person for themselves—and each person took a ball.
Saoirse got blue because she was the birthday girl and got to go first. She gave Teddy the black ball.
(“Black, like your heart,” she told him.) One by one, they took their first shot, following their ball across the court, until it was just Ana and Ransom left.
He still had not really looked at her, and Ana tried hard not to get in her head about it. He was probably just distracted. There was a lot to think about with the party. He was just preoccupied, she told herself.
“After you,” Ransom said, motioning for her to take her turn first.
Ana strode forward and made a steady stroke that sent her ball cleanly through the first wicket. Ransom followed, with his own close behind her. They paused and waited for the others to take their turns.
“You must be relieved,” Ana said.
“Relieved?” he asked. “About what?”
“That all of your hard work is almost at an end,” she said. “What are you looking forward to the most tonight? The dinner? The fireworks? The dancing?”
This last one was a joke, but Ransom didn’t even crack a smile.
“Oh, I remember,” Ana said. “That it will all be over soon?”
“Yes,” he said dryly. “That does have a nice ring to it.”
They watched the others taking their turns. Saoirse and Teddy were out in front. Teddy was talking to Saoirse, but they were already too far away for Ana to really hear what he was saying. She saw Saoirse roll her eyes and then lean forward, focusing on her shot.
Ana glanced back over at Ransom, who was watching the others, too, not looking at her. He was being weird. Standoffish. Cool. She wanted to break whatever this strangeness was that had settled between them.
“I got you something,” Ana said.
Ransom looked over at her.
“It’s, uh, back in my room,” Ana went on. “I went into town the other day and found a copy of Judy Blume’s Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. I thought you might like to read it.”
Ransom kept his face blank, a vacant stare. Then, he looked away.
“I don’t know why I’d want to read a silly children’s book,” he said.
Ana blinked at him. She wasn’t sure if he was making a joke, or whether or not she should laugh. “I’m sorry?” she said.
“Miss Rojas, if I’m being perfectly blunt, you’re behaving a bit more familiar than I find appropriate,” Ransom said.
“I am your employer, and you are my employee, and the only matter on which we are to converse is my sister. Other than that, as far as I’m concerned, we have nothing to say to one another. ”
Ana stood, shell shocked at his words. She felt as if she had just been slapped. “I don’t understand,” Ana said when she finally found her voice.
“Well, I don’t know how I can state it any more clearly,” Ransom said.
“The other day, at the pool—” Ana started, but Ransom cut her off.
“If I gave you the wrong impression the other day, then I apologize,” Ransom said quickly, clearly impatient for the conversation to be over.
The wrong impression? It had been more than that. He had pulled her into his arms and kissed her. He had said the words out loud, how he didn’t want to just be her friend. And now he wanted to act like none of that had ever happened?
“You kissed me,” Ana said.
“A momentary lapse in judgment,” Ransom said. “I assure you, Miss Rojas, it won’t happen again.”
Ana’s cheeks flamed. Of course, it wasn’t just about the kiss.
She had shared things with him, and he had opened up to her.
He had seen her, really seen her, and she thought she had done the same for him.
But now she could feel the stark difference in how he looked at her, the way he held himself, tall and bracing, like an impenetrable wall.
What the hell had happened? Ana didn’t understand it.
“It’s your turn, Miss Rojas,” Ransom said, nodding toward the ball. “We’re all waiting.”
Ana glared at him but didn’t answer. She dropped her mallet in the grass and turned back toward the house. She had to get away from here; she couldn’t let him see. There were tears pricking the backs of her eyes—tears of anger, yes, but also something else.
She didn’t offer any explanation, just strode purposefully toward the house, toward her room. But what was most disheartening was that he didn’t ask. He didn’t call after her or ask her to stop; he just let her go.