Chapter 40 Gwendolyn
Gwendolyn
“Spill it, Gwenny.”
I jolt from my thoughts when Piper nudges my arm. We are sitting under the hair dryer in her mom’s salon, waiting for our curls to set and our nails to dry. The room is filled with women of all ages from town. Everyone is getting glammed up for the gala tonight.
It’s a big deal, seeing as the gala was never part of the festival events before.
But after finding out there’s something going on inside Town Hall, more things are falling into place within my mind.
Like why I was encouraged to bring in more money than ever and make it the best event the town had ever seen.
Or why the Spencers wanted to host such a lavish event in our small town.
The word that Logan used last night bounces around my head.
Optics. Whatever deal is going down must require some deep pockets.
Not that I would know because instead of asking for more information, I set fire to my relationship with the man I loved. Though he gave me the matches to do the job, it still didn’t hurt any less. And that’s why I’ve been quiet and keeping to myself all day.
Piper has been trying to get me to engage in conversation, going so far as to bring up something related to me every time someone stopped by to say hello. I never bite, though, just smiled and continued to fall into the dark depths of my mind.
And clearly my best friend is over it.
“I gave you all day to pout without giving me a reason, but I’m starting to get tired of talking to myself over here.
” Her hand reaches over and pries my fingers from the armrest. “Why don’t you tell me why you are mutilating my mother’s furniture so I can give her a good excuse later when we have to reupholster. ”
I cringe and try my best to smooth away the wrinkles I put in place. “Sorry, just a lot on my mind.”
“I can see that. But what I can’t see is why. Your event went amazingly well. The whole town is still talking about it, in case you were disassociating so much you didn’t hear them earlier. And you got your date with your man last night. So tell me what’s wrong, babe.”
I sigh heavily, looking around to make sure no one could possibly overhear me when I admit to my best friend what’s going on.
“Logan and I…” my breath hitches on his name, and I will my eyes to not shed any tears right now. I did enough of that last night. “We broke up, if that’s what you can even call it.”
“What!” she screeches so loud, the elderly ladies nearby getting their nails done jump in their seats. “Sorry,” she mouths to them, then leans closer to me. Her eyes scan over every inch of me with worry. “What happened? Are you okay? Do I need to kill him?”
I chuckle slightly. “No, you don’t need to kill him. And I’m fine. Or at least I will be.”
“Things were going so well between you two. What happened?”
In the most abridged version ever, I give Piper the rundown. Her eyes pop out of her head, and her jaw drops open when I tell her that Camila was winning again.
“That fucking liar.” She scoffs in outrage. “How dare he string you along like that?!”
“It’s fine, Piper. At least I found out now and not when it was too late.” I stare down at my dark nails, wishing I could nibble on them but not wanting to ruin the hard work the tech put into them.
“What exactly is too late? When you fall in love with the man? Newsflash, Gwen, you already did. And honestly, he’s a fucking idiot if he didn’t realize that. But even worse if he did and still continued on without letting you in on the truth.”
That’s what makes it even worse, because I know he realized it. Just like I realized he loved me back.
Piper shakes her head, her face pinching in disgust. “Fucking men.”
“Yeah,” I agree quietly. “Fucking men.”
“Wait,” she turns to me again. “Do you think something is going to happen at this gala? Like whatever they are planning might come out?”
I shrug. “No clue. I was too busy trying not to have a mental breakdown over being lied to.”
“Fair enough,” she sighs. “Well, either way, you know what this means, right?”
“Please enlighten me.”
Her smirk is downright salacious when she lays it on me. “We have to go all out tonight. Show this man exactly what he is going to miss.”
Right at that moment, the front door to the salon opens up to reveal the one woman I don’t want to see right now.
Camila stops at the front desk, smiling at the assistant when they point her toward the back where one of the stylists waits for their next client, who must be her.
Unfortunately for us, she has to walk right by us to get there.
As soon as she realizes who we are, she slows down and smiles broadly at me.
“Gwendolyn, what a lovely surprise to see you here. That was such a cute little event you put on yesterday, but just you wait until you see what I have planned for tonight. It’s going to be a really special night.” Her wink feels coated in aspartame.
Not waiting for us to respond, she continues on to the stylist in the corner.
Piper gags next to me. “Oh, we are definitely going to make him and his whole family regret messing with you.”
***
Everything is gold. From the curtains separating the ballroom from the hallway to the table decorations to the tall candelabras surrounding the dance floor.
It screams “look at us” in a way I could never afford.
But at least I fit the theme as I adjust my gold mask that covers the top half of my face.
“Are you ready?” Piper asks from next to me.
Her silver mask lays perfectly against her face, with the ribbon tying into her half up do.
I’ve never seen her blue eyes so vibrant, but I can’t determine if it’s from her killer outfit or from the killer instinct I lit within her this morning when I told her what happened.
She’s been right by my side all day as we got ready. Helping me place my makeup perfectly to effortlessly match my mask. I almost cried when I saw myself in the mirror all dolled up. But Piper demanded I suck it in so I didn’t ruin her hard work.
I blow out a breath, taking in the sea of people dressed to the nines in the ballroom attached to town hall. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.” I start to stand up on my tiptoes to look around more, but Piper stops me.
“Don’t look for him,” she warns.
I drop to the floor immediately after realizing exactly what I was doing.
“Let’s do a lap first, see if we can find a good table before settling on one.
We want to be out of the way, but still in direct view of the stage.
” I nod along with Piper’s plan, allowing her to guide me wherever.
Because, even though I’m here physically, mentally I still feel like I’m back at the willows.
I haven’t heard from Logan, not that I expected to.
No matter how much I reminded myself it was for the best, it still made my heart ache not seeing his name flash across my screen or to hear his voice on the other end of the line.
Not to mention how lonely it was not to wake up next to him this morning.
It had only been a week of that habit, and I was already feeling addicted.
Holding my skirt up in one hand, I grab a champagne from the tray with the other as we pass by a server.
A few people stop us on the way around. Mostly to ask if I had any updates on the silent auction winners from yesterday, something I planned to finish today but had other things going on.
Not that they knew about that. I promised everyone would get an email from me tomorrow and had to decline multiple bribes from people who knew they weren’t the highest bidder.
By the time we make it around the room and to a tall table off to the side, almost an hour has passed, and we never once ran into Logan or his family. I nibble on my lip, wondering why.
“Stop it,” Piper silently urges. “You’re messing up your lipstick.” Digging through her handbag, she produces the shade she slapped on me earlier and her compact. I clean up the smudge I made and hand it back just in time for Jackson and Matthew to walk up to our table.
“Ladies,” Matt greets us with a tip of his head. “You two are looking absolutely stunning today.” I hear his words, but his eyes scream that he’s not even paying attention as he glances around us.
“She’s not here. Her flight should be leaving back to New York any minute now.”
His shoulders slump instantly. I rub my hand on his arm, knowing Kennedy’s absence hurts him as much—if not more—as me. He nods his head and takes a sip of his whiskey. I try not to notice the slight tremble in his hand.
“Where’s your date?” Piper asks my brother in a sickeningly sweet voice.
“What are you talking about, Pipsqueak?” He grunts back while staring down at her with a bored expression.
“Isn’t your ex-wife back in town?”
I toss my head back with a groan as I watch Jackson’s jaw tick. “Piper, let it go.”
“What? It’s a valid question. I need to know if I need to prepare to fight someone tonight. I’ll change first, because I’ll be damned if I get her blood on this dress.”
“So sure you would do the damage, aren’t you?”
Piper squares her shoulders. “Damn right. I’ll fight for my family.”
Jackson continues to stare at her blankly until I see a small twitch of his lips. “I know you would.”
Matt clears his throat and taps the table. “Where’s Logan? I need to talk to him about something.”
No one has a chance to continue the conversation when the lights begin to dim and a round of applause starts at the far end of the room
We turn our attention toward the side of the stage to see Mr. and Mrs. Spencer walk up the side steps hand in hand.
Their matching black masks are simple. The same with her floor-length black gown, though I just know her whole outfit costs more than mine and Piper’s combined.
But it’s timeless and elegant, the perfect vibe for the mayor’s wife.
They step up to the microphone, and a hush goes over the crowd as the music is turned down.