Chapter 19
Chapter nineteen
I’M DEALING WITH IT
At the top of the stairs is a wide landing with a couple more of the oversized marshmallow chairs, like the one I fell into during introductions in the living room.
They face the view through the glass that surrounds the front door, which, on a clear day, would be a beautiful sight.
But right now, there’s only gloomy, dark woods, and the patter of rain through the thick glass.
To the left, past the landing, is a short hallway to a single room with double doors, so I head right down the longer hallway in search of my guest room.
After I reach the end without any indication of which room is mine, or anyone else’s for that matter, I head back towards the start.
You’d think there would be signs with our names on them, but Delaney must have thought that our names printed out on computer paper and taped to the doors would take away from the luxurious feel of the retreat.
With my window of time to get ready slowly dwindling, I take a deep breath and decide to knock on each door and then peek inside until I find my luggage.
The first two are empty but clearly assigned to other women based on the clothes and personal items that lie on the bed and dressers.
I raise my hand to knock on the third door and hear a muffled voice inside.
It has to belong to Leah, since everyone else is still downstairs, so I knock once and peek my head in.
“Leah, are you there?”
The guestroom is beautiful, decorated in blush pinks and creams, with thick layers of pillows and blankets on the bed. A vase of white tulips sits on the bedside table, with a few of the bulbs weeping a little too close to a lit vanilla-scented candle.
“Leah, it’s Drew,” I say, announcing myself again as I step inside to rearrange the vase and candle so that it does not cause a potential hazard. I doubt that fresh flowers are flammable, but better safe than sorry.
An agonized moan pulls my attention towards the bathroom. I rush in the direction of it to find Leah on her knees on the tile floor.
“Are you okay?” I ask and look her over for any signs of injury.
She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. “What are you doing in here?”
“I was looking for my room and wasn’t sure which one it was. Then I heard your voice through the door.”
“I’m fine.” She flushes the toilet and pushes herself back up.
I reach out to help her, and she reluctantly takes my arm for support. We walk together towards the vanity, where a bottle of prenatal vitamins sits on its side, with half of them spilled across the counter. I avert my eyes to pretend like I didn’t notice, but not quickly enough.
“So much for keeping it a secret this time,” she says, and puts her face into the sink to splash water on it.
I don’t know how to respond, so I just keep supporting her and hand her a fresh towel when she turns off the faucet.
“I promised myself I would keep my mouth shut until I passed the twenty-week mark,” she says, with a defeated smile, “because waiting until sixteen weeks didn’t cut it last time.”
My heart breaks for her, and I wish I had the perfect thing to say, but I don’t have any friends who are moms and never plan on becoming one myself.
“That was pretty intense down there, huh?” she continues. “I think the unexpected spike in adrenaline mixed with the smell of those God-awful pills is what did me in.”
I wince as I remember the words that Judith hurled at Leah, about quitting her job when her husband finally allows her to have kids. Judith has a huge chip on her shoulder about money, but even she would probably feel bad if she knew the truth of Leah’s current situation.
“Yeah, that was awful.”
“Well, I’m glad we got them to calm down, at least a little bit. Although I’m actually not looking forward to the wine tasting, for obvious reasons.” She puts a protective hand on her lower stomach. “I just wanted to help get things under control before Delaney and Judith started swinging.”
“It’s not too late to get out of it,” I suggest. “The wine guy seems to be friendly with Cameron, so they can probably work something out as far as rescheduling goes. Or we can both say that we aren’t feeling well, which I’m sure Delaney would understand.”
“No, it’s fine,” she says, waving me off. “They have nonalcoholic options, so I will just ask for those and hope no one notices.”
“If Delaney or Val noticed, I doubt either would say anything. The only one who would be rude enough to comment is Judith, and there’s no way she will be there,” I say. Then add, “Even if she does show up for some reason, then I’ll drink the non-alcoholic ones with you so that it’s less obvious.”
“You don’t have to do that. You’re right, she probably won’t be there anyway.”
“Well, regardless, I am going to at least start with the non-alcoholic pairings because I overdid it on the plane earlier. Plus, I barged in here without properly knocking, so it’s the least I can do to try and make it up to you. I want you to be able to keep your secret as long as you want to.”
She blinks for a moment as she considers my offer. “Thanks, Drew. That is very sweet of you.”
“It’s nothing, really.”
She smiles weakly. “Do you want me to help you find your room? I am pretty sure it’s just the next door over.”
“Sure. That would be great.”
I follow her out to the room she thinks is mine, and she pushes the door open after a quick knock. We both pause a few steps inside to look around in awe.
“Wow,” she says, and I nod in agreement.
Leah’s room was spacious, but mine is at least twice the size.
“We all have monogrammed robes,” she says, and continues inside to survey a gift basket that sits on the desk across the room.
“Let me just check this one to be sure.” She holds up the robe so that we can both see the cursive D on the breast pocket. “Yep. This one’s yours.”
Leah tucks the bathrobe back into my basket and then heads to the door to let herself out. I call after her, “Thanks again for your help downstairs, and for helping me find my room.”
“No problem. Now get dressed, and I’ll see you down there in a few.”
The door clicks closed behind her, and I take another second to marvel at my room.
The space is decorated in muted grays and blues, with gauzy curtains covering a window so large that it may as well be another glass wall.
I walk over to sort through the rest of my welcome basket and find a tin of chocolate-covered almonds, a notebook and pen, and a hand-poured candle.
The scent is a heavenly warm musk, and I make a plan to use the matchbox with Ravenwood Manor stamped on top to light the wood wick as soon as I am settled back here after the night’s activities.
The handwritten note from Delaney further confirms that this is my guest room, but my carry-on and purse are nowhere to be seen.
After looking next to each of the bedside tables and inside the drawers of the oversized dresser, I check the bathroom but am sidetracked by my appearance in the mirror.
My hair is a frizzy mess, with loose strands pulled out of the front of my ponytail and pointing every which way, and my red, blotchy skin from a long day of travel deepens a shade by the embarrassment of the fact that I’ve looked this unpresentable the entire time.
I finally locate my things in the walk-in closet off the bathroom and dig my phone out. Amongst the dozens of missed calls and texts from Scott, Gabe, and Monika is a single text from a 704 area code.
Unknown: Did you find your room?
A quick glance at my call log confirms that the text is from Cameron, but my phone lights up with a FaceTime request before I get a chance to text him back. I answer it and set my phone down on the counter so that I can get ready while we talk.
“Hey, Gabe,” I say, as my brother-in-law’s concerned face appears on the screen.
He lets out a deep sigh of relief. “Drew, you have no idea how good it is to see your face. Hang on, let me add Monika.”
I take the opportunity to wet my toothbrush and deposit an oversized glob of toothpaste on it. I get to work scrubbing the fuzzy feeling out of my mouth.
“Hey, Drew,” Monika says when she’s connected. “How’s everything going so far?”
“Fine,” I say, through a mouthful of minty lather. “ ’Ow ’bout you?”
“Better now.” Gabe pulls the phone away enough that I can see Scott behind him. “Are you getting ready for the wine tasting?”
“Trying to.” I spit and rinse my toothpaste with water from the sink. “Sorry for the ride mix-up. This whole trip has been crazy so far.”
“How so?” Gabe asks tentatively.
I plop my bag on the end of the countertop and dig through it for supplies to start tackling my appearance.
“I packed you a cosmetics bag. It’s the one with pink flowers on it,” Monika interjects, and I push aside the mountain of her clothes that she insisted I borrow to dig for it.
“Thanks,” I say when I find it, and unzip the stuffed pouch to sort through the brand-new makeup.
“It’ll take too long to explain everything, so I’ll just give the bullet points real fast. Obviously, you guys already know about the miscommunication with the ride.
Cameron thought that you were an abusive boyfriend or something when you chewed me out over the phone, Scott, so I had to explain to him that you were just my annoying older brother.
One good thing that came from that is when I was in his office, I got to check out his record collection which is the best I’ve ever seen.
But then, the smoke alarm went off because a guest named Judith hates rich people and purposefully burned cookies to teach the host a lesson.
You’d be proud, though. I stepped in to help de-escalate their screaming match, and it worked.
Cameron is sending the cookie burner home first thing in the morning, so things should be a little calmer from here on out. ”
I finish patting some of the concealer that I opened during my monologue under my eyes and on my cheeks, then screw the lid back on and search for mascara before I notice that the phone is silent. “You guys still there?”
“We’re here,” Scott says, in the same guarded tone that Gabe had just a second ago. I look down at the screen to see if our connection is bad but catch the end of a glance that passes between Scott and Gabe instead. “What? Do I have a booger in my nose or something?”
“No,” Gabe laughs. “You look fine. It’s just that . . .”
“What?” I ask, swiping the mascara over my lashes and searching for a lip balm to call it good. “Spit it out, I have like, two seconds before I have to run out of here, and I still need help picking out an outfit.”
“Wear the periwinkle dress. It’ll bring out the gold flecks in your eyes,” Monika says, then sits back to let Gabe continue.
“Well . . .” Gabe stops, then starts again. “I guess we are just wondering how you feel about all of that?”
I laugh. “How do I feel? Fine, I guess. I just wish I had time to shower before the wine tasting, but it is what it is.”
“What they are trying to say is, you seem rather unaffected by the craziness, which is usually not the case. Why is that?” Monika asks, always the one I can count on to be straightforward.
I shove the makeup bag aside to start searching for the dress, “I see. You are wondering if my curse caused all of that, and how I’m dealing with it.”
“No—” Gabe starts, but I continue before he can finish his lie.
“Like I told Scott earlier, my curse seems to be more reserved since my birthday.” I pause when I find the dress to think about their question.
“And I don’t think the Judith stuff is my fault.
She’s just a grumpy old lady who retired from a long career and hasn’t fully decompressed yet.
She would have acted this way whether I was here or not. ”
“What did she do for work?” Monika asks.
“Retail,” I say, and she nods in understanding.
I hold up the dress that Monika suggested when someone knocks at my door.
“Hang on, I think my friend Leah is here,” I say, and jog to answer it. “She probably wants to walk down to the tasting together.”
“And she’s making friends,” Gabe squeaks.
I look down at the screen to shush him as I pull open the door, but when I look back up, I jolt at the sight of the person on the other side of it, because it is not Leah, but a man. A very tall, very handsome man.