Chapter Seven
“Ladies, tonight marks your very first lavender ceremony,” Vivian said, stepping forward and motioning her arms out like she wanted to embrace everyone.
There was a polite ripple of claps through the semicircle of contestants, and Alexis felt her face go hot.
They were all standing in a section of the courtyard decorated especially for the ceremony.
Strings of golden fairy lights were suspended on poles, zigzagging above them.
Clay pots brimming with bougainvillea and trailing jasmine dotted the corners.
At one end, on a low wrought-iron table, was a silver tray stacked with bouquets of lavender.
“Our bachelorette has had the chance to meet each of you,” Vivian went on, taking her time. “To share conversations, maybe even create a spark or two.” She gave another dramatic pause, and Alexis found herself wishing there was a fast-forward button.
The quicker she could get this over with, the quicker she could get back to her room and curl up under the sheets like a human burrito.
Vivian lowered her head slightly and looked genuinely sad. “But unfortunately, not everyone will be staying. Tonight, Alexis will hand out lavender bouquets to the women she wants to continue on this journey with. If you do not receive one, you’ll say your goodbyes and leave immediately.”
Alexis glanced at the tray stacked with lavender so pristine they looked lab-engineered. Each bundle was identical: every slender stem aligned, every purple spike standing at attention, not a single stray sprig out of place.
Her hands itched against her sides, but her face remained calm and serene, nothing like how she was really feeling.
What she really felt like was a hot, jittery, electric mess.
Especially after Birdie had cornered her.
Especially after Birdie had asked her to give her a chance.
A chance. A damn chance when all Alexis wanted was to say goodbye and forget they ever met.
Vivian gestured to the tray of lavender with a flourish. “Alexis, whenever you’re ready.”
Alexis cleared her throat. “This isn’t easy,” she said. “You are all amazing women, and I’m…” she paused and took a breath. “Honestly, I’m terrified of screwing this up. You all know I don’t have the best track record for making the best decisions.”
There were a few scattered laughs. Alexis risked glancing in Birdie’s direction. Her face was impassive, with her lips pressed in a thin line and her eyes trained on the bachelorette like a hawk.
She felt her stomach roll.
“But I think after speaking to you all this evening, I know who’s right for this next step.
” She lifted the first bouquet and swept her gaze across the semicircle.
“I have made a decision about whom I want to keep getting to know.” Her eyes landed on a woman with a halo of auburn curls.
She was cute in a slightly distracted kind of way and earlier had mentioned her obsession with photographing bioluminescent fungi at night. “Lyra. Will you accept this bouquet?”
Lyra’s gasp was as sharp as a whistle slicing through the quiet courtyard. Her hand shot to her chest, and then she laughed as her cheeks bloomed pink. “Yes,” she said. “Absolutely.” She walked up to Alexis and kissed her on the cheek.
Vivian gestured for her to step over to the potted bougainvillea, which she did, and Alexis got the next lavender bouquet ready. She then called the other names of the contestants she liked in no particular order.
“Kinley.”
“Louise.”
“Danielle.”
“Nina.”
“Claire.”
“Bianca.”
“Isabelle.”
Each name landed differently; some soft like feathers and others like tiny jolts.
And each woman responded differently, too.
Bianca winked. Danielle looked extremely nervous and seemed incapable of masking her nerves.
Claire did a little curtsy, which she instantly regretted; her cheeks flared red.
Nina kissed Alexis full on the mouth, her lips tasting like spearmint gum.
And then suddenly, there were only two left. Harper and Birdie.
The decision was simple. Easy. Clear as a fucking bell.
She opened her mouth and said, “Birdie.”
Alexis’s stomach pitched and rolled and somersaulted like a live animal inside her. Harper! She had meant to say Harper. Harper. Harper.
But no. Somehow, impossibly, the wrong name had bounced off her tongue. And then it was too late. Birdie was walking toward her. Birdie was smiling. And the cameras were all angling in, focusing on her face, on them.
Fuckity fuck!
The last time Alexis had messed up this spectacularly was when she had decided blackmail was the way to go. And look where that had landed her.
~~
Alexis was in the process of thrusting the curtains open, allowing the golden Provencal morning light to spill into her bedroom when the envelope slid beneath her door. She crossed the room barefoot on the cool tiles and bent to pick it up.
Alexis Wolf, Bachelorette, it said in elegant, looping cursive.
She opened it carefully, as if the envelope might bite, and slid out a single card.
It was thick and creamy with elegant writing across it.
She was a bit surprised that there weren’t any cameras to shoot the moment of the first date reveal, but then again, they were doing things differently this season.
Alexis adjusted the length of her robe and read: The viewers have voted and this morning, your first date will take place in the vineyards.
You and your chosen contestants will participate in a grape-stomping experience, a true taste of Provence.
Please prepare accordingly and be ready at 10:00 a.m.
She flipped the card over, and her heart sank quicker than a dinghy with a hole in its hull. In the same looping cursive, the names of the contestants chosen by the viewers stared back at her. Bianca. Louise. Birdie.
Alexis stumbled back a few steps until her thighs hit the bed. She then flopped onto the mattress and rolled onto her stomach. She tucked a pillow under her chest and read the card again. And again, hoping that if she read it enough times, the names might change. One name in particular.
But nope. There was Birdie’s name staring up at her like a neon sign flashing her mistake, her problem. Alexis groaned and let the card slip from her hands onto the bedspread before she buried her face in the pillow and imagined every possible way this could go wrong.
Finally, with a dramatic sigh, she peeled herself off the mattress and swung her legs over the side.
Swinging into action, she rifled through her wardrobe and finally settled on a flowing pastel yellow dress with a pair of strappy gold sandals.
She left her hair loose and wavy over her shoulders.
She had a feeling the stylists would put her in something else.
Most likely they would put her in something a little more appropriate for squashing grapes with bare feet, but she’d worry about that later.
There was a knock on the door.
“Alexis, it’s Vivian,” said a voice on the other end, smooth as poured vermouth. “Can I come in?”
Alexis didn’t really feel like having a conversation with anyone. Let alone Vivian, who somehow managed to get into her head and into whatever fragile pocket of calm Alexis tried to carve out for herself.
You’d be surprised what people give away when you catch them off guard, echoed over and over in her head.
Her guard already felt like it was only halfway up.
Birdie had somehow crashed through the other half last night.
But what could Alexis do? Ignore Vivian’s knocking and hope she’d grow bored and leave. Not likely.
Alexis sighed softly enough for Vivian not to overhear and opened the door. Vivian slipped in with her hands clasped neatly in front of her. That flashy smile was plastered across her face.
“Big day,” she said. Her eyes flicked briefly to the discarded envelope on the bed.
Alexis’s shoulder twitched, but she stayed quiet.
“Thought I’d let you know how things are going to go.
” Vivian walked over to the futon under the window and sat down.
She crossed her legs, smoothed her flowy skirt over her knee, and looked at Alexis the way a teacher might look at an unruly pupil.
“The date will start with grape stomping in the cellar hall, and then we’ll have a little picnic setup for you in the vineyards.
As you know, there will be cameras everywhere, so just keep it balanced. ”
“Balanced?” Alexis repeated.
“Yes,” Vivian said. “Divide your attention equally.” She put an emphasis on equally, which threw Alexis off kilter. “Make sure Bianca, Louise, and Birdie all feel included. That’s the key. No one should feel left out.”
Something crouched in that sentence; Alexis could feel it. Claws were tucked in for now but ready to spring at any unexpected moment. Alexis didn’t ask any more questions. She didn’t need to. Whatever Vivian was hinting at, Alexis already knew it had Birdie written all over it.
“Alright,” Alexis said, half nodding, half walking toward the door. She made a point of opening it, hoping Vivian understood that this little powwow was over.
If she did get the door opening as a hint, she completely ignored it.
“You need to look a little lighter today, Alexis.” Vivian smiled as she leaned back and stretched out her arms. Her gold watch glinted in the sunlight.
Alexis immediately recognized it as a Cartier.
Expensive. If she saw a client with a watch like that, she’d show them the most expensive house in Lake Oswego, the kind that would sell itself.
Her smooth, practiced, persuasive voice would do the rest. Well, that was before…
“You’re supposed to be having fun,” Vivian said, yanking Alexis back to the room.
“I am having fun,” Alexis shot back. It was a reflex.
And it wasn’t the first time she had used it.
Alexis could think of several occasions where she’d been told to have fun, and she’d acted exactly the same way.
Defensive. As if she weren’t doing it right.
As if she didn’t even know how to have fun.
“Are you, though?” Vivian said, tilting her head.
The sun gleaming in through the window made her pixie-cut head of blonde hair look like frost catching the morning light.
Alexis tried not to focus on it. “Because it doesn’t look that way.
Stop overthinking.” She touched a fingertip to her temple.
“I can see your mind working nonstop. It’s probably like a courtroom in there.
” She laughed and carried on. “I know you’re all about redemption, but remember, love is supposed to be easy.
You let it in, or you don’t. Easy peasy. ”
Alexis was getting whiplash. She couldn’t tell if Vivian was on her side or trying to call her out.
But it didn’t matter. Vivian was right. She was overthinking.
She had been since the second she said yes to this mess.
She needed to do better, to be better, and to give this show a chance, herself a chance.
But then why was she already wishing she could fast-forward through the entire day?