Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
D estelle loved Sumner, obviously. She rode in the backseat on our way to the country club, and she asked him many questions about himself, to which he answered good-naturedly. They both were good at that sort of thing, being genuinely curious about others, where I was more so used to sitting in the quiet while others asked the questions. It made me happy, though, that they seemed to immediately click, that the two important people left in my life weren’t uncomfortable around each other.
During the car ride, I crept my hand over to Sumner, and he didn’t hesitate. Sumner slid his hand into mine, wrapping his fingers around and giving a comforting squeeze. My heart mirrored the pulse, some of the ache from the day dissipating just a little. At least I’d thought so until we pulled up to the country club, and Sumner slid the car into the valet lane.
Both the wedding and the reception were being held at the country club, so no doubt everyone was already in the grand ballroom. It officially would’ve started ten minutes ago .
We all climbed out, and a valet I didn’t recognize slid into the driver’s seat. Sumner came to my side and looked into my eyes. “I’m not going to try to persuade you to just order room service and watch a movie in your room,” he said, threading his fingers through my hair to push it behind my ear. “But I want to. I really want to.”
“I want to, too. But I shouldn’t.”
Worry stirred in his eyes, increasing the longer he looked at me. I hated that I made that emotion surface. I wanted to be calm and put together, a person he only had to love, not be concerned about. Even if I were to lift my chin now, though, he’d see through the act. He always did. It wasn’t only worry in his gaze, the longer I looked. Nervousness twined in the blue depths.
“I’ll be on my best behavior,” I promised. “And as my reward, you’re spending the night with me tonight. And we’re not sleeping on the floor this time.”
I’d said the words to be teasing, but the anxiety didn’t vanish from Sumner’s eyes. His hand reached out and picked up mine, gripping it almost as if he was holding me back. “Do you remember,” he began in a quiet voice, low enough that I was sure Destelle couldn’t hear, “when I told you there was something I needed to tell you the other day?”
I blinked in surprise. We hadn’t had the chance to have that long conversation he asked for. I’d forgotten all about that. Granted, everything had hit the fan in that time, but I still felt bad for it having slipped my mind. “You said it was a long conversation.”
“It is.” He gripped my hand tighter, almost as if he were afraid to let me go. “But it’s—it’s important. ”
Destelle had her own worried expression. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you don’t really have time to talk now.”
I couldn’t look away from him. “I can make time.”
“No, it’s because?—”
“ Margot Massey !”
The three of us turned to find my mother striding from the country club, her blue dress hugging her body. Though her appearance was elegant, there was no hiding the tension around her eyes. “Took you long enough,” my mother said in an affectionate voice through clenched teeth. She grabbed my arm as if she thought I’d make a break for it. “I thought I was going to have to follow through on my promise.”
Destelle gave me a look of that’s why , glancing to Sumner, who had dropped his gaze to his feet.
“What are you wearing?” She looked down at my attire with wide eyes. “Did you not change from the funeral?”
She needed to make up her mind—if she wanted me to hurry up or take longer.
“Hi, Mrs. Massey,” Destelle interjected, attempting to sway my mother’s attention.
It didn’t work. “Hi, dear. Let’s go, Margot. The Astors have been waiting on you.” My mother did halt for the man at my side, though, seeming to not have noticed that we’d been holding hands when she came out. Her gaze was fond, and it was a little unsettling. “Thank you for everything, Sumner.”
Her tone, too, was far more affectionate than I’d been expecting from her, especially since she technically fired him a few days prior. Destelle picked up on it, frowning a little. Before I had a chance to speculate it further, my mother swept me toward the country club. Destelle’s heels clicked on the cobblestones as she hurried after us.
“They’re serving the dinner now,” my mother said in her stressed tone. “The Astors kept asking where you were, and I kept giving an excuse. Please, for the love of God, don’t mention the funeral, okay? I’d hate to bring down the mood.”
I almost laughed, though I held no humor.
“I didn’t get a chance to ask you.” Now, my mother’s voice was low so that only I would hear. “Did you find out if Nancy put you in her will?”
I wasn’t sure if it was a cruel joke. The buzzing in my head was loud.
“If she did, the first order of business is getting it submitted to probate court,” my mother mused, almost manic as she thought of the next steps. “And see what she gave you, of course. Hopefully she left the land the hotel is on to you. Then from there, work on signing it over to your father and I, and?—”
So, this is what it feels like , I thought to myself distantly, as if I were on the outside of this moment looking in. This is what it feels like to be on the brink of snapping . “I don’t get anything,” I said, cutting her off. “She left it all to charity.”
My mother gasped. “ What ?”
I didn’t tell her that I didn’t know for a fact, but it’d been what Nancy had told me a few times. I wish I could see the looks on their faces when they find out I left it all to charity.
I’ll look for you .
“Careful,” I said without affection. “You don’t want to bring down the mood .”
We followed the elaborate signs that directed us toward the reception indoors. The ceremony itself had been held out near the golf course, where the views in the background were as stunning as could be. I’d been able to see them setting up this morning from the view of my hotel room, an abundance of white linen and floral. The camera crew had also been there, capturing every inch of the scene that they could.
I’d found myself wishing it would’ve rained, just to see what it would’ve looked like on camera. Just to see everyone’s day fall apart, just as my world had.
It hadn’t rained. I was sure the wedding went on without a hitch, as magical as Yvette had wanted.
As we walked up to the ballroom, the muted chatter of voices filtered out into the hall, and my mother still didn’t slow down. “Destelle, you’ll be sitting with your parents,” my mother said lightly. Her intention was clear: do not follow Margot .
I glanced over my shoulder at my friend, who shot me an apologetic look. “I understand, Mrs. Massey.”
Of course, Destelle and I hadn’t gotten lucky enough to sit at the same table. Destelle gave me a good luck face before heading to her family.
Yvette had wanted the reception to be angelic, with golds and warm lighting, and her design team had delivered. The white linen they’d had at the golf course had been replaced in the ballroom with gold fabrics, draped along the tables and along the free-standing partitions that were sectioned off about. The DJ booth in the corner was also decked out with glittering material and wispy white tulle, as if to give the illusion that it’d been taken from heaven itself. They’d even gone as far as replacing the bulbs in the chandelier with warmer toned ones, and it gave an ethereal glow to the entirety of the ballroom.
Ironic, given that it was my hell. I didn’t even look at the bride and groom’s table.
“Best behavior,” my mother warned, smoothing a hand down my hair. “Understood?”
I didn’t bother responding. My father sat there with his focus on his water glass, the socially awkward man he was. Vivienne Astor was there with her husband, undoubtedly, at her side. He was tall and thin but looked much like Aaron in the features. There were four empty seats at the table, one for me, one for Aaron, but I didn’t know who the two other ones were for.
“Here she is,” my mother announced as we made it to our table. I didn’t look at anyone as they lifted their heads. Faceless . “Fashionably late, as always.”
“Indeed, fashionably,” Aaron mused as I sat down in the chair beside him. We hadn’t spoken since Tuesday night at the bar; I wasn’t sure if that meant he’d given up or had taken time to develop a new strategy. “Don’t you look… dashing is almost the right word, isn’t it?”
I just stared at him.
My mother introduced me to Malcolm Astor, who seemed jovial enough as he paused from cutting into his chicken and stretched his hand to me across the table. In the ten seconds I’d arrived, I realized Sumner was right when he said that the Astors didn’t matter, because they didn’t. I liked Vivienne well enough, but there was no urge to impress her as I met her this time. There was no reason to anymore.
I took a seat beside Aaron and stared at my plate of food. “Why do we have extra seats?” Mr. Astor asked as we all sat down, glancing at the two chairs that separated him and my father. “Who was supposed to be sitting with us?”
“Margot’s godmother, of sorts, Nancy.” Aaron reached over and laid his hand on mine underneath the table. His fingers were hot. “She, unfortunately, passed earlier in the week. Her funeral was today.”
“Is that why you’re wearing such attire?” Mr. Astor raised his bushy eyebrows in surprise. He then cleared his throat noisily when Vivienne shot him a dark look. “Well, Margot, I’m very sorry for your loss.”
My father, who sat beside my mother, nodded. “But how fitting, to celebrate loss with something beautiful on the same day, wouldn’t you agree?”
Fitting. Nancy’s death offsetting Annalise’s wedding was fitting . I gave a slow blink, a pounding beginning to drum behind my eyes. “Aren’t you at all concerned?” I asked my father, gaze flat. “What’s going to happen to the land your hotel is on?”
My father blanched at my words and the domino effect they caused. “You don’t own the land?” Mr. Astor asked, sounding confused. “I thought you did.”
“This is the one plot of our hotels we don’t own,” my mother supplied, sliding in smoothly as she always did. “Ms. Nancy always held out on selling. To answer your question, Margot.” Her voice hardened ever so slightly as she turned to address me. “We plan to buy it from whoever gets it in her will. We have more than enough to purchase at a handsome price.”
“Sounds like a stubborn lady,” Mr. Astor mused. Vivienne laid a hand on his arm, her gaze cutting to me, and her husband rushed to add, “Oh, I meant no offense, of course. It’s just an interesting business move on her part, not agreeing to sell when offered.”
“My parents always offered amounts under its value.” I stared at the bubbles billowing in the champagne, the image similar to what simmered inside me. “She would’ve been a fool to sell at the price they proposed.”
Underneath the table, my mother discreetly placed her hand on my leg and squeezed. Enough that it hurt. I didn’t even flinch. Instead, I smiled. With Aaron’s hand on mine and my mother’s on my leg, I was being held from both sides, tied in place.
“Vivienne,” my mother murmured. She had her gossip tone on and picked up her silverware. “Your son has been such a gentleman to Margot this past week. I’ve enjoyed getting to know him.”
Aaron tried to hide his smug smile by ducking his head, but Vivienne’s expression was far more gracious. “Thank you. It’s a relief to know we’ve raised him well enough. It’s no simple task, raising a child.”
“Oh, Margot was just a breeze.” My mom beamed at me. “Never gave us any problems. It was like she wasn’t there half the time!”
Probably because I wasn’t .
“I think…” My mother gave a girly chuckle. “I think Aa ron would fit in well with our family. I hope I’m not overstepping by saying I think Margot would fit in well with yours, as well. From how much you seem to favor her.”
Vivienne’s lips parted, whether out of shock from my mother’s blunt segue or from something else, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t care.
Aaron took my hand from my leg to lay ours on the table, showcasing his fingers knitted around mine. “I know I favor her,” he said in a grandiose tone that nearly made me gag. “I’m excited for her to come back to California with us. Margot, you’ll find the beaches just lovely, I assure you.”
“So you’ve agreed?” Vivienne asked me. “To come back with us on Monday?”
It was the first I’d heard of it, outside of Aaron posing the ridiculous question earlier in the week. He’d said he’d been hoping I’d come back with him to California, but it was almost laughable he stated it now as if fact. However, in the eyes of everyone else, it was. “We have her flight already booked,” my mother assured. “It’ll be hard to be without her—it’s the first time, really!—but I know she’ll be in good hands.”
So that was why my parents had ended Sumner’s employment. I wouldn’t need a secretary anymore in California, not when the Astors would be there to watch over me. I’m not going , I wanted to tell them, but the words wouldn’t come.
Mic feedback cut through the room, startling into our conversation, a blessed reprieve. “Everyone, the bride and groom are getting ready to have their first dance!” a man’s voice announced. “Please turn your eyes toward the dance floor.”
The camera crew rushed to get the perfect shot as everyone turned in their seats, except for me. As I sat there, poking the dry chicken and the mashed potatoes drenched in garlic butter, I had a thought that shouldn’t have been in my head. The white linen, the gold accents, the expensive crowd, the beautiful backdrop— if I married Aaron, is this what our wedding would’ve looked like?
The ceremony itself would’ve looked similar, surely. Aaron in a tailored tux, standing at the end of the aisle with that signature smile on his face. His parents would be in the aisle before him, mine on the other side, all beaming as their children married—and their businesses, at the same time. The wedding of the century paired with the business partnership of the century. The sun would be shining down on them, the heavens blessing the moment they’d all been preparing so hard for.
At my wedding, I’d be at the top of the aisle, holding the arm of a man I called my father in name only, surrounded by the same sea of faceless people I never looked at. I’d never given much thought before to if I’d want to wear a wedding dress or not, but I’d be in one; I’d only be able to wear a suit over my mother’s dead body.
It felt wrong to imagine a wedding with Aaron, having kissed another man not even an hour ago, but as I did, I realized with an almost blinding certainty that I would never do it. Could never do it. Even if I were to take Sumner out of the equation entirely, I couldn’t put my entire future into someone else’s hands. Going to college for a major I didn’t want to pursue was nothing. A blip on the map. But this —letting my parents push me into marrying a man I did not want to—was life-altering. Even if divorce was an option down the road, there were too many other variables that could trap me, hold me down.
At this moment, I could still get out relatively unscathed. Disowned and thrown away, but free. The noose had not yet tightened around my throat.
Words in my head felt familiar, as if they’d whispered to me before. You cannot do this , it said. This is something you cannot do .
Everyone’s expressions were so light when I looked around. Ms. Jennings was laughing at something Mr. Holland was saying, laying her arm happily on his. Yvette was grinning at a few ladies who went to the club. People I didn’t know were smiling, chattering, everyone having a beautiful time at a beautiful wedding of a beautiful woman. People Nancy knew, people Nancy helped fund, and there wasn’t a trace of sadness surrounding them. Not a single one.
This is something you cannot do .
Just as I had the thought, I lifted my gaze to the ballroom’s entrance, finding Sumner standing there. He looked like a beacon, standing there, the golden warmth from the room reflecting on him in a way that almost made him look unreal. His eyes trailed across the room, clearly looking for someone, before finding relief when he spotted me.
Then his gaze slid from my face to where Aaron held my hand on the table.
I drew in a sharp breath, ready to jump up from the table, but before I could, Aaron moved first. “Excuse me,” he said suddenly, his chair skidding across the floor as he rose. “I’ll—I’ll be right back.”
His gaze was fixed on Sumner, making it perfectly clear who he was gunning for. I tried to stand up, to go after him, but my mother’s hand moved from my leg to my arm, holding it down underneath the table. She gave me a look full of warning, as much as she dared, giving her head a minute shake.
In my head, I contemplated what would happen if I shrugged her off. If I ripped my arm from her grip, went against her wishes, and ran after him. What did it matter, angering her now? When my mind had been made up? Maybe it was a good idea to send myself off with one last act of adult rebellion, one last hurrah.
I was about to do just that, to pull free from my mother for the last time with flourish, when Vivienne Astor asked, in a clear voice, “Was that Sumner Pennington?”
I froze. It almost felt as if time itself froze, and I would’ve thought it had if Vivienne’s eyelashes hadn’t swept down in a blink. Sumner’s name on her lips made no sense. She shouldn’t have known him. They didn’t meet the last time she’d been here. She couldn’t have known him.
“It looked like him, didn’t it?” Malcolm agreed, also turned toward the doors. “I thought Aaron said he wouldn’t be able to make it.”
“Well, good. I know Hannah was worried, him disappearing for a month and missing Michael’s wedding.”
Michael . The name tugged my memory back to a few days prior, and in almost frantic movement, my head whipped toward the dancefloor. The bride and groom were still locked in their embrace, and I finally, finally focused on them for the first time. Annalise’s white wedding gown belled out with pools and pools of tulle, her frame standing out daintily in the midst of it. The cut was low on her chest, her pale skin a backdrop for the thick and impressive diamond necklace around her throat. Her blonde curls were pinned up into a beautiful bridal style; she was a woman belonging on a magazine.
The man in her arms was handsome with his hair styled and shaped, clean-shaven and jaw chiseled.
Familiar.
Sumner Pennington! that same man had exclaimed only a few days prior. It’s been too long!
That was why the Michael Huntsly name had sounded familiar, because I’d heard it before. It was Annalise’s fiancé.
The thoughts tipped over like a champagne flute, all the golden sparkles streaming onto the ground, ruined.
Sumner knows Michael. Aaron knows Michael. Vivienne knows Sumner…
I could still remember the day I’d asked Sumner. Do you have a lot of friends back home?
A few. Only two, maybe, that I was close-close with. One got engaged, started wedding planning.
“How…” The word had come out barely a sound, and I swallowed hard to start over. “How do know Sumner?”
Vivienne blinked at me in surprise. “ You know Sumner?”
“He’s my secretary.” And so, so much more.
Vivienne’s mouth dropped open as some sort of realization hit her, one that shined in the wideness of her eyes. I thought my heart would be racing in anticipation of her response, but it only seemed to be beating normally, not even skipping a beat.
Good guy, Sumner had said about his other friend. A little awkward, drinks a bit much sometimes, but I think he’s finally ready to settle down.
It was Malcolm, in the end, who answered. “Why, Sumner is Aaron’s best friend.”
And then my heart stopped entirely.