Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Vivien
I push my feet against the floor, rolling the chair back to view my handiwork. I’ve erased all the scribbles and taken down the notes from when we were planning Deadwyler Night, as it’s now being called by everyone, and have been using the whiteboard to brainstorm and plan out a year of events.
It’s daunting. And exciting.
I’m definitely going to need help and more capital.
I want to refurbish the chairs in the theater, refresh the paint beyond the minor touchups we’ve done, and recarpet the lobby with the inheritance money, so I don’t have to try and access it from my trust or sell the condo in Boston yet.
I will eventually sell the condo, but after the whole thing with the tap class, I don’t want to risk homelessness if all of this falls apart and I can’t inherit.
I’ve been making notes of anything and everything that comes to mind. Zombie weekends. Girl’s night out. DeLorean double features with movies other than Back to the Future that have scenes with the classic car.
I wish Daphne was here. She texted me a few days ago to let me know she was still alive, and just working a lot, but would be back soon.
I hope she hasn’t decided she hates me or something. I’m new to this whole friend thing and I’m not entirely sure how it works, and I don’t want to be too needy. She probably has a million other friends.
I’ve been staying busy, going through rooms in the farmhouse, deciding what to keep, what to sell, and what to donate.
Spencer and Audrey have been helping a lot.
Spencer, I expected. Audrey has been a surprise.
She really has been trying. Learning to dust, do her own laundry, and vacuum. It’s been entertaining and scary—she almost set the kitchen on fire. But now she can make boxed mac ’n cheese, eggs, and toast. She’s learning quickly.
She has also been job hunting. I helped her write a résumé. She was shocked when I told her “spending the summer with a Russian prince” is not a skill set.
“But he was very demanding,” she insisted. “I basically had to learn how to negotiate with terrorists.”
Some nights I stay with Spencer in town, and other nights he stays out at the farmhouse with me. We haven’t spent a single night apart in the last week, which has been amazing, and also a little terrifying. But it’s the only time we really get alone together, since we’re both so busy.
Even at night, Spencer’s phone is always going off with a call or text. But I think when it comes to me versus the town and all its needy residents, I’m winning.
Last night, when Jerry called, Spencer answered with “Fuck off” and then got back in bed and wrapped himself around me like we’d been doing it for years.
It ended up being a very good night, speaking as the sole object of Spencer’s attentions.
“That looks like the smile of someone who’s been banging a whole lot lately.”
I spin in the direction of the voice at the door. “You’re back!” Jumping out of the chair, I meet Daphne in the center of the room for a hug.
“I’m sorry for the radio silence. I lost my charger like as soon as I arrived, and then the job was really busy and lame, it was a whole thing.”
“What were you doing?”
She waves a hand. “Just office work for this big company. The regular employee had to have surgery, so he was off for a few weeks. Come. Sit. Tell me everything I missed with the mission and Spencer, and how long have you been sleeping together? Do not leave out details.”
I will definitely leave out details.
We sit in the squeaky chairs next to the whiteboard, and I tell her about the dance class, and how Graham didn’t show up, but it all worked out okay in the end, and about Audrey and how she’s staying in Surrender with me for the foreseeable future.
“Wow, Princess Vespa grows a spine. Good for her. No word from your mom?”
My stomach twists. “Not more than usual. It’s been quiet on that front.” Too quiet.
“And?”
“And what?”
“You haven’t said a word about Spencer! Is he terrible in bed? I knew it.”
I laugh and shove her knee. “He is not terrible in bed.”
“Ugh.” Her head falls back. “I am so jealous. Not of Spencer, just of not-terrible sex. I knew you and Spencer would hook up. Did I tell you about how he called me one night, all worried about you when you were here working? He was basically crying about you.”
“I doubt he was crying.”
She crosses her legs. “Well, I couldn’t see him, but I’m sure there were tears.”
A thought that has been prickling at me surfaces. “Do you think it’s a bad idea?”
“What? Crying?”
“No, Spencer and I, dating.”
She straightens. “No. Why would it be?”
“He mentioned before that there might be some concerns since he’s the attorney administering Beverly’s will and I’m his client and there is a whole possible ethical dilemma or whatever, but we haven’t really talked about it since before . . .”
She grins. “Before you started boning?”
I sigh. “Yes, that.”
“And now he’s too addled with lust to be worrying about himself.”
“I don’t know. Probably. But someone has to worry about him.”
She taps a finger on the armrest. “I have a wild idea. Why don’t you just talk to him?”
“I guess because I’m worried about what he might say.”
“What’s the worst that could happen?” She leans forward.
I swallow, letting the anxiety I’ve been shoving aside out for the first time. “He might want to end things.”
She lets out a huff. “I doubt it.”
“How do you know?”
“Did I not mention the tears?” She reaches over and pats my knee. “Kidding. I know because it’s obvious to anyone with two eyes and half a brain that Spencer is super into you and he is such a white knight there is no way he would do anything to put either you or Beverly’s estate at risk.”
That might be true, but what about himself? I guess I won’t know until I talk to him. “You’re right. Anyway, I have other things to worry about.”
“Have you gotten the next letter yet? What’s our mission, should we choose to accept it?”
“Not yet. Graham’s out of town somewhere. He’s not coming back until next month.” Which is still a couple of weeks away. “We’ve been holding off, since my letters have had due dates, and who knows what Beverly is going to have me do to the poor man next.”
“Oh, but he’s back.”
I blink. “What? He is? How do you know that?”
“Oh. Um. I saw him. At the . . . store.”
Is she blushing? “What? Why are you being weird?”
“I’m not. But now he’s here, so you can get the next letter and get one step closer to making this place officially yours.”
I bite my lip. “Yeah.”
But I don’t know if I want the next letter.
Of course I want Beverly’s letters, and I’m going to have to finish my tasks eventually.
But it’s going to probably lead to more forcing Graham into unwanted encounters, and I don’t want it to screw up what’s happening with Spencer.
It’s still so new. We haven’t even gone on a date yet.
I want to do something about that before I have to resume my missions.
“So, forget about Graham. I have a new mission. Personal mission,” I tell Daphne. “I want to have a real date night with Spencer. Nothing crazy, just a nice dinner and a movie here. Alone. Maybe Friday? I want it to be a surprise.” That gives us a couple days. We’ll still do a Saturday show.
Daphne squints at me. “You’re going to have sex here, aren’t you?”
“Daphne!” I object. Then I think about it. “Probably.”
“Stop fidgeting. I’m going to stab you in the eye with the mascara wand,” Audrey says.
“I’m not fidgeting.”
She leans back. “You fidgeted again.”
We’re in the bathroom at the theater. Audrey helped me pick out an outfit, one of her slinky black spaghetti-string tops with a way-too-short shimmery copper skirt and sky-high black heels.
It’s a bit much, considering Spencer will likely be in jeans, but Audrey insists this outfit is “serious drip.” Also, it looks hot. I brought a change of more comfortable clothes in my overnight bag, which I left in the office.
Finally, Audrey steps back to examine her handiwork. “Perfect. He is going to lose his mind when he sees you.” She checks her watch. “Which should be any minute now.” She starts packing up her makeup bag.
I open my eyes and check myself out in the mirror. She did cat’s eye for the liner, but nothing too dramatic. My cheekbones look higher, my lips are painted a deep berry, and the eyeshadow is a warm bronze that goes well with the copper skirt and makes my eyes pop.
“Wow. You’re really good at this.”
Audrey shrugs, zipping up her bag. “I watch a lot of tutorials.”
“Hey.” I rest a hand on her arm.
When she turns toward me, I pull her in for a hug.
It’s a little bit strange, we aren’t a hugging family, but I want that to change. “Thank you.”
She steps back, patting my shoulder awkwardly. “Of course. I’ll go get the pizza out.”
We ordered Spencer’s favorite pizza from Haven.
Audrey went and picked it up earlier and stuck it in the oven to keep it warm.
Not fancy, but I wanted him to have his favorite.
I hope he doesn’t think it’s lame. I hope he likes everything I’ve done, considering we aren’t leaving the theater.
I’ve never done anything like this before, planned a date for a man.
What if he thinks it’s stupid? What if I talk to him about my worries and he calls it off?
I shake the thoughts away. It will be fine.
After using the restroom and washing my hands, I head for the exit, pushing open the swinging bathroom door.
Daphne’s voice rings through the lobby. “I’m sure my purse is back here somewhere,” she says, her volume turned way up.
“Could you hurry up? I promised Vivien we would have dinner, but she hasn’t returned my texts for the past—” His eyes flick over as I approach.
Audrey appears from the hall, giving me a quick thumbs-up and then she and Daphne beeline for the front doors.