Chapter Seventeen #2
She launched into her list of pre-wedding events—axe throwing, cake tastings, lawn game night, bachelorette parties, all crammed into seven days—I wanted to ask if she’d mistaken me for a party planner with unlimited PTO.
“I need you to come with me for the cake tasting tonight. It’s too stressful for me to make the decision without Kyle present.
And I also can’t eat all of the pieces they’re letting us taste test. It’s too much for me.
I don’t need the calories, and after a few bites, I’d be far too full, but you know what I like. ”
It felt like a veiled insult was twisted into her words, but it was hard to be sure. And while I wasn’t looking forward to Kyle’s arrival in Ruby River, I didn’t have the sinking pit in my stomach I usually did. “Okay. Wedding cake tester. Got it. When do I report for duty?”
Celia gave me a faint smile and I remembered how it used to be between us when we were little. Back then, the only thing we worried about besides my sister’s health was who our dolls were going to fall in love with. I hated how our lives had changed—and how she’d changed most of all.
“I’ve scheduled the cake tasting for tonight. Did you know they only have one bakery in town and one florist?” The horror on Celia’s face was almost comical.
“How did you even get such a last-minute appointment?” With Ruby Night happening this weekend, I honestly had no idea how Celia managed to book a slot.
She tossed a sly look my way. “I told her we had connections to the Kingsleys.”
My mouth dropped open. “Celia.”
“What? It’s not a big deal. And it’s not a total lie.” She tapped her list. “It starts at five. I was going to FaceTime Kyle, but he said he’s busy then.”
Our mother made some kind of soothing sound I’d never heard her make before when Celia pouted. “Now, darling, the camera crew will be recording it so he’ll get to see it.”
“True.” My sister lit up at the thought of being on camera. She grabbed a piece of paper from her bag and slid it across the table. “Ellie, I have a list of things I need help with.”
I cleared my throat not liking the direction of her planning. Not when it was using Drew’s name for access. “Celia—”
Then she dropped the bomb. “Since you’re dating Drew, the son of the most influential and wealthiest family in town, we can use his family’s house for my lawn game night.”
“What?” My voice cracked like a preteen’s.
She shoved her phone at me, showing a photo of a sprawling mansion perched on the lake.
White columns, ivy climbing the stone facade, balconies overlooking manicured lawns that probably had their own gardener’s union.
Crap on a cracker. The home had to have been built around the time of the Newport mansions.
It gave off the same type of Gilded Age opulence vibes.
“That’s … not his parents’ house,” I muttered.
“No,” Mom said primly. “That’s his grandmother’s estate. Eleanor, why didn’t you tell us? It’s perfect for the wedding day festivities. We could’ve had everything there.”
Nora appeared with plates and cheerfully added, “Glamma’s place is legendary!
At Christmas, she opens the ballroom to the whole town.
Chandeliers, marble floors, even a staircase that looks straight out of Gone with the Wind.
People still talk about the chocolate fountain from her Valentine’s Ball. ”
Celia’s eyes gleamed as she tapped on her phone. “Yes. This will do nicely.”
I pasted on a smile, though panic buzzed under my skin. I’d never been inside Glamma’s “mini-mansion,” much less had the authority to loan it out.
“Celia, we can’t assume that she’ll be okay with it,” I weakly forced out. And maybe she wanted to keep it free for her own grandchildren’s weddings, I thought.
“Maybe things aren’t as good as you’re pretending they are if your boyfriend wouldn’t do something as simple as let us borrow this place for the night.” Celia’s calculated expression was enough to tip me off that she was trying to trip me up.
Eep. She still suspected that I was lying about my relationship with Drew.
“What wouldn’t I do for my favorite person in the world?” I startled at the suddenness of Drew’s voice right next to us.
When had he … ???
I barely had time to register Drew’s arrival as he slid into the seat next to me and set his hand on my knee. The light squeeze was grounding and oddly erotic. He leaned in to drop a kiss on my cheek. “Hi, Buttercup. I missed you.”
“What are you doing here?” I checked my watch. “You’re supposed to be at that meeting with the construction team for the new location in New York right now.”
He squeezed my knee again. “No meeting is more important than you.”
Gah, I both wanted him to keep saying sweet stuff like that and to stop doing it. It was messing with my head.
And how in the world had he known I needed him?
Movement by the counter drew my attention. Matt. He must have realized my deer-caught-in-headlights look earlier and called in reinforcements.
Celia fanned herself. “How adorably sweet.”
I didn’t like the way my sister’s eyes roved over Drew’s body or the way her gaze heated as she bit her lower lip. If I didn’t think it would be weird, I’d sit on Drew’s lap or find a tablecloth to drape over his body to shield him from her theatrics.
It took everything in me not to snap, He’s mine!
Because he wasn’t. Not really anyway.
“Drew, this is excellent timing.” My mother grinned. She pointed at Celia’s phone and the picture of the enormous house. “We need a place for Celia’s pre-wedding events and your grandmother’s home is perfect.”
He glanced at me.
I braced myself for him to be upset. To shoot me a disappointed glare for trying to use what must be his family’s ancestral home for my sister’s wedding celebration.
He slid his arm around the back of my chair, captured my mouth in a quick kiss, and whispered in my ear, “Relax.”
That one word had my breath whooshing out of me.
He smiled at Celia, all teeth. “I’ll text Glamma. She adores Ellie.”
That wiped the smirk off my sister’s face.
This man had set the bar and continued to push it higher for any future relationships I had.
Crap.
It hit me that he wasn’t setting the bar too high.
It was the fact that I was likely never going to want to be with anyone else ever again after experiencing what a relationship should be like.