Chapter 6
Friday: The Night of the Party
The Reading Room is one of my favorites.
Most of the space is covered in dark paneling, except the far wall, which is made from floor-to-ceiling glass, connecting the rest of the house to the conservatory.
I’m sitting in a comfy velvet chair, flipping through a magazine, waiting for Ava to arrive.
Marmee sits across from me, her crow cane at her side.
“Tippi?” A voice rings from the foyer. “Evelyn?”
“In the Reading Room.”
Ava appears around the corner wearing a camel trench coat over white wide-leg trousers.
Her hair is styled off her face, kept in place with a silk scarf.
She wraps her delicate arms around me, the scent of florals and citrus hovering like a halo.
Now that she’s here in the flesh, my apprehension for this weekend begins to subside.
It’s only a weekend with my closest friends. I can get through this.
“I thought you were going to ditch your own party,” she says, squeezing me tighter. “Good thing I have Evelyn on my side.”
It’s frustratingly predictable that she visited the estate without telling me, all to rope Marmee into her plan. Ava is the only daughter of wealthy divorced parents; she learned long ago how to manipulate and leverage to get her way.
“Lovely to see you, my dear,” Marmee says, leaning against her cane as she stands to greet Ava. She cuts her eyes over to me. “You should be grateful your friends want to throw you a party. It would be unnatural for you not to want to attend.”
Would it? I wonder. I’ve never been a socialite, like Ava or Marmee during her younger years.
Fresh off the dissolution of my engagement, I believe it’s completely understandable why I wouldn’t want to celebrate, but Marmee, who always believes in putting on a polished front, is right.
It sends a better picture if I’m willing to play along for one more gathering before I take off.
“Is Preston here, too?” I ask, warming up to the idea of a weekend with my closest friends.
“He’s riding in with the rest of the crew,” Ava says. “He can let everyone inside with the gate code, and this way I can get started decorating before they arrive.”
Ava and I follow Marmee as she shuffles to the foyer. She stops at the sideboard by the staircase to smell a bouquet of fresh flowers. My father had them delivered this morning, as is tradition.
“You girls have fun. I’ve arranged for Mrs. Wilson to serve dinner in my bedroom,” she says, gripping the staircase railing for balance. “I’ll be staying there for the rest of the night.”
“You can’t be serious. This is your house!” I say, trailing her as a safeguard as she climbs the steps. “Don’t you want to attend my birthday party?”
“You and I have had plenty of quality time together this week. I want you to spend the evening with your friends. I’m sure I’ll pop my head out in the morning, if I’m feeling like it.”
Marmee and I have enjoyed an idyllic week together.
We’ve watched countless movies in the cinema, rearranged books and trinkets on display in the library, and enjoyed pleasant conversation in front of a crackling fire in the evenings.
I watch as she enters her wing of the house, knowing it’s useless to argue against her stubbornness.
“Should we help her get settled?” Ava whispers.
“She wouldn’t let us if we tried,” I say, rolling my eyes. We meander down the hallway, in the direction of my bedroom. “So, what’s the plan for the night?”
A wicked smile lights up her face. She loves to hold me in suspense. “Why don’t I show you?” She steers me toward Marmee’s walk-in closet. “Let’s go inside so I can show you your costume.”
My sense of ease evaporates. “Costume?”
“It’s a theme night! I had to get something special for you.”
I tap my fingers against my arm. “What’s the theme?”
“Classic scary movies.” She pushes open the door. “You’re going to die when you see it.”
Marmee’s closet is an entire room dedicated to her love of fashion and fine jewels.
As a child, I’d wander into this room, admiring the expensive furs and sheen fabrics lining the racks.
The furniture and cabinets are a neutral color, allowing Marmee’s accessories to take center stage.
Some of her most stunning jewelry is on display behind glass, where custom uplighting makes the necklaces and rings and bracelets sparkle.
Pricier items are locked inside the safe at the back of the room.
“Absolutely gorgeous,” Ava says, taking it all in. “Every time I visit, I’m blown away.”
“You were talking about costumes,” I remind her, growing impatient. Being in this room with her makes me uncomfortable.
Ava unfolds the garment bag on the island at the room’s center, careful not to disturb the menagerie of marble statues there for decoration. She unzips the bag to reveal a pale green dress with a matching jacket, the wool fabric thick and luxurious.
“This looks familiar,” I say, scanning the iconic silhouette.
“Just wait,” Ava says, bending down to retrieve something else from the bag. She places a feathered black crow on her shoulder. “There are a few others we can pin on your dress as well.”
“I should have guessed. My namesake.”
The Birds, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, released in 1963. Marmee named me after Tippi Hedren, the actress who played the film’s protagonist. She was a huge fan, both of the director and of the leading lady.
“Who are you going to be?”
“You’ll have to wait and see.” She winks.
“I welcome surprises just as much as I enjoy last-minute parties,” I say, my words heavy with sarcasm.
Ava steps closer, holding my hands in hers. “It will be hard to get together when you’re halfway around the world. At least let me enjoy your birthday with you.”
Truth is, it’s hard getting together when I live across town. Over the past year, I devoted my time to Oliver, became the cliché girlfriend who makes her man the center of her universe, and where did that get me?
“You want to talk about it?” she asks, as though reading my mind. “I’d rather get the mushy stuff out of the way before everyone arrives and the alcohol starts flowing.”
“I already told you,” I say, my bottom lip quivering.
“The plan was for you to move to California so he could help you expand your brand. Next thing I know, he’s moved to Florida and you’re turning Tippi’s Takes into a travel blog.”
“There’s no incentive to go to California if we’re not together.” My hands fiddle with the gold chain around my neck, can sense the absent weight on my finger where the ring used to be. “Tippi’s Travels allows me to start fresh.”
She sighs, twirling her own wedding ring. Ava is a hopeless romantic, yet another stark difference between us. She’d been planning her wedding long before her husband, Preston, came into her life. “You just seemed so sure.”
I cringe at the way she says this, mainly because she’s right.
Oliver wasn’t perfect. The fact he’d already been married and divorced proved that, but no one’s past is ideal, especially at our ages.
His first marriage to a woman named Danielle was disastrous, and it’s not like I didn’t have my fair share of complicated exes.
Oliver and I made a good team, whether he was juggling Tippi’s Takes responsibilities or helping care for Marmee.
There were even nights he offered to drive out to the estate and administer her medication when Mrs. Wilson wasn’t available.
He helped in other ways, too, like overseeing the restoration and maintenance of Marmee’s estate, something neither of us cared to do.
I came to believe that Oliver, flaws and all, was perfect for me, but I was wrong.
It’s not like I’m the first of our group to go through a major separation.
Marlowe, another friend, finalized her divorce sometime last year, and we still don’t know all the details.
At the time, I wondered why she didn’t open up more, but now I understand.
When your entire world falls apart, it’s less painful if you minimize the details.
I wish I could tell Ava the devastation I really feel.
The torment inside. My anger that I’ve poured so much of myself into something that fell apart.
Even though she is my oldest friend, I can’t bear to tell her these things.
They’d make me look weak, pathetic. I’m not used to being the vulnerable one in our dynamic.
“You’ll still make time to visit this summer?” I ask, trying to infuse the conversation with some positivity.
“Once I find a gap in my schedule.” She squeezes my shoulder. “Right now, I have to get to work giving you a birthday to remember.”