Chloe made a sound that said I was being dumb. “We’ll do trees eventually, but we don’t want them snotted on by the wedding planner. Come on.” She wove her arm with mine and guided me into the living room, where the gas fireplace glowed and the lights were low, making it warm and cozy.
We all settled on the sectional, the two of them flanking me.
“Tell us everything,” Presley said. “Who are you mad at?”
I sniffled, and Presley produced a box of tissues from somewhere. After blowing my nose, I took another to dry my eyes, a futile action because the tears were still falling, which only fueled my frustration and anger.
“Is it your mother?” Chloe asked, knowing I’d had a meeting with her today.
“She was first.” I told them how she’d promised her society friends positions on our board of directors without asking me.
“You even told us you’d need to get her agreement,” Presley said.
“Exactly. It’s a partnership, not a dictatorship.”
“That would piss me right off,” Chloe said.
“Yes,” I hissed. “I finally got her to back down. She’s going to call her friends and tell them we have a lot of candidates and we’ll finalize the list soon.”
“That’s good,” Presley said. “What was she thinking?”
“I imagine she meant well,” Chloe said. “But she went about it wrong.”
I nodded, wiping my eyes again, noticing my jaw was tight enough I could crack my skull. “She completely disregarded me, just like she and Felix have done my whole life. Like I can’t make a decision myself. I thought I got away from that.”
“You did,” Presley said. “You just had to remind her you’re partners in this project.”
“Who was second?” Chloe asked, frowning. “You fought with Luke?”
Tears poured out again. “It was Luke, and the stupid thing is, I think he probably meant well.” My composure slipped again, and I buried my face in my hands, my anger mixing with doubt and shame because the more I thought about it, the more I knew that was true. He had my best interests at heart.
“Tell us what he did,” Presley said, her hand on my forearm.
Chloe handed me another tissue. I told them the latest chapter in the Ella McCabe wedding-planning story. “He apparently asked Everly Ash to run interference, taking advantage of her friendship with Ella. I would never do that on my own behalf.”
“Knowing Everly the way I do, I’m sure it didn’t bother her at all,” Chloe said. She would know, as they were sisters-in-law.
“But I completely understand why that would bother you,” Presley said.
“And to have Everly go to Ella and explain Felix and my over-the-top family drama… I’m so embarrassed.”
“Felix is the one who should be embarrassed,” Presley said.
“If he had any decency whatsoever,” Chloe added. “Which, as we know, he doesn’t.”
“So I made the appointment with Ella, but now I have to figure out how to act like I’m not the product of a train wreck.”
“Magnolia, you’re not,” Chloe said. “You’ve overcome your unfathomable upbringing to be a well-grounded, competent event planner and businesswoman.”
“Thank you,” I said between sniffles. My next thoughts pulled me under with another wave of sobs.
“Hey, what is this?” Presley asked. “It’s going to be okay in the end. You can meet with Ella and keep it professional and pleasant. She won’t say a word about Felix the Fuck’s antics—unless it’s to apologize again for believing his lies.”
I couldn’t answer, couldn’t get any words out for several minutes, during which both women held on to me and let me get it out. When I could finally manage it, I said, “I was so mad at Luke, and he was just trying to do something nice for me. All I could think in that moment was someone else was trying to control me.”
“And that’s a trigger for you,” Presley said.
“Apparently a big trigger.” I pressed my lips together, so tired of being hysterical.
