SCARLETT
I stareat myself in the full-length mirror. My blonde locks are pinned behind my ears, and I drop my attention to the deep V of my bridesmaid dress–or would it be considered a best woman’s dress? I’ll be standing next to my father as he marries Sofia, the woman I met no less than twenty-four hours ago when they picked me up from the airport.
She seems nice, and she’s gorgeous, but not in the way that I expected. The women my father has dated over the years were nothing less than gold diggers who spent more time in a salon chair than at a desk in school. Sofia is naturally pretty with her golden skin and rich brown hair that could put any Pantene commercial to rest. She’s smarter than I originally gave her credit for too. She’s bilingual–speaking both English and Spanish–so at least I know there’s something in between her ears other than air.
“Look at you, sweetheart.”
I raise my attention from my cleavage to my dad in the reflection of the mirror. He stands with his shoulder resting along the doorjamb in his pristine suit and salt-and-pepper hair gelled to perfection.
I turn and glance down at my pink dress again. “Does this look okay?” I nibble on my lip. “It was all I had that was appropriate.”
I’ve been studying abroad for most of the summer and didn’t exactly have time to shop for a dress before walking off the escalator and meeting my new future stepmother for the first time. I picked it up at a local boutique in Barcelona while spending the weekend jumping from club to club with Lucia and Emmy. It was either this or a skimpy red dress, and I highly doubted my father would approve of that.
“You look perfect,” he answers, making an obvious attempt to keep his gaze away from anything below my shoulders.
I smash my lips together to hide my amusement. He wants to say something about the deep V cut in the worst way. I just knowit.
“Well.” I sigh. “Is it time?”
My dad’s hands disappear into the pockets of his trousers. “Before we go, I want to talk to you about something.”
“Dad.” I cross my arms and do my best to keep my face even. “You don’t need to have the sex talk with me.”
He chokes on air, pounding his chest with a closed fist. I burst out in laughter at his reaction. His cheeks turn red, his dark eyebrows crowding above his deep navy eyes with irritation.
“Scarlett Wallace,” he warns. “Don’t kill me before I walk down the aisle."
I shrug, a smile still on my lips. “I’m just trying to lighten the mood.”
He eventually places his hands back into his pockets and shakes his head. “Well, I guess you’re fine with me and Sofia marrying, then? Since you’re making jokes.” He chuckles, his body losing tension.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him so…concerned before. Maybe when he first started dating again after Mom passed away, but that was yearsago.
“Dad.” I walk toward him, my heels clicking against the marble floor. I pat his chest and smooth out his lapels, attempting to calm him. “I’m not a kid anymore. It’s not like Sofia is stepping in and raising me. If you’re happy, then I’m happy.”
His deep breath fills the space between us, his shoulders evening out.
“Plus, she’s way better than bimbo one, two, three, or four,” I add.
His mouth flattens, but he doesn’t argue. Instead, he puts his arm out for me to take, and we head down the long, quiet hall toward the French doors. The wedding isn’t big. There are only about forty people in attendance, most of whom are our family and some employees of Wallace Security. My father, the CEO of the business, draws a fine line between business and pleasure. However, those that have been around since the start of WS are as close as family as they can get without sharing a bloodline. Naturally, they’d be here.
After walking down the aisle with my dad and smiling at familiar faces, it’s obvious that Sofia doesn’t come from the same sort of lifestyle. There’s maybe a handful of people I don’t recognize, and none of them have the same golden skin tone that Sofia gets from her ethnicity—in short, they’re all white.
Close friends? Maybe she was adopted?
To be honest, I don’t know much about her.
I know they’ve been dating for a while, but with being away at Yale and then in Spain for a summer program, I’ve sort of been cut off from everything.
It was freedom mixed with books, salty air, and margaritas. I loved every second of it.
My dad centers himself at the altar, and I glide past him into position a few feet back. He glances over his shoulder at me and smiles, then panic sets in on his face.
“Wait. I forgot to mention something to you.” His voice is pitched low.
My stomach falls. This was too good to be true. “She’s pregnant, isn’t she?”
“What? No.” He shakes his head and follows it with a deep chuckle. His voice lowers even more. “Sofia and I won’t be having any children together, Scarlett.”
