“Never can have too many!” Rory said, her voice overly chipper.
She spun around, ready to head for the house, when Gran’s delighted laugh reached her over the din of the crowd. She glanced in that direction, spotting a flash of bright pink, and her mouth went dry while her brain tried to register what she was seeing. Gran gripped Nat’s hands in hers, and she smiled up at the youngest Haven as if she held all the stars in the sky. Directly next to them stood Nash, watching Nat with a huge grin on his face.
At some point, the whispers around her had gone from talk of her and Nash to discussion ofher sisterand Nash. How great it was to have Nat home, and how cute she and Nash were together. Just like old times, and wasn’t that just fantastic?
The murmurs around her blurred together until all she could hear was thewhoosh, whoosh, whooshof her heartbeat in her ears. Of course he’d managed to get Nat there when Rory had failed. They’d been friends nearly all their lives, and Nat actually liked him. Though, from the way her sister was staring up at him, gratitude and something else shining in her eyes, maybe it was something more than justlike.
The thought had a volcano erupting inside her, bile rising up her throat. Rory had no claim on him. Had, in fact, told him in no uncertain terms that she didn’t want one. She had no idea if he was even looking for a relationship, but if he was, he deserved to be with someone like Nat. Someone young and vibrant and carefree. Not someone who was old enough to be hit on by his father. Not a divorced mother of two who was still stumbling through life, trying to figure out who she was.
She blinked twice and refocused, but the trio no longer stood where she stared. And she certainly wasn’t going to search them out. She needed a break out of earshot from all the murmured approval of having Nat back in town. Just five minutes away so she could breathe. So she could get her shit together, and then she could keep on pretending.
She nearly made it to the back porch steps before someone called her name. Maybe she could feign like she hadn’t heard them and just keep right on walking? She increased her pace and kept her head down.
“Rory!” The voice was close enough now that she recognized it as Gran. “Sugar, hang on just a minute.”
Rory’s shoulders sagged, and she halted in her movements. If just about anyone else had approached her, she wouldn’t have thought twice about avoiding and ignoring, but not Gran.
She took a deep breath, schooled her expression, and turned around. “Hey, Gran, you havin’ a good time?”
Gran reached up and held Rory’s cheeks between her hands. “I don’t know how you did it, sugar, but I’ll never be able to thank you for gettin’ Nat home for this. Such a sweet thing you did, throwin’ this party for me, but this…” She shook her head, a look of pure elation on her face as she glanced over her shoulder. Rory followed Gran’s gaze, though she wished she hadn’t have.
Nat and Nash stood under the huge maple tree, Nat holding herself up against Nash’s side as the two laughed so hard, tears were streaming down their faces. Had he ever laughed like that with her?
“I know y’all don’t see eye to eye,” Gran said, “but I’m so grateful you did something so special for this old lady. So happy to have all my granddaughters here, even if just for a little while.”
Rory couldn’t speak to tell Gran that she hadn’t had any involvement at all in getting Nat home. That, because her sister hated her so much she wouldn’t even return an impersonal text message, someone else had had to step in to get the youngest Haven home. Rory was too worried her voice would give her away if she tried to get the words out.
“You okay, sugar?” Gran asked. “You look a little pale.”
She swallowed down her tears and cleared her throat, her lips shaking as she held her smile. “I’m fine. Just a little hot is all. I’m gonna stick my head in the freezer for a minute. I’ll be right back.”
There was no way Gran believed that pile of garbage—especially since she knew Rory better than almost anyone—but Rory was fresh out of lies. Worse, she was tired of offering them up every time something wasn’t perfect just to keep up the facade.
“Momma! Ella stole my earbuds, and she won’t give ’em back!” Ava stormed up, her voice loud enough to turn a dozen heads in the yard.
“I did not!” Ella shot back. “You prolly lost ’em and just wanna blame me! You’re always tryin’ to get me in trouble.”
“Girls,” Rory snapped, low and firm. “That’s quite enough of that.” She ushered them up the back porch steps where they could take care of this inside, away from prying eyes and ears. Seemed no matter what part of her life was in turmoil, she couldn’t escape that.
Turning back to Gran, she said, “Go on and enjoy your party while I handle this. We’ll be back soon.”
As desperate as she was to get away, to escape for some solitude where she could crack in peace, she had a job to do. Right now, she had to play Momma and sister and daughter. Granddaughter and hostess and whatever other hat she needed to put on to get the job done.
There was always later. After the party was cleaned up, after the girls were in bed… When it was just her and a glass of wine and she could finally be just Rory, she’d allow that mask to slip away.
“You cannot just slink off home, Rory.” Mac rolled her eyes, her arms crossed over her chest.
The last straggler had finally left the party about an hour ago, and Rory was exhausted. After the day she’d had, she just wanted a hot bath and her bed. “I’m pretty sure I can.”
“Your sister’s right, sugar,” Gran said as she nibbled on a plate of leftover snacks. “You did all this work—you deserve to celebrate.”
“Ididcelebrate. That was the whole point of the party.”
“No, what you did was refill the food a million times, topped off everyone’s drinks, corralled your girls and refereed their fights, and made sure everyoneelsecelebrated,” Mac said dryly. “Just like every other freakin’ party.”
And at every other party, no one had ever had an issue with her going home at the end of the night. No one had ever demanded she go out for a second celebration. But suddenly now, when her very sanity rested on escaping to her own damn house to find some peace, it was an issue? She’d clearly done something to piss off Karma.
“It sounds like a lovely time, and I’m sure y’all’ll have fun,” she said. “But I’ve got the girls tonight, and it’s already after ten.” Not only past their bedtime, but also well past the cutoff time for patrons under the age of twenty-one to enter The Willow Tree.
