Her chin tips up. "Nor am I a menace."
Ohh but you are, Cecily. How could you be anything but a menace with the way you have plagued my thoughts and tormented me daily for months?
"What?" she demands. Challenging me, really. "I can see you're thinking something. Don't hold back."
Why did you ghost me?
It's not the time or place to air our grievances, but I'm tired of waiting. I'm ready to know why Cecily thinks she's justified in hating me. Clearly something occurred, and if I know what it is, I can either fix it, apologize, or move on. Any of the three is better than not knowing.
Cecily's phone rings from her bag. Her brows furrow. "I put it on Do Not Disturb," she murmurs, wiping her sunscreen slick hands on her towel. "The only people who can get through are my grandma and my sister if they call twice." She reaches into the bag, pulling out her phone. "My sister," she says. She tapsthe screen, muttering something like, "Might as well get it over with." Phone at her ear, she says, "Hey, Kerr."
I look away to give her space. There is no privacy to be had poolside, but I can provide her the illusion of it by not looking at her. Paisley waves at me from the water, where Klein has her scooped up in both arms. Paloma plays pool volleyball with the other guys from Klein's soccer team.
Despite my attempt to give Cecily space, I can't help but overhear her half of the conversation.
"Are you upset because I got married? I promise, it's not real."
Fact.
She continues. "It was a drunken mistake. You've heard of beer goggles? These were tequila bifocals."
Umm, wow. Ouch.
"Obviously, we're getting it annulled ASAP. I need to strike this guy from the record."
Rude.
"I don't know what happened to him in the last nine months, but he has definitely gone downhill."
Ok, now she's baiting me.
And I take whatever it is she's dangling. I can't help it. Adjusting my sunglasses to the top of my head, I say, "Maybe I should ask your sister if disappearing acts are typical for you."
Cecily responds with an impressive stink-eye and rakes her middle finger over her chin.
"Menace," I mouth.
I'm waiting for her return barb, but it doesn't come. She grows serious. "A family meeting? For what?"
The alarm in her tone of voice triggers a similar alarm inside me.
"I'm flying back tomorrow afternoon." Cecily's gaze slides my way. Is that panic in the set of her dark eyebrows? "I can't make any promises, but I'll ask him."
Him? Who ishim?Me?
Cecily spends a few more moments on the phone, then says goodbye. She replaces her phone in her bag, gathers herself, then turns to me with worry in the crease of her brow. "My grandmother has called an emergency family meeting for Monday morning. As far as I know, she has never done this before. And she has specifically requested I bring my husband."
I nod slowly, letting it sink in. "That's ok, right?"
She looks at me like I've lost my mind. "For you to meet my family?"
"Is it the end of the world? I know I've gonedownhill"—I narrow my eyes, and she squints back at me—"but I'm not going to disappear into the ether after our annulment. My cousin is marrying one of your best friends. Knowing your family doesn't seem that far-fetched."
Cecily toys with one of her gold bracelets. "My family doesn't know my friends. My sister, Kerrigan, has met Paloma and Paisley a few times, but that's it."
I want to ask why, but it doesn't seem like the right follow-up question. She mentioned during our disaster of a date that her family is a lot.
"I'll go with you," I offer, fully expecting her to refuse.
