“You look like you are about to be knighted,” Kitty murmured beside me.
“I look like I might faint,” I whispered back.
Kitty angled her head, taking in the guests moving past us. “Honestly, fainting would be iconic. But maybe save it for the dance floor so we can cause a scene.”
Meri, on my other side, made a quiet sound that could have been a laugh or a warning. “Try to keep your scene to a minimum. We have enough going on without becoming local gossip.”
Mom turned around from where she and Dad stood one step higher, both of them bundled in formal winter coats that didn’t hide how carefully they had dressed underneath. Mom’s cheeks were rosy from the cold. Her eyes were bright like she was holding back excitement on principle.
“We are going to be fine,” she told us, gentle but firm, like she was reminding us we had survived worse than an expensive party. “We belong here. We were invited.”
Dad looked over his shoulder. “And if we get lost, we follow Braxton. He looks like he has been at these since birth.”
Braxton, in a dark suit that made him look unfairly put together, offered a polite, innocent smile, his arm threaded through Jane’s. “I have attended a few charity galas. I spent most of themlooking for the dessert table.”
Dex stood next to Lucy with his hands in his coat pockets, calm and unreadable, as if he was assessing the building’s structural integrity rather than preparing to enter a room full of donors. Lucy squeezed his arm, her smile warm and steady in that way that made people feel more comfortable around her without even realizing why.
“You all look beautiful,” Lucy told us. Then she glanced toward Kitty. “Please do not tackle anyone unless they truly deserve it.”
“No promises,” Kitty murmured.
We climbed the steps together, a slightly chaotic line of Bennets plus one Fitzwilliam and one Hale. The doors opened before we reached them, as if someone inside had been watching our approach and decided to get it over with.
Warmth spilled out, scented with cinnamon and something floral I couldn’t place. The sound hit next, a live band somewhere deeper in the lodge, the soft swell of strings and piano, elegant enough to make me straighten my back on instinct.
A woman in a black dress with a headset smiled brightly. “Welcome. Names.”
Mom answered first, her voice clear. “Bennet. Helen and William Bennet.”
The woman checked a clipboard, then nodded. “Of course. Please enjoy the evening. The coat check is to the left, and the main ballroom is through the archway.”
We shuffled politely to coat check, passing guests who moved like they had practiced gliding as children. I tried to keep my expression neutral as I handed over my coat, as if I did this weekly and had never once panicked about my hair.
Kitty leaned toward me. “Everyone here looks like they own at least one limo on standby all the time.”
Meri answered without looking up. “Or have a hired town car to drive them around.”
Kitty’s mouth twitched. “Worse.”
I smoothed my dress once, then once more, then forced myself to stop. My hands were trembling, not with fear exactly, but with the awareness that I could not blend into a crowd like this unless I made myself believe I could.
The ballroom opened ahead of us in a wash of light.
There were crystal chandeliers, polished wood floors, and tall windows that framed the dark winter outside like a painting. The tables dressed in white linens and greenery, name cards arranged with precision, while wine glasses catching the light and reflecting it in tiny flashes.
People turned as we entered. Not openly or rudely, but a brief sweep of attention, the same way a room assessed any new arrival.
I held my chin level and walked forward anyway.
We moved as a cluster at first, then loosened naturally, over time. Lucy and Dex drifted toward a group near the center where Carly stood, laughing, her dress sparkling under the lights as if she had personally instructed them to shine harder for her. Braxton followed, Jane beside him. He was already smiling in his charming way, offering his hand to someone who looked relieved to be greeted.
Mom paused, taking it all in. “Oh, it’s beautiful.”
Dad’s expression softened, pride showing through his usual restraint. “It is. You look like you belong here.”
Mom laughed under her breath, but she looked pleased, too. She squeezed his arm and stepped forward like she was claiming the space rather than borrowing it.
Kitty immediately found the buffet.
