“You too,” Hailey said weakly, and then came up blank as to what to say next.
Fortunately, Allison knew right where she wanted the small talk to go: “I was so sorry to hear about your husband’s trouble at Tech,” she said. “What a terrible thing for you all.”
Hailey’s cheeks caught fire beneath all of her makeup. “Oh, yes... thanks. It’s actually just a misunderstanding—”
“You don’t have to explain it to me. World’s gone crazy.” Allison’s teeth were stained with red wine.
“Mmmm,” Hailey shoveled desperately through her brain for something to fill the gaping hole that was threatening to open in the conversation. “Isn’t this nice? This is our first Shoreby Christmas party. It’s really something.”
Allison nodded. “Although it’s too bad they’re not doing the carriage rides this year. My kids love that. They’re so disappointed.” Hailey wasn’t sure which of the dozens of boys tearing around the party belonged to this woman, but none of them were exactly crying in the corner. She stepped awkwardly toward a buffet table full of desserts and was unpleasantly surprised when Allison moved with her. Then, as she was looking for Mabel and Gigi in the crowd, Hailey realized that one of the Wakefield daughters—Arabella it was—had on the exact same dress that she had bought Mabel. Of course she did.
“Are you having a good time?”
Hailey drew a sharp breath as a specter appeared in front of her: the man she had seen in the street after her night with David Rainier. Panic pulsed through her as it dawned on her that it wouldn’t be a million miles from possible that David himself could be here tonight; he had enough cash and cache to have joined the Shoreby, or he might come as the guest of a neighbor... What would she do? Blank him? Corner him? And Jesus, what wouldMackdo, if he found out who he was?
She had forgotten about the man in front of her. “Yes, great party,” she said quickly. “It’s our first one.” She glanced at Allison, who should by now have tired of Hailey’s loop and moved on, but no, Allison stood planted beside the giant gingerbread house that loomed over the buffet and sipped her wine. The man took no interest in her, and he and Hailey both spoke at the same time.
“I heard you met my—”
“I met your other half.” He took over from there. “I hope he likes his new shoes.”
“He does, thank you so much. He’s already worn them a lot.” Talking about Mack this casually felt more like a lie than anything Hailey had said to Rebekah. She could see Mack now, across the room, talking to Betsy Wakefield. He must have been desperate to escape her. Hailey watched him make his excuses and head toward their little trio. But Betsy, clad in a plaid cocktail dress that Hailey wanted to hate but couldn’t quite do it, followed him.
“I thought I’d come say hi,” Betsy said to Hailey. “And tell you what excellent taste you have in children’s clothing.”
“Same,” said Hailey. “And I love your shoes too.” Betsy’s plaid pumps, with little plaid bows on them, matched her dress. She was the complete opposite of Allison, fashionwise: everything about the woman belonged in a country club. It was a cold truth, but Hailey knew that she would never find a friend in either of these two extremes. Where were the rest of the in-betweeners in Bratenahl? The nice, normal professional women who maybeoccasionallygot it wrong and overdressed for something like this, as Hailey had clearly done, but hadn’t quite embraced the complete club aesthetic, or abandoned any attempt at fashion? They had to exist. Once upon a time, back when the invitations went out, Hailey had hoped to find some today, but the small groups of women clustered around holding “Candy Cane Cosmopolitans” looked impenetrable.
“So how does it feel to be famous?” Betsy said to her. “You’re just all overCleveland Socialthese days!”
Allison nodded sloppily, and Hailey saw Mack go very still.
“Our local hero!” Allison declared into her wineglass.
Hailey reddened. “Oh God, that divorce article feels like a lifetime ago. I don’t know why I even agreed to it.”
“It made for fascinating reading,” said Gerry, who had reminded Mack of his name loudly enough for Hailey to overhear it. “I wish I’d come across that advice three marriages ago.”
“Notthatarticle,” Betsy chided him. “I mean the one about how Hailey saved the man from choking.” She took in Hailey’s expression. “Have you not seen it? This month’s issue?”
“I guess I missed it.”
“Oh, you have to see it! I’ll drop my copy by,” Betsy continued. “It’s just a little paragraph in the back with the photo off your firm website, but it mentions Bratenahl. You’ve done us proud!” When she finished speaking, Hailey watched everyone’s eyes land on Mack. Did theyallknow about the scandal at Tech, or was she just paranoid?
Suddenly Hailey felt naked standing there in her cocktail dress.Exposed. She’d written some dumb advice column for publicity, for the firm’s benefit, but she hadn’t taken the time to think about who might read it. Who might bewatching. And no one had asked her if she wanted to be in that magazine again, or whether she’d wanted people to know where she lived. How had they known, if they hadn’t bothered to call her? Had someone researched her? Googled her?
The thought made her feel sick.
Gerry did not help matters when he laid a hand on her bare shoulder. As Hailey flinched, he put his other hand on Mack’s shoulder, and then he said, “You two are all over that rag. Why, you’re the talk of this town.”
This time there was no mistaking the nervous expressions that flickered over the group and deliberatelyavoidedMack this time; they all knew what they knew. It made Hailey want to run and hide, but Gerry moved on to extolling the virtues of the club building itself, how it had been built just for parties like this even when it was a private home. He pointed out the huge back windows facing out at the darkness. “And of course, during Prohibition they brought the booze right up to the dock back here. Erie had her own pirates back then.”
Allison was visibly struggling to keep up with his history lesson, and went back to her favorite subject: “It’s a shame about the carriage rides this year, though. My kids are devastated.”
“What’s happened to the carriage rides?” They all turned to Mack; it was the first time he had opened his mouth.
“They said the horses are not in the mood.”
Allison was getting through her wine pretty quickly, Hailey noticed, and she longed for some of her own. “I know how they feel,” she said wearily. “Not ready for the holidays yet, I guess.”
