“It’s a wild ride.” I smiled, trying again to reframe things for her. “But listen, after the past few months at The Rose, anything short of a murder this weekend will be great.”
THREE
A rapid series of knocks sounded at the door to our suite, and when I opened it, Anton was standing there with a wide smile above his cleft chin. His curly, dark red hair was gelled into a more formal look than he usually sported. He peeked around me like a little boy who’d waited and waited for his favorite day of the year. “Is she ready?”
From the vanity, Lacy called that she was almost done and hurried to the bathroom one more time.
I moved out of the way so Anton could pass, but he stayed put. “Lacy doesn’t want us in each other’s rooms until the wedding day.”
“Ah,” I said, finding the rule silly but refraining from saying so. Whatever my friend wanted this weekend, she would get, especially with all of her feelings already on edge.
Since I’d returned to my veterinary program, Anton and I hadn’t had the opportunity to spend much time together, so we were still getting to know one another. We stood awkwardly waiting for the woman we both loved to appear.
When Anton resorted to getting his phone out of his pocket, I tried to make conversation. “Have you seen your family yet?”
Anton’s eyes flitted from his phone to me and hetook a moment to refocus them, obviously running my question back through his mind. “Uh, no. Mother just texted that she’s just got to the Winter Garden.”
“Are you nervous?” I asked, before I stopped myself. I didn’t want to pry, but Anton did seem rather distracted.
Anton took a beat too long to decide, which answered the question for me. “Nervous? Um… not really. Although, my family can be”—he searched for the right word—“challenging.”
I waited for more.
Anton checked his phone one more time before looking up at me. “My parents separated a year ago, but they still live in the same house. Just in different wings.”
I squinted one eye, trying to envision how this might work while also noticing the reference to his family’s home having “wings”.
“It’s a big house,” Anton clarified.
“Like The Rose?” I asked.
“No, but…” His head bobbed as he considered. “Maybe a quarter of the size?”
That would put it at twenty-five thousand square feet, which was still pretty dang big. But still, living in the same house—even if it was ginormous—after you’d technically separated had to be a recipe for madness.
Anton held up his text messages as another one appeared on-screen. “Looks like they didn’t travel together this time, which was probably for the best.” He hesitated, studying the message again before thinking out loud. “Although, it is strange that my father didn’t just fly in tonight too. Maybe business stuff came up.” His eyes jumped back to me as if he had just realized I was listening. “I never know if my parents will be on good terms, or pecking each other to death.”
The image of parents with beaks stabbing at one another was not a pleasant one. No wonder Anton was on edge. Having grown up without a father, I had no idea about bickering parents. Theclosest I’d ever come was listening to Aunt DeeDee and Momma argue over which movie to watch on Friday nights.
Thankfully, at that moment, Lacy appeared, her face smooth and devoid of any tell-tale signs of worry.
“Hello, beautiful.” Anton beamed at Lacy and leaned in for a kiss. “My mother and the priest just got here. You still good to meet them in the Winter Garden?”
“Yep.” Lacy raised her eyebrows and grabbed my arm. “Especially since Dakota is coming with us.”
Anton’s face registered surprise for a split second, but then he nodded. “Sure. The more the merrier. Just remember that my parents can feel a bit overwhelming at first, especially my mother.”
I patted Lacy’s arm to remind her I was here, and Lacy pasted on a smile for Anton. “As long as this weekend ends with me married to you, I’ll try not to care about anything else—deal?”
Anton smiled and gave her a quick kiss. “Deal.”
Soon after the engagement, Lacy and I had talked for three hours one night, laying out all of the wedding possibilities. She’d considered everything from eloping to Las Vegas or a Caribbean destination wedding to a ranch-style wedding in Texas, but when I’d finally asked her what she really wanted, down deep, she’d admitted that she’d always seen herself having a winter wedding at home, in Aubergine. That’s when she’d decided to make it happen sooner rather than later, pulling together a wedding in eight weeks.
I hadn’t contributed much, what with finishing classes in New York and preparing my application for the fellowship across the country in San Diego. Still, I’d done what I could from afar, and I’d promised myself that this weekend would be all about Lacy.
Being on the estate now, with the holiday décor, and my friends and family coming and going, did make me wonder how I might feel about being almost three thousand miles from home in sunny California. It was a thirty-eight-hour drive without stops, or a seven-hour flight without check-in or inevitable delays—not exactly a drop-in-for-the-weekend kind of distance.
I tamped back the thought, trying to focus on what really mattered right now: Lacy.
