I studied his face. He looked tired and not quite himself. Something was eating him up inside.?“You sure that’s it, Dane?”?
“I’m sure, darlin’. Let’s go on in and socialize a bit before Momma comes looking for us.”?
We walked into the party, arm in arm. Before we hit the floor-to-ceiling French doors, Dane took the wine bottle out of my hands and took a long gulp.?After we made our rounds, listened to a handful of toasts to our health and happiness, and everyone in Savannah surveyed my ring like it was the rock of Gibraltar, I took a break from socializing to check on Sutton.?
She worked quietly, cleaning up the carnage that was the Wilder kitchen after working her ass off. She looked exhausted. It occurred to me that we were all tired, emotionally drained, and not like ourselves.?
“Wanna sleep over tonight, like old times? You can bring some left over key lime pie, and I’ll raid the bar for booze. We can have some good old fashioned girl talk. Does that sound good?”?
Sutton didn’t look up from the pans she was scrubbing. “No thanks, Magnolia. I just want to go home and go to bed.”?
I tried to hide my disappointment. “Well, maybe soon. I’m tired, too. Will I see you tomorrow at the menu planning meeting for the Historical Holiday Tour?”?
Sutton slammed down the pot she was scrubbing into the hot, soapy water, then winced from her earlier wound. “God damn it, Magnolia. You’re not my fucking boss. But, yes, princess, of course I’ll be there to save your life and be there at your beck and call, just like I always am.”?
My head snapped back, and I fought down the tears and rage trying to bubble up inside of me. “I’m sorry, Sutton. If you don’t want to do it, then don’t do it.”?
“Maybe you should take your own advice.” She grabbed her bags off the counter, leaving her mess behind.?
She stopped in the doorway before pushing open the swinging door to the back entrance of the kitchen, keeping her back to me. “We’re all just a little exhausted from having to take care of you all the time. When are you going to step up and be the friend that we all are to you?”?
Later that night, after the party had cleared out and I had performed the part of the dutiful future wife, I staggered into the bar and let Kasey go from her shift. I turned on the radio, cranked up the volume, and got to work putting away the few bottles used that night while cleaning up the rest of the bar. It wasn’t a huge task, since taking a look at the register and the credit card slips it was yet another quiet night at the bar.?
I thought about shooting Sutton a message and apologizing, but I wasn’t sure exactlywhatI would be apologizing for in the first place. She was clearly upset about something, and if she didn’t want to talk to me about it, I couldn’t force her.
I felt like the second Dane slipped the ring on my finger, my friendships started slipping away. Charlie didn’t stop by as much as he usually did. Jordan and Doyle were distant unless it concerned either one of our businesses or the trolley tour. Sutton was clearly growing more distant by the minute.?
And Lee and I only saw each other in passing, which was, of course, mostly of my doing. I thought if I kept him at arm’s length, I could start to move on.?
All of it was part of moving forward and becoming someone in a seriousrelationship—not to mention a business owner—but I hated feeling like I was joining one family but losing the one that had become my whole world. I’d already lost so much in the last twenty-eight years. I couldn’t handle losing anyone else.?
I lifted up my phone to text Sutton when the door to the bar flung open. “We’re closed,” I called out.?I heard feet running through the bar, and I looked up, my heart racing. If I’d forgotten to lock the door, and if there was a break-in, they’d take what little I had.?
“I’m so sorry, Magnolia,” Sutton cried, running behind the bar and wrapping me up in a long, tear-soaked hug.?
The two of us stood there, crying all over each other and holding on until my arms started to fall asleep.?
When I finally pulled away and wiped the tears from her round, red face, I asked the question I’d been wanting to ask her for weeks. “What’s really going on, Sutton? And please don’t lie to me.”?
She sighed and looked nervously around the bar. “Let’s get this place cleaned up and then we can talk, okay?”?
Sutton helped me close down, and after flicking off the lights, we headed up to my apartment with a bottle of rum, mixers, and a blender. She got the floor situated with blankets and pillows, and I poured the pina colada concoction into an oversized vase. I grabbed a pack of comically large straws left over from a bachelorette party and a couple of bags of chips before meeting her in the living room.?
We sipped and snacked quietly for a few minutes before I put my hand on her knee and met her eyes, pleading for her to tell me what was on her mind.?
She let out a heavy sigh before spilling the story about Dane coming on to her. She explained how she was going to tell me everything until Vance showed up and threatened to have LaMonte fire her. I listened, stone-faced, my skin crawling with each new detail.
I suspected Dane was involved in our spat somehow, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself. Hearing her say it out loud brought me to tears so fierce I could hardly catch my breath.?
“I told Lee, the night of his first gig when I was in the green room crying all over him in just my bra,” she started, a stark sadness lacing her voice. “We thought we’d try to come up with a plan to tell you, to gather up some more evidence, but I guess… I don’t know Magnolia. I really don’t know what to say other than I was terrified.”?
“I get it. I’ve done some stupid things so that I didn’t lose what I have, too,” I offered through wracked sobs.?
Sutton nervously pulled at her bottom lip with her teeth. “That’s not all of it, I’m afraid.”?
I pulled the blanket up to my neck, bracing for the bombshell Sutton was about to drop. The way her face turned white as a sheet told me this was going to be one of those moments where I’d better hold on tight.
“This land, this building, it’s worth a lot,” she started softly. “And I’m not sure if you know this, but it’s also not protected by any sort of historical society. Or really protected by anything…”
