I look around the circle at the women and highly doubt that we will be one of her success stories, but after meeting Val and Leah, I feel confident that the weekend will, at the very least, be tolerable. Staying in a beautifully appointed mansion with incredible food is not a bad setting to embark on the first step towards cementing my new persona either.
When the circle turns to me for my introduction, I take a deep breath to suppress Introverted Drew and summon Epic Drew in her place. “Hi, everyone. I’m Drew. I am from Los Angeles, and I work in a bookstore.”
I pause to come up with a reason for being here that doesn’t prompt them to sing happy birthday to me or reveal that I am testing my own hypothesis of sorts that may or may not put them all in mortal danger. I probably should have thought of something while the other women were introducing themselves, but I was too distracted by the interplay of personalities to think it through.
With all eyes on me, the fire that felt good before now feels too warm on my face, so I throw out the first thing I can think of so that we can move on: “And I’m here to make new friends.”
“Well, you came to the right place.” Delaney beams, likely as relieved as I am that introductions are over with. “I am going to leave you all to mingle for a bit while I add everyone’s number to a WhatsApp group chat so that we can be connected for the weekend. Please accept the invitation when you get it, and let’s meet back at the big painting in the foyer in fifty minutes.” She pushes herself up out of the chair with a nod and disappears down one of the hallways.
I turn back to the group and start to stand as well, preparing to make my own exit so that I can freshen up, when Leah leans forward and points at my coffee. “Where did you get that?”
I hold up what remains of the chocolate-covered latte. “Eagle Lake Coffee Co. It was to die for.”
“Hmm,” Leah nods, but looks unconvinced at the Nutella hearts that are now shapeless brown blobs on the side of the cup. “Did Cameron take you to get that?”
I pale at the hint of venom in her tone, and wonder if her bubbly personality from a second ago was just for show. Val chuckles, the first bit of personality I’ve seen from her yet andleans forward to address me. “Don’t mind her. She’s just jealous because you and I got to ride with Cameron and she didn’t.”
I relax a bit as Leah launches into a giggle-infused rant about how it wasn’t Cameron that she was sad she missed out on, but his car. Even though I am relieved that I didn’t manage to offend another guest already, my gut still feels like it’s been sucker punched as Val talks about her ride with Cameron from the airport. Even Judith has nice words to say about him. I shake my head to clear the strange emotion that feels an awful lot like jealousy from my mind and instead focus on the facts of the situation.
Cameron is the homeowner, and he does airport pick-ups so that Delaney can stay back and help get the guests settled. He and Delaney are both responsible for welcoming us to Ravenwood, so it only makes sense that he would be chatty to everyone in the car.
This conversation served as the perfect reminder that I need to stay focused on the end goal, because I am here for a very important mission. Everyone here, including Cameron, is just a short-term stop on my long road ahead. And once I have a shower, I will officially be able to free myself of what remains of my Dramamine haze, so that I can be laser-focused on—
“Ladies, sorry to interrupt,” a deep, familiar voice says from behind us. We whip around to see none other than my current distraction walking into the room. The air goes still as we all hold our collective breath at his entrance.
“Oh, hi, Cameron,” Judith says, sitting up straighter. “They werejusttalking about you.”
I grimace to learn that a grown woman tattling is somehow ten times more annoying than a child. Leah’s irritation matches my own, and when we lock eyes, we both roll them in mutual irritation.
“Glad I interrupted that, then,” Cameron says with a low laugh, and when I meet his eyes, they are already on mine. “Drew, can I borrow you for a minute?”
“Uh, sure,” I say, glancing back at Leah. Her shock reflects my own as I set my coffee on the table before going to stand by him.
“See you all in a bit for the wine tasting,” he says, leading me out of the living room, and leaving the women looking as stunned as I feel.
Chapter seventeen
JUST IN CASE
Thechatterfromtheliving room starts up again behind us, but I can’t make out any of the words over the sound of my own thundering heartbeat.
Cameron leads me back to the front of the house, then down the left wing, where I originally heard the garage door opening earlier. He stops at a room with double doors, pushes both open, and holds out his arm for me to go in first.
I inhale deeply at Cameron’s scent, savoring its potency inside the confined space, then scan the room. In one corner sits an imposing wooden desk with certificates and degrees framed behind it. A few books and shiny plaques cover the bookshelves on either side of his desk, and stacks of those deposition transcripts he mentioned earlier lay strewn haphazardly across the top.
The room is tidy yet lived in, just like the rest of the house, but my jaw nearly falls to the floor as I lay my eyes on its best feature yet: rows of backlit custom shelving displaying hundreds of vinylrecords. My instincts override my manners, and I make a beeline for the vintage gramophone, humming my approval for Aretha Franklin’sAmazing Gracealbum that sits on the platter.
“A very frantic man named Scott is on the phone for you,” Cameron says, breaking my trance. “I told him that you made it here safely, but he insists on speaking to you directly.”
“Oh.” I retract my outstretched hand that was just millimeters away from touching the gramophone’s shiny brass horn. I think back to the car ride from the airport as I take the phone from his outstretched hand. I know for a fact that I told the group chat when I was safe in the car, but I must have forgotten to check in when I arrived.
“Hi, Scott. I’m so sorry—”
“Drew? Oh, thank God,” Scott interrupts, hysterical. “I don’t know whether I am more relieved or furious to hear your voice right now.”
I hold the phone away from my ear to keep from suffering hearing damage as he launches into a lecture at the top of his lungs about how they all thought I was kidnapped, or hurt, or any number of bad things. I try to interject a few times but give up when he does not stop for air for a solid two minutes.
I sneak a sideways glance at Cameron to give a silent apology, and my breath hitches at the sight of the tension that radiates off him. His eyes are ablaze as they meet mine, as if he is just waiting for me to say the word so that he can jump in and save me from this conversation.
