Val’s face is unreadable, as usual, from across the table from where she sits next to Judith. There is one seat empty between them, but Judith still leans away from Val, as if the space between them isn’t enough. The table comfortably seats three people on each side, with two more at each end, so at least Delaney has options other than the space between them if she decides to join us. I haven’t seen her since Ollie showed up at the front door, and she stomped away to tell Cameron to stay in his lane. I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t show at all, since I doubt she was on board to let Judith join us.
Delaney and Cameron are clearly in some sort of power struggle, but I still can’t fathom why he would take Judith’s side over hers. Unless he thinks that Delaney should have just sucked it up and not been so affected by Judith’s antics, since she is the host. To be honest, I can see it from both sides, but if it were up to me, I would have asked Judith to sit this one out. Cameron did mention on the ride over that he was here this weekend to decide if he wanted to start being more involved in the retreats. Maybe this is his attempt at that.
I glance over the menu until Ollie comes out of the kitchen to stand at the head of the table. He claps his hands together to get our attention, as if his sheer presence isn’t enough to pull the gaze of everyone in the room.
“Hello again, ladies. I wanted to let you know before we start that there has been a slight change to the tasting menu.” He holds up one of the pieces of printed cardstock and points to it. “Our nonalcoholic pairing was supposed to be our signature sun-brewed teas, but our cashier accidentally sold off the last case that I had set aside for our group, so I had to replace it with our lemonade pairings instead. Delaney mentioned earlier thatone of you is allergic to citrus, so I just wanted to make that clear before we begin.”
I stiffen as everyone looks around the table for who the person with a citrus allergy is and join in when I realize that I can’t admit that it’s me. I promised Leah that I would help cover for her being pregnant by drinking the nonalcoholic drinks with her, and I can’t imagine backing out now with Judith watching our every move. I am going to have to find a way to pretend like I am drinking these citrus bombs of death or actually ingest a little and hope that I can tolerate it. I wish I could say that this turn of events was unexpected, but I am actually not surprised at all.
When no one speaks up, Ollie’s brow knits together. “I could have sworn Delaney indicated that there was a citrus allergy in this party.”
“Maybe it’s Delaney,” Val suggests, and I nod vigorously in agreement because she isn’t here to correct the wrong assumption.
Ollie laughs. “It’s definitely not Delaney. She always insists I bring a bottle of our lavender lemonade for her to take home.”
Val and I lock eyes across the table, and she tilts her head a fraction. Apparently, I am failing at looking nonchalant, so I avert my gaze back to Ollie.
“Maybe I am misremembering,” he says. “Either way, I just want to reiterate that the wine and food are all citrus-free, but the lemonade is not.”
I start to panic as Ollie uncorks the first bottle of wine at the front of the table.
“Here we have our Sauvignon Blanc, with notes of lemon, grapefruit, and pomelo, but as a reminder, there is no actual citrus in the wine. It is all a result of the natural compounds in the grapes that I will go into further detail about a little later.” He puts down the uncorked wine to hold up the glass carafe of lemonade. “This is our classic lemonade. Both options workto balance the saltiness of the goat cheese toasted crostini that Cameron will be bringing around in just a minute.”
Ollie starts with Judith, who requests the wine. Then moves to Val, who does the same. Every muscle in my body tenses as he comes around the table to me, and I request the lemonade. He fills the glass, and I flinch when he accidentally overpours and some spills down the sides. I use my napkin to wipe it off as best I can, not wanting to come into contact with it until I absolutely have to. Leah also asks for the lemonade, as planned, and Ollie takes his place back at the head when we are all served. “By a show of hands, how many of you have been to a wine tasting before?”
Judith and I raise our hands, and then I zone out as he goes into the five S’s of assessing a wine, since I know them all by heart, and instead focus on finding a way to get out of this. I haven’t had any citrus since I was ten, so I consider the possibility that my allergy may have magically gone away with time but promptly dismiss it. With my luck, it will be the opposite and be a million times worse since I have avoided citrus for so long.
A bead of sweat drips down my back as Cameron places a tasting plate in front of me.
His eyes widen at my expression, and he leans down close to whisper, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I squeak, and turn away so that he keeps moving. There is nothing that he can do to help me other than somehow drink the lemonade for me, and there is no way that he can do that discreetly. I need to figure this one out on my own.
Ollie moves the women to step three of the five S’s and asks them to sniff the Sauvignon Blanc. Thankfully, there is no point in smelling plain lemonade, because the thought alone makes my stomach lurch. Instead, I pretend to be engaged while Ollie leads Val and Judith through identifying each note of their wine.I only have seconds to find a way out of this before he moves to the fourth S, which is to sip, but the best ideas I’ve come up with so far are to somehow knock over the glass or throw the lemonade over my shoulder when everyone goes to drink.
Since knocking over a glass would only prompt Ollie to pour me another one, and throwing the lemonade over my shoulder is just plain rude, I have no choice but to test the strength of my stomach. Ollie proposes a toast to our night together, and I am out of time, so I join in with the others and clank my glass against theirs and say a prayer as I lift the lemonade to my lips.
Chapter twenty-two
SHARP OBJECTS
Whenthelemonadetouchesmy tongue, I am immediately transported back to a very old, very distinct childhood memory. I am swinging next to Scott on the rusty swing set in our old apartment complex before my infamous tenth birthday that helped us pinpoint my allergy.
I can almost feel the breeze in my face as I pump my legs harder and harder to get as high as he is. The exertion winds me, and just when I look over to see if I’ve caught up to him, I projectile vomit an entire slice of lemon meringue pie I had earlier that day in his direction. Scott screams bloody murder as some of it lands on his arm, and our dad comes running to see which one of us is hurt this time.
The memory is replaced by a loud, sputtering cough happening in the present moment, as my body attempts to physically reject the lemonade that I just willingly ingested.
By some miracle, at the exact same moment, Delaney reappears in the dining room with a large bottle of champagnein her hand and pulls everyone’s attention to her with a loud hiccup. It provides the distraction that I need to slip away, so I excuse myself from the table and run towards the bathroom at the front of the house. Once inside, I turn on the faucet and shove my mouth under the running water to wash all traces of the poison off it.
After a few minutes of scrubbing my tongue and removing half of my makeup in the process, I turn off the faucet and hear yelling from back in the dining room. I sigh and lean back against the wall as I dry my face and neck, content to hide in here until the fighting is over. Not two seconds later, though, the door to the bathroom opens beside me.
“Drew, can I come in?” Val asks.
“Of course,” I say. She steps inside and locks the door behind her.
Val’s eyebrows raise as she takes in my disheveled appearance and the water that has darkened the front of my knit dress. “Don’t tell me that you’re the one with the citrus allergy?”
“Nope,” I lie, committed to taking Leah’s secret with me to the grave, while being simultaneously impressed with Val’s deduction skills. “I was just choking a little, and when Delaney showed up, I figured it would become another yelling match, so I decided to just get out of there.”
