‘If that’s all right with you,’ Lydia added, digging her hands into the pockets of my denim shorts while I yanked up the straps of her dress. ‘Ma’am.’
The smallest muscles around Catherine’s eyes contracted as though she was trying to read the fine print.
‘I thought perhaps you might join me while I catch up on my correspondence this afternoon,’ she said. ‘And I’ve made a reservation at The Olde Pink House for supper.’
A dismissive snort escaped the back of Lydia’s throat, quickly turning into a cough.
‘Love that place,’ she said when Catherine gave her a death stare. ‘So trad-core.’
‘That sounds really … fun?’ I replied, panicking at the idea of missing my meeting with Wyn. ‘But I already promised Lydia that I would …’
My words faded away and I stared at my friend. What had I promised her? Thankfully, at least one of us was prepared.
‘This is all my fault,’ Lydia said, drowning every word in sincerity. ‘I was so hoping to introduce Emily to some of my friends in the Junior League. Do you think I might be able to steal her away for just an hour or so?’
‘You aren’t old enough to be a member of the Junior League,’ Catherine countered and Lydia gave a loud, disappointed sigh.
‘Not yet, gosh darn it. But I still try to help out with their projects when I can. You’re never too young to take an interest in your community, isn’t that right, Em?’
‘Oh, yes,’ I agreed, nodding so hard I was surprised my head didn’t snap off my shoulders. ‘It’s something I’m very passionate about. Community.’
The lies rolled off Lydia’s tongue like water off a duck’s back but I couldn’t have looked guiltier if I’d tried. Catherine zeroed in on me, hooking one arm of her sunglasses over her bottom lip as she focused her gaze.
‘Very well,’ she said and I almost passed out from the shock. ‘Emily, I shall expect you home and ready for supper by six p.m. sharp. I would very much like to discuss everything that willbe comingup in the next few weeks.’
‘Oh.Oh,’ I replied, realizing what she meant right as Lydia bundled me out the door. ‘Yes, sure, totally. I’ll be ready.’
‘And if it’s at all possible,’ Catherine called as we sprinted through the front garden and hurtled out the gate, ‘it would be wonderful to see you wearing your own clothes.’
‘Two questions,’ I panted as we looped around the block then back across Lafayette Square to meet Wyn. ‘What is a Junior League and what is The Olde Pink House?’
‘The Junior League is a delightful organization for delightful young ladies who volunteer to do delightful things for the community,’ Lydia replied before forcing herself to gag. ‘And The Olde Pink House is a restaurant. It’s old, it’s pink, grandmothers love it. Personally, I think it’s a total tourist trap but don’t sleep on the jalapeño poppers. Also, just so Miss Catherine knows, that is one of my coolest outfits. This dress is vintage, it’s almost as old as her.’
‘I thought you said it was from Target,’ I said, pulling the tiny tank down over my hips.
‘VintageTarget. And Em, don’t worry about your dad’s password. We’ll figure it out eventually.’
I wished I could be as certain as she was. We’d tried a million different things, only giving up the search when we had to leave or be late. At least my dad had the presence of mind not to put a limit on the number of password attempts, but I suspected that had more to do with him regularly forgetting it himself than the vague possibility of me, lying on his old bedroom floor in Savannah, trying to hack into the computer myself.
But when it came to my list of things to worry about, my dad’s laptop wasn’t even in the top five. Right now, my priority was very clear. Across the street, I saw Wyn and Wyn saw me, and I had to hold my breath just to stop another rainbow from flashing across the sky.
‘Wow, that’s him?’ Lydia whistled as we crossed into the square. ‘No wonder you’re in love. Is he even human?’
‘God, I hope so,’ I murmured. He really was almost too beautiful. Without warning, Lydia marched straight up to him and punched him hard in the shoulder.
‘Hi, I’m Lydia Powell, Emily’s friend,’ she said with a killer smile. ‘Nice to meet you. If you hurt my girl, I’ll ruin your life in ways you can’t even imagine. Break her heart and they’ll never find your body.’
‘Hi,’ Wyn replied, looking from me to Lydia and back again with genuine and completely justified fear in his eyes. ‘I want to say it’s nice to meet you because I was raised right but to tell you the truth, that was terrifying.’
She gave the pair of us a thumbs-up. ‘Correct response. Stay scared, my friend. Now y’all have fun. Em, I’ll talk to you later?’
‘She’s only joking,’ I told him as she jogged off across thesquare, definitely not on her way to volunteer with the Junior League and definitely not joking.
‘As threats go, it felt legit,’ Wyn replied. ‘But she doesn’t have anything to worry about.’ He held out his hand, I took it in mine and the branches of our oak tree shimmied with happiness. ‘What’s the plan for today?’
I gave him a look of disappointment. ‘Do you even need to ask?’
‘No, but I was being polite,’ he answered with a grin. ‘Leopold’s it is.’
