I sigh. I so badly want to throw Katherine a perfect bachelorette party. If that means a joint party, that’s what I’m going to have to give her. I’m locked into preparations with the douche that is Hunter. Well, he owes me from last night. He’s going to have to go along with what Iwant. It has to be perfect. I addbeach bonfire,blankets, andmarshmallowsto my mental checklist. And that’s just the start.
“Then that’s what you shall have,” I say.
“I know getting a house that big for all of us will be a challenge, especially given how late it is in the season,” Katherine says. “People book Cape houses a year in advance.”
My stomach churns. I’ve made a few inquiries already. The combination of the number of us together, the need to be on the beach, and the fact that it’s a bachelorette party means no one will rent to us.
“I’ll figure it out.” I have to.
Katherine looks at me, her big doe eyes making me feel like I have her heart in my hands. “Thank you, Lucy. I have faith in you.” My mom calls her name, and she disappears into the kitchen.
I don’t know whether I believe her. People say things like “I have faith in you” to Katherine all the time. She’s the reliable one. The pretty one. The one who manages to make things work out. I’m not that sister. And although Katherine has always stuck up for me when my parents make comments about how Katherine is ... more capable, I sometimes wonder whether she really believes it. I have to repay her faith in me and get the perfect house on the beach. Maybe I need to go to the Cape to scope out a rental in person—something not listed on one of the websites.
I’ve just got to find a place.
I glance over at Hunter. He’s the first to sit at the brunch table, and then my father joins him. Hunter’s sunglasses are glued over his eyes. The sun isn’t even that bright today, and we’re underneath an awning. He’s being rude. Or he’s probably covering his swollen, red eyes after all the booze he had yesterday. Maybe I should make house hunting his problem. We’re just weeks away. We need to get something locked in. But I’ve already looked and come up short.
My dad is called inside, leaving Hunter on his own.
“Hunter,” I call. “Can I have a chat?” My voice is all singsong-y, like I don’t think he’s a dick. It’s so completely typical that I’d be paired witha man like Hunter to plan the joint party. Why couldn’t I have gotten a lucky break for once? Why couldn’t Hunter be an alpha male who will stop at nothing to make his best friend’s bachelor party a success?
He stands, shoves his hands in his pockets and rounds the table. I lead him to the edge of the grass, well away from the porch doors and anyone who might overhear us.
When we come to a stop, I pause for a second, waiting for Hunter to say something. I look at him, giving him the chance to apologize for being a sloppy, drunken mess yesterday, to thank me for getting him back to his hotel. Instead, he just stands there, silent, his eyes covered with his damn sunglasses.
“Seriously?” I ask him.
“Seriously what?”
“I don’t know, would it kill you to thank me for making sure you got back home? Or thank me for calling you a cab?”
He groans. “Oh my God. Thank yousovery much for pressing three buttons on your Uber app. Send me your Venmo, and I’ll pay you back.” Sarcasm drips from every syllable.
“I missed Ed’s speech, you asshole.”
“You’re welcome,” he responds.
“I didn’t want to miss it. I wanted to hear about how much he loves my sister and—”
“Christ on a bike, speak to Ed on any given day and he’ll tell you how much he loves Katherine. And anyway, no doubt you can go to the Instagram of any of Katherine’s friends and see it replayed from every angle.”
I narrow my eyes at him. He’s not wrong. I checked Suzy Wong’s IG this morning, and I can hear Ed’s speech perfectly through her strangled sobs. “I would like to have been there, taken in the moment. You might like to be completely blotto for all the important moments in life. But I prefer to be present.” He doesn’t need to know about Mom chastising me for being selfish.
“So you pulled me over here to tell me off?” he asks. “I consider myself spanked. Can I go back to my coffee now?” He takes a step back to the table, and I grab his shirt.
“I’m not done.”
He looks down at where I’m pulling on his shirt. “Are we going to have a full physical fight now? Like, is there a ring? Are people placing bets?”
“Sorry,” I mumble, dropping the material bunched in my hand. Why am I apologizing? “Look, you don’t like me, I don’t like you, that’s totally fine. But we have to plan this party, and we have to make it perfect. Ed and Katherine deserve nothing less.” Hell,Ideserve nothing less. If I actually manage to pull it off, Mom might cut me a break. And if I don’t? It will just be more evidence that I’m the hopeless letdown she’s always known I am.
Hunter doesn’t respond. He doesn’t move. He might have actually fallen asleep standing up.
“And?” he says eventually.
“Oh, good, you’re still awake,” I bite back. “And so we have to work together to make sure the weekend is perfect and exactly what they want. What they both deserve.”
“I’ll have my assistant reach out to you.” He turns to leave again.
