But for some reason they were all still there, all looking hopeful, all completely enamored by the bachelorette.
“At least she’s hot,” Louise went on. “Like smoking hot. And yes, sure, she really messed up, but honestly I’m willing to look right past that. I’m sure the other girls are too. After all, itisreality TV, and she was just doing what she needed to do to get the final lei.”
But Birdie was barely listening now. All she could think about was that damn lavender ceremony. She had always been able to follow her gut, just like last summer when a teenager in a neon green crop top and cuffed jeans had wandered into her bookstore. She had smiled at Birdie, who was standing behind the counter at the time, and then proceeded to steal a copy ofNaughty Nights in Nantucketfrom the romance aisle as soon as Birdie’s back had been turned.
Her gut had told her the teenager was trouble. She should’ve watched her closely. Just like her gut now was practically screaming that she shouldn’t bother unpacking.
But no, Birdie sure as hell wasn’t about to go out with a whimper and a free airport shuttle back to Portland. No way. If Alexis wanted to villain her, then fine, but Birdie was going to march over there and at least say something to her first before she was ceremoniously erased from both Alexis’s memory and national television.
“I’ll be right back,” Birdie said, already stepping past Louise.
She marched across the solarium, weaving in between servers in formal attire carrying trays of tiny canapes, smoky lamb skewers, bite-sized goat cheese tarts, and delicate phyllo cups stuffed with mushroom duxelles. Harper noticed her first. She flashed a smile but said nothing. Birdie took that as a sign of competition. And not the healthy kind.
Birdie cleared her throat.
Alexis turned slowly, like she was somehow moving in slow motion. And when she finally faced Birdie, her expression was icy cold. “Birdie,” she said. It appeared as if she was definitely forcing a smile onto her lips. “What can I do for you?”
Birdie didn’t like her tone. Not one bit. But that didn’t deter her. It only made her more adamant to see this through. “Can I steal you for a moment?”
Both Harper’s and Kinley’s smiles faltered. Kinley’s grip tightened slightly on her glass as if she was thinking about throwing it, and Harper’s brow furrowed so sharply it could cut steel.
But Birdie ignored them and kept her eyes on Alexis. She studied her face for any microexpressions that would confirm what Birdie thought—that she was going home tonight. Unfortunately, there were plenty. In fact, they couldn’t exactly be called microexpressions because they were big and clear. Alexis didn’t want Birdie there, and that was that.
“Sure,” Alexis said, still smiling. Though there was nothing friendly about the smile. Actually, it gave Birdie goosebumps. “I’ll see you ladies in a bit.” She turned to Harper and Kinley and stepped back.Both Kinley and Harper looked at Birdie like they wouldn’t blink an eye if she dropped dead in front of them.
Alexis led Birdie to a secluded corner of the solarium, where a giant monstera plant sprawled across a low terracotta planter. Its leaves were so wide they brushed against her arms.
The other contestants were watching. Birdie had expected that, but it still made her skin prickle. Not that it stopped her from talking.
“Back at the introductions, why did you act like you didn’t know me?” Birdie asked. It wasn’t the first question on her mind, not by a mile, but it tripped out of her mouth first. “Why not just acknowledge it?”
The warning in Alexis’s eyes made her lower her voice. Birdie was glad they weren’t wearing mics and that the cameras were directed at Bianca with the long legs over by the champagne tower. But then again, how bad would it actually be if everyone else found out?
“Fine,” she said, softer this time. “I know you’re going to send me home tonight.”
“And how do you know that?” Alexis’s words were like fire. Birdie could feel the heat of them on her face, singeing the tiny hairs on her upper lip.
“I’m not an idiot,” Birdie replied. And she wasn’t. She was just a hopeless romantic. But maybe that was the same thing. “Clearly, it would be easier for you if I were gone. Especially with this whole redemption thing you’ve got going on.”
Alexis arched one brow but said nothing. Not that she needed to. Birdie was on a roll, and there was no stopping her. “I get it,” she said. “You want to pretend that Portland never happened. You want to erase me completely. But I don’t want to go home. I came here for a reason, and that is to find love.”
“That’s the point,” Alexis muttered. “You won’t find love with me.”
For some reason, Birdie knew that to be true, but still, she didn’t want to go home just yet. Never in her life had she done something so out of her comfort zone, so wildly un-Birdie. Sure, she’d opened her own bookstore at the tender age of twenty-five, but her parents had fronted the down payment. And yes, she’d backpacked across Indonesia, but that was a summer fling with adventure, not a leap into the unknown. She’d never been to Europe before, never stepped onto a TV set that felt surreal, and never participated in anything so fabricated. If she wasn’t going to get love, she at least wanted the experience.
“Just give me a chance,” Birdie said, her voice breaking softer than she meant. “You owe me that.”
“I don’t owe—” But Alexis was cut off.
Vivian appeared out of nowhere. Literally. It felt like she’d stepped through a trapdoor in the ground. “It seems a little rude to have the two of you whispering so secretively here. Anything I should know about?”
“Nothing,” Alexis said firmly without so much as a waver in her voice. “Birdie was actually just informing me that the zipper on my dress wasn’t completely up.”
Vivian’s gaze flicked between them. She was suspicious, but Alexis was already patting the zipper at her side as if to prove a point.
“Well, if that’s all,” Vivian said finally. “Best you two join the rest of the party.” She smiled, her teeth a little too white and polished in Birdie’s opinion, and added, “The lavender ceremony will start soon, and the bachelorette needs to mingle withallthe contestants.”
Birdie nodded and was just about to turn to Alexis to read her face for even the smallest sign she was allowed to stay, but Alexis had already walked away.
