"What tricks?" Grant demanded.
Allie whistled to Gus. The dog sat in front of her. She gave two short whistles, and Gus stood at attention. She hit her thigh, and Gus followed her around the room as if he were glued to her calf. Then Allie had him sit, lie down, roll over, and fetch. Ginny and Liz applauded lightly.
"I’m impressed," Grant said, noticed his fork was still hovering in midair, and set it down.
Carter stole a bite of food off of his cousin's plate and asked Allie, "So what else are we doing on the bachelor party?"
"What bachelor party?" Grant asked.
"Fernando's," Eric said, giving Allie a thumbs-up when he tasted the drink she put in front of him.
"Not happening," Grant said.
"All of Kate's old flames in one bachelor weekend. What could go wrong?" Carter said.
"Go," Kate ordered her husband. "Brandy is driving me crazy."
"You have to be a groomsman," Allie said. "Brandy is quote 'expecting all the Holbrook boys,' end quote."
"Someone will need to inform Mark," Carter said with a laugh. "The whole weekend is going to suck since we're stuck on a boat the entire time apparently."
"You're going fishing, and you'll have nice food on the boat. Maybe you can find an island or something to disembark on."
"You planned a whole detailed weekend for your friends, and you didn't do it for mine!" he complained.
"If you want to do something besides the yacht, then you need to plan it," Allie snapped at Carter.
Nancy and Jack returned a little later. Harris came in behind them, followed by Stacy.
"Who is that?" Kate whispered to Allie as Stacy went over to Carter, her breasts bouncy in the barely there crop top.
"Carter," Stacy purred, plastering herself to him.
Harris laughed. "Isn't she great?"
Their friends looked on, bemused, as Allie pulled Stacy off of Carter and scowled at her.
"Is this your…?"
Allie could tell Grant didn't want to say the wordssugar baby. Allie seethed. She couldn't believe Stacy was here, trying to ingratiate herself into the Holbrook family.
Visibly uncomfortable, Liz grabbed Allie and announced, "We'll see you all tomorrow at the charity polo match," as she, Ginny, and Eric packed up their things and shot out of the house.
48
Carter
Breakfast the next morning was tense. Walter had arrived in the middle of the night, as shocked as everyone else to see Stacy there.
While they ate, Stacy tried playing footsie with Carter at the table. He ignored her until he felt her bare foot slide up his thigh.
Carter scooted his chair back. He couldn't believe that his family had given Allie such a hard time, and now here was Stacy, clearly being trashier than Allie had ever been, and they were all just going to pretend it was normal.
Carter and Grant helped clear the table in silence, then they all dispersed.
"Polo match this afternoon," Nancy reminded them as they left. "It's for charity. We're raising money for veterans on account of it being Memorial Day weekend. I expect all of you to be there, and dress nicely."
While Carter changed, he heard Grant shut himself away in his room.
