‘It happened to all of you,’ Floss pointed out. ‘You two didn’t sneak around behind her back or anything. You were all victims in this.’
‘I guess,’ she conceded.
‘Right, if everyone’s happy with it, I’m off to get this circulated,’ Floss said, picking up her laptop.
‘Thanks, sis,’ Ewan said, hugging her.
‘No one threatens my family,’ she said lightly, but Kenzie detected the steely edge beneath her words and made a mental note never to get on Floss’s bad side.
‘Thank you,’ Kenzie said, standing to hug her as well.
‘I think that should do the trick,’ Ewan said, turning to face her after his sister left.
‘I hope so,’ Kenzie said. The worry over her business and future clientele still weighed heavily on her mind.
‘If it doesn’t, I promise, we’ll deal with it together,’ he said, stepping forward to hug her tightly. His warmth seeped into her body, giving her a renewed determination, and for the first time in a long while, Kenzie felt like maybe she didn’t have to fight so hard on her own.
‘Was that Floss?’ Vera asked, walking in and taking in their closeness. A small smile touched her lips.
‘Yeah, she was just showing us the article she put up,’ Ewan said without releasing Kenzie. Clearly, this was his way of announcing their budding new relationship.
‘Well, if anyone can fight fire with fire, it’s Floss,’ she said. ‘I’m on my way out to View Club, I’ll be back after lunch,’ she announced, heading out the door.
‘Does your mother ever stop?’ She’d been frequently heading out to one meeting or another throughout their visit.
‘Put it this way: I’ve never seen her sit down and watch an entire movie. I was thinking we could do something today?’
Kenzie’s phone rang and she reluctantly picked it up, groaning when she saw the name on the screen.
‘It’s Mercedes,’ she said, nausea rising up inside her. ‘I’m going to have to take this.’
‘Sure,’ Ewan said, taking a step back.
‘Sorry,’ she said.
‘It’s okay, Kenzie. Take the call.’
‘Mercedes. Hi.’
‘Kenzie. I’ve just had a phone call from Sasha Delsanto.’
Oh God, no.It was happening. This was her worst nightmare.
‘Our parents belong to the same yacht club,’ Mercedes continued. ‘She had a lot of things to say about you.’
‘Mercedes, I can assure you, the whole incident isn’t the scandal that it’s being made out to be.’
‘Oh, I know that,’ Mercedes said airily. Kenzie could just picture her perfectly manicured nails and fingers adorned with sparkling diamonds waving about. ‘I read the paper earlier.I was just calling you to let you know she’s trying to recruit support to get your business blacklisted.’
Kenzie felt the blood drain from her face, leaving her a little light-headed.
‘Of course, I told her I wasn’t going to give up the most sought-after wedding planner in town,’ Mercedes continued idly. ‘I did wish her luck finding one half as good, though I suppose she doesn’t need a wedding planner anymore,’ she added.
Kenzie went silent. That was not what she’d been expecting to hear. ‘Uh … thank you? I … thanks,’ she stammered, then closed her eyes.Way to sound like a professional.
‘I can’tstandSasha,’ Mercedes continued, apparently oblivious to Kenzie’s floundering. ‘She’s always trying to crash my parties and copy my content. She tries so hard to be some kind of high-end influencer, but she has no following.’ She managed to sound bored and scathing at the same time. ‘I heard she’d been going around telling everyone that she only wanted you becauseIhad you.Sotacky. Anyway, just wanted to let you know. I’ve shared your article on my socials as well. Sasha won’t be finding much support. No one can stand her.’
‘Well … thank you, Mercedes.’
