Something changed in his eyes then, a subtle darkening that made his expression unreadable. She wished she hadn’t said it, or that she could explain that she didn’t include him in that statement. That he was the only bright spot in any of this, but before she could open her mouth, he replied, “You can’t do this on your own.”
She let out a bitter laugh. “There you go with that brute honesty again.”
“I’m not trying to be cruel,” he said, his voice stern as he stepped forward to tower over her, one arm braced above her on the car, caging her in. “But this is too big.”
“I’ve got it,” she seethed. She was suddenly desperate to leave, to avoid the look in his eyes that was so dangerously close to pity she wanted to scream.
“There’s probably more that you don’t know, and—”
“I said I’ve got it.”
“—you can’t expect Tristan to—”
“I don’t need you to solve my problems for me, Will!” she yelled. He stilled, watching her carefully as she took a deep breath, a feeble attempt to get her emotions back in check. “I don’t want your help. Or your pity. I need you to let me go. Just… let me go.”
A moment. Then, slowly, he lifted his hand from the car door and took a step back.
“Then I won’t keep you.”
She avoided his gaze as she climbed into the driver’s seat and fumbled with the keys. When the engine finally roared to life, she pretended to check the gauges, buying herself another precious moment before she looked up at him again.
He was staring at her, his expression stern and cold. “Goodbye, Elizabeth.”
She waited a beat, wanting to say something, anything to fix this. But nothing came.
“Bye, Will,” she finally replied. It was all she could manage.
And then she shut the door and put the truck into gear, making the full loop of the drive around the front of the house before turning onto the gravel road. She hadn’t even had the courage to look back. She hadn’t even waved.
Lizzy squeezed her eyes shut, forcing the memory into the back of her mind. She couldn’t let herself wallow right now. She had to focus.
“All right,” she said, opening her eyes again to look at her remaining sisters. “We have to trust that Dad will get Mary out on bail. And if Tristan is pressing charges, the next step is finding an attorney. I know Marv passed the bar, but I think we need someone with actual experience in a courtroom. Jane, can you make some calls? And Lydia, can you calm Mom down and get her home? Kitty, you and I can man the bakery until Dad gets back, and then…” She looked up to find her sisters staring at her. “What?”
“There’s something else,” Jane said. Her voice had taken on an even softer tone, as if the real crux of this mess hadn’t been reached yet.
Oh God. “Do I want to ask?”
“Tristan quit HamptonFest and now it’s not happening!” Kitty blurted out. She turned her phone to show Lizzy her screen. “It’s all over theEast Hampton Gazette. New YorkMagazine even picked it up!”
“And DeuxMoi,” Lydia said. “Word is they called Leo for a comment.”
“But HamptonFest is Hank’s idea. He doesn’t need Tristan.”
Jane winced. “No, but he paid a huge portion of the HamptonFest budget to Tristan. Part of it was a nonrefundable retainer fee. He was supposed to secure those permits, help line up talent… but apparently he hasn’t actually delivered anything yet. Then hequit this morning, claiming hostile work environment. So now there’s no money, no permits…”
Lizzy groaned. “And no HamptonFest.”
Of course Tristan quit. This entire debacle probably gave him the perfect excuse to keep his paycheck, even though he hadn’t done anything to earn it. Echoes of Will’s voicemail came back to her about how Tristan had spun lie after lie to manipulate a small fortune from his father.
Lydia shook her head. “Asshole.”
“I thought you said he was hot?” Kitty said skeptically.
“What, you think that’s enough to get me to run off and marry the guy or something?” Lydia rolled her eyes. “Just because I think he’s hot doesn’t mean I can’t also acknowledge that he’s a dick. Look at how he treated Lizzy.”
“Can we all focus, please?” Lizzy said, looking around the room.
“Focus on what?” Kitty said. “The fact that Mary is facing felony charges or the fact that Hank blames her for the collapse of HamptonFest and now everyone in town is boycotting the bakery?”
