Grabbing her phone, she walked away from the loud ballroom and toward the entrance of the restaurant.
Janae stared at her retreating form with a weird look before taking a gulp of her own drink, reminding me of the expression she wore earlier.
“Are you alright?” I asked, unable to ignore the way she deflated once Aja walked away.
So much for minding my own business.
Tucking the same strand of hair behind her ear, she bobbed her head. “Yeah, why do you ask?”
“I could be reading into things, but it doesn’t seem like you’re happy with your job either.” Shrugging my shoulders, I watched her turn the thought over in her head.
Janae glanced toward the entrance. “I don’t want to be a corporate lawyer anymore. I’m not sure I want to be a lawyer at all. Which is crazy, right? I just graduated from law school and passed the bar. But every day I go into work, and I absolutely hate it. I hate it so much. I only agreed to this for Aja, and I’ve regretted it ever since.” Her words are rushed as if she’s scared Aja might reappear out of thin air.
Somehow, even after telling myself to stay out of the Woods’ business, I’m reaching across the booth to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Have you told anybody this?”
“I can’t, Willow. My father would never approve, and I can’t depend on our mother either to support me. If I mention anything to Aja, I’m sure she’ll convince me that I’m just having a quarter-life crisis, book us massages, and buy me a new book for my library.”
“I’m sure Parker would understand more than anyone.” After all, Parker was supposed to take over the whole company, and he left everything behind to fight fires.
“That’s too much to unpack.”
“What’s too much to unpack?” Aja said, sliding back into the booth, effectively ending the conversation.
Janae raised an eyebrow at me before turning to her sister, recovering smoothly with a lie. “The theory that Owen Hunt is the reason for every great tragedy on Grey's Anatomy.”
“Boo, you’ll be here for days if you let Janae start going on this topic.”
We chatted about our favorite medical show dramas before the waitress came back around offering dessert menus. Janae insisted the tres leches was to die for, so she ordered one for us to share. I was sure they would have to roll me out of the restaurant with how much I had eaten. The twins assured me that the only way to remedy that feeling was to go out on the dance floor.
The thought to decline crept into my mind, but their eager faces and the DJ playingEveryone Falls in Loveby Tanto Metro & Devonte had me jumping out of my seat without another thought. We must've danced for an hour before the twins decided it was time to head back to the house.
Since we had been drinking, the twins called for a car; they weren't worried about leaving theirs with the valet. Janae sent a quick text to someone and confirmed that they would pick up her car, along with our gowns, by tomorrow. The ride back to the estate was a lively one. The sorrel had loosened me up, and I was really enjoying myself. I even felt comfortable enough to trade stories with the twins about my childhood and some of the trouble Celeste and I would get into when we were kids.
Aja and Janae grew up vastly different from Celeste and me. While we were running around our neighborhood playing manhunt, they were going to retreats for young scholars. They assured me that they got into their own version of trouble, though—pranking their tutors and stealing away champagne at events. They may have grown up with more money and gone to private schools, but they still got up to the same nonsense that Celeste and I did.
It felt good to talk about her and be able to laugh. These days, I had no one to share my thoughts about her with, unless you count Dr. Beck.
We were pulling into the estate when I began telling the twins about the time Celeste dyed her hair blue with Kool-Aid and ended up accidentally dying her hands blue too. She scrubbed her hands until she finally gave up, and we started brainstorming ways to get her out of school. Iris was furious when she saw her. Apparently, she had already told Cel she couldn’t dye her hair in the first place. But she took pity on her and let her stay home for two days. On the third day, she made her go to school. Her punishment was to be a smurf for a day.
The twins laughed until tears gathered in their eyes.
When the car stopped at the front of the main house, we all hopped out. I was ready to part ways and walk to the guest house when Aja suggested having a movie night. I agreed without hesitation, feeling like this day might have healed something in me.
For the first time in a while, it felt like I was finally looking forward in the right direction.
Chapter 21
Parker
Ichecked my phone for what seemed like the tenth time since we arrived. We had only been in Oakland Ridge for six days, and I had spent most of them at my father’s side. It turns out that he wanted way more than just my attendance at the gala, and I had been roped into going with him to several meetings.
We were currently having dinner at the Oakland Ridge Winery with Mayor Danforth and his son, Bash. My father and Mayor Danforth were discussing campaign strategies ahead of the announcement he was to make at the gala in two days. Bash had stepped away to the bathroom again, and I was growing more antsy by the minute.
Danny had promised to check in by Friday night, and although it was only Saturday, the silence from him gave me a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. As soon as I left Evelyn’s room the other night, I texted him about the situation. It had been radio silent since then.
I checked my phone again and saw there were still no messages from him, only one from the twins in our group chat confirming that Evelyn was fine and they were enjoying a movie night at the pool house. My father, ever the poised professional,looked my way briefly to give me a scolding look while he continued his conversation with Mayor Danforth.
I couldn’t help but smirk at his chide glance. Bash was probably in the bathroom snorting a line of coke, and I was the one being reprimanded for checking my phone. Bash and I went to high school together and graduated the same year. As a Danforth, he was kind of a big deal around Oakland Ridge in the same way that I was. We were legacy families, but his family operated nothing like mine.
