Audrey patted my knee and made her escape.
Smart woman. I hoped she got what she wanted out of Corey’s dad.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” Mrs. Hargrave said, which sent another shiver down my spine that curled up in my stomach and squirmed restlessly.
I didn’t like this atall.
“Theo’s always been so difficult,” she continued before I could wonder what she was sorry for.
Right. Audreywasn’tthe only one who’d heard, after all.
“And you’ve always been so good and loyal to him. You deserve better.”
Ah. That was the angle, then.
I straightened up for a second time, feeling defensive of Theo again. Okay, he’d hurt me. I wasn’t used to him doing that.
He was still my best friend. I still loved him with all my heart.
I drew a breath to speak, but Mrs. Hargrave’s hand landing on my knee stopped me in my tracks.
“Don’t you worry about a thing,” she said, squeezing more firmly than I would have given her credit for. “We’ll find someone else to be Corey’s best man.”
What?
“You must feel so out of your depth here, this really isn’t your world or your kind of people. Should I send someone to get your things? I’m sure Cameron?—”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said as I realized where she was going with this.
The look on her face was almost worth the sick misery twisting in my gut over the fight with Theo.
I laughed. It sounded hollow to me, but Theo’s mom didn’t know me well enough to know that, judging by the way her brows rose another notch.
“Do you think I’ve been hanging out with Theo for over a decade without knowing exactly what he’s like?”
She didn’t need to know this was new for us. She didn’t need to know how hurt I was.
Because Iwason Theo’s side. Always.
“Mrs. Hargrave,” I said in my gentlest voice, putting my hand on her knee in turn. “It’s so nice of you to worry about me, but youdon’t need to. I’m fine, and I’m not abandoning Theo. I’m just giving him a minute to cool off.”
My misery started to lift as I watched six out of seven stages of grief pass over her face in rapid succession. Acceptance was probably too much to ask.
“Oh,” she said as acceptance began to dawn over her features. “Well. In that case, you’re running late for a fitting.”
“Fitting?” I asked. What fitting?
“For your best man’s suit.”
12
THEO
“Have you seen Simon?”I asked at Madelaine’s elbow.
In the low light of the bar Mom had booked out for a wedding party cocktail evening—to be followed by dinner—I could barely see my own hands. I knew Simon had arrived after me, along with Corey. I’d seen him come through the door, even, in the same navy suit and white shirt he’d worn last night, this time with just the collar unbuttoned and a navy-patterned silk scarf with a rust-colored border tucked into it.
It was pitch-perfect for the event, which meant it had to be Corey’s doing.
