“What about his mom?”
“Honestly, at first, I thought Carolina was basically the female version of August. Cold, bristly, and detached,” I said. “But she warmed to me a lot once Julian and I told her that we’d settled on Valcourt Manor for the wedding venue,” I said. “She was over the moon that we chose their home over all the other options, and she alsolovesevent planning, so she’s been really helpful. Handled practically everything, except the stuff Julian and I really wanted to have input on.”
“So not a total monster-in-law, then,” Ginny said.
I laughed and shook my head. “No. Although she’s definitely a spam monster right now. She’s sent me around a thousand texts about the wedding planning over the last few weeks, and she’s even had notes hand-delivered to me in the middle of classes when she knew I wouldn’t be looking at my phone,” I said. “It’s fine, though. I know it’s just because she cares, and she wants everything to go off without a hitch tomorrow.”
“Well, on that note…” Jeremiah glanced at his watch. “We should probably wrap things up here. You don’t want to drink too much and oversleep tomorrow.”
I grinned. “It’s okay. Evening ceremony, remember? So we can sleep until lunchtime if we really want to,” I said. “So if everyone wants another round, it’s cool with me.”
Ginny let out a dreamy sigh. “Evening weddings are so impossibly chic,” she said. “I have no idea why. But they totallyare,right?”
I nodded. “I think so too.”
“Plus, like you said, it means we can get more drinks now and sleep in tomorrow,” she went on. “Although… I guess you don’t want to be hungover on your wedding day, do you?”
“Good point,” I said, nodding slowly. “Maybe weshouldwrap things up now, just in case.”
Dylan nodded and leaned back in his seat, raising a hand to summon the nearest waiter. “I’ll grab the check.”
When it arrived, it was accompanied by a letter in a cream envelope. “I was asked to deliver this to you, Ms. Calloway,” the waiter said, handing it directly to me.
Jeremiah leaned forward, brows furrowing. “What is that?”
I shrugged and stuffed it in my purse before I rummaged through it for cash. “Not sure, but I’m willing to bet it’s yet another note from Carolina with some last-minute questions about the wedding,” I said. “I’ll look at it soon. Right now, I need the bathroom.”
“Me too,” Ginny added, throwing some cash down on the table.
Once we were done, we met Jeremiah and Dylan by the door, and the four of us hugged goodbye. None of the others lived on campus now that they were post-grad, so Jeremiah and Dylan had caught an Uber here from their house on the other side of Blackthorne Harbor, and Ginny had taken the nearby shuttle bus that stopped directly in front of her apartment on Main Street. They were all returning home the same way.
As for me, I still had my dorm on the east side of campus, which was only a fifteen-minute walk from The Cove.
I set off, hands in my jacket pockets, breath misting in the cool night air. September had arrived with a bite, the warmth of summer finally giving way to an autumn chill.
A year ago, I would've been too nervous to walk alone across campus at night, given everything that'd been going on in my life back then. Now, I felt totally safe. No one was after me, and on top of that, I knew Julian would never let anything happen to me.
The path wound past darkened academic buildings and through the western quad, where the St. Dionysius statue stood watch like it had for over two hundred years. I paused for a moment, looking up at it. The bronze was dark against the nightsky, but the campus lights caught the weathered features of the saint's face.
My phone suddenly buzzed in my purse. I pulled it out to see a text from Julian.Still out with the crew?
I tapped out a quick reply.Just finished. Almost back at my dorm. I’ll let you know once I’m there.
Julian:Good. Can't wait to see you tomorrow ;)
Me:Me too.
I slipped my phone back in my bag, and my fingers brushed against the envelope.
Right.Carolina's note.
I sighed and pulled it out, feeling guilty for ignoring it. She'd been so helpful with the wedding planning, and here I was putting off reading her questions because I was slightly buzzed and wanted to get back to my dorm to watch some trash TV so I could take my mind off all the pressure.
I stopped under a light and tore open the envelope. The note inside wasn't from Carolina after all. The handwriting was Julian's. Bold, confident strokes in black ink.
10 PM. Artemis Building.
I blinked, reading it again. That was it. Just those four words.
