“When I heard that Ryan had a date I knew I’d have to see you with my own eyes to believe it,” she says. “I’m Alicia.”
“Sloane.” I take her hand. My stomach does something strange, nerves and excitement and dread all tangled together. There is absolutely no reason for me to feel like I’m being evaluated as potential daughter-in-law material, and yet…here we are.
Alicia dips her chin. “I’m sure Ryan’s filled you in on this story,” she says, casting an eye toward the arbor where the ceremony is supposed to happen. “I love my nephew, but I have to tell you I’m beyond relieved it’s him and not my son waiting at the end of the aisle today.”
“Mom,” Ryan says, warning thick in his tone.
She waves him off and leans in a little further. “I thought she was a phony the minute I laid eyes on her. I’m a good read of people.” Then she pauses and looks at me. Likereallylooks. “But I like the looks of you.”
My eyebrows shoot up. Well then.
She turns to Ryan and gives a little approving nod. “Glad to see you’re putting yourself out there again, sweetheart.” Then to both of us, she says, “I’d go check on your Aunt Noreen. Thedress she bought is at least two sizes too small. It took nearly the whole Clancy family to cram her into it.”
“Good luck,” I say.
Alicia huffs a laugh and heads off.
I turn to Ryan, who’s shaking his head. “And that’s…my mom.”
“She seems great, actually,” I say, and I mean it. She’s a lot, but she’s honest. And warm.
The music cuts out, replaced by the minister’s voice over the microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’ll invite you to take your seats. The ceremony will begin momentarily.”
We find a seat six rows back on the groom’s side, just behind an uncomfortable-looking aunt Nora and her adult children.
I smooth my dress, inhale, and try to remember the role I agreed to play.
Except nothing about this feels like a role anymore.
Ryan is an attentive date. Good social graces. Genuine.
And that suit…suits him perfectly. I can’t let my mind wander to where it’s trying to tug me. To a place where this is a real date. And that kiss I know he planted on me for the sake of Calista’s mother still feels like electric remnants on my neck.
I need water.
I excuse myself to the bar, where two guys are discussing the merits of the best place to fly fish in Montana, and I give the bartender a light wave. I order a water and take two long gulps.
And probably out of habit, I open the phone Ryan gave me and tap on the email app to see if Kerry-Anne has messaged. My stomach bottoms out when I see the first email in my inbox, and without thinking, I tap on it.
If I don’t hear back from you in the next twenty-four hours,Sloane, dear, the message reads,I’m calling the police.
I feel heat rise to my face. Surely Kerry-Anne’s let everyone know I’m fine. I read on.
That necklace is worth over a hundred thousand dollars. This is theft.
I let out a mixture of a laugh and a choking noise.
Of course Vivienne knows very well I’m no thief. But she can’t resist. And I have no doubt in my mind that she’ll follow through on this threat. I check the time of the email. It came through this morning, likely while she sat at her dining room table where she likes to carry out her correspondence over a cortado prepared for her by Elise, one of her housekeeping team.
I take a deep breath before responding.I’ll get it back to you next week, I type, then pause. As much as the necklace feels like a leash around my neck, it was a gift. And the only person I’ll discuss its return with is Jack.
I tap the phone to delete the email, relief washing over me at the light defiance I’ve just executed. Only days before, the idea of pushing back even lightly against Jack’s mother would have felt like a tactical error that I’d never recover from. Now it’s a thrill.
I slide my phone into the purse from Dandelion and note what a quality product the bag is. No obnoxious brand name logo, no “premium” leather or stitching that apparently justifies the outrageous price—just a nice purse that does what it needs to do: hold my phone hostage while I turn my attention back to the reason I’m here today.
Ryan.
I reenter the party just as a voice comes over the speakers, requesting that any guest who hasn’t taken their seat do so now. The ceremony is about to begin.
