“Clara Belle!” Avalee gushed, rushing forward on, yep, heels that could have pierced through a rhino’s hide straight to its heart. “Oh my gosh, it’s really you!”
I winced as she rushed toward me. I was sure she was going to slip on the gleaming marble and crack open her skull.
“Did you see? Did you hear the good news?” Lifting her left hand, she kept rushing my way until her fist was half a foot from my face.
Given the size of the diamond projecting from her finger, I stepped back so as not to get stabbed in the cornea. “Congratulations, Avalee. That’s so great.”
I took hold of her hand and studied the ring long enough to mollify her. It really was a nice ring, sparkling like a disco ball and large as a quail egg, but I couldn’t imagine going about a person’s daily business while wearing it twenty-four hours a day. If it wasn’t snagging sweaters, it would be scratching kids’ faces.
“I know, right? I can’t believe it finally happened to me too!” She lifted her eyes to the ceiling like she’d been waiting eons to get engaged at the ripe old age of twenty-one. Down here, that might have held some truth.
“Avalee’s engaged. I’m getting married. When’s it going to be Clara Belle’s turn?” A different voice filled the foyer, spoken in a tone that seemed intent on rubbing my face in all of my mistakes.
“Hey, Charlotte. How are you?” I dropped Avalee’s hand and angled my body in Charlotte’s direction.
She was leaning against the doorway leading from the living room, arms and ankles crossed, bestowing a look upon me that made me wonder why I’d been invited to this thing in the first place.
“I’m about to marry Ford McBride. I’m doing fabulous,” she replied, a smile slipping into place.
I gave myself a moment to clear my head before replying. I wasn’t getting into this with her again. Ford McBride wasn’t worth fighting over. Ever again. “Cold feet?”
She stuck out her foot, a pink suede heel adorning it. “Toasty warm.”
“Must mean it’s meant to be then. You found your soul mate.”
Charlotte watched me for a moment, searching for anything that might give away that my words were anything less than genuine. She wasn’t going to find anything though, no matter how hard she looked, because I’d gotten over Ford so long ago, I couldn’t even remember what I’d seen in him at the time.
“Speaking of soul mates,” she said, shoving off the doorway and coming in our direction, “where is this new guy of yours?” She looked over my shoulders before scanning the foyer. “He isn’t the imaginary kind, is he?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. Charlotte knew how to push me—she always had, and it had only gotten worse since she’d stolen my boyfriend. “He’s upstairs. Probably passed out asleep by now.” My gaze wandered up the stairs. No Boone in sight. Thank god, because I could barely manage this Abbot Estrogen Reunion on its own, sans bad boy from my past. “You’ll all get a chance to meet him tomorrow morning.”
“What’s his name?” Avalee asked, clapping in fairy-like excitement.
I shrugged. “His Name.”
She shoved at my arm, smiling like I’d just made a joke. I hadn’t meant to, but I’d take it if that’s what they wanted to think.
“Tell us something about him,” Mom piped back into the conversation now that we’d moved on to the topic of my beau. “When we found out you’d be bringing your boyfriend along, I can’t tell you how excited we all were. Your father and I . . . well, we’ve waited for this day for a long time.”
“Me to bring a boy home?” I asked, confused.
“You to finally get serious and settle down.” Mom’s continued smile was starting to creep me out. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a serious Botox job was responsible for the smile that redefined creepy.
“Who says I’m settling down and getting serious?” My eyes crept up the stairs again, wishing I could escape before answering any more questions.
“You do, silly girl,” Mom circled her hand in the direction of my face. “It’s that look on your face right now, and that sound in your voice. I haven’t seen you like this with anyone since . . .” She caught herself not a word too soon. Clasping her hands in front of her, she turned to my sisters like she was looking for a little help.
Avalee and Charlotte looked as surprised by Mom’s near blunder as I was. After Boone’s and my fallout, speaking his name had been like high treason within these walls. Even speaking of him had been a crime. I’d thought with all of the time that had gone by, paired with no shortage of other drama and debacles, Boone and what had happened would seem like old, tired news. Clearly not.
Avalee was just stepping forward to give me what looked like another hug—she was the “hugger” in the family—when someone else stepped into the foyer. Someone I hadn’t seen in years and someone, had he not been marrying my little sister, I would have wished to avoid for another fifty.
“Clara Belle.” Ford cracked a smile and leaned into the same doorway his wife-to-be just had. “I like your hair.”
Mom’s and Charlotte’s eyes lifted to the ceiling at the same time in the exact same way. Creepy phenomenon number two on this trip home—middle sister was becoming a clone of our mother.
“Hey, Ford.” My eyes fell to the ground for a moment under the pressure of his unwavering stare. I made them realign with his. I wouldn’t let him make me feel small and inconsequential again. “Congratulations. You know, since I haven’t gotten a chance to tell you yet. It’s really great you and Charlotte are getting married.”
Tension pressed into the room. Everyone knew what had happened between Ford and two Abbott sisters, and no one wanted to bring it up and call bullshit bullshit. We Abbotts preferred making nice and turning the blind eye—if only when it came to others of our “kind,” because the opposite was the way Boone had been treated.
Ford nodded a few times, not seeming to blink as he watched me. “How’s California treating you?”
I raised a shoulder. I didn’t want them to know how great it was or how much I loved my life out there for fear of them moving and ruining the good thing I had going. “Good. How’s South Carolina treating you?”
Ford’s smile went higher on one side. High enough that his dimple set into his cheek. “Good,” he answered, mirroring my nonchalant tone. “How’s that little business of yours coming along? Throw in the towel yet? Opening a business is always more work than people figure, and a good half of them fail in the end anyway.”
A hand slid up to my hip. What I’d ever seen in the elitist, conceited Ford McBride was lost to me now, but there must have been something redeeming in him at one time. Something more redeeming than his good looks and healthy trust fund.
“Not too bad.” Too much coolness in my voice. Back off, Clara. Don’t let them get to you on your first night. You’re a wall. The Great Wall of Clara. They can’t move you, no matter what kind of blows they hit you with.
“If you ever need any consulting or expertise when it comes to running a business, I’d be happy to—”
“I’m sure Clara Belle can manage just fine on her own,” Charlotte cut in, marching toward Ford like he were being fondled by a house of horny sorority sisters.
“Yes, Clara can and has managed just fine on her own. But thanks.”
I didn’t know why I still tried. Clearly no one in my family would ever respect my wish to be called Clara instead of Clara Belle. Yes, that might have been the name on my birth certificate, but by my estimation, it was one name too many. Clara was my name in California, though I doubted it would ever be so here. Only one person down here had ever called me Clara.
“The first year is the hardest, you know, Clara Belle, when businesses either make or break themselves,” Ford powered on, ignoring his fiancée’s attempts to distract him from the topic or, more accurately, me.
Charlotte had wound up with the man, but for some reason, I got the feeling she felt like we were still fighting for him. I hadn’t even fo
ught for him when I first found out about them, so it was a one-sided match on her part.
“This is my third year, and believe me, I’m doing just fine. Thank you again though.” I felt my jaw tightening, so I worked it as loose as I could get it. The business I’d opened back in California had been the object of ridicule, scrutiny, and contempt in my family and those twined to it. To say their attitude wore thin on my patience would have been a tender way of putting it.
“You never were one for asking for help, Clara Belle.” Ford gave me a look, something meaningful in his eyes he was waiting for me to pick up on.
I pretended to ignore it while Charlotte attempted to wrestle his attention away from me with her roving hands and her body pressed against him.
“Maybe that’s because asking for help wouldn’t have done any good. Maybe it’s because there’s only helping yourself in this family—in this world,” I corrected when I heard my mom inhale, like I’d just slapped her across the cheek. I wasn’t saying anything that was intended maliciously, but I was voicing what we all knew to be the truth.
Ford twisted a quarter turn, freeing himself some from Charlotte’s hold. “God, you look great. Different, but great. You’ve come into your own, Clara Belle. Good for you.”
Charlotte’s hand stopped rubbing his shoulder.
I crossed my arms and moved a few steps to the side so I wasn’t directly in front of him. I wasn’t sure if he was intentionally fucking with me to get a response out of me or if he was being as genuine as Ford McBride was capable, but he was making me uncomfortable. Especially given our history. Especially given he was marrying my sister in five days.
It was Avalee who cleared the air, and just in time from the look on Charlotte’s face. I couldn’t tell who she wanted to water-board first: Ford or me.
“Come on, Clara Belle, who is your guy? I can’t take all of the suspense because Mom’s right, this one’s different. This one means something to you.” Avalee paused for a moment before waving dismissively at Ford. “No offense to you, Ford. Sorry.”
Ford’s clear blue eyes were narrowed some. “Plenty taken. Thanks though, Avalee. Besides, I could never make Clara Belle happy in the way she wanted to be. I knew that before I asked her out on our first date. I could try, but I could never try hard enough. She wasn’t meant for me.”
The room got quiet. Quieter. Inside, I felt closer to exploding though. Why was he talking like he hadn’t been cheating on me with my sister? Why did he get to stand there and pretend I’d broken his heart instead of the other way around? Why was everyone in this room content to go along with that and continue to play oblivious to the fact that Ford was marrying my sister after fucking her behind my back?
There was so much bullshit filling the air, I was, for once, thankful I couldn’t breathe down here.
“That’s because I was meant for you, Ford.” Charlotte put herself directly in front of him again, pawing his chest like a deranged kitten. After a few more seconds, she finally got his attention.
“Lucky me, sugar,” he cooed and kissed the tip of her nose as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
Charlotte’s eyes closed as she exhaled like she was relieved or something. Watching all of this Ford push-Charlotte pull made me sad. Genuinely sad. I’d been wanting to talk to my sister about Ford for years and find out why she seemed to be under the impression he was a deity wrapped up in mortal flesh, because I knew for a fact he wasn’t. Charlotte and I might have had our differences, and she might have done everything to make my life harder than it needed to be, but that didn’t erase the fact that I loved her and wanted the best for her.
The man she was about to marry did not fall into that category. Or anywhere close to it.
“So come on and spill it already. No more distractions.” Avalee fired a warning look at Ford and Charlotte, who were kissing a bit too feverishly and loudly up against that doorway.
I did the mom thing and did my best to pretend it wasn’t happening.
“Who is he? Who’s this guy who’s got you all riled up?” Avalee waved at me like I was proving her riled-up point right now.
“You can meet him tomorrow.” I crossed my arms tighter, moving toward the staircase. Enough family reunion time for one lifetime. Time to retire.
“Come on, quit being so darn mysterious. Give us something to get us by until morning. “Avalee propped a hand on her hip and tapped her foot. “Tell us what he does.”
“Why does that matter?”
“Because it always matters, Clara Belle.” My mom had resurfaced from her delirium now that we were talking about the man she was probably already scheming how to get me married off to, at least until she learned who it really was. She stepped up beside Avalee and adjusted her long hair held back by a couple of clips.
I didn’t know I’d rolled my eyes until they had already made their revolution. Mom didn’t miss it either.
“I bet he’s a movie producer, or maybe one of those indie rock singers from LA.” Avalee clapped a few times.
Meanwhile, Charlotte detached herself from Ford long enough to glare at her sisters like we were a couple of imbeciles. It had been a long time since I’d gotten that look from Charlotte. It had come with such frequency growing up, I’d kind of missed it.
“He’s probably one of those surfer bums whose address is the beach and gets around on the bus,” Charlotte added.
I continued slowly toward the stairs, my foot so close to stepping up the first one.
“No, he’s probably some high-powered entertainment industry attorney or a plastic surgeon to the stars or a real estate tycoon.” Ford stepped out of Charlotte’s embrace and meandered closer to me. Why was he looking at me like that? Why was he acting like the other three people in this room weren’t there? “Clara Belle wouldn’t just settle for anyone. She always had her sights set high . . . save for that one time, that one indiscretion . . .”
My blood rolled to a boil. Ford had no right to talk about my past like he knew the whole story. He had no right to deem who was or wasn’t worthy of me. He had no fucking right to call a person I’d cared about a mere indiscretion.
What a piece of work.
“Enough with the lame guesses already,” Charlotte half-shouted, glaring at Ford’s back as he moved my way. “Are you going to tell us what he does or not, Clara Belle?”
“I’m not.” I was in the middle of shaking my head when I noticed someone move out of the shadows at the top of the stairs.
It was a large, imposing figure, and one I didn’t need to look at full-on to know whose outline it was. I’d memorized all there was to know about him years ago. Those memories might have been shuffled to the back of my mind, but they’d always be there.
“Unemployed,” the figure now coming down those stairs spoke up. “That’s my profession at this current time. Any other questions? I’d be happy to answer them now that I’ve gotten me and Clara settled in.”
Three sets of eyes skipped to the stairway—Avalee’s widening the least, my mom’s widening to the point of being legendary—followed by three mouths falling open as they watched Boone make his way down the stairs. The fourth set of eyes, belonging to Ford, stayed focused on me, narrowing a bit more with every step Boone descended.
Mine though? Mine narrowed into slivers aimed at Boone. What in the hell was he doing? He wasn’t incapable of following directions, and I knew he’d heard me ask him to stay upstairs. He was doing this intentionally. He was purposely trying to make this hard on me. I’d agreed to pay him ten grand to act as my plus one for the week, but I’d forgotten to lay down a set of much-needed ground rules. It was clear he was going to spend the next week paying me back for what he deemed I owed him from our past.
I would have been better off showing up solo.
“Get the hell out of this house, Cavanaugh. You practically destroyed this family and this girl.” Ford’s voice filled the foyer, his finger thrusting in my direction. “You have no right to be here. Lea
ve.”
Boone paused long enough in the middle of the stairs to look at Ford. To the others in the room, I knew Boone appeared as cool and in control of himself as he ever was, but I read the finer print they had yet to learn. The way the corners of his eyes creased when he was fired up. The way his knuckles pulled through his skin like they were readying themselves for a brawl. The way the muscles in his neck stiffened just enough to be visible. Boone had never liked Ford. Ford had never liked Boone. It wasn’t just teenage boy rivalry; it had gone much deeper than that.
“If messing up this family and that woman is your qualification for who does and doesn’t deserve to be in this house, then you better be the first to walk out those doors.” Boone’s hand tightened around the bannister, looking capable of turning the redwood into sawdust.
Ford shook his head, trying to look away from Boone, but he couldn’t. “I’m done talking with you. I learned years ago that trying to rationalize with a wild, savage animal is like expecting them to have a conscience. Neither is possible. It’s just in the animal’s nature to be wild. And savage.”
“Is that a promise I can get your signature on?” Boone continued down the stairs. “Because I really think I’d like that in writing.”
My poor mother was looking between Boone and me like she couldn’t figure out what was happening. She backed away when Boone tromped down the last few stairs. Avalee stayed where she was, giving me a curious look, while Charlotte’s head looked ready to spin.
Ford’s gaze sliced in my direction. “I thought you were smart, Clara Belle. The kind of girl who learns from her mistakes and doesn’t make the same one twice.”
Talking to me like I was a child. Patronizing me like I wasn’t in possession of a scrap of intelligence. If he wasn’t so far away, I might have slapped Ford McBride right then.
“It’s you who’s implying I made a mistake in the first place—no one else.” My voice came out two keys lower.