visited her school had been hard to ignore. She hadn’t given it a second thought until the acceptance came—along with an attractive scholarship that played to her ego and made her feel like the school really wanted her.
Carter had protested, Mama had been heartbroken, and her boyfriend horrified she’d even consider it. Coming here had been her first act of rebellion—ever.
And it had felt so good.
Even if she’d been scared to death.
But Reese and Gina and Cassie had supported her, introduced her to a world beyond her carefully controlled Savannah circle, and encouraged her to come out of her shell and experience so many new things.
Beautiful dark-haired Gina who talked of London and Oxford and wasn’t afraid of anything, always quick with the perfect comeback delivered in her crisp British accent. Nerdy Cassie who was almost as naive as she was about the world, but driven by logic and science instead of belief and Southern customs. And Reese, who brought them all together in her house because she thought it would be interesting to have such an eclectic set of roommates—a far cry from her own Park Avenue background.
And it had gone well—Marnie had bragged to everyone back home, proud of both her grades and her broadened horizons. Maybe she’d broadened them a little too much.
It was so confusing. Life had been so much easier to understand before she’d come here. And while the others had laughed at her naiveté, she longed for that innocence now.
Yeah, this is all my fault.
If she hadn’t come to school here, she wouldn’t have met Gina and the others. Carter wouldn’t have come up to visit, and he’d have never fallen into Gina’s web. Missy was going to be hurt and it was all her fault.
Silent tears slid down her face. Some friend I am.
There was no way to repair the damage done here tonight, but there had to be a way to make this right for Missy.
As for Carter... She couldn’t think about him right now. He’d been her hero—the perfect example of what a man should be—and the shattering of that image hurt more than she expected. He’d spit on everything they’d been raised to value and believe and yet he still had the nerve to leave town last week, fresh out of Gina’s bed, it seemed, with an admonishment for her to behave.
The hypocrite.
Marnie could hear Gina moving around in the room next door and the low mutter of conversation from Cassie and Reese as they closed up the house and went to their own rooms.
She lay awake for a long time—exploring her options, figuring out what to do next, trying to make some kind of sense of it all in her head. Long after the house was quiet, she’d only come to one solid conclusion.
This wasn’t where she was supposed to be.
She needed to go home.
ONE
Marnie Price took a deep breath to assess the situation and her options. This was not the time to react thoughtlessly. After a moment to think, she did what any rational, reasonable, adult woman would do in a situation like this.
She pulled the wine bottle from the ice bucket and filled her glass right up to the rim.
Despite the fact she’d had several already tonight, she remained frustratingly sober. It was a happy occasion—Cassie was married and bridges she’d thought burnt beyond repair were slowly being mended. She should be happy—and she was, by God, she really was.
Except, at the same time, she wasn’t. She’d started the day by cleaning out her desk at work and ended it with finding out her friends had been lying to her for years and that years of estrangement had been all her fault. In the middle, she’d gone to a wedding and found out her brother was sleeping with Gina—again. Mercy, when losing your job wasn’t the worst thing that had happened to you, the day officially sucked.
Hence the need for more wine. Lots more wine.
Her mother was probably spinning in her grave—ladies didn’t overimbibe, much less in public—but this was New York City, not Savannah, and Marnie had intentionally given up the quest to be a “lady” years ago.
Old habits were hard to break, but she could drown the Southern guilt in another glass of Chardonnay.
The large table in the corner of the trendy Tribeca Terrace held the remains of Cassie and Tuck’s small wedding reception, and Tuck had pulled Cassie to the dance floor a little while ago. It didn’t take a genius IQ like Cassie’s to see that they would be off to their wedding night very soon. Carter and Gina and Mason and Reese were also on the dance floor, doing that slow sway that said both couples would be leaving soon as well to a happy night themselves.
Marnie sighed into her glass. None of her friends had walked the easy path to happiness, but that was what made their stories so wonderful. The passion. Passion might be messy and difficult, but the proof it was worth it was right in front of her. And that’s what she wanted. If she’d wanted a predictable and staid and unremarkable life, she’d have stayed in Savannah.
But the pairing off of the others had left her alone at the table with Dylan Brookes. Their party of eight had really been three parties of two and two parties of one, but that hadn’t been too obvious or strange until everyone else coupled up. Being an extra wheel was awkward enough, but this situation took awkward to a new place.
Dylan had stood as Tuck’s witness today, but it was just plain weird to have him around. Tuck was Dylan’s best friend, but he was also Reese’s cousin, and he’d met Cassie at what would have been Reese and Dylan’s wedding—except that Reese had practically jilted Dylan at the altar in favor of Mason. It had been quite a mess. Reese and Dylan seemed okay with it now, but everyone else—including her—found the situation awkward at best.
Watching your ex-fiancée canoodle with the guy she threw you over for had to be uncomfortable, but if Dylan had a problem with that, he’d done a good job of hiding it.
He was currently typing something on his phone, and if he was feeling like an extra wheel, it didn’t show.
Either he was a very good actor, or he simply didn’t care. Marnie wasn’t sure if she should envy him or pity him.
The music wasn’t overly loud, but it was thankfully loud enough to not make the conversational silence at the table too noticeable. Not that she was in the mood for small talk, anyway. There was just way too much circling in her mind. She needed to process it all.
No one wanted to ruin Cassie’s celebration, so conversations had been hushed and behind bathroom doors, everyone trying to bring her up to speed without involving the entire party or casting a pall over it. The result was information and emotional overload, and the beginnings of a massive headache.
By the time she finished this glass, she could head on home without anyone thinking it was odd. There was wine in her fridge, and drinking herself into oblivion seemed the best way to finish out this horrid day. Tomorrow would be soon enough to try to make sense of it all.
“I think I’m supposed to ask you to dance.”
The comment caught her by surprise, as Dylan hadn’t said much to her all night, choosing to talk to
