Page 9 of Sweet Temptation

“Not enough, apparently. He ended things because his family is business rivals of my dad.”

Her mouth opened and closed several times like she was searching for something to say. Eventually, she settled on shaking her head. “I definitely didn’t expectthatto be the reason,” she said. “I swear, I’m never going to understand these people.”

I couldn’t have agreed with her more. Lily’s confusion mirrored my own so closely, and I wondered if it was because, like me, she wasn’t from this world of wealth and social climbing.

“Yeah, I don’t get it either. I didn’t have much choice in the matter though.”

Lily reached out and grasped my hand, giving it a firm squeeze. “Well, it’s his loss. He’s an idiot.”

“A complete idiot,” Anna said, chiming in. “It’s lucky I haven’t seen him here today. I swear, I’m going to tear into that boy so hard when I get the chance he’s going to wish he didn’t have ears.”

“Please don’t do that,” I said. I couldn’t imagine how embarrassing it would be.

“What? He deserves it. I know everyone at this school thinks he walks on water, but that doesn’t mean he can treat one of my besties like crap.” She suddenly glanced at Cress. “Sorry, Cress, I know he’s your cousin, so maybe pretend you’ve got earmuffs on.”

“No need, I’m annoyed too,” Cress said. “Noah completely messed up on this one. Screw the Hastings family. Isobel is worth a million of them.”

“A billion,” Anna added.

“A million billion,” Cress said, making us laugh.

My cheeks flushed as I looked at my friends. They always had my back, no matter what, and I felt like I didn’t deserve them.

Cress turned to me. “So, after all the drama last night, is your dad coming today?”

“He didn’t say.” I shrugged. “He always seems incredibly busy though, so it’s far more likely he’s already left town.” I considered sending him a text to find out, but I didn’t feel all that comfortable contacting him. The message would likely only get as far as Caldwell anyway.

“Did your parents end up coming last night?” I asked Cress. I’d bailed on the ball too early to know whether they’d shown up.

“No.” She sighed. “I would have liked to see them too. I suppose I’ll have to try and get them to come to the Halloween carnival next month.”

“There’s a carnival?” I sat up slightly straighter in my chair. I normally loved Halloween, but I was usually working at the café, so I wasn’t able to really enjoy it.

“Oh yeah, it’s the best,” Lily said. “The local town hosts Halloween Fest every year. It’s set up on this creepy farm, and people from all over the area come to it.”

“The money raised from the carnival goes to charity,” Anna added. “So, the school makes sure all the clubs get involved and help out. As you can imagine, the academy brings in some pretty hefty donations, so the town is always happy to have us.”

“It’s a blast,” Cress agreed. “Waybetter than some stuffy garden party.” She lowered her voice as she said the last part, like she didn’t want to be caught badmouthing the principal's event.

Someone cleared their voice behind us, and as we all looked back, we saw my English teacher, Mr. Wagner, standing all too close and frowning in our direction.

“Ladies,” he said before continuing on his way.

As soon as we were out of earshot, we all burst into laughter. I had a feeling Mr. Wagner agreed with Cress.

I’d been dreading the garden party this morning, but it wasn’t half as bad as I’d expected when I got to sit in the corner chatting with my friends in the sunshine. We relaxed and talked and drank plenty of water as an hour or two went by. No one seemed to care I was hungover, and I thankfully didn’t see Noah. I even sent a text message to my father. I decided to keep it light to give myself the best chance of getting a response, so I asked how the rest of his evening had been and whether he was coming this morning. Hopefully he, or Caldwell, would reply before the party ended. But either way, I actually found I was enjoying myself. It was just the kind of Sunday morning I needed after a traumatic Saturday night.

When Anna started trying to rank which of our teachers were the hottest, I decided it was a good time to excuse myself and find the bathroom. There was a long line for the one in the cottage, but I overheard one of the girls mention people were also using the bathrooms in a school building close by. I had to leave the party to reach them, but I wasn’t against the idea of a short walk to stretch my legs.

I cut around the side of the house and was walking alongside the hedge that followed the perimeter of the property when I heard voices on the other side of it.

“I expected better from you,” a woman said. “Your father and I have been here two days, and the boy has barely looked your way.”

“I can’t help it if he’s not interested in me, Mother.”

I froze as I recognized Veronica’s voice.

“Clearly, you’re not trying hard enough,” her mother replied. “Where is he this morning?”

---