Page 34 of The Fiancée Farce
“A ring like that, youcertainlydon’t want sliding off your finger.” Katherine smiled. “Do you have a minute?”
“I do, but I actually have a question for you first. Gemma just sent me a picture of an invitation to an engagement party.Ourengagement party, apparently. You wouldn’t happen to be behind that, would you?”
“Oh, good. She got it,” Katherine said. “I sent you one, too. Didn’t you get it?”
“The mail hasn’t come yet today.” And that was beside the point. “Katherine, we never discussed any kind of engagement party.”
Katherine waved her off. “Not to worry; Bitsie and I have it all in hand.”
“Wait.Who?”
She had to be hearing things.
“Bitsie,” Katherine repeated. “You know, Tucker’s mother.”
That’s what she was afraid Katherine had said. “Since when do you talk to Tucker’s mother?”
“Since you’re marrying her niece. Well, before that, actually. She was at Madison’s bridal shower, remember?”
Tansy rubbed the bridge of her nose, feeling the beginning throbs of a headache creeping up on her. “I wasn’t invited to Madison’s bridal shower.Remember?”
“We grabbed lunch last week,” Katherine continued as if Tansy hadn’t spoken. “She’s a delight. She even hinted that there’s a possibility she can swing me an invitation to the Sunset Club.”
She did her damnedest to rein in her frustration. “That’s nice.”
Katherine scoffed. “Nice.Tansy, the Sunset Club is the most exclusive women’s social club in Seattle. Not only is membership granted by invitation only, it’s so private that members won’t even discuss it on the record.”
Bully for Katherine. Tansy dug deep, mustering a shred of enthusiasm. “That’s great. But I don’t see what any of it has to do with this engagement party.”
“Well, I needed a guest list and Bitsie seemed like the best person to reach out to, given that we’re already connected via Madison. She told me how beautiful the Van Dalen estate is and how perfect it would be for the engagement party. She even offered to talk to Gemma’s father about hosting it there. Wasn’t that thoughtful of her?”
Frustration bubbled up the back of her throat. Her hopes of Katherine being the stepmother Tansy wanted her to be, her hopes of Katherinecaringabout her the way Tansy wished she would, gave up the ghost. They were never going to have the relationship Tansy wanted.
It was time for Tansy to stop getting her hopes up for anything more than what they had, right now, right here. But that didn’t mean she had to be okay with Katherine running roughshod over her. “Katherine, we never discussed an engagement party,” she said again.
Katherine frowned, looking taken aback. “I wanted it to be a surprise. I thought you’d be elated.”
“I just really wish you would’ve talked to me about it first.”
“But then it wouldn’t be a surprise.” Katherine looked at her like she was stupid. “It’ll be perfect—you’ll see. Now, as for why I’m here. I wanted to let you know I took the liberty of reaching out to Olivia Grant on your behalf.”
Katherine was taking liberties left and right. “Olivia who?”
“OliviaGrant, the wedding planner who works for Emerald City Events?” Katherine rolled her eyes. “I gave you her contact info, but this all confirms that I made the right decision to call for you. ECE is booked solid, but when I mentioned the name ofyour intended, Olivia’s lovely receptionist managed to squeeze us in for a consultation ASAP.”
Tansy cringed. Call it wishful thinking, but she’d been hoping to skip this minefield of a conversation and jump straight to the announcement that she and Gemma had already gotten married. “Katherine, that was thoughtful of you. But unnecessary.”
“Nonsense. It’s the least I could do.”
“Gemma and I hardly need a wedding planner.”
Katherine frowned. “Oh heavens, Tansy, please tell me you aren’t planning on”—she leaned in, dropping her voice to a whisper—“DIYing your wedding, are you?”
“No, nothing like that, we just—”
“Oh, thank God.” Katherine pressed her palm to her chest and laughed. “You had me worried for a second that there’d be Ball mason jars in my future and—andtwine.”
Katherine wrinkled her nose.
