Page 11 of White Wedding
For the first time in months, Victoria was home on a Saturday night. She couldn’t remember the last weekend night she’d had to herself. Back when she’d been dating Ben, he’d usually taken her out on Saturdays. Dinners at fancy restaurants. Nights at the theater. Cocktails with friends. He had expensive tastes, and he liked to go places where he’d be noticed. On the nights when she wasn’t at his side, she was running her ass off, helping Lindsay and June coordinate events at the Blackwood Cellars Estate.
But tonight, she had nothing on her calendar. No weddings. No parties. No dinners. Dressed in a sweater and leggings, she sprawled on the couch, a bowl of buttered popcorn at her side. Now that it was December, she could justify watching a few Hallmark movies. The sappier, the better.
“Victoria? What are you doing?”
She cringed at the sound of her father’s voice. He was dressed for a night out, no doubt headed to a holiday event at the country club. “Umm…relaxing?”
“Isn’t tonight the big Robinson bash? When I saw Art Robinson at the club last week, he said Chip was going all out this year with a couple of live bands. Shouldn’t you be getting ready?”
She paused the movie. “Chip Robinson is one of Ben’s closest friends, so…”
“So? You and Ben are on good terms now. For God’s sake, you’re coordinating his wedding. There’s no reason you can’t co-exist at the same party. You need to get back out there and socialize.”
And find someone else worthy to marry?She shrugged. “I’m good.”
“You’re not. If you avoid too many of these events, people will think there’s something wrong. They’ll pity you. And you don’t want that.”
Heaven forbid a Blackwood would ever be the object of someone’s pity.
She glanced around, wishing her mother would appear and whisk her father away. When he made no move to leave, she gave a lengthy sigh. “Dad, I wasn’t invited.”
“What?”
The shocked look on his face almost made her smile. “Chip didn’t invite me.”
Not like last year, when she’d gone as Ben’s date, resplendent in a stunning black dress that he’d admired openly as he whisked her around the dance floor. As she basked in the glow of his attention, she felt like a fairy-tale princess who’d gotten her happy ending. Not only was she marrying a senator’s son, but she was back in her father’s good graces.
But this year? She had no desire to subject herself to the whispers and pitying looks of her so-called friends.
“Oh. Well…I’m sure it was just an oversight,” her father said.
She caught a glimpse of something in his eyes. Sympathy? Compassion? She rarely showed him her vulnerable side, but she couldn’t help herself. “I don’t think he wanted me there. I shouldn’t care, but it’s hard being excluded.”
“You just have to power through. If anything, this whole ordeal will make you stronger.”
Victoria swallowed. There had been a time when her father had admired her strength. Her determination to be the best in school, the fastest runner on the track team, the girl who didn’t cry, even when she broke her ankle a week before the regional meet. But after she screwed up—after the Paris incident—all her father could see was weakness. If she hadn’t been so weak, she wouldn’t have fallen prey to a suave Frenchman looking for an easy mark.
She shook off the memories. Paris was five years in the past. The only part that remained was her massive debt to her father.
“Honestly? I wish I could leave town until after the wedding,” she said.
He frowned. “Nonsense. Running away never solves anything. You’d have to deal with Ben eventually. Just get through this and—”
“And you’ll clear my debt?” He’d said as much before, but she still wanted to be sure.
He perched on the edge of the sofa. “You know it’s not about the money, right? It’s about learning from your mistakes and being accountable. You made a terrible judgment call in France, then doubled down on your foolishness by making a mess of things with Ben. But I’m a fair man, so I’m giving you another chance. Pull off a spectacular wedding. No missteps. Then I can consider putting all that debt behind us.”
Even if the situation was grossly unfair, she wasn’t about to argue, not when he was in such a “generous” mood. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Don’t thank me yet. You still have three weeks to go, and you haven’t landed a new caterer.” He peeked at his watch. “I should see what’s keeping your mother.”
She nodded, grateful for an end to the painful conversation. After he left, she cued the movie back up. She didn’t want to think about Ben or Chip, or any of them. She wanted to lose herself in a predictable love story with a guaranteed happy ending.
When her parents came back down, they bid her good night and left. But try as she might, Victoria couldn’t concentrate on the movie. Not with her father’s words lodged in her brain.No missteps. That meant she couldn’t drown her sorrows in a holiday sap-fest. She needed to take action. Even if Ben was out for the evening, she could leave him a message and remind him he needed to choose a caterer as soon as humanly possible.
With a shudder, she pulled up his number, only to recoil when he answered on the first ring. “Victoria. What is it?”
Shit.She wasn’t prepared to talk to him. “I…um…didn’t think I’d catch you.”
