Page 60 of The Marriage Deal
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he said, putting his pants on. "I wanted to spend more time alone with you."
"A man after my heart."
We got dressed, straightened our disheveled state and returned to the villa arm in arm. Dusk had arrived by the time we got to the villa. The cream building resembled a goldencastle in the orange light. The place was even more abuzz as more guests came in. The first person to see us was Ivy, who sighed in relief. Dressed in a midnight blue evening gown that glittered as it caught the sun rays, she looked like a movie star.
"Where were you guys? You weren't answering my calls or texts?"
"We got rained on when we wandered in the gardens and ended up at a cottage," Levi said.
Ivy's gaze assessed us for a second time, more shrewdly this time. Damien, who was already dressed in a tuxedo, looked us once over and smiled as he came to stand next to Ivy. "A cottage, huh. Nothing good happens at a Hawthorne estate cottage."
Ivy lightly nudged him in the ribs.
"Whatever," Ivy said. "You two need to get dressed quickly. The rehearsal dinner is starting very soon."
"I didn't know there was going to be a rehearsal dinner." Levi didn't tell me about it. Otherwise, we would have rushed through the rain back here.
Ivy glowered at Levi. "I blame him. He knew.Andhe's supposed to give a speech. Oh," she added. "And Mom's here."
"Jacqueline?" he said, frowning.
"She's not here alone. She's with…"
"There you are!" a woman said behind us. I turned to see a small pale woman, who had ivory skin that was almost white, and looked to be in her seventies. She was dressed in a light blue Chanel suit complete with the hat. She walked as though she were tiptoeing on the floor, her feet barely touching the ground before lifting them again. Behind her was a much taller woman, though not taller than Ivy. Her height was slightly above average, but next to the petite woman, she looked Amazonian.She looked just as glamorous as the petite lady, even if she was dressed in what could be conceivably called casual clothes of jeans, white t-shirt and heels. She was a dark-skinned beauty, closer to Levi's age or even mine. But there was something unnerving about her. As though I were meeting someone I should not meet.
"How are you, darling?" She went to hug Levi, ignoring me like I was the help. "When I heard you got married, I thought it surely must be to Connie. Only to speak to her on the way over and tell me that it's not her! You got married to someone else!"
Levi shuffled his feet. "Hi Jackie. Hi Connie." Connie half-heartedly raised her hand, trying her best to seem small.
"Elle," he placed a hand around my waist. "Meet Jackie, my stepmother, and Connie, my ex."
26
Elvira
I WANTED TO DRINK myself drunk. I wish I could go on a bender right this moment. It was possible. There was plenty of alcohol to knock out ten horses, but I couldn't exactly get drunk at my brother-in-law's rehearsal dinner, as fake as our marriage was. I didn't hate myself that much. I might have tolerated his ex if she hadn't been seated next to Levi.
Willow had been apologetic when she explained that the weather ruined the seating arrangement. The dinner was supposed to happen outside, but since it was raining, dinner had to be done in the ballroom and the seating arrangement had gone off the rails. Leading to Levi, me, Jacqueline and Connie on the same row. Next to each other. Lovely. To make matters worse, Willow had put Jacqueline between Connie and Levi, but Jacqueline chose to sit a chair away, leaving Connie to sit next to Levi, and I on the other side of Levi. When he saw this, Levi had tried to look for Willow or Raine to change the seating, but I stopped him. Willow was already stressed from having to change her plans after the weather ruined them for her.
It would have been fine if Jacqueline hadn't constantly started conversations between Levi and Connie. She loved bringing up stories from their youth.Did you know they went to the same school?She would say.Whatever happened to that car you won?Did you know Connie did pageants in college?Where she dated Levi?Her father is a record producer. And Connie is anentertainment lawyer. You must meet a lot of celebrities. And on and on.
The point was to make sure I knew how amazing Connie was and what a great girlfriend she had been to Levi. Definitely better than the pawnshop kid from the Bronx. And Connie looked the part. She was who one would imagine a wealthy academic like Levi marrying. Someone smart, articulate and from the same financial background as him.
Levi, for his part, gave one-word answers, which was comforting. Somewhat. But when Connie mentioned an old friend of theirs, the topic devolved into old-school memories I had no part in. Neither did Jackie, but she was happy to be silent as Levi and Connie went on without me. At a certain point, I got tired of it all and excused myself. I went to look for the powder room, ignoring the wedding band's fantastic version of one of my favorite songs.
"I am so sorry," Thalia said to me, wincing when we bumped into each other. Her blue and black mermaid gown hugged her figure so well she made me feel a little inferior in my simple dark blue sheath dress. "I didn't know she would bring Connie. Apparently they go to the same tennis club if you could believe it."
"It's fine. They seem to be getting along." I glanced at Levi, who was laughing at something Connie was gesticulating. A pang hit deep in my chest, my vision going cloudy.
Thalia scowled. "I cannot believe him."
"Anyway, I was looking for the downstairs restroom."'
"It's down to the left, just outside the drawing room. I will go talk to Levi."
I shook my head. "You don't need to." But Thalia was already making a beeline for the table.
