Page 93 of Hate You Later
“So that’s Lilly,” Hudson says, fondly watching his sister.
“She’s amazing.” I laugh.
“Everyone, take your seats, please! The tea party is about to begin!” A tall, willowy, dark-haired woman in a clingy caftan has teetered into the tent, high heels sinking into the grass. She’s ringing a brass bell.
“That’s Mel, Lilly’s mom,” Hudson says.
We take our seats at the far end of the tent at one of the tables designated for “grown-ups.”
“Remember how I told you I needed your help today?” He looks around the tent and locates Mel, seating herself at the other table for grown-ups. She’s flanked by two attractive men. The rest of the table appears to be populated by Lilly’s friends’ moms. “Looks like I’m safe. Mel’s sitting with her personal trainer and the gardener.” He raises his eyebrows significantly at me.
“Phew!” I wipe invisible sweat off my forehead. “I’m glad I won’t have to defend your honor after all.”
But Hudson suddenly seems distracted. He’s looking warily over my shoulder now at someone else coming toward our table. He takes a deep and sudden breath, then lets it out slowly. I swivel my head around to see what he’s looking at, then quickly turn back to face him. His face has become a neutral mask, completely unreadable. Under the table, he places a hand on my knee and squeezes gently.
“Well, now. This should be interesting,” he mutters softly.
* * *
Ashley slips into the seat on the other side of Hudson. Her tight, off-white leggings leave nothing to the imagination. She’s wearing them with a pink argyle twin set and a brand-new pair of designer tennis shoes to complete her “suburban” look.
Walker takes the seat beside Ashley. He appears to be wearing tennis clothes as well. Lilly sees him from across the crowded tent and waves excitedly. He grins and waves back.
“Ashley wasn’t doing anything today, so I invited her along.” He takes a drink from the server and tastes it, making a face. Then he pulls out a flask and doctors it up, offering the flask around to others. Ashley giggles and holds out her cup, waving cheerily at me as she does so.
Hudson leans in to brush my hair aside and whispers in my ear, “I’m so sorry, Georgia. I had no idea she’d be here.”
“It’s fine,” I whisper back. I’m trying not to stare. Ashley is practically hanging on his father.
In my pocket, my phone buzzes with an incoming text. A covert glance shows me that it’s Kenna.
The message simply says,“Please call ASAP.”
A million scenarios play out in my mind as the adrenaline surge kicks in. What if the store was robbed? What if Cookie ran away?
“Excuse me,” I say, “I have to take a call.” I hastily make my way out of the tent onto the lawn, past the pool, and down another pebble-lined path toward a small pond.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” I shout when Kenna answers.
“Oh, Jesus, G, chill. Nothing’s wrong. I just couldn’t find your house keys. But then I remembered where you keep the spare.”
“That’s it?” I ask, wondering how I’m going to expel this excess adrenaline now. Jumping jacks? I do a few quick twists and jump up and down a bit. I’m just slipping the phone back into my pocket when I hear the sound of crunching gravel and see Hudson coming down the path.
“Everything okay?” he asks.
“Yeah, just a little confusion about my keys.”
“There’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about,” Hudson says.
“Oh?”
“It’s about the clothing from the Farm & Holm site. Do you have any preferences for what we do with it?”
“What do you mean?” I ask. “I thought you said you were pulling it all.”
“We did,” Hudson says. “And we can have it all destroyed if you want. But there’s another option I thought I’d run by you.”
“Okay.” I take a breath. “It does seem shameful for them to end up in the trash.”
