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“Start from the beginning,” Lauren prompts with no worry about her dress. I’m amazed she has such utter trust and faith in me like that.
“My mother has always been controlling. When I was a child, I wondered if it was because my father loved me so much. I was the apple of his eye, and he loved me so deeply. I was doted on, but never spoiled. Just being with him was a treasure, but he became ill, and by the time I was a teenager, he passed.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that.” Lauren frowns, pulling Aubrey in for a hug, too.
I pat her hand, knowing she can empathize with that much. Aubrey lost both of her parents as a teen as well. The difference between us, though, is that she had a pair of loving parents, whereas my mother has always been unloving.
“If not for my dad, I never would have been exposed to the idea of love. My mother has controlled who I see, who I interact with, what I do, and what I should never want to do. I was held to high expectations, required to be prim, proper, educated, and never lift a finger and ‘work’ because being an employee was a sign of weakness to the Rennard name.” I roll my eyes, hating that I have to say this.
“She sounds awful.” Lauren shakes her head.
“Yeah, you had to deal with that controlling crap, too,” Aubrey says.
“I grew up with no love and heavy expectations on my shoulders. I’ve become used to never feeling like I would have an opportunity to escape her. I’ve all but given in to thinking I’ll never get out from under her control.”
Aubrey narrows her eyes. “Because she manages the estate?”
I nod. “And my trust is tied up in it. The only way I can get it is if I’m married.”
Both woman curse and react with outrage, pissed on my behalf that I’ve been treated like this. “That can’t be right.” Lauren smacks her hand to her thigh. “That’s the same crap Jeremy did with me.”
I shrug. “Dalton’s looked into it. I imagine Caleb has done just as much now. She’s too smart and employs even smarter lawyers. My mother is determined to keep her greedy hands on the money left to me. The only way I’ll get it is if I marry, but she’s only ever encouraged that with her explicit approval. She doesn’t want me connected to someone she deems unworthy, someone beneath our family name. Because if I marry ‘beneath my status’ it will bring her down, too.”
“What is this, the eighteen hundreds?” Aubrey scoffs.
“I tried to get around her. I asked the man I was dating in Paris to elope simply so I could be married and get my funds.” I hold my hand up, not wanting them to assume the worst. “I don’t want the money. I won’t even touch the majority of those billions. All I want is the capital to start my shop. I only need the funds to open my bridal shop.” I can’t help the smile on my face. Despite my mother’s awfulness, I won’t lose sight of my passion and my dream. “I just want the money to open my shop so I can do what I love. What I’ve always wished I could do.”
“You’re going to open up a shop?” Aubrey brightens, smiling wide.
“Here?” Lauren adds with equal excitement.
“Well…” I sigh and sip my warm drink, relishing the soothing burn of its heat as it travels down my throat. “I guess.”
“Gee.” Aubrey swats at my knee. “Don’t blow us away with your enthusiasm.”
I smile. “When I came here, I had loose plans to do an apprenticeship in Paris. It would give me real-life experience for my portfolio, but since you asked me to design your dress,”—I say as I glance at Lauren—“that’s the same thing and even better. I…” I sigh, almost not believing I’m going to admit this out loud. “I’m going to do my best and open up my shop somewhere. Wherever I can afford it. I refuse to let my mother hold me back. I’m not sure this area will have the greatest opportunities for a shop to succeed, so maybe I am better off returning to Paris. Or New York. The way she holds my funds puts me in such a bind, but I’m determined to work hard, save up, and hopefully, one day, I’ll have my shop.”
“Stay!” They say it in unison, then giggle.
“Seriously. You complete our trio,” Lauren tells me.
“I mean, you’ve got Marian, too. She’s the mother we’ve all been needing in our lives.”
Lauren makes a face at Aubrey. “No. I’ve told you, she’s my fairy godmother.”
“Whatever. She’ll adopt you, too, Claire, like she did with us. Then we’ll all have each other!”
“And…” Lauren glances at me before grinning at Aubrey, who nods with a knowing smirk. “And Sawyer is here…”
I pull my lips in and bite down on them, unwilling to speak up there. It’s on the tip of my tongue to admit I’m falling for him, but I can’t say that. No matter how sweet he was standing up for me with my mother, it still seems like I’m the only one who feels this deeply. I tuck that thought away and shrug. “Yeah, Sawyer is here, and I don’t see him leaving.”
They share a look and sigh, perhaps realizing they won’t get more out of me about him. We move on, though, after that talk. They pamper me all night, feeding me and keeping my drinks flowing. It’s a night of girl time I didn’t realize I needed, and by the time I lie down to sleep that night, I feel slightly better.
***
Lauren and Aubrey bring me back to my cabin late the next evening. It was nice to break away with them and just talk. It was a release and the venting process I needed, but I’m eager to get “home” and start all over again on Lauren’s dress. If not for her project, I fear I would be so lost and directionless that I’d beg to stick with them.
After more goodbyes, I head inside the cabin and drop my bag.
