AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Twenty-four hours later, I had a summer job in the city, a train ticket, and a packed bag ready to go.
A sharp tug on my hand — Aunt Rose — pulled my attention back to the garden party. The crowd was thickening, getting louder, as the patio overflowed with friends of my aunt and uncle, friends of Will. The garden party split very obviously into two generations, and I was mingling with the older one.
I smiled politely, shook hands, made small talk, and nodded when Aunt Rose whispered in my ear that this or that person was important and I should remember them.
“So you’re in publishing,” one important person said. I’d already forgotten his name. “Not an easy job to get.”
“For the summer.” Because my uncle pulled strings. “I’m hoping it will bring more opportunities.”
“Do you visit your relatives often?”
“We try.” It’s been seven years. And that last visit ended in a fight.
“How generous of your aunt and uncle to host you for the summer. You’re fortunate to be connected to the Randolphs. You must be very close.”
“Yes, I’m very grateful.” And I still don’t know why they decided to talk to me.
When Aunt Rose had said “garden party,” I’d expected a string quartet and fine china. But tonight’s event featured loud music and free-flowing cocktails.
More and more people crowded under the swinging lanterns, laughing and trading stories like they’d known each other forever. They probably had. When Rose let go of my hand to laugh gaily at a comment by one of the important people, I begged off to get a drink and threaded towards the cocktail bar.
Hemmed in on all sides, I watched Will, surrounded by people. Beautiful girls, vying for his attention. He smiled at them all, but he didn’t return the light touches, the giddy side-hugs.
Uncle Richard came up next to him, dropping a heavy hand on his son’s shoulder and rubbing the muscle by his neck. My uncle was broad and solid, stocky to Will’s leanness. Looking from him to my aunt, a tiny glittering pinpoint flashing through the crowd, I wondered where Will’s tall grace had come from.
A couple of the girls beamed at Richard, flirting. He chucked them under the chin and they tossed back thick shiny hair, obviously working for his attention. Will leaned close to say something to his father, and both men laughed. But from where I stood, Will and Richard talked past each other, not to each other.
Relieved to be left alone, I tried a shrimp cocktail from a passing server, the girl who’d scurried to fetch Will a drink. Her eyes still followed him. She looked hopeful, eager, as if one moment with my cousin could change her life.
Unfortunately, I knew how she felt.
That seven-years-ago visit had been at my family’s house. My mom had cleaned all day, cursing and arguing with my dad. I’d baked a cherry pie for dessert, turning up the radio to drown out the sound of maybe you could ask, just ASK your sister to help us out financially…
Aunt Rose and Uncle Richard had brought two bottles of very expensive wine, a driver who stayed in the car, and fourteen-year-old Will. Ten minutes into dinner, as soon as the arguments started about my grandfather’s messy estate, Will had pushed back his chair and left the room. Just like that.
I’d found him in the backyard, sitting on the low stone wall that separated our land from the surrounding woods, smoking and looking at his phone. His clothes were perfectly pressed.
“Hey, cousin.” He gave me a slow smile. “Don’t you think it’s funny how much our parents hate each other?”
“No.” I cleared my throat. “I don’t. And you don’t either. Otherwise you’d be inside, watching, so you could laugh.”
Will focused those unnerving green eyes on me. Then he patted the wall next to him. For a second, I stood still. Then I’d shaken my head and hurried inside.
“Hello, sweetheart.” A handsome face blocked my view of the garden party, interrupting my thoughts. Handsome, unfamiliar, and my age. I blinked at his broad smile, my fingers closing around the frosty glass he handed me. Another boy flanked my other side, edging me in with his navy blazer-clad shoulder. “You wanted this, right? Gin and tonic. I’m Spencer.”
I’d never loved G & Ts. I’d been eyeing the white wine flowing freely at the bar. But caught off-guard, I took a sip. Chilled liquid bit my tongue. “I’m Andrea.”
“Look at that red hair.” Spencer stroked my long russet waves, petting them down to my waist. My skin prickled. I was too crowded by his friend to pull away, too off-balance from Will’s touches earlier to want to. “Natural?”
“Spencer, that is not how you greet a lady.” The other guy, whose name had disappeared in the laughter bubbling through the patio, put a reassuring hand on my back. “Who are you? We haven’t seen you around.”
“I’m Rose and Richard’s niece. Will’s cousin.”
“Oh.” Spencer’s fingers stayed in my hair, but he made more space between us. The other guy leaned closer.
“Oh yeah. We were all just in Spain together. Will said his cousin was coming this summer. He didn’t say you were a beautiful woman.” His bulky body oozed overconfidence.
I cleared my throat. “Probably because I’m his cousin. And we haven’t seen each other in a while.”
