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Chuckling he nodded. "In your world maybe, that would have been an honest way to handle our feelings."
"In my world? What does that mean? A world where people work for what they have instead of inheriting it? A world where us poorer people can tell someone who shafts them to fuck right off and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out? Instead of us sucking up betrayal and lies and sitting in the mess of someone else's making because it doesn't fit in with the 'family's standing'?" I ranted using air quotes.
"Calm down. What do you want me to say? Do you want me to deny the obvious differences wealth brings? There's a level of politics in these circles my parents move in that's so ridiculous I can't even begin to explain it, but it's not who I am as a person. I've never wanted to live this way. My mother and father brought all of us up to know the value of money, to live our lives with care and compassion for others, but it's still a world I was born into. Wealth carried a heavy weight of responsibility for my parents' generation."
I stood silently seething, wondering how I'd even gotten to this point: engaged to a man who was so much younger than me and far hotter than any man I'd ever known in my life, who was wealthy, and who doted on me. It all looked perfect on the outside, but my divorce appeared far less complex than the life Sawyer's family led and the continuing feud that had driven a wedge between him and his brother was far from over.
"You're right. This is all happening too quickly. I think I'll drive home to New Jersey tomorrow. I need some time to process," I stated, flatly.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning I'm an older divorced woman, and far too mature to tolerate manipulative ex-girlfriends and the shit that's gone down with her this week. Your family has been incredible in welcoming me without prejudice. However, I have no idea what I was thinking standing out there, newly engaged, while your cheating ex-girlfriend hounded you down like you were some fresh prey to be captured. Meanwhile, despite all I'd been led to believe, your brother sounded broken by his betrayal of you."
"So, what are you saying, Billie? Turn my back on the way things are done out here because you don't like it?"
"I'm saying maybe all this is happening too fast, and I don't think I have the tolerance to deal with your ex if I encounter her again. Twice now she's tried to warn me off, and I don't know that I can keep my temper in check should there be a third time."
"Do you know why my mother asked her to leave?"
"You'd have to ask her about that. And James, too. I don't even know that your brother himself knows the whole story, but your mother and I do."
"Will you stop talking cryptically and shoot straight, for Christ's sake?"
I sighed. "And when will you tell Charlotte to go fuck herself?" I spat. "Sounds to me like she's fucked everyone else," I added. "I'm going to go home tomorrow. I need time to breathe. Meanwhile, I need you to talk to James—no—I want you to listen to James. Then I need you to speak with your mom and we'll go from there."
"Go from there? What the fuck does that mean?"
"It means we're not kids who are finding our feet with dating, Sawyer. Charlotte doesn't come near you anymore. She doesn't get time to bend your ear about what you've missed out on and James deserves a hearing. From the conversation he had with me, I think no one has asked him for his side of the story, but I have, and I've seen Charlotte's true colors this evening. Worse, I saw you allowed that to happen. Was that out fear of offending anyone, or her? I have that girl pegged and I'm not diminishing James's actions toward you, but I can relate to some of what went down from the way he explained it, and my personal experience of how vindictive your ex-girlfriend is in the short time I've been here."
He blinked, shocked at how forceful I sounded. "The stuff with Charlotte is a given. That will never happen again, but James? You have no idea what I went through, only what I told you, yet you're taking his side?"
"What you say you've been through is like me telling you how old I am. It doesn't … or shouldn't matter now. The present is where we are, not the past. As for sides, that isn't up for debate. I told James I was loyal to you. However, your versions of events differ quite a lot and James has more information he's never shared with all of you. What I'm saying is, unless you and James can find peace between you, Charlotte will continue to manipulate you both, and that will directly affect us."
* * *
Shortly after Charlotte was asked to leave, Sawyer pulled me into his chest. "Did we just have our first fight? The same night we got engaged?" he asked, as most of the guests began to retire to their guesthouses or guest bedrooms leaving.
I knew we'd both said too much in the heat of the moment. "We did, but I understand your emotions were running high so I'm prepared to let it slide."
* * *
An hour later Ronald, Caitlin, and Lorna were gathered around the large kitchen table having a nightcap when we joined them. Almost everyone else had retired for the night. Harriett appeared in the doorway.
"I've asked James to join us," she said like no one should argue and took the seat next to her husband. She gestured for James to sit on an empty chair beside her. Sawyer's back immediately stiffened, and I reached over and took his hand.
"It's important you hear this," I said quietly, thinking about the argument we'd had as James hesitantly wandered into the room.
"Take a seat, James," Harriett prompted, and I saw his hazel eyes were red-rimmed as if he'd been crying. My heart clenched at the solemn look he wore, and I couldn't help but feel for him as he did as he was asked.
"I want to start this by saying Charlotte Harrison is no longer welcome in this house," Harriett said with determination. "Now none of us need to be reminded why this family rift between James and the rest of us exists."
Glancing around at everyone, she watched as they all nodded. Sawyer bristled in his chair and I squeezed his hand again. He glanced toward me with a scowl set on his face and looked away from me when his mom spoke again.
"Good. At the time, none of us listened to James's version of events, too caught up in the whole mess of what he'd done and the pretty weeping girl on the other side of it. But I've listened and watched how Charlotte has behaved ever since, and I have no doubt a large part of the blame falls on her shoulders."
"Can you get to the point, Mom? I want to go to bed," Lorna said, sounding disinterested that we should even allow her brother his voice on the matter. Sawyer's hand gripped mine and although he'd said it hadn't mattered anymore, it did.
"Go ahead, James, I want you to tell them what you told me tonight," Harriett prompted.
