Sixteen
Seven days with the Macks hadn’t been as horrible as I’d imagined it would be. Grace and Robert, Libby’s parents, were both welcoming. Still the same better-than-thou attitude at times, but welcoming at best. Neither mentioned my parents, or the fact that I’d blown town without saying goodbye. They’d honestly hardly asked about what I’d been up to. Which wasn’t all that surprising given they didn’t care what I was up to when I lived less than ten miles away.
“So how about we do lots of curls with one side pulled tightly back and pinned beneath the back?” Francisco, Libby’s hair dresser of choice, was trying to decide on what to do with my hair for the bridal shower.
“That’s fine with me, but my hair doesn’t like the southern humidity so it’ll most likely fall flat.”
Francisco gasped.
“My masterpiece will not fall flat.” His words were stern as he lifted a chunk of hair and ran a brush through it. “You aren’t doing it right if it falls flat, sweetheart.”
“If you say so.” I grinned at him in the mirror.
He placed his free hand on his hip and cocked his head to the side. “Well, I say so.”
I giggled as he went to work on my hair.
Twenty minutes and a sore scalp later, I was staring at myself in the mirror without much recognition of who I was. My usual natural semi-wavy hair was teased and curled into what pageant moms would consider southern perfection while my face was contoured and painted to resemble a flawless painting of beauty. I could hardly believe my eyes. Where’d the regular Arbor Kenton go?
“Oh my goodness!” Francisco beamed with pleasure. “You look absolutely stunning, my dear.” He sighed and spun me toward him in my chair.
“Is it odd to say that my face doesn’t feel like it’s caked with a ton of makeup even though I don’t exactly look like my normal self?”
He erupted with laughter.
“That’s the difference between good makeup and shitty makeup, sweetheart. You must invest in the products you put on your skin.”
“I thought I had with the hundreds of dollars I’d spent at beauty stores.”
“Price is not always a good indicator for quality. I’ll give you some name brands I swear by before I leave.”
I gave Francisco a hug. “Thank you.”
“No thanks needed, darlin’. And that hair of yours will look just a fabulous in the morning.” He leaned forward and whispered in my ear, “Unless you spend the night with a gorgeous man running his hands through it.” He leaned back and winked.
“I highly doubt that.” I giggled.
“Mm hm. I’ll ask you the outcome next time I see ya.”
“Want to make a bet on it?”
“Yes, please!” He snapped his fingers and pulled out his phone.
Francisco was the type of person I could easily call a close friend. He was spunky, outspoken, and didn’t give two shits about what others thought. In a way, he was a lot like Emily. The two of them in the same room would be a hilarious sight.
“Give me your digits and I’ll be texting you throughout the night for updates.”
I rattled off my number. “I thought this was only a bridal shower.”
“Oh honey, you must not know Libby and her family very well.”
If he only knew…
“What do you mean?”
“The bridal shower is the early party. The local newspaper and a few magazines around Tennessee will be here to document the story, so everything has to be perfect for that portion. But tonight—whooooa—that’ll be an entirely different story. They’re locking down the farm so nobody can get in that isn’t invited. Including the media. They have a band scheduled to play with loads of alcohol and guests scheduled to be here to celebrate Ms. Libby’s upcoming nuptials.”
“Like a party before the actual reception?”
“That’s how people of wealth tend to do.”
“Won’t you be here?”
“Me?” he laughed. “I’m not important enough to make the list.”
“What?” I scoffed. “If you’re important enough to do everyone’s hair and makeup, you should be more than important enough to get an invite.”
He patted my shoulder. “I love your fierceness about equality, my dear. But the big dogs don’t play like that. Enough about politics and such, you need to go get changed. Your dress is hanging in the dressing room upstairs.” Francisco waved me off.
I slipped from the chair and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Thank you for making me beautiful.”
“You don’t need any help there, Arbor. I just enhanced a few things for you.” He gave me a wink and a smile.
The main house was abuzz with conversation and music. Men and women rushing from area to area preparing food, drinks, and décor to the likings of the Macks. I should’ve known everything about the upcoming wedding would be extravagant. It was an experience all in itself.
I took the main staircase to the first floor and went directly into the dressing room. Even after all the times I’d been in the house, I still found it odd that they had a legit dressing area for events. If that didn’t scream fancy, I don’t know what would. Thankfully I was the only one in the room; being the last to bother with getting hair and makeup done put me as the last person to change. A beautiful knee-length, burgundy, strapless, lace form-fitting dress hung on the back of the door with olive green open-toe stilettos sitting atop their box on the dresser to the right. I stripped down to my panties and discarded my bra. There was no room for it in that dress, but the top was lined thick enough to keep my modesty intact. I slipped my feet into the shoes and walked over to the floor-length mirror beside the dresser. The two colors went beautifully together, which surprised me. I wasn’t a fan of olive green usually, but the stilettos were beautiful and super comfortable. Only the best from the Macks.
I fluffed my hair in the mirror and took a deep breath. “You can do this, it’ll be fine. Just paint on a smile, and don’t overthink how out of place you are.”
My pep talk seemed to do the trick so I left my robe neatly folded on the dresser and headed back downstairs. A large white tent had been set up in the front yard. But not your usual open tent, this one had sides with fancy looking windows decorating it. Whiskey barrels lined a walking path with burgundy material stretched from the driveway to the entrance of the tent. I was expecting to sink into the ground even with the burgundy walkway, but to my surprise it was as sturdy as walking on the driveway when I stepped onto it. Almost everyone seemed to be inside already when I made my appearance. A couple of the bridesmaids waved, they looked familiar to me but names weren’t popping into my head. I waved back as Grace came out of nowhere beside me.
“Darling, you are almost late. Now let’s get you over with the other girls to have a seat and a mimosa. Libby will be making her appearance momentarily.”
“I must’ve lost track of time, I sincerely apologize.” A polite smile adorned my lips.
“Waiter.” Grace snapped her fingers and I cringed. I’d never been the type of person to rely on others to do things for me, unlike Grace and family. “Could you get Arbor a mimosa, please, and have her seated with those other young ladies. Libby will be coming in any second and we don’t want anything out of place.”
“Sure thing, Madame.” A tall, younger man gave her a nod.
“I can honestly get my own mimosa and find my seat, you really don’t have to.”
“It’s my pleasure.” He grinned and gave me a once over.
“If you insist.” I smiled back as he led me to the small group of girls seated in a half circle facing a lone chair that Libby was most likely going to be occupying shortly.
Two of the three girls introduced themselves to me, Jasmine and Natalie. Both sisters of the groom, whom I had yet to meet, and each genuinely nice. The third was the maid of honor, and a girl who was just a vile as Libby, a girl I’d spent the majority of my high school life trying to stay away from, Samantha Gillens. Our eyes connected and a wicked smile pulled her overly-botoxed face just a smidge. She was the poster girl for resting bitch face, and I couldn’t let her know how badly I wanted to punch her in the face for all the shit she’d put me through in school. So instead of causing an all out cat fight, I smiled widely, exposing as much of my teeth as possible without looking psycho and gave her a wave.
“Samantha, I haven’t seen you in years. You look fabulous.” I turned on the phony voice I only used on people I’d rather not waste my breath on, trying to come across as the bigger person.
“I wish I could say the same, Arbor. But you still look the same as you did in high school. Well-done makeup and fixed hair only covers up so much.” She smiled and turned her attention back toward the entrance where everyone began to clap as Libby made her appearance.
My pulse was racing with anger from what Samantha had said. She was a wretched bitch that needed to be knocked down a few notches, but my cousin’s bridal shower wasn’t the place.
Instead of causing a scene, I rose to my feet and clapped right along with everyone else. The room noticed I had stood so everyone followed suit, even Samantha. A smug grin settled on my lips as our eyes connected once more. I could see the fury in her eyes from me being the first to stand, and it not being her idea. She wanted to play a petty little game, well I was about to trump her ass with my deck of cards. So she could bring on whatever bullshit she wanted because Arbor Kenton was no longer the young girl who tucked her tail and ran when bullies came her way, and Samantha Gillens was the buggiest bully I’d ever met.
The clapping died down and Grace went about a long speech regarding how outstanding her daughter was, and how wonderful it had been that Libby and Marcus had met half a year ago in the Bahamas while on vacation. That fate had brought their two souls together just in the nick of time, and she couldn’t be happier. But I could see through the bullshit of a speech. There was some underlying reason Libby was jumping into marriage so swiftly after meeting her soon-to-be husband. Hell, she’d dated the star quarterback, Jacob Lewis, all through high school and college. That’s who I’d assumed she was marrying until I met Jasmine and Natalie. Their breakup was one I needed information on, and that meant spending quality time with Libby, which was something I’d rather steer clear of.
Many mimosas later and Jasmine had me cackling like a hyena. She was definitely the funnier of the two sisters, who you could easily mistake as twins. They were two years apart, almost to the day, and each lived just outside of Memphis, where they owned a clothing boutique together. Wonderful ladies with loads of manners, it made me wonder if they were only in Libby’s wedding because she was marrying their brother or if they actually liked her. I couldn’t imagine them liking her if she treated them the way she treated most. Well, besides her sidekick, Samantha.
How I’d forgotten how close the two of them were throughout school was beyond me. Where one was, the other was close behind, if not directly beside. I took another drink from the waiter as he passed and briefly watched Samantha and Libby across the room. They admired one another’s dress. Samantha was going overboard about how gorgeous Libby’s was, being it was her bridal shower and all. Then it hit me, Libby’s dress was quite a bit different than ours. It flowed where ours was snug against our frame. Ours were strapless where hers had thick lace straps crisscrossing in the back and connecting to the off white material of the body. She made it a point to stand out from ours, but her choice was interesting.
Needing some space from the hectic bridal shower, I stepped outside the tent and walked a few feet away toward the house. It was much quieter outside of the tent. The sound of the horses had died down, most likely because they’d been put in the barn. It was calling for thunder storms later in the night. Birds still chirped and the ticking of the sprinklers watering part of the lawn sprang to life.
“Everything all right, Arbor?”
I spun around and found Robert rocking in one of the chairs tucked away on the back section of the porch. His question startled me. I hadn’t known anyone was there, but sure enough he was and gauging me without my awareness. Good thing I hadn’t started rambling out loud about things, as I tend to do.
“Just fine.” A grin spread across my face.
“Had to take a breather from all the madness, I’m sure.”
I chuckled and ascended the stairs of the porch. “Something like that.”
My heels clanked against the concrete as I walked over to where he was seated and took a seat two chairs over. Robert was a man of many words, but very few when it came to me. Growing up he’d never spoken much to me, so it was surprising that he even offered to strike up a conversation. He could’ve easily stayed silently rocking in his chair and I’d never known. I would’ve slipped back into the tent and painted on my smile for the remainder of the bridal shower, but he hadn’t stayed quiet. He spoke up for one reason or another. I was sure he would divulge that reason at anytime. He was a man with a purpose behind every action he took.
“You know,” he pulled a cigar from a small wooden box I hadn’t noticed on the table beside him and lit it with a lighter, puffing a few times. “I was surprised that Libby asked you to be in her wedding. Not that there’s anything wrong with you being a part of her day, she’s just very particular about things. As I’m sure you know.”
“That I do.”
“I’m even more surprised that you came.”
“Why is that?”
“When your parents passed away, we’d heard things about you. Rumors rose that you blamed us and didn’t want anything to do with the remainder of your mother’s family, which would’ve been understandable if we were to blame for their deaths.” Robert leaned his forearms against his legs and puffed on the cigar for a brief moment. “Your father wasn’t a straight and narrow man, Arbor. I’m not sure that you realize that.”
My blood was boiling from the accusations Robert was throwing around regarding my father. How dare he tarnish my father by telling me lies. I wasn’t going to give him the benefit of saying much else.
“I’m going to stop you right there.” I rose to my feet. “You have no right to speak to me about my parents, let alone to try and degrade my father from the man I knew him to be. He was a man of worth, who stood behind his word, who loved and took care of his family. He’d give anyone the shirt off his back and just because you didn’t care for him doesn’t give you the right to spread lies. So take whatever you were about to say to me and wrap it around that nasty little cigar you got there and blow the smoke up your own ass. Because this is the exact reason why I didn’t want to come here! You people are toxic.”
I quickly made an exit from the porch before he could say anymore and caught a ride with one of the workers who were driving around the property to set up for the party.
“To the pool house, please,” I managed to choke out through the thick emotions overtaking me.
Without a word, the man drove me as fast as possible to the pool house. As soon as my heels touched the ground, I made a beeline for the door and quickly let myself in. The blinds were all lowered so no one could see inside the house from earlier today while I was showering and such. I kicked my heels across the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of vodka from the cabinet. A few large swigs and the tears rolled heavily down my cheeks. Where had his accusations regarding my dad come from, and why did he feel like that was the precise time he needed to throw them at me?
I took the bottle with me into the closet and began collecting my things. Staying with the Macks was a horrible choice, even if I’d tried my damndest to see the good in the situation. Libby had asked me to be in her wedding so she could take a few more stabs at my wellbeing, I’m sure. But it was time to leave their Godforsaken home and head back to Indianapolis before I lost my sanity on people who didn’t deserve my time.
Sobs ripped through my body and I crumbled into a ball on the floor. My heart hurt and everything going on the past few months was catching up with me. The vodka wasn’t helping. I twisted the top on the bottle and left it in the floor of the closet. I managed to collect myself for a moment and went directly into the bedroom. Exhaustion was settling in and I knew I couldn’t drive. Not after the alcohol I’d drank and the lack of sleep I was running on. Not bothering to change out of my dress, I laid on top of the bed and closed my eyes while I silently cried.