relationship as sisters was strained to the max these days over this wedding.
“When do you want to go?” Victoria asked, sounding discouraged.
“In May,” Gracie said happily, oblivious to her sister’s discomfort.
“Okay. I’ll take care of it. I love you,” Victoria said sadly, and hung up. Gracie had promised to send her all the names and details. And she said their father was paying for that too. He was shelling out big time for this alliance, and would have done none of it for Victoria, she knew. He had even said so to her and told her to elope if she ever found a husband.
Fortunately, in spite of all the stresses over the wedding, things were going well with Collin, but Victoria didn’t consider it good news when she got a call from her mother, saying that her father had to see a client in New York and they were coming in for two days. That was all Victoria needed, and they knew about Collin, so she knew they’d want to meet him. And she had met his parents. She hated the things she knew her father would say about her. She told Collin that night.
“Will you have dinner with them with me?” she asked him with a woebegone look, and he smiled and kissed her.
“Of course.”
“And while we’re on the subject, there’s something I want to ask you.”
“The answer is yes,” he teased her. “What’s the question?” He knew how upset and anxious she was these days, and he felt sorry for her. She was worried for her sister, justifiably, from all he’d heard.
“Will you go to my sister’s wedding with me?” she asked, and he smiled at her.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
“Everyone else looks gorgeous in the bridesmaid dress, and I look like shit in it. Be prepared. You won’t be proud of me,” she said with tears in her eyes.
“I
“In two days.” She made it sound like the end of the world, and it was to her. Her father would make a fool of her in front of the man she loved and prove how unlovable she was. And what if Collin believed him? It didn’t occur to her that it would make her father look bad and not her. Collin knew just how lovable she was.
She made the calls for Vegas the next day, although Dr. Watson reminded her that she could refuse to if she wanted to. But she didn’t want to disappoint Gracie. She never did.
And her parents arrived in New York the day after. They were staying at the Carlyle, and invited her and Collin to the Bemelmans Bar for drinks. As it turned out, her parents had to dine with her father’s client and didn’t have time for dinner with them, which was a blessing. Drinks would be enough. She knew her father could destroy her in five minutes-he didn’t need a whole evening to do it.
She could see immediately how impressed her father was with Collin, and how surprised he looked, as though he couldn’t believe that Collin would be with someone like her. Victoria couldn’t believe it either, but he wanted to be with her and had proven it abundantly for the last four months.
Everyone was on their best behavior, and they’d been chatting for half an hour when her father commented that he hoped she was watching what she ate so she’d fit into the maid of honor dress her sister had ordered for her. Victoria stiffened when he said it.
“I’ve lost weight, Dad,” she said quietly, “and we go to the gym every day.”
“I’m sure you’re a good influence on her,” he said, smiling broadly at Collin, who looked guarded as he waited to see what would come next. “Watch out for the ice cream, though,” he said with the laughter she hated. Neither he nor her mother had noticed the weight she’d lost, nor her new nose, which Collin didn’t know about either. She’d never told him. She didn’t think he needed to know. He turned to Collin then and told him what a great guy Harry was, and how pleased they were about the marriage.
Victoria spoke up in a clear voice then. “No, he’s not a great guy, Dad. He cheated on her, and you know it.” Her father looked startled for a minute, to be called on it. He looked at Victoria intently.
“Just some harmless high jinks,” he said blithely. “All boys do things like that before they get married. It takes the pressure off.” He winked at Collin, as though he would agree with him. Collin did not return the wink.
“How can you let her marry someone who is already cheating on her before the wedding?” Victoria said, looking upset, as her mother pretended not to hear her and sipped her drink, staring into space. She had checked out.
“Just a little lovers’ quarrel, and a misunderstanding, I’m sure,” her father insisted, still smiling. Victoria wanted to blow a gasket, but she didn’t. She knew there was no point arguing with him. He wasn’t going to agree with her, and he fully approved of the marriage, no matter what Harry did. And Collin looked undismayed by the scene. He looked pleasant and strong, and his whole demeanor conveyed the fact that he was Victoria’s ally and no one else’s. Her father got the message that she had an ally now, and anyone who attacked or belittled her would be dealing with Collin too. It came across loud and clear, even without words. Her parents left shortly after, and told Collin it had been great to meet him.
“They weren’t as bad as usual,” Victoria said as they left the Carlyle and walked toward her neighborhood. It was a balmy evening, and they were holding hands. She was stressed just from seeing her parents, and everything else that was happening these days, over which she had no control.
“They didn’t fool me,” Collin said quietly. “I heard him about the dress, the weight, the ice cream, and he doesn’t give a damn if Harry cheats on your sister. He wants her married to a rich boy. He thinks it makes him look good. Just like my parents thought all of my brother’s accomplishments made them look good, so they could brag about him, and mine were never good enough. I know exactly what these people are like,” he said as he looked at Victoria sympathetically. He could see what she had dealt with all her life, and the toll it took on her. She looked unhappy and uncomfortable in her own skin as they walked along. And she seemed tense and withdrawn when he kissed her on the way home. It was as though she was pulling away from him too. He could see it in her eyes. He stopped walking, and he looked at her.
“I’m not the enemy, they are. I hear them. You’re not good enough so no one could ever love you. Come here,” he said, pulling her into his arms and looking into her huge blue eyes that were the same color as his own. “I love you. You
Chapter 25
When Victoria got to school the next day, there was a huge bunch of blue balloons in the lobby that one of the students had brought in. There was a big sign up on the bulletin board. Amy Green had had her baby, a little boy. He weighed six pounds eight ounces, was nineteen inches long, and his name was Stephen William. Victoria was happy for her, and hoped it had gone well. She was sure she would hear all about it from some of the girls. The school was buzzing with the news all day.
Victoria heard later in one of her classes that Justin had been in the delivery room with Amy, with her mother. They hadn’t known the baby’s sex before, so that had been a surprise for them, and mother and baby were supposedly doing well, and going home in another day. She was hoping to be back at school in two weeks, three at the most. The school had really made it work for her. Victoria was planning to go and visit her when Amy felt up to it. The girls who talked to her said she felt great, and the delivery hadn’t been too bad. Victoria was relieved. They were young, but at least they were seniors, not freshmen. It was a long shot, but they had a chance at making it work, especially with Amy’s mother’s help and support.
During one of her breaks, Victoria had more calls to make on the Vegas trip, and she called her sister about it that weekend. Gracie sounded calmer than she had during the discovery of Harry’s cheating. And it had been neatly swept under the rug, per Harry’s wishes. Everyone was cooperating with him on that, especially the bride and her parents, which Victoria didn’t think was the way it should be at all. But she was trying to detach from it. Collin and she went to the gym every morning, not because he was concerned about her weight, but because he said it would help her with stress, and it seemed to. She was feeling less anxious again, and she gave Gracie all the details she had arranged for the Vegas bachelorette weekend, which she still thought was a bad idea, or not one she’d enjoy
