That man does not look like he wants to get married tomorrow.
“Good evening, everyone,” Ursula said brightly.
And the toasts weren’t meant to begin for another hour or more.
Why the heck did I put together such an elaborate schedule if Ursula planned to come in and stomp all over it?
“Thank you for traveling all the way here, to the beautiful Martha’s Vineyard,” Ursula continued.
Okay. She hasn’t said anything off the wall so far. Maybe it’s okay?
“All my life, I’ve wanted to get married here,” Ursula continued. “My mother herself got married here when she was just a little nobody. Age twenty. Didn’t you, Mom?”
Ursula’s mother stood and waved her hand, which glittered with four jeweled rings.
Ursula then turned her eyes toward Orion. They, too, glittered, like the rings and the earrings and the delicate detail on the Christmas tree.
“Orion, my love,” she said. “I want to tell you that I love you with my whole heart. No matter what’s happened in our pasts, I know that we’ll be together forever. Thank you for your love and your companionship. And thank you for standing here before me today and tomorrow, in front of—four hundred of our nearest and dearest friends and family—and pledging your honor to me.”
It was all a little overly dramatic. After a long pause, a few of Ursula’s girlfriends smacked their hands together. Someone else wolf-whistled. Charlotte made the mistake of catching Everett’s eye across the ballroom. He had been busy taking endless photographs of the celebrities, of Ursula, of Orion. He made a face, like, Boy, that was awkward, which nearly made Charlotte double-over with laughter.
Be chill. You have a job to do. No laughing until long after Ursula and Orion fly away in their private jet on their way to their honeymoon.
Charlotte grimaced toward Everett, which seemed to translate everything he wanted to know. He laughed privately for her, then straightened his face and took more photos.
It was going to be a long night. Charlotte could feel it in her bones.
The bride was unruly. The groom looked like he wanted to get the hell out of dodge. And Charlotte, herself, was on the verge of either a nervous breakdown—or falling for someone new?
No. That wasn’t right.
That wasn’t anything she could trust.
Chapter Fourteen
When asked about it later, Everett wasn’t able to recall exactly when the rehearsal dinner party got so wildly out of control.
Dinner, for one, seemed to go off without a hitch, or almost without a hitch. He watched as these illustrious Instagram-famous ladies, and actresses, and musicians, ate heartily and commented on Zach’s cooking in a way that made Everett almost proud. He hadn’t known the guy that long, of course—only a day!—but he’d still been able to feast on his Thanksgiving dinner beforehand.
Now, some of the richest people in the world regarded it a high-end cuisine.
That was pretty cool.
The food itself was fancy and, incredibly, mostly local—with cheeses and butter taken from the local dairy farm, salmon and crab and octopus taken from the Sound itself, bread from both Christine and the local bakery, and veal and raw beef taken from a local farm. After Everett snuck around, snapping as many photos as possible, he sat with the meal for a good ten minutes; his eyes closed as he ate as slowly as he could—focusing on every possible flavor that hit his taste buds.
“You look like you’re enjoying yourself.”
His eyes popped open to find Susan: her hands on her hips and her short hair styled beautifully.
“You caught me,” he said. “I really love this food. Zach’s a magician.”
“Something like that,” Susan agreed. “Have you seen Charlotte? I can’t find her, and I’m worried. The last time I saw her, I thought she was going to fall on the floor. I have doubts she got any sleep last night.”
“I imagine she didn’t,” he said.
“What are we going to do with her?” Susan asked. “We’re going to have to carry her out of here due to exhaustion in like ten minutes flat.”
Everett chuckled. “She’s a professional. She’s probably riding high on adrenaline right now. She’ll crash the minute it’s over late Saturday, but not a moment before.”
“I can’t find my other sisters, either,” Susan said. “Scott and I are tired. Charlotte probably told you, but I just finished up some treatment that knocks me out early. Will you tell Charlotte that we headed out?”
“Of course.” Everett waved a hand toward Scott, who waited for Susan near the exit. “You’ll be around tomorrow?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Susan said.
Susan’s words had a way of working through Everett’s brain over the next few minutes, so much so that he finished up his meal early and set out on a hunt for Charlotte. Around this time, everyone finished up their food, shoved their plates aside, and focused on the alcohol-portion of the evening. Wine, cocktails, straight hard liquor—it all flowed like water itself. Everett wondered if rich people even bothered to drink water. Maybe it was beneath them?
An actress named Zelda swept toward the front of the room and wiggled her hips, then cast her arms toward the ceiling and said, “Let’s burn this thing to the ground!” At that moment, the DJ began to blare wild beats at the turntable toward the far end of the room.
Again, Everett searched for Charlotte. This was something he at least wanted to joke with her about. At worst, he wanted to find her, just in case Susan was right, and she’d collapsed somewhere due to exhaustion.
Ursula shimmied against Zelda, then turned around and hugged her friend as hard as she could. Everett wasn’t one to forget his duties. He hurriedly snapped a photo of the celebrity friends, checked it, and then snapped a second for good measure. “Get as much of the chaos as
