Great.
Tommy, Everett, and Zach seemed to create a superhero force-team after that. Charlotte watched them in awe as they marched through the tables, dropped down to demand action from various members of the party, and then even occasionally helped them into their coats or jackets with words of encouragement, like, “Be safe out there! See you tomorrow!” When Charlotte heard Tommy say words like that, he grunted at her and said, “Listen. I’m a moody SOB, but there’s no way I want to give your party a bad rep.”
This warmed her heart more than almost anything else. She had never really bonded with Lola’s newfound beau, the handsome Tommy Gasbarro, but she now totally approved of him. She made a mental note to tell Lola. Finally, she had found somebody to love and worthy of her grandness.
Rachel, too, found her way with the kick-out crew. Charlotte watched as Rachel placed a hand on an unsteady actress, who stood in six-inch heels and blubbered drunkenly to herself.
“It’s okay! Your limo is just outside,” Rachel said, sounding every bit like a twenty-one-year-old. “Remember? I called your driver?”
“Rachel! You’re such a darling,” the actress returned in a British accent.
She was good. Charlotte couldn’t tell if she was actually British or not.
“You’ll call me when you come to London, won’t you, Rachel?” the actress cried, as Rachel walked her toward the door.
“Yes. You’re going to show me your favorite fish and chips shop,” Rachel said. Her voice was flat and patient.
“You’re going to love it. Oh, Rachel, why wasn’t I as wise as you when I was your age?”
Charlotte giggled inwardly. When Rachel turned back, having delivered the actress to her limo, she rolled her eyes.
“Don’t let me ever drink alcohol,” Rachel said. “It turns people stupid.”
“You might want to feel a little stupid sometimes,” Charlotte said, rubbing her daughter’s back.
“I do not understand that,” Rachel said, bug-eyed. “But I’ll take your word for it.”
Finally, after what seemed like an hour or more, the only people who remained in the ballroom were: Zach, Christine, Lola, Tommy, Charlotte, Claire, Rachel, and Everett. Zach was still hot-headed from earlier. He stomped over to the bar and poured himself two fingers of whiskey. Nobody spoke for a long time.
“Well,” Tommy said, looking on the verge of spitting. “Looks like that’s it, then. We lived through night one.”
Charlotte burst forward. “I can’t thank you guys enough. I know that was hell.”
“It was. But it was also hilarious,” Zach said, already buttering himself up with the whiskey.
“Really?” Charlotte asked.
Zach took a sip, furrowed his brow, then said, “No. But I’ll remember it, I guess. That’s something.”
“What about clean-up?” Lola asked.
“We aren’t using this space tomorrow,” Charlotte said. “So it’ll get it cleaned in the morning, while we’re setting up ballroom number two.”
“So those crazy kids are really going to go through with it?” Zach asked.
“Don’t jinx it,” Christine said. She walked toward him, wrapped her arm around him, and dotted a kiss on his cheek.
“He looks like he’s on the verge of walking right out,” Tommy said.
Lola swatted his bicep and gave him an ominous look. He shrugged and said, “What?”
“I don’t care how long they stay married. I just need this entire event to fall through without a hitch,” Charlotte said. “If they divorce in a year? I’ll hardly bat an eye. But we need them to walk down that aisle tomorrow, or else I’ve failed.”
Everyone fell silent. After a little while, Christine suggested that they all head home to get some well-needed rest. Charlotte stared at her shoes, embarrassed. Had she made everyone mad? Uncomfortable? Of course, she had. It hadn’t been necessary. She supposed she just didn’t have total control over her own emotions just then.
Suddenly, Everett appeared beside her. She knew it first by the musk of his smell, mixed with his cologne. Something inside of her swirled with anxiety and she felt her heart beat faster. Was that excitement? Attraction? She wasn’t sure because these new feelings were so strange to her.
“I just called myself a taxi,” he told her under his breath, while the others spoke. “I wondered if you and Rachel wanted to leave with me. You’ve had one hell of a night.”
Charlotte turned her eyes toward his cerulean ones. Her stomach stirred with exhaustion, but she felt her lips creak up into a smile. “Are you sure?” she breathed.
“Of course. It’s just across the island. If you think you can handle a taxi ride with me after the night, you’ve had...”
“Of course,” she insisted. “I appreciate it. I’ll let Rachel know we’re about to go.”
Just before the taxi arrived, Charlotte grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the open bar and stuffed it in her bag. It wasn’t the high-end stuff, more the medium-variety—something these high-rollers wouldn’t remember. In the midst of a multi-million-dollar wedding, Charlotte supposed one bottle of whiskey back at her place wouldn’t hurt.
She then hugged her family members—first Lola and Christine, of course, then Tommy, then Zach, then Claire, who she found in another heap of flowers in the parlor, brimming with tears.
“You should go home,” she told Claire, placing her hand on her sister’s tender cheek. “I promise. Everything will be brighter in the morning.”
“The very early morning,” Claire corrected. “I need to fix this bouquet before that lady walks down the aisle.”
Charlotte chortled. “That lady. You just called Ursula Pennington that lady.”
Claire burst into laughter. “I know. She would hate it, wouldn’t she?”
“So much. I love it, though,” Charlotte affirmed.
Charlotte, Rachel, and Everett stood out on the snow-capped curb, waiting for the taxi. Above them, the stars twinkled daintily, as though they had secrets of their own. Rachel lifted her chin toward the black night sky and said, “They’re much more beautiful in winter, aren’t they?”
“I always thought so,” Charlotte replied. “But I never thought anyone else did.”
“They’re beautiful
